by Anthology
I smiled. Jules always tried to make light of things.
“This is too messed up. Kids are getting sick. We’ve got to cruise down to the nurse’s office.” Jules wiggled his nose just a bit. It was a habit he’d had ever since I’d first met him. When he was scared or excited he tended to punctuate his sentences with a little twitch. “We got to play sick.”
***
Nurse Lorraine wouldn’t buy Jules’ story. “You look just fine to me, darling,” she said—and was right. Even standing still, Jules looked like he might just pounce any second. “But I guess if you want to put your head down it won’t hurt. Just in case.”
Jules stuttered. “Okay. Great. Good idea. I am dizzy now that you mention it.”
She forced a grin. “Last room on the right,” she said before looking at me. “And you, Mr. Rogers, you look pale as a ghost. What’s going on?”
“My stomach,” I said. “Been killing me since last night.” I placed my hand on my gut. I didn’t have to imagine anything.
“Last night?” she said. “That so?”
I nodded. “Yup. Just about 9 o’clock.”
She reached up and adjusted her green cube-shaped hat. It looked kind of like a military hat worn on the front lines. “Huh,” she said. “Not cool.” We all had reason to believe Nurse Lorraine lived two lives: one where she took care of us kids at the school, and the other where she got really into her Mary Jane and her Dead records. Maybe it was because she wasn’t much older than us.
“I don’t think I’m really too sick,” I said. “But I just thought I should get checked out in case.”
“You look a little green around the gills. Why don’t we get you lying down?”
I agreed.
Nurse Lorraine stood up. “Come on,” she said. “Before you pass out.” She smiled but didn’t look me in the eye.
The rear of the nurse’s office had several small open rooms, each with its own cot. As we neared the back, I could see Steve Woodworth lying on a cot, his hands by his sides. I slowed down and saw his fingers, black and shriveled. “Jesus,” I said.
“Keep going,” she said. “Don’t look.”
“Why?” I asked. “What happened?” Steven had the same affliction as Jenny Lou.
She nudged me and we passed Jules. He was wide-awake and smiled at me. Not the best faker, that’s for sure. “You’re room’s in the back,” she said.
From there Nurse Lorraine guided me in, I sat, and then she had me lie down. “Put this under your tongue.” She nodded and bent down a bit. As she did, a sliver of tie-dye poked from between the buttons of her nurse’s shirt. Nurse Lorraine was cool after all. She was one of us. She suddenly looked a lot prettier to me. Funny.
“Okay, so keep that under your tongue for five minutes. I’ll be back to check you out.” She nodded and I gave her a thumbs-up. I watched her walk out of my room and did not blink once. I couldn’t help but see her differently. Suddenly her straight long blond hair and thin body made sense. She didn’t have her hair up in a bun. She didn’t wear a ton of makeup. She didn’t look like my mom or any of our normal teachers who all looked stuck in Leave It To Beaver. Nah. Nurse Lorraine was a hippie. Peace. Love. I dug her.
I put my hands behind my head and closed my eyes. The first thing I thought about, after Nurse Lorraine’s secret other life, was the whole situation with Jenny Lou and Steve. Trying to think that the Long Fellow hadn’t come seemed impossible because I had evidence right in front of me. But who would believe me? Who could I go to for help? None of the adults were likely to believe me.
Someone charged through the front door of the nurse’s office. “We’ve got another one, Lorraine.” It was Mr. Strabb. “Something bad’s going on here. I think we need to call the capital or the State Department or someone in the district. I don’t know.”
Her chair squeaked on the tile and I heard her get up. “Jeff? What happened?”
“Not sure,” he said. “I don’t feel so hot.”
I took the thermometer out, read it and leaned up on my elbows. I was just over 99 degrees.
“Hey?” It was Jules. “Let’s go,” he said. “I think we’ve seen enough around here. Don’t you?”
“I didn’t even hear you get up,” I said. “What’re you doing?” He looked toward the nurse’s receiving area just as we both heard Jeff Scranton. “It hurts!” he yelled. “Oh, God! Help!”
Jules shrunk back inside my room.
“My fingers! I can’t move my fingers!”
“Calm down, Jeff. We’ll figure out—”
“No! I need to go to the hospital. We need to call the police. The Long Fellow did this.”
Mr. Strabb’s voice turned stern and deep. “You’ve been reading too much Famous Monsters, mister.”
“It’s not that,” he said. “It’s real.”
Their footsteps became louder. Jules looked to me. “We’ve got to sneak out,” he whispered. “Soon as their backs are to us we have to run.”
“Okay,” I said, putting the thermometer back in my mouth and lying back down. Jules curved around the corner and out of view.
I shut my eyes and I heard footsteps hurry past. “Oh, God, Miss Minerva, it really hurts,” Jeff moaned. “Are you going to bring me to the hospital?”
“We’ll do everything we can.”
They passed and I opened my eyes. Jules waved. “Come on,” he said. “Quick.” We hustled out of there.
As we made it to the main room I heard Nurse Lorraine. “Lew? Where are you going? Do you have a fever?”
The door closed and we were around the corner by the time she called again.
***
“We’re going to Rob Cash’s place?” Jules didn’t sound excited. Then again most folks weren’t too thrilled with my cousin. He ran the local biker gang, The Outlaws of Hill County.
“He’ll know what to do,” I said. “He’s used to dealing with things outside the law.”
Jules tugged at my sleeve. “This is outside everything. What makes you think he’s going to believe us that the Long Fellow’s here?”
“He’ll believe me,” I said. “I’ve never lied to him.”
“People lie all the time.” We made it a little ways down Telegraph Hill. “Asking someone to believe there’s a monster in their town is a little hard to do, isn’t it?”
I nodded. “Sure is,” I said. “But you believe the Long Fellow’s here, don’t you? You ain’t seen him in person.”
We stopped and our eyes met.
“You saw the Long Fellow?”
“I’m going to wait and tell you and Rob what I saw at the same time,” I said. “You still want in? Or do you want to go home and not help out?”
“It’s Halloween.”
“So no one’s going to think twice about why we’re outside late hours. Who else do we have on our side? If Rob says he’s not going to help, then it’ll be just us two. Not sure that’s going to do the trick.”
***
We rode our bikes down to Rob’s place and found him relaxing on his porch with a beer and his Martin acoustic. “That’s one sorry-looking excuse for a Halloween costume,” Rob said. “I can’t believe you’re even related to me.” He pointed toward my head. “Who’s going to believe a black kid and his hippie friend with long hair who’s wearing Army clothes?”
“You?” I said.
Rob took a big sip from his Pabst Blue Ribbon before resuming picking at his Martin. “Your hair’s long,” I said. “And you wear black leather jackets like all the greasers used to in the ’50s.”
“They were riders, too, just like me. There’s a relationship.” He winked. “There’s no connection between G.I. Joe and Haight, friend.”
I pointed to the peace symbol I’d painted on the breast of the jacket. “Look,” I said. “Peace. Love. I’m wearing this as a protest. I can be an Outlaw too.”
“Not really,” he said. “You just look confused as to which side you’re on.”
“I’m a hippie. I
don’t believe in war. I ain’t going.”
“You’re 16. The war will be over by the time you’re old enough to get drafted. It’s going to be the ’70s in a few months.”
Jules said, “We’ve got to be out of Nam soon, right?”
“Hope so,” I said. “And, yeah, talking about that, we need to talk about what’s going on in town.”
“I seen some real messed up shit,” Jules said. “The Long Fellow’s back.”
Taking a moment to register what he’d just heard, Rob just said “Really?” and then kept strumming. It sounded a lot like something Peter, Paul and Mary might play.
“I seen him last night,” I said. “Outside Jenny Lou Harrison’s house, Rob. I saw that thing sucking the life right out of her. And when he was through with her he came down the tree over my head and I could smell his breath. Worse thing I ever smelled. Made my stomach hurt awful.”
He stopped playing and looked up so that our eyes met. “You shitting me?”
“Uh-uh,” I said. “That thing’s come back because it’s Halloween—knows it’ll blend in, knows it can use it to hide with.”
“Her fingers looked like she had frostbite on the ends?” Rob asked.
I nodded. “Yup. That’s right. Steve Woodworth came in to the nurse’s office with the same thing. Then Jeff Scranton.”
“I don’t know,” Rob said. “Sounds suspicious.”
Jules and I looked at each other. Rob was supposed to believe us.
“Isn’t that the same thing that happened with Dave?” I said. Rob looked at me, then Jules. I knew I shouldn’t have mentioned his brother, but I was desperate.
Jules shrugged. “Who’s Dave?”
Rob charged Jules, grabbed his collar and snarled. “That thing took him seven years back,” he said. “That thing has come knocking around again looking for me now.” Rob turned to me. “Is that what you’re trying to pull?”
“Hell no,” I said. “Not like that.” My cousin, Rob’s brother, died under mysterious circumstances. Rob claimed that some fellow with really long claw-like hands came down and sucked the life out of his brother. Rob was the one who had to take the hit on it though. His story could never be verified. Judge Robbins gave him involuntary manslaughter for five years. Said they’d probably both been drinking too much and probably Rob had egged him over the edge. I didn’t buy it, but the law’s the law. Like Creedence sings, you fight the law, they’re going to win every time.
“You kids are fucking with me,” he said. “I ain’t got time for this.”
“The Long Fellow’s here,” I said. “We’ve got to stop it.”
Rob walked over and kick-started his gold Harley Davidson motorcycle. The cylinders purred; the engine vibrated. He reached inside his jacket, pulled out a Zippo and lit up a Camel. Rob squeezed the clutch on one handlebar and rolled the gas on the other. On the shoulder of Rob’s leather jacket, I spotted his hand-sewed gold “Outlaws” patch. “Don’t ever bring this up to me again,” he hollered as he rode off, giving us the finger over his shoulder.
“He didn’t believe us,” Jules said.
“There’s got to be someone that can help us.”
***
As we rode our bikes through town we realized Harvest Hill was deserted.
“It’s 3 o’clock in the afternoon and everyone’s missing,” Jules said.
“Everyone’s getting ready for the Halloween assembly at the school tonight,” I said. “They’re setting it all up right now, I bet.”
“So we have to go back there?”
“Unless you’ve got a better idea.”
***
As me and Jules pulled into the Harvest Hill High parking lot, none of the lights were on and all the doors were locked.
“Looks like trouble.” Jules peered into the lobby through the doors by cupping his hands against the glass. “This makes no sense.”
Grabbing his arm, I pulled him from the window. “I’ve got to say I’m agreeing with you.”
Someone was walking on the roof over our heads.
We both craned our heads trying to see who it could be. “Hello?”
His eyes went wild. “Shut up!” he whispered, but I’ll bet he wanted to shout. “We don’t know who’s up there. We don’t want to give ourselves away.” He looked me up and down. “What kind of Outlaw you going to make, anyway?”
Not knowing how to act or what to say, I backed away from the doorway.
We both heard skittering again.
Something thumped behind us, like someone had jumped off the roof and onto the sidewalk.
Standing between the two of us and the parking lot, a large figure pointed at me. The sun was in back of him, so neither of us got a good look.
“Hey, man. We don’t want any trouble.” Jules stood behind me. “We’re just looking for our kin.” I squinted and tried making out his face.
He pointed his finger toward Jules and hissed. My eyes got used to the light. The thing he gestured with was not a finger at all — it looked much more like a sickle-shaped claw.
The Long Fellow hissed again.
“Jules?” I asked.
Jules pushed past and stood between the Long Fellow and me. “I know, I know,” he said. “I see him.”
The Long Fellow jutted forward, bending at the middle. Opening its jaw, I imagined the thing must have been eating rocks to sport so many busted teeth. Some were black and sharp, like the edges of broken bottles.
A rancid smell like gasoline and spoiled seafood overtook us. The Long Fellow’s breath was poison.
My eyes filled with water and my guts went all tight.
The Long Fellow let out an ungodly sound that I heard through a daze, like he was on TV in another room.
I hurled on the sidewalk, turning away from Jules. Keep yourself standing unless you want that thing to get you.
From the corner of my eye I spotted Jules huddled on the ground. He’d had his own sick and wasn’t moving. My head spun—I’d never felt so dizzy in all my life. I wanted more than anything to fall down and sleep.
Another blast of poison spewed from the Long Fellow’s mouth. I tried to turn to see the thing, but the pain was too strong.
I retched again, only this time nothing came out besides a string of sticky spittle. It hurt worse than anything.
What’s this thing want?
It should have been eating Jules, or at least taking him away. It should have used its sickle-arm to cut him.
It’s probably already eaten half the town.
The Long Fellow spat another blast of poison, missing me. It leapt onto the roof and vanished.
“Jules?” My best friend was lying a few feet away. I stared at his rib cage—it was moving. He grunted. “We’ve got to go.”
***
Inside the school the halls were dark. Paper jack-o’-lanterns and scarecrows stared down from the walls. We’d made them to decorate for our Halloween assembly. I leaned my forehead against one of the cold small rectangular classroom windows. The lights were off. A desk lay overturned near the front of the room and appeared covered with thick dark fluid. Small bits of what appeared to be chewed-up food dotted the floor.
“Someone attacked us.” Jules rubbed his head and moaned. “Hit me over the head.”
“The Long Fellow,” I said. “Come here to fight.”
“Yeah, well, my stomach hurts worse than anything. I’m in no condition to fight.”
“Mine, too.” I reached out my hand. “But we’ve got to do something.”
From the other end of the hall someone threw up. It came from just outside the doors, on the back patio where some of the students hung out between periods.
Something smelled fishy and rancid. We crept toward the back door. I wasn’t sure who was out there, or who would actually not be in class at that moment.
Whoever it was made another heaving sound that was followed by a nasty large splatter-like thump on the concrete. We could hear him sighing and gasping.
Jules made his way to the far side of the hallway and signaled for me to follow. As we neared the end of the corridor we spied Eric Sable hunched over just outside the back door. A bright red trail of spittle wavered in the air from Eric’s lips toward the ground.
Blood. More blood.
More vomiting followed. Eric put an arm out against one of the posts and retched.
Backing out from the rear hallway, we walked away as quickly as possible.
We made it to the gym, where music played inside. As soon as we were through the doors we knew where everyone had gone: to the Harvest Hill High gymnasium for our annual Halloween show. In one corner, a large tin bucket sat full of water and apples. Miss Deloitte was watching the kids try their luck bobbing. To her right several small clusters of kids and students mingled and talked. Most importantly, to me at least, was seeing The Amphibians jamming there right on the floor. Acid rock filled my gym. That was cool. Nurse Lorraine was stage left, nodding her head, sipping something from a straw.
“Quite the party,” Jules said. “So what’re we going to do?”
We wouldn’t be waiting long for our answer. I heard the back door open and saw the Long Fellow walk inside. For a few moments no one but Jules and me even noticed.
“Nice costume,” someone said.
The Long Fellow lowered his bony head and smiled.
Everyone around him scattered.
With one graceful leap, the Long Fellow made it to the center of the gym. It stared right at us. “Holy shit, man!” I hollered.
It hopped again, this time landing 10 short feet from us. My eyes locked with the creature. My stomach hurt again, just as bad as it had the first time. My arm rose like someone had it on a string. My fingers spread out; so did the Long Fellow’s. I noticed that the veins on top of his grey hands pulsed.
He squeezed his fingers as though he were milking an orange.
My life-blood rushed to my own fingers where it seemed to pool. I couldn’t move a muscle. I couldn’t even take my eyes off the Long Fellow no matter how hard I tried.
“No!” Jules said. “Not again.”