Red River Song by A. R. Mummey
Chapter Five
I went straight to bed, letting my thoughts roll over in my mind. Wait. Had I told him I had to work early? I couldn’t recall having said it, but how else could he have known? I sat up, the weird list mounting. Running over the evening, I tallied the strangeness. His touch, his speed. He knew Heath had been following us. He knew I had to work early.
Some could be explained away. Maybe he really did have good eyesight. Maybe he really hadn’t been thirsty, but … I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off, and I knew it wasn’t just him. I was off. The pull I felt toward him left me with a chill. Not to mention my flaming hands. Sleep eluded me, and when it did come, so did terror.
It was dark, cold, and I was running. They were following me. They were going to catch me. I couldn’t see them, but I knew if I stopped running, death would soon follow. I was in the woods, nowhere I recognized. So cold, so frozen. Every breath was like a knife in my chest. Trees whizzed past me as I stumbled, clawing my way through the blackened forest. I could hear nothing but my ragged breaths and rapid heartbeat. Fear clawed at me. I couldn’t stop tripping over my feet as I ran clumsily onward. I knew if I slowed or stopped, it was over. I had to keep going, keep fighting.
I saw a clearing up ahead. A clearing and a house, a cottage. Hope. I kept going. I was suddenly elated and buoyant. Soon, soon, I kept repeating in my head. I just had to get to the house, dazzling, surrounded by soft, comforting light. Surely, the light would protect me, dispel the dangers. I just had to keep going. I was dizzy. How long had I been running?
I was closer now, so close. If I could just reach out and touch the light…. I had to make it. I had to. But, as I thought it, my body slowed. Why wasn’t my body cooperating?
Please keep going, I begged silently. I tried to will my body into action, but it was failing me. It kept slowing and slowing, but the light … the light was so close.
It was gone. I felt my feet falter one last time over a tree limb, and I was down. It was over. I tried to get back up, but the light was gone. The trees, the forest, it was all gone. It was just me in darkness in the middle of a field.
I heard them before I saw them. Like lions stalking their prey. I knew I had only moments left. Desperately, I looked around, but there was nothing. Nowhere to run or hide. Just vast openness all around me. It was done. Pale moonlight streamed across the field as shadows formed, creeping closer. Their black outlines developing as they neared.
I saw their eyes first. The bright whites were shocking. In the center of each were narrow, pitch black dots. The teeth next. Glistening white. And then their faces.
I gasped in horror—Patrick, his skin translucent in the moonlight, his lips curled over his teeth. Had they grown larger? That’s when I saw the rest of them. His teeth had changed on either side of his two front teeth where his last incisors were. They had become longer, larger, pointier. He growled an inhuman sound, his face becoming more distorted. On either side of him were his family. Five in all, they stood, freakishly translucent and inhuman.
I felt my knees buckle, and my brain screamed at my body to run. To move. To do something. I finally felt my head and body work in unison, and I turned right into a frozen wall. No. Not a wall. A body. Terrified, I turned to meet this creature.
Two dark eyes mocked me from under a hood. I couldn’t see its face, but I knew it wasn’t human. The creature reached up slowly to pull back its hood. As it did so, I could feel the hideous laughter of the monsters behind me. Then this creature began to laugh as well—a sickening, deadening laugh.
In that instant, I knew. I knew. It was her! My monster, my demon from the great beyond. My hand shook as I reached forward. I grabbed the hood, my breath catching in my throat. In one motion of sheer determination, I pulled back the hood on the creature.
“Mom,” I gasped as I woke trembling. Tears racking my body. I needed light; my body and mind were screaming for it in the darkness. With a crackling surge of blue, my small apartment was illuminated. Every light in the place shone on.
Letting out a muffled cry, I scrambled to the farthest corner of the room, where I stayed for what felt like hours. I rocked myself back and forth until I could focus. It was a dream. It wasn’t real. I was imagining things. The lights, I must have been sleepwalking or maybe Heath … but I couldn’t think of a lie good enough to convince myself this time. So I sat rocking, back and forth, back and forth, my head spinning.
When I woke, I was still in the corner, my body numb and achy from sleeping with my knees hugged to my chest. Trying to stretch my legs out, I felt the sudden rush of blood send thousands of pins and needles through my legs and feet. “Argh,” I moaned softly. All the lights were still on, and I shuddered violently from the memory. I rolled my stiff neck, stifling a groan.
I glanced at the cable box. Fuck! I was already fifteen minutes late for work. Slowly I stood, wary of the pins and needles, and grabbed the cleanest clothes I could find. Shaking out the kinks, I quickly dressed and limped for the door, turning off as many lights as I could on the way. I didn’t look back. I was still terrified and overwhelmed.
The day crawled by. Every part of my body ached, and my head throbbed from overthinking the past night’s events. The dream, I could explain away. It was just a dream, right? But the lights all turning on at the same time … that was real. It had to be. Otherwise, it meant something far worse.
I felt terrified. My mind had always been slightly off. It was understandable that I suffered from depression: an abusive mother, a neglectful father, an impoverished childhood, my mother’s subsequent death, moving during such a pivotal moment in my life. I’d been to therapy to help cope but found it unhelpful since I didn’t want to talk about my emotions. I took my dose of antidepressants daily to keep my bed of pain at bay. I was fine most of the time. I was coping, and that was that. But this….
If this was my mind, maybe I was sicker than I had ever thought. Maybe my shyness, my sadness, my isolation had warped my mind beyond repair. What if I was hallucinating? That scared me more than anything. I hated the idea of being unable to trust my mind. My mind was all I had.
By the end of the first hour of my shift, I was shaking and on the verge of tears. Hiding in the bathroom trying to find an answer, I knew it was real, but to admit that meant that I believed in … well, what? I wasn’t ready to answer that, nor could I admit that my mind might be crumbling.
Finally, I exited the bathroom after a solid hour, resolving that I needed to journal about what was happening. Get some perspective. Reason needed her day, so I decided to write about all the strange things going on. Most importantly, I resolved to talk to Heath. He clearly had some idea as to what was happening. Not to mention we definitely needed to talk about him following me and the boundaries of our friendship.
I spent the rest of the day avoiding as many people as I could, co-workers and customers alike. Madison kept bolstering me for conversation, ranting about her evening with Heath.
“First of all, he was late. Not just late, but late late. And then he didn’t even apologize,” she fumed. “Then he was, like, distracted the whole night. He was there but not, like, really there. You know what I mean. It was awful. He was so distracted, and then when he did talk, it was about you!” She glared at me. I pretended not to notice.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what that was about,” I mumbled, attempting to walk away.
“Well, I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but it’s not fair to me. He supposedly doesn’t have feelings for you, but he complained the whole night about how he was worried about you. Something about some guy you were seeing. I don’t know. Who are you seeing, and why does he care so much?”
“I really don’t know, and I’m not actually seeing anyone.” With that, I walked off before she could continue her barrage of questions. I wanted to be left alone. To not deal with the nonsense. I had real issues to think about.
Madison spent the rest of her shift glaring in my direction, arms crossed, chin up in the air. I ignored her. I wasn’t about to apologize for Heath being overly involved in my life. I was grateful when it was time to clock out.
I pulled into my parking space, staring at my apartment. I felt a cold wave of fear run through me. I didn’t want to go in. Sitting with the car turned off, I flipped through my phone, putting off the inevitable. Two missed texts, one missed call. The missed call was from Heath. I ignored it. I was pissed and had no desire to speak to him yet, and I couldn’t do it over the phone. One missed text was from Thea and the other from Greta; both were telling me to join them at the new bar by campus. I checked the time. They would be getting there about now. I debated briefly before deciding I’d much rather go there than go in my apartment. I quickly texted both back with a quick “On my way” before flooring it out of my complex.
The farther I got, the better I felt. By the time I reached campus, I had all but forgotten my fear. The small parking lot was full, so I had to search up and down side streets until I found a spot three blocks down. Walking swiftly, I was more observant than usual. Campus always made me nervous, especially at night. Here, my mind wasn’t the danger. You could never be too safe. When I was within distance of the bar, I relaxed.
The bar was severely crowded, wall to wall covered with college students. I felt incredibly old. Even though just a few years separated our ages, it felt like centuries. Maybe it was because I had never had the luxury of just going to school, living on campus, and enjoying the typical student life. I had to work full-time through college to keep a roof over my head and clothes on my back. Yes, it was definitely part-jealousy. No one paid for my education.
I stifled my bitter thoughts as I watched Greta shoving through the crowd toward me. I smiled, my negativity fading. No one could control who they were born to. It certainly wasn’t their faults they had parents that helped or could afford to help with their education. Greta taught me that not all well-off kids were awful or spoiled. Greta shouted something over the throng of people, their chatter and the blaring music drowning her out. Shaking my head, I tried to motion that I couldn’t hear her. She beckoned me toward her, pointing toward the back. Being tall and standing on my tip toes, I could easily make out Nicole and Thea at the far end of the bar by a pool table. I nodded in understanding, weaving my way through the crowd, trying not to trip or bump into anyone.
As soon as I reached the pool table, I was plied with a drink. Thea smiled.
“About time you got here. I was about to drink your beer. What do you think?” She motioned around her.
“It’s a bit crowded and loud,” I laughed, “but not bad.”
“It’s perfect! Come on, we’ll drink and play some pool. You and Greta versus me and Nicole.”
We took turns switching partners, playing three rounds of pool. I managed to not be the worst player. Nicole turned out to be quite horrible, knocking the balls off the table, hitting strangers with her stick when shooting. She turned out to be quite a sore loser as well, making snide comments and glaring at me at every turn.
We moved farther away from the pool table, drinking and talking. I was feeling light, free, and tipsy. The conversation went from school, to future careers, to men. I smiled and laughed, making small comments. Mainly I just listened as Nicole and Greta discussed their boyfriends and passion for teaching.
“What about you, Lorelei? You haven’t talked about yourself at all tonight. Are you seeing anyone?” Thea asked, her eyes bright.
“No. Not really.”
“Liar.” Nicole rolled her eyes. Getting up, she said, “I’ll be back.”
Greta smiled gently, getting up to follow her. “Ignore her. She’s had too much to drink.”
“Nicole seems to think you’re seeing someone.” Thea leaned in closer to me. “Who is it?”
“No one, really. It’s stupid.”
“Please tell me,” she asked, her finger tips grazing my forearm as she batted her long lashes at me. I didn’t know if it was the alcohol or the lights, but her dark eyes flashed, making her look somehow even more beautiful. I felt a rush of pleasure along with a sudden urge to tell her anything she wanted to know.
“There’s this guy in a few of my classes. He’s different, but I don’t know. It’s too much. I feel overwhelmed, but….” I blushed, unable to stop staring at her pouty lips and her deep, dark eyes.
Wait. Pouty lips? I shook my head. She moved her hand from my arm to my face, gently caressing my cheek. I felt dizzy with a rush of desire for her, a beast awakening in my body. I couldn’t think. I just wanted to please her. I wanted to tell her everything.
“Tell me more,” she whispered in my ear, her fingers trailing down my neck, running along my side, her lips grazing my neck and ear. I moaned. Any chance of resistance vanished.
“Tell me more,” she said again. She looked at me, her eyes glowing into two burning embers.
“Please,” I sputtered. Her hands caressed my face as she leaned closer. Her face began contorting, stretching into something unnatural, grotesque even. I knew something was wrong, I knew I was in danger, but I couldn’t think. I just wanted her to touch me, kiss me. I needed her. I needed to obey her.
“I said, tell me. Tell me everything about him,” she coaxed, tilting my head back, one hand on my throat, the other winding its way to my hip.
I groaned, and words rushed from my lips. I told her all about him—from his almost hitting me with his car, to our encounters at school, the parking garage, the restaurant, the kiss, everything. When I had finally trailed off, she put both hands back on my face.
I tried to lift my hands to hers, but I couldn’t. They were pinned at my sides. It wasn’t until then that I realized I was no longer sitting at the bar. I was outside, up against a building.
Throwing her head back, she laughed, a hideous, high-pitched cackle. Her still-ember eyes glowed fiercely as her once lovely curly hair was now serpentine, flowing from her face, her skin pellucid, veins rising to the surface in a hideous bluish green road map. I tried to struggle, my senses converging back to me, but it was useless.
She clung to my face, her nails digging into my skin as she turned her cold eyes back to me. Thea grinned maniacally, showing off barbed and broken teeth. I tried to scream, but no sound came out. “It’s no use,” she said sweetly, her breath hot and putrid. “Look down, my love … if you can.”
Releasing my face, she stepped back. Desperately, I tried in vain to move but to no avail. I couldn’t budge. Her smiling face mocked me as I shakily looked down at what was binding me. On either side of me were Greta and Nicole, on their knees. Their hands firmly held my arms, their mouths on my wrists as blood dripped from the corners of their lips. Lifeless eyes stared up at me, draining me. I couldn’t breathe. What was happening?
I began to shake violently, hyperventilating with tears rolling down my cheeks as I helplessly tried to cry, beg, plead, scream for help. No noise escaped my lips. I suddenly felt my wounds where they were draining me. Pain tore through me as my senses kicked in, and I heaved and struggled.
“Greta,” I whispered. No, no, no! This couldn’t be right. I had to wake up now. This had to be another nightmare. I tried desperately to swallow back the tears and the rising terror.
“No baby, no.” Thea was back, pulling my head into her hands. A rush of warmth and desire flowed through me at her touch. My fear abated as I met her red-eyed gaze.
“Have no fear. I will protect you.” She stroked my face, making me tired. I closed my eyes while she continued, “So our little friend wants you, does he? That’s interesting. I wonder…. I very much wonder….”
She began murmuring to herself, still stroking my face. I felt too weak to stand, and a part of me knew I was dying. I knew what was happening to my body, but I couldn’t wake up. I was under her spell. “Lorelei,” she crooned.
Opening my eyes, I watched, fascinated as see she transformed back t
My mind began to scream again and again, Get off. Get off. Get off! I chanted it in my head over and over, fear clawing at my heart as my body became cold and numb. I felt my body vibrating abruptly, light tinged blue shimmering off of me in waves. With a flash of light and a deafening boom, my body soared through the air, darkness closing in.
I flowed in and out of consciousness. Darkness mixed with sights and sounds, quickly turning back to darkness as the pain consumed me. Heath, Theo, then Anabel, arguing.
“We need to move her now. She’s lost too much blood. She’s dying,” Anabel choked.
“We can do nothing for her. We have to call an ambulance now. We can’t move her ourselves. Our powers aren’t strong enough to heal her,” Theo said.
“If we call, we’ll have to explain what happened. We need to think this through.” Heath sounded like a wounded animal.
Why aren’t they helping? Am I really dying? Please, Heath, please don’t let me die.
“We can’t help her, but they can. We need to take her to them. They can save her. We’re running out of time,” Anabel was sobbing. I felt her hands on my arm, wrapping something around it. Who were they? What powers? What was happening? My mind was screaming, struggling to be heard.
“They are probably the monsters that did this to her. Look at those wounds you’re wrapping. Those aren’t scrapes. They were draining her.” Heath’s voice was strained, making me even more desperate to be heard. Heath.
“Listen. We don’t know what happened here or why she’s alive, but….” Theo’s voice trailed off as I sank into unconsciousness.
My eyes flashed open as Heath stood over me, calling my name from what seemed like miles away, tears in his eyes. He looked terrified. I wanted to console him, but…. I was gone again. When I fluttered to, Anabel was by my head, talking to me, but I couldn’t hear her. I was moving, and the pain, so much pain.