Clowders

by Vanessa Morgan

  “That's not why I'm here.” Her worried frown deepened.

  “Then why are you here?”

  She kept her silence, her eyes watering.

  “Just say something, goddammit! Why did you call me?”

  She squeezed her eyes shut. When she looked up, she said, “I've been seeing her. She's been following me around. I know it'll happen today. I just know it.” She took a deep breath. “I don't want to die alone.”

  Aidan knew she was referring to the Tengu. He shook his head. He'd had enough of these stories. “You have friends, right? Ask them to help you.”

  From the sudden affected look on her face, he concluded she didn't have any real friends. Maybe that wasn't so surprising, considering she was so manipulative.

  “Why are you bringing this up today of all days? Is it because you heard I am leaving the country?”

  Another look of shock. Apparently, she didn't know. It made Aidan temper his voice a little. “Look, you were never afraid of that monster before. Why would it attack you today of all days?”

  She paused, giving her brain a minute to recalibrate. “I learned to live with it, I guess. I knew it was there, but as long as it wasn't a threat, I didn't think about it.” The fear resounded in her voice, and a wave of pity fell over him. He didn't recognize Lorenza anymore. The strong woman he thought she was, had given way to a defeatist, paranoid person. “Before the accident with the cat, I sometimes caught her stealing meat from the fridge. But today she was following me wherever I went. She had this attitude of contempt glued on her face. And when she grimaced – it was strange – it was as if she was mocking me about what was about to happen. She's up to something.”

  What Lorenza said made Aidan want to run out of there now. It was precisely what he and Jess had seen around the apartment as well. A creature stealing meat from the fridge. Check. The feeling of being followed. Check. Seeing the monster grimacing and mocking them. Check – though he wasn't sure if that last part happened in a dream or reality, his mind still reeled at the memory of it. Could he have made this up? No.

  “You're not going to die,” he told Lorenza, though he suddenly wasn't so sure about that anymore.

  “And you didn't see anything?” she asked.

  “Nothing,” he lied.

  Lorenza's face showed a sign of relief.

  “I'm grateful for the support you gave me when I needed it, but my family needs me right now,” Aidan said. He headed for the door of his office and before he left, looked one last time at her. “I'm sorry I can't be here for you. Take care, Lorenza.”

  Aidan walked out the door and left her alone in the office.

  ***

  Right after Aidan had left his office, the door flew shut with a bang and Lorenza heard the key turn in the lock.

  She jumped and went to the door. She couldn't open it.

  “Aidan? Did you lock me in?” She raised her voice. “Aidan?”

  “Are you okay in there?” she heard him say from behind the door.

  “Why did you lock me in?”

  “I didn't.”

  She heard Aidan was trying to open the door, but his efforts were in vain.

  “Don't leave me alone in here.”

  And then, she heard it – right behind her – shuffling.

  She instinctively knew the time for penance had arrived.

  Her heart drained of blood. For half a second she couldn't catch her breath. In the reflection in the door, she saw a shadow shift behind her. She didn't dare turn around. She didn't need to turn around because she already knew her executioner was right behind her. She imagined it sitting there, squatted, with its long black hair covering most of its face, its eyes like black glowing marbles unable to cast a reflection.

  Another powerful jet of fear cleaved through her body. She felt herself getting lighter as if her innards had fallen out. But it wasn't anything physical that left her body; it was everything she had ever been before. The sensation was so unreal that she almost had to laugh about it.

  “Aidan, please!” Lorenza screamed as she pulled the doorknob. “Let me out!” Everything inside her was frigid with fear. She was nothing but terror.

  She sensed the creature right behind her. But she couldn't turn around, wasn't ready to face her destiny.

  Then, all of a sudden, an immense burning pain went through her head. Her vision became pale gray. Sounds were dull.

  The pain started to spread. It was as if the veins in her entire body were cracking. Her breathing faltered, and she couldn't stop coughing. A horrible, hoarse sound as if it were her lungs itself she was coughing out. Then she collapsed.

  Lorenza had hoped that the Tengu would be merciful, but in the dawn of retaliation, she was no longer in control. There was only penance.

  ***

  Aidan heard Lorenza screaming. Her fear was powerful enough to seep through the walls and slither into the waiting-room like vapor. Her despair twisted his heart into a knot, pulling so tight that his heartstrings creaked. Yet he only stood there, motionless, unable to react, his pulse hammering so fast it ignited sparks behind his eyes.

  I should try to find a way in to help her. Break the door, maybe.

  He soon abandoned that idea and fled. He barged out of the clinic so fast he nearly tripped over the front mat. He got into his car and turned the key. The engine moaned when he turned it.

  “Not now! Come on, start!” Another try and the car sputtered. He stomped on the gas and revved it. Finally, after several long seconds, the car started.

  Minutes later, Aidan flew down the highway to get out of Clervaux. His foot mashed the gas pedal against the floorboard. The engine rumbled with a surprising amount of muscle. Driving as fast as 140, he wondered how the car managed to stay on the road, how it hadn't veered off onto an embankment.

  He pressed his foot hard on the gas, but the engine was at its limit. With all sorts of emotions veining through his body, his knuckles went white against the steering wheel.

  There he was, doing the same thing he had done his entire life: he ran away. And like all the other things he had tried to flee, he couldn't quite say what exactly it was that he was trying to escape. He just knew he had to go.

  CHAPTER 23

  All their bags were packed, and Jess was ready to leave. She had sped up her actions more than she normally would; the sooner they got out of this town the better.

  Every five minutes, she cast a glance outside through the floor-to-ceiling living room window to see if Aidan was coming, unconsciously tapping her foot and checking her watch every few seconds. Once in a while, a local would look up and give her a deathly stare, but most of the time everything appeared normal among the joyous festivities.

  With each passing minute that Aidan didn't come home, she became increasingly nervous. At first, it was because she knew where he'd gone, but after a while, another type of worry took over. What if it was a trap? What if the townspeople had attacked Aidan while he was out? If they'd assaulted him all at once, there would have been nothing he could do to protect himself.

  Worried or not, she had already made up her mind about Aidan. Their marriage was over. She wouldn't announce their divorce straight away, though, and neither would she tell him she knew he had spent his last afternoon in Clervaux with Lorenza. The only thing that mattered was to get her daughter and herself back to America, which would be much more complicated if she had to do it all by herself. Thanks to Aidan's family, she would be able to get out of Clervaux and back to safety. And once they'd saved enough money to go home, she would file for a divorce.

  At least, this town had been good for one thing: it had taught her to be just like its cats – fierce and independent, offering no apologies or excuses.

  She sat down next to Eleonore on the sofa, trying to tamp down the emotions roiling up within her by focusing on the cartoons her daughter was watching on television. Half a second later, she heard the clicking of claws somewhere within the confines of their apartment, and the fe
ar hit her with such force that she sucked in her breath as if she'd fallen into ice-cold water. The sound was persistent. Whatever was inside the apartment made an effort to let her know it was there. Despite what had happened before, knowing that her mind played tricks on her, it wasn't the image of a wolf that swamped her thoughts. It was the Tengu.

  A small part of her still believed what Aidan had told her, that she was under the influence of the local ghost stories. It was like looking up symptoms and then encountering all sorts of nasty diseases. She shouldn't believe it all, and somehow she knew she was safe, but what if it were true? Then what?

  What if the creature she had seen in the forest were the Tengu and not her drunken imagination? What if it wanted to punish her because she'd run over that cat? Jess wasn't usually superstitious, but she had to admit the local creepiness was getting to her. It was as if she instinctively knew her family was in danger.

  Maybe it would be a good idea to take Eleonore to the cat fair again. Outside, they would be safe.

  Or maybe not.

  Having seen the inhabitants' hostile behavior the day before, she doubted they would be on her side. She couldn't blame them. They knew one of their cats had died, so they feared for their lives.

  And then the sound of clicking claws was gone.

  It appeared as if the creature had left them alone.

  We're all going to be okay, she told herself. We're going to make it out of here.

  It was getting chilly outside, and Jess went to the bedroom to close the window so the apartment could warm up again. It was already after five, and the lights of the lampposts began to glow in the distance on the hills.

  Something creaked under her window. Yes, she was positive. The brambly branches of the weeds along the side of the road shuddered. Although she couldn't see anyone apart from the cats and a few tourists, she sensed that something or someone wandered out there.

  A pair of bright, green eyes stared at her from underneath the underbrush.

  The uneasiness in her stomach swelled as though there was a doom approaching that couldn't be averted.

  She took an instinctive backward step, opened and closed her mouth, ready to yell. But before she could stammer out a single syllable of warning, she found herself staring at a rough-looking calico cat running out of the shadow of the trees. It had a fried fish in its mouth, probably stolen from one of the restaurants.

  Jess exhaled a sigh of relief.

  But then she saw it.

  Across the river Clerve, half-hidden behind a pine on the hill.

  A squatting figure appeared at the edge of the forest, right before the motorway began. It sat in the shade, too far away to be seen clearly. The creature crept slowly from behind the tree and into the shadows that pooled beneath the pines, stepping forward with the graceful movement of an animal.

  Jess' heart thumped wildly, raging at the idea of this creature, whatever it was. She stared at it, baffled, while the fear clenched itself tighter around her stomach.

  It must be a wild cat, Jess tried to convince herself.

  The creature stepped forward onto a patch of sunlight and remained there with it nose pointed upwards, like a predator that smelled its prey.

  She could see it better now. It wasn't a cat.

  It looked like a little girl that held herself as if it were a cat. Her long, black hair hung flat around her face and concealed her body.

  Yet she didn’t look entirely human either.

  Jess' skin began to sting. She had to go. She had to make sure that Eleonore was safe. But something kept her transfixed as if by continuing to watch the creature, she'd unravel the Tengu's secrets.

  Then it stared at her.

  In the hollow emptiness of her shock, Jess wondered if she could have avoided the accident if she had known about the curse. Would she have reacted differently? Could all of this have been prevented?

  The thing moved forward, straight to their building, straight for Jess.

  Faint with fear, she grabbed hold of the window post to steady herself.

  She slowly backed away from the window, calling for Eleonore to come with her.

  Her daughter ignored her plea.

  They had to get out before it got to the apartment – before it got to Eleonore.

  Finally, Jess found the courage to pull herself out of the creature's spell. She ran to the living room and pulled Eleonore out of the sofa, screaming, “We have to get out of here, Eleonore. Now!”

  ***

  Aidan jammed his foot onto the gas. He flew down the highway at 140 miles per hour, dodging cars and cyclists as if he were running from the law. He didn't look left or right; he only had one direction in mind: getting out of the nightmare that was Luxembourg as quickly as he could.

  For a moment he felt incredible – as though he could outsprint anyone, anything. His adrenaline numbed the fear, the terror, and pushed him forward.

  After a minute of him running flat out, that sense of invincibility began to fade. His urge to survive was sequestered by a single, throbbing thought.

  Protect them. Get back to your family. Get back home.

  His mind screamed, keep going, but just as he was about to reach the next town, images of Jess and Eleonore flashed in front of his eyes, and regret burnt in his throat. That he had left Lorenza to her fate had been bad enough, but he'd barely known the woman. But that he wanted to leave without his wife and daughter was incomprehensible. At first, it hadn't even occurred to him to pick them up. Raw fear blinded him to such a point that escape was the only thing on his mind. But now that rationality finally seeped through, he psyched himself up. Think of Eleonore. Think of Jess, he told himself. He was their protector.

  His mind made up, he pushed hard on the brake pedal, and the car came to a stop. He turned around and headed back toward Clervaux.

  ***

  Jess' breath puffed out from her lungs in short, staggered bursts as she ran down the stairs of their building, pulling Eleonore with her, her footsteps reverberating and sounding dull on the carpet-covered stairs.

  They came to a standstill on the ground floor where dozens of cats had collected and looked at her with curious, outraged looks as they passed.

  She punched in Aidan's number, sluggish with shock. As expected, he didn't answer. If it's important, they'll call back, he always said. So that's what Jess did. But again, she didn't get a reply.

  She turned right and jogged toward the large lane leading to the clinic, which was situated just outside the center. No matter how many times she rang the door and called his name, no one answered or opened. She tried to phone Aidan once more but to no avail.

  When Jess and Eleonore arrived back in the middle of the festivities, the eerie feeling gave way to an affable atmosphere. Not a single tourist realized the fair was a mask for an invisible evil.

  Though day-trippers were having fun, minding their own business, the locals stared at Jess and Eleonore with reproachful, somewhat worried looks on their faces. It was obvious that their presence in Clervaux was not appreciated anymore.

  She looked for Aidan in the crowd but he was nowhere to be seen.

  Near the castle, it was a lot quieter. From atop Clervaux's stone walls, the cats stared at them motionlessly. The only parts of their bodies that moved were their heads as they followed Jess' and Eleonore's footsteps.

  “Mommy, I'm tired,” Eleonore said. “Can we rest for a while?”

  “Okay, honey.” She sat down with Eleonore on the stone stairs and tried to reach Aidan one more time, but there was still no answer. It could take hours before she could reach him. It wouldn't be the first time.

  Again, Jess experienced that horrible lack of control over her life. The powerlessness felt like electric currents going through her limbs that caused her body to be almost unbearable to her.

  Not anymore, she thought.

  She called him again. This time, she left a message. “It's me,” she said. “I hope you realize that sometimes it can be impo
rtant when I call you. If you're not at the castle in five minutes, I'll be taking the train out of here, and I'm taking Eleonore with me.”

  Jess surprised herself. Never before had she spoken to him like that before.

  A spooky feeling came over her once more. They weren't alone.

  The scratching of claws on the cobblestones could be heard right behind them. Large claws.

  As soon as Jess straightened her back, the noise stopped. She listened. Nothing. Yet she felt the Tengu's presence as strongly as the ground under her feet.

  “Come on, Eleonore. We're going.”

  She moved further down the stairs.

  The clicking started again. It was louder. Closer.

  It was right behind them.

  Reluctantly, Jess turned around.

  In the middle of the stairs, only a few steps away from them, was the Tengu.

  It smiled at her. Its crooked mouth curled all the way up to its eyes, displaying a maw full of long, jagged, piercing teeth.

  For a moment it felt as if her legs were liquid and that she wouldn't be able to move at all. Ice-cold needles prickled in her neck at the thought that this monster might come even closer, that it might attack her daughter.

  Jess started running in the direction of the carnival, Eleonore trailing behind.

  When Jess bounded out of the stairway just shy of the main square, she was screaming. People who had been wandering along the stalls stopped to stare. A couple of girls sitting outside the chocolate shop gave each other a look, then laughed and continued eating their donuts.

  “The Tengu is here!” Jess screamed. “It's right behind us!”

  The only thing the crowd did was laugh heartily as if all of this was an act. Only the locals looked at her with pity, knowing what was going on without being able to stop it.

  “Please. Help us. It's coming for us.”

  People continued laughing.

  Jess nearly jumped when one of the tourists grabbed her by the arm. “Get a hold of yourself, lady. It's only an actress.”