The little girl ran to her parents, trembling, and her face pale as the ice water. She was crying and muttering at the same time. The warm tears flowed down her cheeks and onto her mother’s hand. The man had appeared again.
The mother consoled her, telling her that it was just some old man playing a joke on her. She promised that she would visit Thomas and put him in his place. She would make it clear how cruel and perverse he was.
The father was more voracious and folded his fists in threatening signs, as he vomited angry threats against the old man. He would take it to that old pig; he swore, promising the little girl that the next time he would make the streets run red.
She stopped crying. She looked at her father through tear-filled eyes. She felt proud of her parents. They were ready to die for her. The old man was better off that her brother was not home. She dried her eyes as a group of bells jingled in the distance. Her gaze met those of her father. It was ice cream time. Yes! It was Sunday and everyone would be eating ice cream. She waited impatiently as the truck made its way toward them, stopping at almost every gate.
Barnaby Lane was a cluster of residential buildings, most of them two stories high. Just pegged neatly together, awaiting the next natural disaster. More than three thousand people were living on this rather long avenue. It connected Sonnets Avenue and Ridgetown Square. There were no parks, shops, bars, or one selling hot dogs on the corner. There was a little church in the middle of the street, one of the few low-rise buildings that formed this town.
The church was rather old and the youth cared nothing about it. Yet, this was a rather large and important street.
Decorated with three lanes, two entering and one pointing out, it was almost a place for races. The people must have grown tired of it. They placed sleeping police all over the stretch, making it impossible to speed.
That night, Doris went to bed early but was unable to sleep, so she silently crept into her mother’s bed. The mother knew that her twelve-year-old daughter was still frightened by the events earlier this evening.
She cuddled her in her arms and swore in her mind, to put an end to this. Nevertheless, she was tired and soon fell asleep. Doris was left alone again. However, she felt a little better in her mother’s arms. Peebles turned off the lights downstairs and the room grew darker yet. It was still early, she told herself, and she had company with her.
She listened to every single sound that moved in the darkness of the solitary night. Dogs were barking as usual, and vehicles passing by the window on the still, busy street. A few people walk by, chatter, and laugh. A motorbike, or even an ambulance.
The night was her friend. In a way, she knew it more than anyone else. She listened to it. It told her things that no one else knew. She learned last week that a gang was forming at the lane’s end. They were werewolves, but not yet ready to feed. They would wait for the full moon.
Two wise men were living beside the church. They were preparing for the hunting night. They were eager to get their hands on these younger wolves; the older ones were just a bit too strong. She learned all this and much more, by listening to the night. Tonight would be no different; the night would bring her something new. She waited patiently. It would come.
Peebles entered her room, then seeing his sister was not there, went down the corridor to his den. She heard all that. It was his ritual. He would enter; she would pretend to be asleep. Then he would kiss her on the forehead, cover her with the blanket, then he would leave, closing the door behind him. She waited patiently. One last person. Her dad came home exactly at ten every day, except for Sundays. He would go bowling over on Ridgetown Lane. He would be home in one hour.
The baker’s truck puffed its way to the parking lot and he started singing his ‘funny, familiar, forgotten feelings, start walking all over my mind’. She loved the piece. Some nights she hummed along in her mind, but sometimes she could imagine herself dressed in a red, flowing silk dress, dancing with him.
After a while, she finally heard her father’s bike, roaring out into the silent night. She sneaked from her mother’s arms and softly stepped down the corridor to close her room door. Quickly she strolled down the concrete staircase, all the way to the hollow space that formed below them.
Her father never suspected, not for once. He was always so sure that she was asleep in her bed. She stood up from below the stairs, stretched her body, and yawned, covering her mouth. She felt them again. They were getting longer. Was this imaginary too? She fetched the long white robe and the red wig. She put them on and as she weighed nothing, slid out the back door and wandered out into the night.
Lisa, how the town loved to call her by the nickname, Mona Lisa. But she never minds. Someone even told her once that she was more beautiful than the painting. She married him shortly afterward with no known regrets. He brought her flowers, took her shopping, and every three months, he would allow her to visit her family for about five days.
What she didn’t like, even though she attributed it to his manhood. Whenever she got back home from visiting, the house was such a mess. The dishes were unwashed, the house dusty and full of hair, but she couldn’t deny how neatly his bed was.
She was really happy. She crossed over to the left side of Barnaby Lane, greeted the baker, and then kept walking. She noticed how handsome his teenage son was. One day, maybe, he would notice Doris. They would get married and have children.
Thomas was cleaning the front garden when she got there. He straightened up, took off his hat, and made a bow. She smiled at him beside herself and made a curtsy. She remembered when they used to dance in the bowling hall, how he was such a gentleman. She struggled to push the memory from her mind. She had other business today.
‘Good morning, O.T, I need to talk with you.’ She was careful not to get ahead of the game.
‘Anytime, my Lisa, anytime. Do come on in, may I offer you some tamarind juice?’ Not much has changed; he still had that sparkle in his eyes that was rather contagious. He could inspire hope in anyone.
‘I am in a bit of a hurry. Thanks, anyway. But I do need to land a complaint.’ She pulled out her handkerchief and wiped her forehead gently.
‘Did Bengie escape again? Will have to get a new leash for him…’
‘No, O.T, it’s not Bengie, at all, she stared into his eyes. ‘You wouldn’t happen to be playing ghost jokes with my Doris, would you O.T’
‘No, my Lisa, why would you ever think that?’ The amazement in his voice made her swallow.
‘Yesterday my daughter came running from behind your plot, she said she saw a ghost, again’
‘You mean she had seen one before? Here is my plot of land. What did it look like?’ his expression made it clear that he was not involved.
‘It was a red-haired woman in a white tunic.’ She felt rather sad, why did she even bother to come? How could she have thought that of him?
‘Mi Lisa, I was not here yesterday, but there are some rumors about such a ghost. It has been seen many nights, even the old baker came face to face with it a few days ago. Said it came out singing with him.’
‘You mean our baker?’ Thomas nodded. She bade him goodbye and headed over to the baker’s house.
About four women were chattering in the old parking lot. It was the same theme, one of them had seen the ghost the night before. This time it had shot fire from her eyes. She had turned off her porch light late but felt like someone was watching her. She went back inside, but curious about the constant barking of the dog, she dared to go back onto the porch, only with her flashlight.
A low white fog rose from the grass and surrounded her. She felt the hair on the back of her neck standing straight. Then a redhead ghost walked out of the shadows and tried to burn her with fire, she screamed loudly and ran inside, forgetting to close the door behind her. She locked the door of her room and prayed for the light of dawn. Yet, it would seem that the fathom never followed.
Lisa walked home even more worried. They would have to protect Doris.
That night Doris slept alone. She had a rather busy day and decided to sleep early. However, as usual, she felt no sleep, she tried to understand what happened the night before, but she herself was perplexed. Peebles finally came, he tucked her in, covering her feet and body with the blanket. He lowered to kiss her as usual but lingered a bit. He ran his finger down from her forehead down to her neck. He lingered there for a brief moment. He lowered his head and kissed her there.
For a moment she felt his teeth lingering on her soft skin. But then he lifted his head and walked out of the room.
Wednesday started with sirens, ambulances, the local police, and finally the National Guard. It was the baker’s son. His body was found in the open lot behind Thomas’ garden. He had called the police, who later called the ambulances. The rumors floated again and filled the small street with fear and horror. The first conclusion was of a huge ghost dog that ate great parts of the lad’s body. The rumors flooded the street again when a second body was found. This time, a young woman in her early twenties. She was bled dry of blood. Her pale, lifeless body was found in the old parking lot. There were no scars on her skin except for two nail marks on her neck.
Lisa walked into the dark corridor. Her mind filled with the deaths and stories surrounding them. Was there a bear in Barnaby Lane, and what about the girl? How did she lose so much blood? Moreover, no wounds.
She remembered the dark tales of her grandmother. She said that one day, there would come a time of reckoning for all the evil that we ever did. Times when things we never thought possible, came out of the abyss and torment us.
Was it coming to pass? Would something invade her home and eat her children? There was so much tension, so much doubt.
She entered Doris’ room and found her bed already made. She picked up the dirty clothes from the bin. She closed the door but then opened it again. She peered inside for a while. Closed the door behind her and went to get Peebles’ clothes. Peeble’s bed was also neatly made. She smiled, he must have learned this from his father. Yet, there was an awful odor. Something like an unwashed dog. She would have to send the maid up here, even though she knew the lad would be mad. But how could he sleep in this?’
She opened the bin and her right arm flew to her mouth. She reached down slowly and picked up the shirt, it was covered in blood. She brought it gingerly to her nose, the smell making her want to throw up. How did one get so much blood on his shirt? Was he injured? Did he encounter that animal last night? Where was he now?
Deep inside her, she prayed that he would not become the third victim. This evening she planned to visit the church. It would be her first time in sixteen years.
There was a knock on the door, then the timbre. She closed the door behind her, being sure to hide the blood-soaked shirt. She opened the door and found a pair of law enforcement officers there. One was from the local police, and the other was from the National Guard.
‘Miss Campbell, Miss Lisa Campbell?’ the officer from the National Guard asked without introducing himself.
‘How may I help you?’ she felt nervous as he began to interrogate her. She assured him that her husband was at work, and her son and daughter were at school. She breathed a sigh of relief after they left
She sat down on the floor, just digging her feet into the brown carpet, while she tossed her worries in her head. She wished her husband would come home early tonight, if not, how could she sleep?
O.T sat by the pond, the waters were still and seemed so innocent, but he knew better. She had come to him here. One minute he was a goner, sinking like a rock, and the next moment he was lying safely in her arms. She had walked out of the water, stepping softly on the waves and ripples. She laid him on his back and kissed his lips. He opened his eyes and reached out his hands and hugged her. She kept kissing and he could never love anyone else after.
He still regretted it, maybe he had been too harsh, a bit too drastic. No one else knew, only Lisa. He threw a stone in the water, expecting, hoping that she would walk out of the water as she used to. But deep inside he knew that she was gone. Yet those rumors, the red-headed ghost in the white robe, could it be possible?
He felt the urge to call out her name, just once for old-time’s sake. What could possibly go wrong?
A ripple appeared in the water, something moved. His heart skipped a beat. He crossed his fingers and bit down on his lips.
‘De Rosa?’
A fish leaped to the surface and swallowed a grasshopper. He shook his head and then slowly walked away. He didn’t see when a long, frog-like tongue reached up and dragged the fish below the water.
Lisa walked onto the wooden ramp; she didn’t want to leave her baby girl behind. She paused even though the train blew its horn again. The porter pressed her to hurry. But she only tried to understand why Bobby had left in such haste. Was he worried about the kids? He could surely protect them, just like he always did. What was she not getting?
She ran the circumstances through her mind bit by bit. There is a brunette ghost stalking the neighborhood. There have been three deaths in four days, one bled dry, and two eaten. Only one was found near the pond. That pond.
She made an about-turn. How could she have been so blind? She hadn’t been listening at all.
What did Peebles say? ‘It was only a bullet scratch, Mom, nothing to worry about, it will soon go away.’
She had to find the cop from the National Guard. She knew what the assassin was. So, that is what the vacations were all about. How could she have trusted him?
She grabbed her suitcase and hired a taxi home.
Doris listened to the water as it bubbled up from the bottom of the pond. This was where she had found it. The little black box was almost the size of a matchbox, just a tiny bit bigger. There was an inscription on the upper side that said ‘Tap 3 Times’.
She had tapped the box three times and nothing had happened, so she had thrown it into the pond. But that night something fell on her bed. She had jumped up and would have run out screaming if not for the beautiful gift wrapping. When she opened her gift, she found the wig and the white robe.
The box carried a small note inside ‘You will become death’, but she was certain that it was her brother and his crazy jokes. Yet, when she had hugged and kissed him with that ‘thanks bro’, he seemed lost. She had tried it on – the wig at first, then the white robe. For a few days, nothing unusual happened, just that deep, inner burning to put it on again, and again. One night she had a dream. She saw herself flying over the town. She was dressed in the wig and the robe, but she was much bigger and fire flashed from her hands and eyes.
When she woke up the next morning, there were burnt marks all over her pillow and the bedspread. Once again, she accused Peebles, but he only called her crazy. But then one night she woke up dressed in the wig and the robe, floating above her bed. She had never turned back since. However, the events of last night were different. She had felt more power and was able to throw more fire and bigger flames. Yet, it was the thirst that bothered her. She drank more and more water, but it never quenched the hunger. What could she do?
The two fangs in her upper jaws were getting longer and soon someone would notice. Was she a vampire, would she drink human blood? She was worried about Peebles. There was a strange wound on his arm. He had told her of a stray bullet, a scratch? But it was rather long and deep, Things were changing, and she would have to stay out much longer tonight.
That night, Peebles did not come to tuck her in. Her father came home on time and after a late sandwich, they all went to bed. Where was her brother?
It was about midnight when she finally stepped into the night. It was rather chilly and she wrapped the white robe around her. It felt warm, almost like it was alive. She shrugged off the thought. Too impossible. She walked down Burnaby, floating more than using her feet. She looked down and noticed that she was floating higher tonight. On a hunch, she raised her arms like how she had seen the comic heroes do.
She flew upward. She tried many different hand maneuvers. Finally, she realized that she could fly. She enjoyed it for a while, flying up and down, to and fro, then, in circles like the vulture over the cadaver. She saw a man and a woman hugging and kissing in the dark, under the half moon. Today she had looked it up online and found out that the full moon would be a once-in-a-century red moon.
Was that why the young wolves were here? Would they destroy the city? Would her parents be eaten by werewolves?
There was another couple down below. The lad was trying to kiss the girl, but she seemed drugged or sleeping. She lowered a bit and noticed that there was blood on the girl’s body and that the lad was eating her body. Bite by bite.
This was not a werewolf. They only turned during the full moon. The animal sensed her and paused, looked at both sides, but seeing nothing, continued to eat. She felt the urge to burn it alive. She lowered a bit more and paused in midflight.
Peebles was chewing away on the girl’s left hand, What had her brother become and how would she stop him? Could she even kill her own brother? Unable to decide, she flew away to the other side of the pond, luring southward toward the Brixle Hotel. A masked man was taking advantage of the night and was robbing the Pharmacy on the other side of the street. The man had finally managed to eliminate the alarm system and was now cutting through the glass window with a glass cutter.
The window was about half an inch thick and it was taking him a bit to cut the glass. Doris floated down to where he was, without making a sound. She watched him for a while then, seeing that he would take all night to cut through the pane, she cleared her throat. The man dropped the glass cutter and turned around to face her. The view was too astonishing for him and he was paralyzed by the floating lady with fire flashing from her hands.
‘Mind if I helped you with that?’ she landed softly like a cat. He staggered back, before falling to the ground.
She walked over to him, step by step, wondering why he was wiggling backward. The man tried to scream but even though he opened his mouth no sound resounded in the silent night. She reached down and lifted him to his feet. He felt like a feather. Nothing.
She brought him closer to her, then wrapped her arms around him like a lover’s embrace. She felt the thirst again, so strong this time. She opened her mouth and thought to bite him. But suddenly something else burst free from his body. A dark, shadowy substance floated to her paralyzed mouth and she tasted it. Licked her lips, then swallowed some more.
Then like a lion starved for decades, devoured all of it, ounce per ounce until it was all gone. She rose her head and lifted her mouth to the skies, then allowed a small belch to echo into the night. She let go of the lifeless robber, turned around, and floated back into the night. She was not a vampire, she mused. What was she?
Doris rubbed her stomach, stretched, yawned, then took to the air again. She floated for a while, smiling with the night. This was her night. The moon shone down on her red wig, seeming like a welcome gesture. She bowed her head, just like how her mother taught her to. She owned it and would let everyone know.
She remembered Peebles and swooped down to find him. Too late, he was already gone. She uttered a shriek that echoed into the distant hills. She doubled her knees and shot back into the skies. Searching, hoping to find him. Yet deep inside, Doris knew that he was gone. She sighed heavily, circled overhead once more, then headed home.
Peebles entered through the opened window, wondering who could have opened it, landing with care, and preciseness. He smelled the sweet fragrance of blood all around him. He peered into the dark, the scent was so strong. He felt no thirst, no desire for this sweet blood.\
The lights came on.
Doris no longer needed to use the door. Somehow, she knew that. She walked through the locked door and stood motionlessly. She made no sound, she could feel their souls, smell their fear. Ten people were sitting in the living room. They had not seen her yet; they only felt her presence. She could read their thoughts, and she wondered even more about what she had become. She reached out to the person standing about three feet away from her. He was a police officer, sent here to escort them to the lake. The memory stopped there without explaining why.
The next officer revealed the same line of thoughts and she moved to the next person. It was Peebles, two officers were pointing their guns at his head. He was afraid and breathing heavily. She couldn’t see his memories. Why?
The lights came on almost blinding her. She stepped back and would have fled, knowing that the door would shield her from the bullets.
‘Doris’ the voice stopped her in mid-stride. She whirled around to face it.
‘What are you doing here, mom?’ She gasped as she noticed that the other two guards held their riffles at her dad’s head.
‘Doris, I need you to sit down, I was unsure about you, but I took precautions.’
Lisa was wearing a white wig and a red robe. She appeared to float just as she could. The two cops turned around and pointed their guns at Doris. She walked over to the stairs where a seventh person, a national guard, was pointing his revolver at her.
‘Doris, I am sorry it has come to this. I must tell all of you what I know. Before I married your father I was madly in love with OT, we made plans to get married, but one day he went to the pond to bring me my favorite water lilies. He stayed too long, so, I went to see what was keeping him.
‘I found him kissing a beautiful woman with a tail and wings. The creature mocked me and I decided to destroy it and get my Thomas back. But he was already lost. She had mesmerized him forever. I was reading a fairytale one day when I came across a creature just like her. I told OT and we went together to see if the story was true.
‘Turned out that it was. I hid behind the bushes, as he lured it to the water surface. The beast came and as he tapped three times on an empty matchbox, the monster was forced into the box. But not before promising that all my family would grow with her traits.
‘Your dad is a wolf hunter. He feeds on werewolves. He invites young wolves here each year and hunts them. Peebles is a lone wolf. He kills women who have had abortions or have killed a child, just like how that monster took away my sister, Penny.’
‘Mom, you can read minds too?’
‘No, Doris, I have no magical talents like you. They have both confessed to us. I am dressed like this because it neutralizes her power.’
‘But, mom, why doesn’t it work with me? I can still feel your souls, I can even read…: Doris wheeled around to face the National Guard. Fire kindled from her wrists. The official pulled the hammer back, raised the revolver, and waited. The other two officers followed the queue.
‘Doris, please don’t.”
Even as she pleaded, Lisa realized her error. The bullets rained on her body, rocking it back and forth like a slow pendulum. With a loud shriek, she pounced on the guard and knocked the pistol from his grip. A dark grey shadow flowed slowly from his body. She closed her ears to the supplications coming from her father, Lisa, and Peebles. She opened her mouth wide, her fangs glittering against the ceiling lights. Suddenly, she stopped and stood up, ignoring the rain of bullets still passing through her body.
‘No! Not the pond! Please OT!’ She uttered a scream, her hand moving all over her body, even as the window panes shattered and fell to the floor.
‘No, no, not my children, please don’t burn the pond. No, no, not the pond..’
Doris fell to the floor, her body still and pale. The offices moved closer, examining her from a distance. Lisa stroked Doris’ cheek. They were warm, and although she was unconscious, she was glad that it was over.
The tears ran down OT’s wrinkled cheeks, and he let them flow. He knew that someday Lisa would have put an end to what he was unable to let go of. He watched now as the truck moved the concrete mixer in place. His father once told him ‘Hell has no demons like a woman’s wrath.’
The National Guard filed his report, hoping that somehow the Captain would receive it. He almost died that night, he had seen his body in the little girl’s grasp. How was all this possible? Were there more creatures like these out there?
For now, he was stationed at the Great Lake Police Department, he made daily visits to Lisa and Thomas but avoided the little girl. It was not that he hated her, but something in her eyes bothered him. Whenever she looked at him, he felt like she wanted to devour the rest of his soul.
Last week, the lifeless bodies of four teenage boys washed up on the Great Lake beach. They had no wounds. Just two nail holes on their necks. Was it over? Was it worth sealing the pond?
He tapped his pen on the old Oliver Reed desk, looked up at the ceiling, and whispered a silent prayer. ‘Lord, if you are there, please help us.’
