WhimsyTheFae
Explorer
On The Lamb
ENW Short Story Smackdown Summer '07
Round 1, Match 3 -- FickleGM vs Cevalic
On The Lamb
The sounds of construction permeated the air for almost a mile around the small town of Aurora, as a road crew worked to repair the nearby highway. Hard working men and women shivered under jackets as they toiled on a surprisingly cold June morning. Two of the supervisors suddenly stopped what they were doing, turned to the other, nodded blankly and walked toward one of the company trucks.
"Hey, Max! Ryan! Where the hell are you going? It ain't break-time, yet," hollered out one of the men, already covered in dirt from breaking up the old road.
Max, dressed in dark blue slacks and the requisite yellow visibility vest over a zipped blue jacket, climbed in the truck on the driver's side. Ryan, in brown slacks with his vest and jacket unzipped over a white dress shirt, climbed in the passenger's seat. The foreman and head engineer, respectively, had never before left the site during work hours. Many of the other workers stopped what they were doing and stared as the truck sped off toward town.
Wiping her brow, one of the two female workers quipped, "Maybe they're going to warm themselves with some nice hot coffee."
The first man shook his head, "They better get back here soon, or I'm reporting their asses. And they better bring back enough for everyone."
"You're not still bitter about being passed up for the foreman spot, are you?" she replied.
"Just get back to work," he bit back. "Come on everyone, we got a lot to do today!"
As the men and women returned to their tasks, the recently departed truck sped out of sight and into the sleepy town. Near the center of town, the truck pulled over and came to a stop. The street was practically abandoned, as most of the residents worked in the nearby city, leaving the town all but empty during the week.
"Let's do this," Max announced as he got out of the truck.
Ryan also exited the vehicle and the two made their way to the back. Each man pulled a slender pipe from the bed of the truck and walked into the middle of the street. Once there, they pulled utility knives from their pockets and cut the palms of their hands, letting the blood drip into the pipe. Then, they placed one end to their ears as they set the other end on the road, forming a large X with the pipes (Picture 2). They did not have to wait long before the ground started rumbling. An inhuman voice rose through the pipes and spoke to the men in a language not of the Earth. As they listened, smiles appeared on their faces.
The streets were quiet once again, as Max and Ryan returned the pipes to the bed of the truck. Ryan nodded to Max, a gleam in his eye as he opened the passenger door and started to get in the truck.
"This looks to be an easy job...for once."
Max pondered a moment, as he climbed back in the truck, "It makes you wonder, though."
Ryan raised an eyebrow, "What's that?"
"How did one with so little experience escape? They don't let folk just stroll on out, you know."
Ryan shook his head, "That ain't our concern. We just bring them back and they can worry about keeping them there."
"I suppose," Max shrugged his shoulders and he started the truck. "Let's go get her."
Leaving rubber on the pavement, the truck sped south out of town.
***
As the sun rose over the lake, the door to the cabin opened and a beautiful blond walked out onto the deck. She stood next to a young athletic man with short-spiked blond hair and looked over the railing at the dark-haired guy doing sit-ups on the beach ten feet below.
The man standing next to her turned and asked impatiently, “Is she up yet?”
The blond bombshell glared back, “No, Brad. She isn’t feeling well.”
“Damn it. It’s our first day at the cabin and she’s already screwing things up.”
“Real nice, jerk, she sure is lucky to have you for a boyfriend.”
Brad yelled down to the guy on the beach, “Hey Tim, you might want to keep your woman in line.”
Tim rolled his eyes and shouted back, “Jo, go check on Sarah and leave Brad alone. It’s not his fault that he was born without emotions.”
Tim watched as his girlfriend flipped-off Brad and walked back toward the cabin. As the door closed, he turned to Brad and grin formed on his tanned, course face.
“You do realize that you’re an ass, right?”
“Yeah, but you still love me. Want a beer?” Brad tossed a can to Tim without waiting for an answer.
Tim nodded as he caught the beer, “You should probably check on her.”
“I will…in due time.”
Inside the cabin, Jo entered Sarah's room and found her curled in a ball, sobbing on her bed.
"Sarah, are you all right?"
"She talked to me," came the reply from Sarah.
"What? Who talked to you?" Jo asked as she sat on the bed next to Sarah.
"I...I don't know. She said her name is Maggie and that she needed to see Granny Elsa, but I don't know anyone named Maggie or Granny Elsa," Sarah looked up
at Jo, tears streaming down her cheeks as she shivered. "It's so cold in here."
"It's cold outside, too. It should warm up, though. Now, who is this Maggie and more importantly, where is she?" Jo stroked Sarah's dark hair and tried to comfort her.
"You're not going to believe me, but I saw her in the mirror," Sarah pointed toward the bathroom.
Jo stood up from the bed and walked into the bathroom. She looked in the mirror and after seeing nothing strange, searched around the bathroom. Finally satisfied, she returned to the bedroom.
"There's nobody in the bathroom. Are you sure it wasn't a dream?"
"It didn't feel like a dream."
"Come on, let's get you some fresh air and check on the guys."
"Okay," Sarah said as she took Jo's hand and let herself be led outside.
***
"So, after I find out if Sarah is okay, we'll hit the lake for..." Brad was unable to finish his statement, as he noticed a truck speeding toward the cabin.
Tim looked back over his shoulder in the direction of Brad's stare, "I wonder what he wants. He's driving awefully fast."
"Who knows, but he better stop before he kills someone."
Tim nodded to his friend and jumped out of his lawn chair, "Hey, slow down!"
As he yelled at the oncoming truck, he realized that the driver was purposely steering in his direction. Caught like a deer in the headlights, Tim's legs refused to react.
"Get out the way!" came Brad's plea as he ran back onto the deck.
As Jo opened the door, Sarah caught her reflection in the window.
The horrifying visage in the glass screamed at her, "Not that way, you must go out the back. They're here."
Feeling Sarah stop, Jo turned back to her as the sound of a truck could be heard outside.
"Let's g...no Tim!" She turned back just in time to see her boyfriend get plowed into by the oncoming truck.
The truck came skidding to a stop as Brad started back down the steps, "You mother..."
Jo yelled at Brad, "What are you doing?"
Brad grabbed a meat fork off the grill as he approached the truck, "I'm going to teach these bastards a lesson."
"We have to get out of here," Sarah pulled back on Jo's arm.
"They just killed Tim," Jo said back in disbelief.
Jo reluctantly moved back into the cabin, unable to take her eyes off Brad as gestured to the men in the truck.
Ryan opened the passenger door of the truck and stepped out, smiling maniacally at Brad.
Brad just glared back, "I don't know who you thing you are, but..."
He didn't get another sound out as Ryan closed the distance with inhuman speed and grabbed Brad by the throat. With the fork stuck in his side, Ryan squeezed the life out of Brad.
Jo screamed and ran back through the cabin with Sarah. As they reached the back door, they could here the truck coming around. They ran out the back and made for the ATV that was parked in the yard.
Ryan dropped Brad's lifeless body and pulled the fork out of side, then jumped onto the deck in one leap. He tore the door off the hinges as he entered the cabin.
Max drove the truck around the cabin, noticing the two women running toward an ATV, he gunned the engine. He noticed that the ATV's engine started running before they got to it.
"Seems like the little minx knows a trick," he whispered under his breath as he slowed down for Ryan, who came sprinting out the back door and jumped into the truck.
Startled by the ATV, but too afraid to change their course, the girls jumped on it and started toward a nearby wooded area. The slight head start assisted them as they were able to make it to the tighter confines of the trees before the truck could reach them. They looked back over their shoulder and watched as the truck speed off along the tree line.
"We have to find someone to help us." Jo said as they picked their way through the small forest.
***
Jo and Sarah rode out of the forested area near a highway. They spotted a truck stop and started toward it.
"We should be able to get help there."
They made their way around the building and stopped suddenly as the saw the boarded up windows.
"No. No. No. This can't be happening," Jo slammed her fist on the ATV's handles.
In the distance, the engine of a truck could be heard. The girls pulled the ATV behind the closed truck stop and hid it in the woods. They went to the back door and finding it unlocked, went in.
"They're going to find us in here and they're going to kill us," Jo sobbed uncontrollably.
"We can't give up, Jo, we've got to find a way," Sarah comforted her friend. "Go look in the kitchen and see if you can find anything that we can use as weapons."
Jo hesitated for a moment and then headed off down the hall toward where the kitchen should be. The sound of the truck could be heard passing by, giving the girls a little hope.
Sarah turned the other direction and made her way toward the bathrooms. She pushed the door open and approached the mirror, bracing herself for the ghastly visage. Even though she knew what to expect, the face in the mirror still filled her with terror.
The face that stared back was similar to her own, but very different. The hair was disheveled and wild, the face grey and dead, but it was the eyes that filled Sarah with the most dread, for they were black as tar. In the mirror, her shirt was splattered with blood, as was the wall (Picture 1).
"You have to find Granny Elsa or all will be lost," Maggie begged. "Leave your friend or she will die."
"I don't know a Granny Elsa. Where does she live? How can I find her?" Sarah wanted to help, but did not know what to do.
"She lives in a farmhouse, up the road from here. You must hurry."
The familiar sound of their pursuers' truck was suddenly heard coming from the front of the abandoned building. Sarah composed herself and darted out of the bathroom, down the hall and out the back door. She jumped on the ATV and drove it around toward the front of the building, where Ryan and Max were approaching the boarded door.
"Hey! I'm over here you murdering bastards," Sarah hollered as she gunned the throttle and sped up the road away from the truck stop and away from her best friend.
Max and Ryan rushed back to the truck and spun it around to get back on the road. She had a head start, but the truck was faster than the ATV and they started closing the distance.
Sarah looked over her shoulder repeatedly at the truck as it rapidly gained ground on her. Due to her lack of concentration, she hit a large tree limb, which caused the ATV to flip and toss her into the ditch. She pulled herself to her knees and noticed a farmhouse less than a quarter of a mile away.
As she started crawling toward the farmhouse, she felt a tingling that reminded her of when the ATV started itself. She looked back as the truck barreled toward her, but just as it passed by the ATV, the small vehicle exploded. The force of the blow tore the passenger door off and took Ryan's head with it.
The truck was knocked on its side, sliding down the road, sending sparks everywhere. It finally skidded to a stop about fifty feet away from the injured woman.
Sarah pulled herself to her feet and started loping toward the farmhouse, half dragging her injured left leg. A feeling of relief washed over her as she got closer to the farmhouse. She could see an old lady stepping out the front door, surrounded by cats. Just then, something grabbed her by the back of the neck.
"So close, yet so far away," a voice whispered in her ear.
The snap of her own neck was the last thing that she heard.
Max grinned as he held her lifeless body, but the grin quickly turned to horror as dozens of cats attacked him. He was unable to get free as the life ebbed from his host's body. He knew that he was headed back home where his partner was already waiting for him, but at least he had accomplished his mission.
***
Granny Elsa walked over to the body of the dead girl.
"Poor poor child, this was terribly tragic."
She bent over the dead body and touched it on the forehead.
"May your soul find peace."
As she walked back toward her house, the body was drawn into the earth.
Returning to her parlor, Granny Elsa sat on her sofa, surrounded by her pet cats (Picture 3). She looked up at the mirror on the wall and smiled at the face staring back at her.
"You needn't fear, dear Maggie, for you never have to go back there again. Granny Elsa will keep you safe."
ENW Short Story Smackdown Summer '07
Round 1, Match 3 -- FickleGM vs Cevalic
On The Lamb
The sounds of construction permeated the air for almost a mile around the small town of Aurora, as a road crew worked to repair the nearby highway. Hard working men and women shivered under jackets as they toiled on a surprisingly cold June morning. Two of the supervisors suddenly stopped what they were doing, turned to the other, nodded blankly and walked toward one of the company trucks.
"Hey, Max! Ryan! Where the hell are you going? It ain't break-time, yet," hollered out one of the men, already covered in dirt from breaking up the old road.
Max, dressed in dark blue slacks and the requisite yellow visibility vest over a zipped blue jacket, climbed in the truck on the driver's side. Ryan, in brown slacks with his vest and jacket unzipped over a white dress shirt, climbed in the passenger's seat. The foreman and head engineer, respectively, had never before left the site during work hours. Many of the other workers stopped what they were doing and stared as the truck sped off toward town.
Wiping her brow, one of the two female workers quipped, "Maybe they're going to warm themselves with some nice hot coffee."
The first man shook his head, "They better get back here soon, or I'm reporting their asses. And they better bring back enough for everyone."
"You're not still bitter about being passed up for the foreman spot, are you?" she replied.
"Just get back to work," he bit back. "Come on everyone, we got a lot to do today!"
As the men and women returned to their tasks, the recently departed truck sped out of sight and into the sleepy town. Near the center of town, the truck pulled over and came to a stop. The street was practically abandoned, as most of the residents worked in the nearby city, leaving the town all but empty during the week.
"Let's do this," Max announced as he got out of the truck.
Ryan also exited the vehicle and the two made their way to the back. Each man pulled a slender pipe from the bed of the truck and walked into the middle of the street. Once there, they pulled utility knives from their pockets and cut the palms of their hands, letting the blood drip into the pipe. Then, they placed one end to their ears as they set the other end on the road, forming a large X with the pipes (Picture 2). They did not have to wait long before the ground started rumbling. An inhuman voice rose through the pipes and spoke to the men in a language not of the Earth. As they listened, smiles appeared on their faces.
The streets were quiet once again, as Max and Ryan returned the pipes to the bed of the truck. Ryan nodded to Max, a gleam in his eye as he opened the passenger door and started to get in the truck.
"This looks to be an easy job...for once."
Max pondered a moment, as he climbed back in the truck, "It makes you wonder, though."
Ryan raised an eyebrow, "What's that?"
"How did one with so little experience escape? They don't let folk just stroll on out, you know."
Ryan shook his head, "That ain't our concern. We just bring them back and they can worry about keeping them there."
"I suppose," Max shrugged his shoulders and he started the truck. "Let's go get her."
Leaving rubber on the pavement, the truck sped south out of town.
***
As the sun rose over the lake, the door to the cabin opened and a beautiful blond walked out onto the deck. She stood next to a young athletic man with short-spiked blond hair and looked over the railing at the dark-haired guy doing sit-ups on the beach ten feet below.
The man standing next to her turned and asked impatiently, “Is she up yet?”
The blond bombshell glared back, “No, Brad. She isn’t feeling well.”
“Damn it. It’s our first day at the cabin and she’s already screwing things up.”
“Real nice, jerk, she sure is lucky to have you for a boyfriend.”
Brad yelled down to the guy on the beach, “Hey Tim, you might want to keep your woman in line.”
Tim rolled his eyes and shouted back, “Jo, go check on Sarah and leave Brad alone. It’s not his fault that he was born without emotions.”
Tim watched as his girlfriend flipped-off Brad and walked back toward the cabin. As the door closed, he turned to Brad and grin formed on his tanned, course face.
“You do realize that you’re an ass, right?”
“Yeah, but you still love me. Want a beer?” Brad tossed a can to Tim without waiting for an answer.
Tim nodded as he caught the beer, “You should probably check on her.”
“I will…in due time.”
Inside the cabin, Jo entered Sarah's room and found her curled in a ball, sobbing on her bed.
"Sarah, are you all right?"
"She talked to me," came the reply from Sarah.
"What? Who talked to you?" Jo asked as she sat on the bed next to Sarah.
"I...I don't know. She said her name is Maggie and that she needed to see Granny Elsa, but I don't know anyone named Maggie or Granny Elsa," Sarah looked up
at Jo, tears streaming down her cheeks as she shivered. "It's so cold in here."
"It's cold outside, too. It should warm up, though. Now, who is this Maggie and more importantly, where is she?" Jo stroked Sarah's dark hair and tried to comfort her.
"You're not going to believe me, but I saw her in the mirror," Sarah pointed toward the bathroom.
Jo stood up from the bed and walked into the bathroom. She looked in the mirror and after seeing nothing strange, searched around the bathroom. Finally satisfied, she returned to the bedroom.
"There's nobody in the bathroom. Are you sure it wasn't a dream?"
"It didn't feel like a dream."
"Come on, let's get you some fresh air and check on the guys."
"Okay," Sarah said as she took Jo's hand and let herself be led outside.
***
"So, after I find out if Sarah is okay, we'll hit the lake for..." Brad was unable to finish his statement, as he noticed a truck speeding toward the cabin.
Tim looked back over his shoulder in the direction of Brad's stare, "I wonder what he wants. He's driving awefully fast."
"Who knows, but he better stop before he kills someone."
Tim nodded to his friend and jumped out of his lawn chair, "Hey, slow down!"
As he yelled at the oncoming truck, he realized that the driver was purposely steering in his direction. Caught like a deer in the headlights, Tim's legs refused to react.
"Get out the way!" came Brad's plea as he ran back onto the deck.
As Jo opened the door, Sarah caught her reflection in the window.
The horrifying visage in the glass screamed at her, "Not that way, you must go out the back. They're here."
Feeling Sarah stop, Jo turned back to her as the sound of a truck could be heard outside.
"Let's g...no Tim!" She turned back just in time to see her boyfriend get plowed into by the oncoming truck.
The truck came skidding to a stop as Brad started back down the steps, "You mother..."
Jo yelled at Brad, "What are you doing?"
Brad grabbed a meat fork off the grill as he approached the truck, "I'm going to teach these bastards a lesson."
"We have to get out of here," Sarah pulled back on Jo's arm.
"They just killed Tim," Jo said back in disbelief.
Jo reluctantly moved back into the cabin, unable to take her eyes off Brad as gestured to the men in the truck.
Ryan opened the passenger door of the truck and stepped out, smiling maniacally at Brad.
Brad just glared back, "I don't know who you thing you are, but..."
He didn't get another sound out as Ryan closed the distance with inhuman speed and grabbed Brad by the throat. With the fork stuck in his side, Ryan squeezed the life out of Brad.
Jo screamed and ran back through the cabin with Sarah. As they reached the back door, they could here the truck coming around. They ran out the back and made for the ATV that was parked in the yard.
Ryan dropped Brad's lifeless body and pulled the fork out of side, then jumped onto the deck in one leap. He tore the door off the hinges as he entered the cabin.
Max drove the truck around the cabin, noticing the two women running toward an ATV, he gunned the engine. He noticed that the ATV's engine started running before they got to it.
"Seems like the little minx knows a trick," he whispered under his breath as he slowed down for Ryan, who came sprinting out the back door and jumped into the truck.
Startled by the ATV, but too afraid to change their course, the girls jumped on it and started toward a nearby wooded area. The slight head start assisted them as they were able to make it to the tighter confines of the trees before the truck could reach them. They looked back over their shoulder and watched as the truck speed off along the tree line.
"We have to find someone to help us." Jo said as they picked their way through the small forest.
***
Jo and Sarah rode out of the forested area near a highway. They spotted a truck stop and started toward it.
"We should be able to get help there."
They made their way around the building and stopped suddenly as the saw the boarded up windows.
"No. No. No. This can't be happening," Jo slammed her fist on the ATV's handles.
In the distance, the engine of a truck could be heard. The girls pulled the ATV behind the closed truck stop and hid it in the woods. They went to the back door and finding it unlocked, went in.
"They're going to find us in here and they're going to kill us," Jo sobbed uncontrollably.
"We can't give up, Jo, we've got to find a way," Sarah comforted her friend. "Go look in the kitchen and see if you can find anything that we can use as weapons."
Jo hesitated for a moment and then headed off down the hall toward where the kitchen should be. The sound of the truck could be heard passing by, giving the girls a little hope.
Sarah turned the other direction and made her way toward the bathrooms. She pushed the door open and approached the mirror, bracing herself for the ghastly visage. Even though she knew what to expect, the face in the mirror still filled her with terror.
The face that stared back was similar to her own, but very different. The hair was disheveled and wild, the face grey and dead, but it was the eyes that filled Sarah with the most dread, for they were black as tar. In the mirror, her shirt was splattered with blood, as was the wall (Picture 1).
"You have to find Granny Elsa or all will be lost," Maggie begged. "Leave your friend or she will die."
"I don't know a Granny Elsa. Where does she live? How can I find her?" Sarah wanted to help, but did not know what to do.
"She lives in a farmhouse, up the road from here. You must hurry."
The familiar sound of their pursuers' truck was suddenly heard coming from the front of the abandoned building. Sarah composed herself and darted out of the bathroom, down the hall and out the back door. She jumped on the ATV and drove it around toward the front of the building, where Ryan and Max were approaching the boarded door.
"Hey! I'm over here you murdering bastards," Sarah hollered as she gunned the throttle and sped up the road away from the truck stop and away from her best friend.
Max and Ryan rushed back to the truck and spun it around to get back on the road. She had a head start, but the truck was faster than the ATV and they started closing the distance.
Sarah looked over her shoulder repeatedly at the truck as it rapidly gained ground on her. Due to her lack of concentration, she hit a large tree limb, which caused the ATV to flip and toss her into the ditch. She pulled herself to her knees and noticed a farmhouse less than a quarter of a mile away.
As she started crawling toward the farmhouse, she felt a tingling that reminded her of when the ATV started itself. She looked back as the truck barreled toward her, but just as it passed by the ATV, the small vehicle exploded. The force of the blow tore the passenger door off and took Ryan's head with it.
The truck was knocked on its side, sliding down the road, sending sparks everywhere. It finally skidded to a stop about fifty feet away from the injured woman.
Sarah pulled herself to her feet and started loping toward the farmhouse, half dragging her injured left leg. A feeling of relief washed over her as she got closer to the farmhouse. She could see an old lady stepping out the front door, surrounded by cats. Just then, something grabbed her by the back of the neck.
"So close, yet so far away," a voice whispered in her ear.
The snap of her own neck was the last thing that she heard.
Max grinned as he held her lifeless body, but the grin quickly turned to horror as dozens of cats attacked him. He was unable to get free as the life ebbed from his host's body. He knew that he was headed back home where his partner was already waiting for him, but at least he had accomplished his mission.
***
Granny Elsa walked over to the body of the dead girl.
"Poor poor child, this was terribly tragic."
She bent over the dead body and touched it on the forehead.
"May your soul find peace."
As she walked back toward her house, the body was drawn into the earth.
Returning to her parlor, Granny Elsa sat on her sofa, surrounded by her pet cats (Picture 3). She looked up at the mirror on the wall and smiled at the face staring back at her.
"You needn't fear, dear Maggie, for you never have to go back there again. Granny Elsa will keep you safe."
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