by Palvi Sharma
Melissa blinked back her tears as she gazed at the scene below her. It was amazing how her thoughts ran to that very day she had been gloating about having Mark as her boyfriend and secretly hoping that Jennifer was getting jealous since she didn’t have a boyfriend. It was a malicious thought, but Melissa had truly believed that Mark had been the one.
She hugged herself then and realized that it was becoming cold again. Her first thought was that the air conditioning inside the movie theatre had been switched on, but the fact that the glass window was starting to fog up, proved otherwise. She placed her index finger on the glass and winced as she felt how icy it was. She heard a small crack and stepped back instinctively. It was getting so cold that the window was starting to crack.
Melissa ran downstairs and looked around her for something she could use as a weapon. She still hadn’t heard a shot and that was a good thing. The bad thing was that she couldn’t make out what was going outside. It was freezing inside and Melissa gasped for breath. She had to get out of here before she froze to death, but without something to use as a weapon, she would be mercilessly killed by the riders.
She didn’t have time to think and she couldn’t stay in the theatre any longer. Her t-shirt and Capri’s barely provided any warmth. The snack counter had nothing apart from candy bars and stale sandwiches. There were no knives or lead pipes or anything.
Melissa could hear harsh tones from outside and she struggled to hear the conversation between the riders and her friends. It was then that she heard a shot and she could feel her heart stopping momentarily. A chill raced through her and before she tried to comprehend what was going on, her legs made the decision for her, and she dashed out through the door.
“Jenny!” she cried. The riders and her friends looked at her with startled gazes, but her eyes searched only for Jennifer.
“Run away, Melissa!” Jennifer sobbed. “Run, before they catch you.”
Melissa stared at her friend for signs of gunshot wounds. When she didn’t spot any blood on her, she looked at the riders. Even with their helmets over their heads, Melissa could sense their anger.
“They’re not demons!” Melissa yelled. “It’s Mark and his friends playing this horrific game with us!”
“You need to take care of this.” She heard one of the riders mutter to the rider whom she supposed was Mark.
She saw the rider with a bandage on his thigh, swing his leg over the bike and walking towards her. Her eyes travelled to his hand and saw that he still held the gun tight in his grip.
“Run!” Jennifer screamed. Melissa looked at her, her view blocked by the riders in front of her. She saw Fiona and Rafe watching her with trepidation.
Mark started to come closer and raised his arm. Melissa stared at the gun and felt her legs freeze up.
Run Melissa! Just run, her mind screamed. Melissa took a deep breath, turned around sharply and ran as fast as she could.
“Melissa, stop!” Mark screamed at her, but Melissa continued to run ahead. Her lungs burned and she could barely breathe as the icy wind brushed her face, but her legs carried her forward speedily. A few feet away was the fence, so that meant that she would have to find a hiding spot somewhere inside these buildings. She considered running towards the theatre and then realized that it was behind her. She looked at the shop in front of her, paused and turned around to see only dark shapes behind her as the fog enveloped her. She was about to walk into the shop when someone yanked her by the arm.
Melissa let out a scream and lost her balance. The figure before her pulled her up roughly and before she could utter another scream, a cold hand was placed over her mouth.
“Who are you and what are you doing here?” someone asked in a gruff voice.
Melissa started to see dark clouds in front of her eyes and she found herself unable to breathe properly. She struggled with the person in front of her. It wasn’t Mark by the sound of his voice, so it was probably was one of his friends. She tried pushing away the hand, but the person wouldn’t budge.
“Who are you?” he demanded to know.
Melissa swung her leg back and kicked him as hard as she could on his leg. She tried to run, but instead collapsed on the ground when she was out of breath after running so hard. She was pulled back roughly again and the person in front of her grabbed her by the shoulders and pinned her on the wall.
“Who are you and how did you get here?” he asked again and switched on his flashlight and pointed it to her face.
Melissa blinked as the light hit her eyes and she groaned, but just as he started to put his flashlight away, she caught a glimpse of his face.
“Keith?” she asked in bewilderment.
Keith lowered his flashlight so that they could both look at each other. “Yes. Do I know you?”
Chapter Eleven
“I thought you were one of them.” Keith said and pointed his flashlight towards the fence in front of them.
Melissa opened her mouth to say something and realized she didn’t know what to say. He had been shot by the police and fallen into the lagoon. It had been to dark last night so they hadn’t been able to identify each other which explained why he couldn’t recognize her, but that gave him no right to hurt her like this. As these thoughts raced through her mind, Keith had already turned his attention elsewhere and was starting to move away from her.
“We met last night.” Melissa explained and followed the light. “I’m...I mean I used to know Fiona.”
“Uh-huh.” Keith said distractedly and examined the large fence in front of him.
Melissa tried to look for a gunshot wound or blood on him and found none in the dim light. “How did you survive?”
Keith looked at her with puzzlement. “No idea. One minute I was somewhere else, the next; I wake up and find myself in a basement.”
“The cop shot you.” Melissa said, rubbing her arm and wondered if it was just a bruise or a sprain.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Keith said and turned around. He shone the flashlight all over the boutique and a cafe and frowned.
Melissa winced as her hands touched a small bump on her forearm. Keith was probably still in shock, so it was wise to not agitate him.
“Are you okay?” Keith asked.
“You practically beat me up.” Melissa complained.
“I’m sorry, but I really thought you were one of them.” Keith said.
“Who? The Demons?” Melissa asked. “Because even though you couldn’t see, you must have sensed that I wasn’t one!”
“I’m not talking about them.” Keith said and entered the cafe.
Melissa quickly followed him inside and took a deep breath. The cafe hadn’t been abandoned; the chairs and tables were still set neatly, and no menu cards were strewn on the floor. The cafe smelled faintly of coffee and Melissa wished she could have a hot cup in her hands right now. It was even colder than it had been last night and she was cold, tired and hungry.
“Who are you talking about?” Melissa asked and pulled off a table cloth from the table. Everything on the table fell on the floor with a loud clatter, but she didn’t care much for it. After what the city folk had done to her and her friends, she didn’t care if she tore down the whole place with her bare hands. She wrapped the tablecloth around her and shivered.
“Shhh!” Keith said and peered out the window. “Keep it down.”
“If they hurt Jenny, I will hunt them down and...”Melissa said and wiped away at her eyes. How could she hurt Mark? She thought she had been over him, but seeing him brought painful memories. He was a murderer and she still had feelings for him. What was wrong with her?
“Yeah, yeah.” Keith said and closed the curtains. “We have to make sure they don’t find us.”
“I think we should stop hiding and face them. There has to be a way out of this and if it means that we have to kill them...then I think it’s all right.” Melissa said through gritted teeth.
“You can’t kill demons.” Kei
th said and opened a door which Melissa thought was just a supply room. She came up behind Keith and saw a staircase leading upstairs.
“They got you too, huh?” Melissa said and pulled out another table cloth. It was getting colder somehow and her limbs ached. She heard the small vase shatter on the floor and jumped. What she really wanted to do was throw the tables all over and go on a rampage. Apart from the fact that it would help her vent out her anger, the action would also generate enough heat in her body to warm her.
“Can’t you just shut up?” Keith asked angrily. Melissa stepped back.“We’re in big trouble here. If they catch us, they’ll turn us into one of them!”
Before Melissa could stop herself, her hand slapped Keith right across his face.
She saw the look of surprise on Keith’s face and imagined herself being beaten into a pulp by Keith. He was taller than her and his arms were thick and muscular. Considering what happened a few minutes ago, Keith didn’t seem like the person who would think twice before hitting anyone. Keith was way too aggressive and impulsive for him to see reason.
“I...”Melissa started to say. “You need to snap out of it. “They’re not demons. It’s all a hoax to terrorize the people in the city. I don’t know what ulterior motive they could possibly have...”
Keith ignored her and walked up the stairs. Melissa tapped on the door and then followed him reluctantly. After climbing fifty stairs, Keith opened up the door in front of him and Melissa felt a wave of cold air blanket her.
“There’s a terrace?” she asked.
“Here’s the plan.” Keith said quietly. “If we take a run and jump, there’s a possibility that we might make it over the fence. Or at best, we might be able to grab the top of it and haul ourselves over.”
Melissa looked at him in the dim light and realized he was being reckless. She looked down at where she was standing and then all the way towards the ledge. There was a small gap between the building and the fence, but it was still a pretty risky stunt.
“That’s a terrible idea. We could break all our bones!”
Keith let out an irritated sigh and switched off his flashlight. “Broken bones will mend, but if they catch hold of us, they’ll kill us.”
“It’s an absurd idea.” Melissa said, but in her head if she wondered if it was probably not such a bad idea. If they were able to get over it, they could run and get help from...
No one. Melissa scratched her head in frustration. If anyone saw them outside the fence, they might throw them back in. And once they were inside, they wouldn’t even have a chance to run because jumping from such a height was bound to break their legs. She stared down and wondered why she couldn’t hear anything from the other side of the street. She couldn’t see any lights, no screams no nothing. Where had Jennifer disappeared and where were the riders? Why weren’t they looking for her and killing her?
Melissa swallowed. She was really starting to lose it if she was actually wondering why the riders hadn’t killed her yet. The faster she got out of this place, the better it would be for her mental state.
“I think I can do this.” Keith said with determination. “It’s our only chance to escape from those fiends.”
“We can make weapons.” Melissa said quickly. “So what if they’re on motorcycles? We can find a way to cut their brake lines or something.”
Keith shone the flashlight on her face and she shielded her eyes immediately.
“Are you crazy?” Keith asked angrily. “They’re not the enemy here.”
Melissa tried to grab the flashlight away from Keith, but he resisted strongly and pushed her hand away. “They’re the only ones who can keep us alive and protect us from them.”
“Keith you’re in shock.” Melissa said and blinked as her eyes got used to the bright light. She backed away a few steps. “Mark, my boyfriend is one of the riders. He concocted this ridiculous story about how he and his friend are demons and somehow everyone believed him.”
“He is brave!” Keith said. “He’s one of the protectors. He’s the one who’s keeping them at bay.”
“Keeping what at bay? Keith, let’s try to be rational about this.” Melissa said. “I can’t let you jump off the terrace and Mark is not protecting us. If anything, he’s the reason we’re in this mess.”
“You’re out of your mind!” Keith screamed at her. “You don’t even know what’s going on here!” Keith wiped away his own tears with his hand. “This happens every year, this very month. It’s like a curse that’s befallen this city. No one ever comes out of this alive.”
Melissa felt her hands falling down her side and the table cloth she had been clutching flapped away in the cold wind before being swept away by it. “What happens every year?”
Keith started to jog on his spot and took a deep breath as he studied the gap before him. “They!” he said pointing afar. “They awaken every year and on the first day of the crescent moon, destroy everything.”
“Who exactly are you referring too?” Melissa asked. Keith was obviously confused about the riders.
“Those three demons. There are four now.” Keith gasped. “Their names escape me.”
It was then that Melissa realized who Keith was talking about. It was ridiculous of course. “They’re your friends.” She said quietly.
“They’re no one’s friends.” he said.
Melissa suddenly found herself being unable to breathe. She wondered if she should scream or cry and then tried to calm herself down. Now wasn’t the time to breakdown. Keith was dazed and he must have been confusing one with the other. Or worse, the riders had somehow brainwashed him so that he could lead her to them.
“Keith.” she said and tugged on his arm. “Rafe, Sara, Shane and Fiona are your friends. The riders are the ones who are destroying the city. They were the ones who killed Sara and Shane.”
Keith pushed her away. “You’re crazy.” he repeated. “If you don’t want to come, then don’t. They were only three, then they killed one and made them theirs. Now they’ve found another one.”
Keith was babbling and Melissa was starting to feel everything slipping away from her. Her mind fell in knots and she wished Jennifer was here with her. Or even Mark.
Melissa bit her tongue as she thought about Mark. She wanted to believe that Keith was telling the truth so that it would mean that Mark was innocent. But she knew it was only wishful thinking.
“Here goes!” Keith said.
“No don’t!” Melissa cried and grabbed him by the arms. “Please, Keith! Come to your senses. What does the legend say about this city? What are the demons supposed to do?”
“It’s not a myth.” Keith corrected. “Every July, on the first night of the crescent moon, the three awaken. They’re like demons only much worse. They trap innocents and turn them to whatever they are. Only a chosen few can defeat them and free the city of the evil curse.”
“The graves!” Melissa said. “Who do they belong to? There are five of them!”
“But they’re only three?” Keith frowned. “Their graves and the graves of their victims were hidden away.”
“It’s on that islet.” Melissa said. “If we find them, we should destroy them.”
“You do that.” Keith said. “I’ll make my escape in the meantime.”
And before Melissa could stop him, Keith ran fast towards the edge and then jumped as high as he could.
“Keith!” Melissa shrieked as he fell on the side of the fence and fell down. The fence crackled with electricity and Melissa looked down to see Keith’s body being electrocuted. She screamed as Keith quaked violently before falling limp.
Melissa fell on her knees and sobbed. How could the people in this city do that to them? When had they put up an electric fence?
“You killed him!” Melissa screamed and then sobbed loudly. “All you jerks, murdered him! His death is on your conscience!”
Melissa pulled herself up and quickly ran downstairs. She flung open the door to the cafe and ran to whe
re she had seen Keith fall.
She stopped suddenly and the breath was sucked away from her. Keith was nowhere to be found. Someone had taken his body away. But no one had been here. How did they move him away so quickly?
“Melissa.” a voice behind her said.
Melissa turned around to see Mark standing behind her with his helmet in his hands.
“I think it’s time we talked.”
Chapter Twelve
As soon as she saw him, Melissa thought for certain that her heart had stopped beating. Her eyes travelled all over him and she noticed with dull surprise that he was carrying various knives and a gun holster.