CHAPTER ELEVEN: NIGHTMARE’S CHOICE

The door’s lock clicked behind Calin while he glanced about for any sign of the creature.

All clear.

In a quick motion, he signalled for Jerry, that they should run across the street to the next building.

With trepidation they started over the street. Calin eyed the two-track road alongside the Jacobs’ house for any movement as he moved with quiet precision.

He and Jerry had a lot of practice in sneaking around pulling pranks. Right now, Calin was infinitely glad that he had, albeit reluctantly, tagged along with the boy on so many of those little adventures.

Next to the elevated road with the small brick wall, there was a drop down to a walkway. He slid over the wall and dropped behind Jerry. They both were staring at the direction of the fields. If the creature came now, they’d be in big trouble.

A noise sounded to his right.

Panicked, Calin spun to defend himself, only to find, Evany sneaking behind them with a baseball bat in her hands. All he could do was gasp and pull the girl hastily below the edge of the wall.

He hissed at her, but kept his voice down.

“Evany, are you insane?! I told you to stay inside. Go back now!”

The girl shook her head determinedly and his heart sank with it. In frustration he grabbed her arm again and said in a harsh whisper.

“You insufferable woman! Go back, please.”

Evany shook her head again, before she stated in a clear voice. “No. And yes I am a woman. I can make my own choices.”

“You’re Nineteen!” exclaimed Calin.

“So? You’re almost eighteen, and Jerry is almost seventeen, so I’m the oldest here. I’m going with you if you like it or not.”

Calin gasped in exasperation.

“There is a frikken monster lurking about and you decide to go all stubborn donkey on us now? Please safe us…” Calin couldn’t help but plead then, “Jerry try to talk some sense into her.”

But the boy seemed twitchy as he said, “Calin I don’t know about you, but I think we wasted far too much time here, that thing can come around that corner any second, let’s just get out of here. We can drop her off after we are certain she will be safe.”

Expecting a protest bubbling up in Evany at the ‘drop her off part’, Calin silenced her and made the choice.

The decision felt physical as he swallowed his frustration with effort and whispered.

“Fine fine! Just stay close, and keep silent. You’re part of it now.”

It was incredibly hard to admit, it was the last thing he had wanted for the girl.

He resigned himself to it, but it came with a deep sigh. Silently he wondered what he got himself into with taking the girl along. He grabbed Evany’s wrist and drew her after them into the night.

***

The three of them ran silently behind the houses, or as silently as they could, Calin cringed half of the time when one of the others accidentally kicked at something and the noise echoed against the walls of the street. There was nothing he could do about it, so he pressed on.

Concern carved at his nerves as he slipped into a small alley to check if they were still all clear, he wanted to be sure.

His lungs heaved with heavy breaths, as much from the running as for the fear that coursed through him. After mustering some courage he looked around the corner eyeing every shadow.

Nothing. The sigh was deep with relief before he turned to go back, but then the sound of someone crying in muffled sobs stopped him.

He listened carefully. It was in the building he was shouldering. It didn’t take long for his heart to start pulsing with fear again.

The men had mentioned a woman...

But he didn’t think it possible. Maybe it was... No it can’t be Misses Darly can it? The thought unnerved him greatly and he motioned for the others to come closer. “I’m going around the corner. I just want to check something.”

Jerry was the first to protest, but he silenced him with two words.

“Misses Darly.”

It worked, Jerry muttered something but motioned for him to go. Evany was silent as a statue. It was all but sure she felt this was a bad dream and that’s it, but it wasn’t. So he reached out and patted her shoulder.

Inhaling deeply, he slipped around the corner.

A soft thud close by stopped him for a moment and without warning the light above him went out.

Before he panicked Jerry’s voice came from behind. “Sorry, I just wanted to give you some cover in the dark.” Calin let his held breath go, and smiled before he slipped around the corner in the shadows.

What he found made him panic. He stormed towards the splintered door of the electrician’s shop.

It was hard not to stumble as he tried to shimmy across the wooden beams.

One of his leaps caught a broken T.V and lost his balance careening forward into a beam. But it stopped most of his momentum.

To his horror, there were blood stains leading away from it. His breaths came in faster, his throat dry.

He couldn’t handle the thoughts that were threatening to surface as he desperately searched for the two people who have always been friendly to him.

In his search he squeezed past a rack and there was Misses Darly. His heart leapt with relief, but it was short lived, she was crying heavily.

With no regard to himself he scrambled towards the woman sitting in her dirty dress on the ground.

“Misses Darly! Are you alrigh—” but he couldn’t get another word out as she turned to him with a true shocked expression and jumped him with a great gasp. She embraced him in a bear hug, all the while saying his name, “Calin! Oh my boy! Calin...you’re alright...thank goodness...I’m so sorry.”

Calin pushed her off gently, as much to get some air, as to stare at her in confusion.

“Misses Darly? I’m fine, I’m more worried about you sitting here crying on the ground, not to mention the front of the shop is thrashed. What happened...” He looked around suddenly, no trace of someone else.

He asked with a grave voice, “Where is Eric?”

She regarded him, but then waved him off. In panic Calin wanted to demand an answer. But his question was answered a moment later by a male voice to his left.

“Calin? I’m so glad you’re alright.”

Spinning around he met a bloodied Eric.

The man had a long cut on his forearm. It was enough to make Calin’s eyes go wide as he said breathlessly, “I’m fine!! Both of you, but are you alright?”

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They both answered in unison. “Yes yes...” Misses Darly took over, “We will be fine, it was you we were most worried about, after those men and their...”

The woman shuddered at something she remembered. “Those things! I’ve never seen anything in the like, Calin I’m so sorry. They forced us to tell them where the boy struck by lightning was. We knew it was you. But still, it was the hardest thing I had to do in my life, if they haven’t threatened Eric’s life I would’ve never told them anything, you must understand... ... you must... I didn’t want to...”

It all was a shock to Calin, not for them telling on him, but that they didn’t want to. It touched his heart, and he pulled the hyper ventilating woman into his arms and hugged her.

He didn’t know what to say, but was spared when Eric said, “We really feared the worst for you when they set off with those three beasts.”

The word hit like a hammer, and he asked in a heartbeat. “Three?”

“Yes, three of them,” the man said, “Did you see them?”

Calin’s heart jumped at the confirmation, he released the woman and turned his attention to the door and said half dazed. “I only saw one. We got away from that one, and came here...”

He turned to find two anxious faces, but then a frown crossed the woman’s face and she said, “We? Is Jerry out there?”

It was a moment of realization, he gasped. The other two creatures could’ve been waiting in ambush anywhere, he sprang away from the two electricians and ran for the broken door. As he cornered the big supporting beam, he was barrelled over by Jerry and Evany, they fell to the floor and the two of them dragged him behind a large T.V.

With some effort, Calin tried to free himself from the grip, but couldn’t quite get loose before he said, “Jerry what...”

“Shhh, one of them is out there.” Jerry whispered.

He stopped struggling at Jerry’s words and nodded. Keeping quiet, he got to his knees and motioned for Jerry and a terrified Evany to follow. They crawled to where Misses Darly and her husband were.

Before the two could say anything, he shot up his hands to make sure they stay quiet. Eric crouched next to him and whispered. “What’s going on?”

Leaning in closer Calin said, “One of those creatures out front, I think... Do you have a back door?”

He hoped so, as he watched the two electricians go pale at the words. Right then, all he wanted was to get out, for him and his friends. This is insane... he tried to calm his own ragged breath as Eric tilted his head to the back of the store.

Without wasting another second, he nodded and signalled for Evany and Jerry to follow him with the two electricians shortly behind.

Moments later they reached an old rusted door. It wasn’t budging under Eric’s grip, so Calin got up next to the man and they both pushed at the handle, his already sore hands ached at the strain, even with it being wrapped up.

Everything seemed to creak in the shop. He was getting anxious. But all he could do was wish that none of it was that creature as they tried to get the door open.

After long minutes, the latch sprung open and they fell backwards at the swinging door. Calin sat down heavily, but he was up in no time and checked if everything was okay outside.

Satisfied, he signalled the others to come outside.

Before he could think of which way they should go, Eric came up next to him and shoved a brand new knife into his hands. The blade spoke volumes of where it was bought; only an outdoors’ shop featured such knives. The man spoke up after a moment. “They seem to be after you... you might need it more than we do.”

It was too sudden, Calin wanted to deny the gift, but Eric shook his head. “No, you take it. Darly and I both have other means of defence. You know how we love odds and ends.” A glint was in the man’s eyes.

Calin’s lips tugged up in a knowing smile, wondering what those two had up their sleeves. His mirth was short lived as the sound of breaking glass reached his ears.

Immediately he spun to shut the door. As the rusted latch clicked in place, he slipped in next to the others, ready to go. It was tempting to run far away, but the moment made up Calin’s mind. He was going to that house.

His hand shot up for everybody to stay quiet and with that he set off, trying not to run, but not wanting to go too slow either.

He settled with a careful trot.

The footfalls grated almost like iron plates over the cobble stones with his adrenalin heightened senses. It made him cringe. I wish I had paid more attention to the Jorge and his hunting tips, those tips would sure have come in handy right about now.

But it was too late now, so he bit his lip and kept on going. The houses were almost going past in a blur. While deep in thought, Calin almost forgot to stop as the houses came to a stop.

He skidded to a halt in the middle of Seaside road.

The water front was a few meters away as he regained his balance. The sound of waves moving under the wooden jetties was thick in the air. In quick succession he signalled the others to stop, but as he lifted his hand, his eyes went down the street.

There, no more than fifty metres away, stood one of the black creatures. Its scaled body was facing away from him, even if just slightly. He froze. What now?

In a split second decision, Calin dived for the side of the docks.

In an attempt to get over the edge, he fell to his belly and slid over it. His hands gripped the wood hard as he lowered himself down to a beam close to the water, his boots stuck to the black substance of pitch as he waited.

After a few moments, he risked a glance over the side. The dimly lit road came into view and he spotted the thing that had his heart racing.

He watched the creature sniffing at the barrels at the corner.

A groan escaped Calin at the sight. There was no doubt that he had sat on those for a minute when he had searched for Jerry the other day. It knew his scent, it was almost a certainty. All that remained was to figure out what to do next; how to get away from those things and their keepers. At least it looked distracted by different scent trails.

But as Calin stared over the edge of the jetty a soft “Pssst” met his ears. With a quick shift in his weight he got a look at the others hiding behind the house.

He lifted one of his hands signalling that he was okay. Jerry signalled the same. Without waiting he quickly motioned for Jerry and the others to move away from the creature’s direction, left, towards a large iron container. There were nods of understanding and the four of them moved out.

They were making progress. But he shuddered an instant later as he remembered the creature. He was almost too late. It turned towards his general direction. Calin shot down below the edge.

Though, not before he made out a great white scar adorning the side of the creature’s eye bank.

Much to his dismay, his grip was not as good as he hoped, but he endured the strain in his arms the second the sound of thudding footsteps closed in on him.

Calin cringed as the breathing of the monster became apparent. In an attempt to stay hidden, he pressed his back against a vertical beam. He closed his eyes instinctively as he slowly slid the fingertips, of the hand still gripping edge, out of sight. The seconds ticked by like full minutes, before his fingers were completely below the deck.

With the softest breath Calin could muster, he started to move his foot from the beam and searched blindly in the dark under the jetty for another beam to balance his weight. He stiffened as his foot thudded lightly against the wood in the dark.

The next moment, there was loud sniffing noises above the boards’ right to the left of him. No...the creature’s massive body was shifting over the creaking planks.

His blood turned cold when the thing growled above him. It reverberated through the small gaps in the wood.

The air shifted through his hair at the snuffling.

He had to tense all his muscles to keep himself from shaking with fear before he tried lowering his body as far as he could to get some distance, he clung desperately to the vertical beam as the claws started scraping loudly above him.

The last desperate idea of jumping into the water and swimming away became more appealing by the second. He was about to jump into the water, when a loud unfamiliar voice came from somewhere above him.

“Shawra, stop that! Come here… NOW! The others spotted the boy at the fields. They got some of his blood now. You’ll get to go on a blood — ...EY!? Ey, MOVE IT! We can’t let him get away.”

There was no doubt that the whining that wailed through the air came from the monster. It sent chills through Calin’s spine. He held his breath as another set of loud scrapes started above him.

But a moment later there were angy grunts and a bright flash of light erupted through the small gaps.

With it an unearthly screech filled the air. The sound made Calin clap his hands over his ears as it echoed through the abandoned street.

Then it was followed by heavy footsteps fading away from him. With a hard exhale of breath Calin slumped against the beam and breathed heavily.

The next moment he almost fell off the beam as a head came peeking over the edge. Hazel speckled eyes met his gaze.

After quickly grabbing at another beam, he steadied himself. He sighed as Evany reached for him.

“Come on, they’re gone up the road at a speed. Did you see that guy speak to that creature?! This is mad.”

With a shiver in the cool night, Calin nodded and gladly took her hand as she supported him to where he could find his grip on the edge again.

With a huff he clambered up, the girl’s hands crept under his right arm while helping him up. Her eyes looked wide.

Before he got both his feet under him, the girl was already running towards the others. He lumbered after her, feeling a bit stiff at crouching under the docks.

Not able to resist, he glanced back to where the creature had scraped. The boards would not have held more than a few seconds longer from the look of the assault on them. He sighed in relief and stumbled to the others.

They were all whispering with trembling voices as they snuck past the iron container. Quick enough, Calin was met by a quick embrace from Misses Darly, she looked a bit pale. Can’t blame her. He gently patted her shoulder. He nodded to her that they should keep moving.

As they moved past the next door, it burst open, almost hitting him in the chest. He jumped out of the way just in time. Instinctively he had drawn out the knife, pointing it with a shaking hand at the newcomers. But steadied himself and while holstering it, he glanced up at a very drunk Hugo Brans and Url Couper, their eyes were bloodshot.

A yelp escaped him as Hugo grabbed him by the shoulders. The man mistook the sound for a warm greeting as Brans slurred at him. “Calin ma boy!...hic... ya sure glad as I ...hic... be glad to see ya. Want a drink? We got pletty for ya.”

Before Calin could utter a word, Eric and Darly stepped out of the shadows in front of him, dislodging the drunken sailor with a quick shove.

Eric saved him the effort as the man said, “Hugo, Url. Good to see you two in a happy mood. Why don’t we all go inside to talk.”

Calin was stunned at the ease at which Eric had kept the fear that was in each of them from spilling into his words. Both of the electricians grabbed one of the men by the arm, ignored their protests and dragged them back into the house. Darly reached back at Calin and he followed.

As Jerry and Evany moved past him into the house away from the dangers outside, Calin found himself wondering what the robed man had meant as he said they got some of his blood.

It troubled him greatly as he closed the door to the black night outside.