by Ike Hamill
Eric dropped the hammer. It was no use against the creature as it went for Jessie’s face. Instead, Eric grabbed it with both hands, feeling his fingers squish through the thin skin and encounter the mesh of bones underneath. It was the size of a giant cat or a small dog, but felt like neither. The cage of bones was sharp and elastic. He felt like if he pressed too hard, the thing’s skeleton would invert and snare his hands like a bear trap. As soon as he pulled, trying to get the thing off of Jessie, it spun in his hands. He felt claws digging into his forearms.
“The oven!” he yelled. “Open it.”
For a fraction of a second, he had the absurd dream that it would be possible to throw the thing in there and burn it alive. Eric quickly learned that the monster was stronger and tougher than he was. It overpowered his muscles. Before he could even stand, it was pulling through his flesh. Its gnashing teeth were snapping towards Eric’s face.
Instead of searching for the knife, Jessie attacked it in kind.
Jessie lunged forward and grabbed the thing’s little arms in his hands. Eric felt the strain of its talons in his flesh. As Jessie pulled, Eric squeezed, hoping the crush the life out of the thing’s little frame. Jessie unleashed his fury, first baring his teeth and then biting at the back of the little monster. He growled and shook his head. The monster screamed—the sound of metal screeching.
Then, Jessie let go.
Eric almost believed that Jessie had killed it. Maybe he had snapped its spine. The claws let go and it was off.
Behind him, Lily yelled, “No!”
Jessie slumped back against the wall. Black fluid—the same that had coated the knife blade—was dripping from the corner’s of Jessie’s mouth. His eyes were rolling backwards and his body began to tremble and then shake.
“Get back here!” Lily screamed.
Eric ignored her as he pulled Jessie away from the wall so his head wouldn’t bang against it. The action barely helped. With Jessie stretched out on the floor, his head now thumped against the wood. Eric straddled Jessie, trying to pin him down and tilted his cousin’s head back to minimize the impact. Jessie was gagging. His throat was blocked. Black fluid began to stream from Jessie’s nostrils. Eric pried open his jaw so that Jessie could breathe. When he did, the fluid started to gush from Jessie’s mouth. Eric let out a wordless scream when he realized that it wasn’t fluid. The black matter was a million tiny black tadpoles, each a little copy of the monster. Jessie’s teeth gnashed, nearly biting Eric’s finger. Several of the black creatures exploded into a mixture of black fluid and yellow pus.
Eric scrambled off of Jessie and worked to flip him over, hoping he could vomit out the foul poison. Jessie’s body alternated between being completely rigid and flopping and convulsing. Eric couldn’t get a grip.
He heard a loud bang and another scream from Lily. Eric blocked all that out. He finally got Jessie on his stomach and he straddled him once more, lifting him with hands under his belly. Now, when Jessie jerked and thrashed, Eric was helping Jessie force open his airway. More of the horrible tadpoles splashed to the floor along with another gush of black liquid. He felt Jessie drag in a breath and then lifted again, forcing the air and poison out. For a few cycles, he kept Jessie breathing that way. Another convulsion started.
“It’s not working,” Eric shouted. “Help me.”
In response, Lily screamed again. She was on the other side of the peninsula, fighting the monster.
Jessie wasn’t breathing. His seizure intensified and then stopped. Hanging from Eric’s arms, Jessie’s body stiffened into a taut string and then went slack. Eric let him down easily, turning him to the side and then wrestling his mouth back open. He pushed a finger beyond Jessie’s tongue and then saw the problem. His cousin’s tongue was swollen to the point that the airway was completely cut off. His neck was puffy and bloated too. Only the whites of Jessie’s eyes showed under his half-raised eyelids, and they were shot through with blood from burst vessels.
“No,” Eric said. None of this was right. He wanted to reject this entire reality. He grabbed Jessie’s wrist, knowing that the pulse would be there. This had to be some kind of misunderstanding. As he waited for Jessie’s heart to beat, a series of images snapped through his head like a malignant slide show. Wendell was dead. Officer Libby was dead. Uncle Reynold had been clawed to death by the thing he had delivered and Aunt Zinnia had practically exploded giving birth to evil.
It all stemmed from the final horrible picture that lingered—the Trader burning until only seared flesh and bones hung from the blackened handcuffs.
When it all faded, Eric was looking down at Jessie’s lifeless body. None of it made sense. They were losing everything, bit by bit, and none of it made any sense.
LILY
SHE SAW HER BROTHER bite the thing and choke, and then it seemed like both Eric and Jessie forgot what they were there for. The little demon released its grip on Eric and launched towards the cabinet doors. Bouncing off of those, leaving claw marks and black smears in its wake, it hit the wood floor and pivoted towards Lily.
Holding the softball bat in her tight grip, she bent her knees and got ready to swing. It was fast, but she was prepared. Lily was already swinging the bat before the demon began to skitter towards her. It was all perfect. She pictured swinging through its disgusting skull. She hoped it would sink its claws into the floor, bracing itself for impact, so her blow would smash right through the bones.
Instead, the thing stopped just short of her swing. The bat whooshed by it as it pulled back, just avoiding impact.
When it reversed direction, headed towards Nicky, Lily screamed, “Get back here!”
Nicky was ready with the shovel. The handle was up near her shoulders and she was primed to slam the blade down as soon as the demon was close enough. Already spooked, the thing didn’t take any chances. Instead of continuing towards Nicky, it took a sharp left and darted along the floor towards the sink.
Lily was drawing close when it slipped a claw between the cabinet and the frame, pulling the door open just enough to squeeze its skull through the gap.
She swung towards the cabinet door, hoping to slam it shut and cut the thing in half.
With a savage grunt, she drove the bat into the cabinet, slamming it shut with a bang. It caught one of the thing’s malformed hind legs and the monster screamed again. The sound was muffled by the cabinet, but it was still glorious. Nicky rushed to her side as Lily watched the severed foot fall to the floor with a splash of black fluid.
The liquid seemed alive on the wood floor—squirming and pulsing.
Lily reached for the cabinet pull, eager to finish it now that it was injured.
When a hand landed on her arm, Lily screamed again. Lily shook off Nicky’s restraint and reached again.
On the other side of the kitchen, Eric said, “No.”
“Wait,” Nicky said. “You’ve disabled it. Wait for it to get weaker.”
Eric stood up on the other side of the peninsula. He swayed on weak legs and turned his eyes to them.
“He’s…”
“No,” Lily said. Until they finished what they had to do, there was no time for taking stock of their losses.”
“He’s dead,” Eric said.
“No!” Lily screamed at him. “Shut up. It’s almost done.”
She could see herself through their eyes. Sanity had left. Logic had been put on hold. This was primal. If she could just finish it, everything would be okay. Things would go back to normal. Lily tightened her grip on the bat.
“Open it,” she said to Nicky. When Nicky hesitated, Lily screamed at her. “Open it!”
Using the shovel, Nicky stood back and snagged the handle with the corner of the tool’s blade.
Lily bared her teeth and tensed, ready to strike.
The cabinet was empty.
“What?” Lily screamed.
“The hole,” Nicky said.
Lily blinked and peered at the dark space beneath the sink. When she
shifted a little to the right, she saw it. There was a hole where the drain pipe came up through the bottom of the cabinet. The cut extended to the back, leaving a gap.
“What the fuck, Eric? There’s a hole?” Lily yelled.
He was rounding the peninsula before he seemed to hear her.
“Oh. Yes. We never… I don’t know.”
“The basement,” Lily said. She kicked the cabinet door shut and turned to Eric. “Nail that door shut.”
She headed for the doorway to the hall.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“Hunting,” she said.
When she rounded the peninsula and saw her brother on the floor, the strength nearly went out of her legs. It was too much to consider—that she had lost both of her brothers forever. Her brain returned to the idea that everything would be okay once they killed the little demon. It had brought all this pain into their lives and the only way to take it away was to rid the world of the monster’s existence.
She and Jessie had just been in the cellar. There were only a couple of places the thing could hide.
“Wait!” Eric said. “Just wait a second.”
He rattled open the junk drawer and found what he was looking for. Holding up a handful of nails, he hurried to retrieve his hammer from the floor. While she watched, Lily forced her fingers to relax their grip on the bat. Her body demanded satisfaction. That thing would be crushed to a pulp if it was the last thing she did.
Eric hammered.
“Come on,” she said.
“What if we chase it back into the hole?” Nicky asked. “Then that cabinet will be nailed shut and we…”
“Done,” Eric said.
“I’m not chasing it,” Lily said. “I’m going to kill it.”
# # #
Eric made her wait again before she opened the door to the stairs.
“Just hold on for one second,” he said, opening the closet door. He kept his tools in there. A moment later, he came out with a flashlight. Testing the beam against his hand, he nodded.
“The lights are on,” Lily said. “I was just down there.”
Eric ignored her and turned to Nicky.
“Stay up here,” he said. “If it gets past us, don’t try to take it on. Just watch where it goes, okay?”
“Where would it go?” Lily asked. “Everything’s shut except the kitchen.”
Eric’s face didn’t seem to register what she was saying. His attention was focused on the door that led to the cellar steps.
“Ready?” she asked.
When she got no answer, Lily reached forward and threw open the door.
It banged against the wall as she peered down the stairs. Nothing was moving. When the furnace kicked on, she twitched but didn’t scream. She felt like she could sense everything around her. Eric pointed the flashlight beam over her shoulder and it angled down the stairs, hitting the stone wall. The last time she had gone down, Jessie had led the way. Her brother had pointed out that the backs of the stairs were closed in. Nothing was going to reach between the treads and grab the back of her ankle. Still, it was difficult to commit to that first step. Once she did, she moved fairly fast. Being on the stairs, on uneven footing, was too vulnerable. Behind her, Eric moved more carefully.
Lily waited for him to get down with her and then took the flashlight from his hand. His grip was strong and his hand began to tremble as soon as he relinquished the light.
“Deep breaths,” she said, locking her eyes on his.
He blinked several times and then his shoulders relaxed a little. Eric seemed more in control of himself.
Lily took the light and ducked down so she could aim it under the stairs. Convinced that there was nothing hiding in the shadows, she swung the beam over to the furnace and then passed the light back to her cousin. Together, they stalked forward, pausing every couple of steps to listen. There was no sound except the rumble of the furnace and then a creak from above. Nicky had shifted her weight on the old floorboards.
Lily froze and then crouched down slowly, turning her eyes upwards. The light bulbs that hung in the cellar were even with the old beams. That left deep shadows up in the cavities between them. Motioning to Eric, she commanded him to sweep his beam up there to make sure the thing wasn’t clinging to the wood like a bat.
His light found nothing but cobwebs and dust. She straightened back up and then continued. With another gesture, she went left and Eric circled right. His light touched the area behind the furnace as the boiler was shutting off. As it cooled, ticking away slower and slower, Lily waited for her heartbeat to slow as well. In the silence, she could hear the fabric of Eric’s jeans as he moved. The wind blew outside and Lily heard it whistle across the top of the chimney.
Eric crouched down to point his beam under the oil tanks. Lily circled to see what the light might reveal.
When he opened his mouth and started speaking, Lily thought he might have gone crazy.
“Lily still hasn’t traded with you,” Eric said. “You had an agreement but you never executed the trade.”
Movement caught the corner of her eye and Lily spun. She would have thought that she was imagining things, but Eric’s flashlight came to rest on the very spot. It was nothing but the delicate yellow tip of an exploring root, coming between the cracks of foundation stones. The thing waved a little, brushed by the cellar air, and then stopped.
Lily turned to continue the search, but Eric pointed and kept the beam on the root.
“You wanted a finger and a fish before. What do you want now?” he called out.
Lily was about to turn away—they had bigger problems than a tiny root—when the thing began to move again. It almost looked like a probing finger, reaching out for something to touch. Lily approached warily, cautious of any overlooked shadows or gap between rocks that might hide the monster. When she was within reach, she jabbed the bat, smashing the tiny root against the rock.
They both spun at the sound of a screech behind them.
Eric’s flashlight found nothing but empty cellar. As they crept forward, a brief shower of yellow sparks came down from the overhead beams. With a thunk from the far end of the cellar, the lights went out.
“It shorted the circuit,” Eric said, swinging the light around. His flashlight returned to the place where the sparks had come down.
“What do you mean? How would it know how to do that?” Lily whispered back.
Eric only shrugged. He got low as he approached the place. Lily circled to see as well. His light revealed nothing but a cream-colored wire with a blackened section where the insulation had been pierced.
The creature had fled.
Lily saw it by the wet sheen of its bared teeth. She didn’t motion to Eric. It was right at the edge of his flashlight beam and Lily thought that as soon as he tried to illuminate it, the monster would only flee into the darkness again. Instead, she took a careful step to the side and avoided looking directly at it. With a deep breath and slow exhale, she gathered herself.
Her scream tore through her throat and vibrated the air around her. It tried to claw away across the ceiling, but Lily was too fast. With both hands, she thrust the bat upwards between the beams, hitting the thing right in the middle of its knobby spine. Black liquid splashed from it. The whole thing lit up as Eric figured out what was happening and turned the flashlight.
The demon was hanging from the underside of the floorboards overhead. The claws were dug into the wood. Lily swung the bat again, aiming for one of its hands. When it shifted, she missed and hit the meat of its body instead.
A triumphant grunt escaped her with her next swing. More black liquid exploded from the side of the demon. For a moment, it dangled from a single claw and a laugh burst from Lily as she swung once more. She moved under it to get a better angle.
“No!” Eric said. “Don’t let the…”
If he hadn’t distracted her, she would have had time to duck away from the dripping liquid. Instead, it splashed in her
eye and a drop landed on her lips. Lily backed up a step, spat, and then swung again. Her next blow caught the thing right on its bulbous head. She heard it snap and prayed that its demonic brain matter would be squeezing out through the crack.
The thing reached up with a feeble claw, trying regain its grip. When Lily swung again, she missed it entirely. Instead, she clobbered a copper pipe that ran down the length of the beam. Smashed in, a pinprick of a hole opened and it sprayed water in a hot jet.
Lily circled to get another swing at the monster without getting soaked.
“Are you okay?” Nicky called down the stairs.
The demon moved just before Lily’s bat landed. It clawed its way between the beams and then Lily saw where it was headed. The thing was trying to get back into the hole where the pipes went up through the floor. That had to be the cabinet below the kitchen sink.
She swung the bat once more, hitting the wood just behind it, but she wasn’t that concerned. As long as she was driving it to place where they could corner it, it would be okay. Eric seemed to understand. He was circling the opposite direction. She didn’t have to point out the loose stack of scrap wood leaning against the wall. With his hammer tucked under his arm, he was already reaching for it.
Lily managed to smash the thing one more time. Her bat hit it where the hips must have been. More black liquid squished from the wound where the leg had torn off. The demon squeezed through the hole, disappearing into the cabinet. Its black blood dripped down.
Swinging the board, Eric slapped it up against the bottom of the subfloor. Lily reached up with the bat and held it in place. He set the flashlight down, fished nails out his pocket, and then made quick work of driving some nails through the board as they both squinted up at the falling dust.
“What’s going on?” Nicky yelled.