Maddie Ann s Playground

by Mackenzie Drew

  Claire shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe Maddie Ann took her? Oh God….”

  Panic gripped Liz. “Kari’s dead, isn’t she? We’re all going to die, aren't we, Claire?”

  Claire dropped to her knees. Searing pain ripped through her body as she thought of the trouble she caused. She locked eyes with Liz and whispered, “You’re safe, Liz. It’s me they want, not you. Now come on, we need to leave.”

  “Leave without Kari? And what about the water, how can we leave our water supply?”

  Claire pulled her to her feet. “I don’t want to leave her either, but I’m afraid if we stay here, Maddie Ann will find us and we may never escape.”

  It started to rain on the girls as they made their way, and now Claire and Liz trudged through the slush, looking for shelter. The rain soaked their clothes, making it hard for them to walk. Their weary legs struggled with each step. The further they wondered around in the wilderness, the lighter the forest became, making it easier for them to see through the canopy of leaves. Claire wondered how much they could endure before insanity took over their minds.

  “I need to rest. The muscles in my legs are burning and I can’t breathe,” Liz complained.

  “I know, Liz, but we have to find a place out of the rain.” Claire glanced around the dreary woods. Nothing stood out, until she stepped forward a few more steps. Behind a wall of wild vines, a mouth of a cave loomed before her. “This must be our lucky day.”

  Grabbing Liz’s hand, she ran toward the cave but stopped abruptly when black hairy spiders crawled over a thick web covering the entrance. Some stood on their back legs and hissed at them like an angry cat.

  Liz pulled her hand out of Claire’s grip. “I’m not going in there.”

  “We’re not sleeping out in the damp because of some stupid spiders. I’ll find a stick and knock them off their web.” Claire glanced at the forest floor. Lying under decaying leaves, she spied a hickory stick. “This will work.”

  Taking a step forward, Claire sucked in her breath and struck at the web, like a major league slugger. Spiders flew everywhere and some popped like a fat dog tick.

  “I think I’m gonna puke,” Liz said, turning her head from the gruesome site.

  “Aw, don’t fret. Haven’t you killed a spider before?”

  Liz shook her head and slowly turned back to see the aftermath. Yellow slime oozed down the stick in Claire’s hand. “All gone,” Claire said and lifted the stick to her lips, pretending to lick it.

  “You’re disgusting,” Liz said, nudging her.

  With a flip of the wrist, Claire slung the weapon as hard as she could into the woods. It must have skimmed a tree, because she heard a zing sound, then a bam as it hit the ground. “Okay, you can relax now,” she chuckled, as she walked off leaving Liz in her tracks. “The yellow guts are gone.”

  Liz rolled her eyes and inched toward the mouth of the cave. They crawled in sitting back-to-back amid the stone walls encircling them. The only light filtered in through the gaping maw of the cave’s entrance. Although the ground was dry, the cold permeating the air chilled their bones. “I can’t sleep where it’s below freezing, Claire! You must be out of your mind to want to rest in here tonight,” Liz said doodling in the dirt with her finger.

  Claire sprung to her feet in search of twigs and rocks. “It’s better than sleeping in the rain. After I start a fire, we’ll be fine.”

  “How do you propose to do that? With magic?”

  “No, smartypants. There’s some dry wood against the wall. Somebody else has been here before us. Have you ever heard of striking two rocks together? The friction causes sparks, then it ignites. And presto, you’ve got a fire.”

  Liz shook her head. “I’ve tried that, and it doesn’t work.”

  Claire pivoted around with her hands on her hip. “Then you didn’t do it right, because it works for me.”

  Piling dried twigs, leaves, and pine needles from the back of the cave inside a circle of rocks, Claire worked her charm and got a fire started. “See, I told you I could do it. But nooooo, you doubted me.” She giggled as the growing flames illuminated the high domed ceiling. The back of the opening disappeared into darkness.

  “Thank you. And I’m sorry I doubted your ability. I’m just skeptical by nature.”

  Claire sat there for a moment in silence. She stared at Liz as though she hadn’t seen her in ages. Maybe her busy life with Jennifer took priority over Liz and her other friends? Or maybe she feared she’d lose her like Kari. “Hey…what do you want to do once we get out of here?” she asked, feeding the fire with more twigs and adding a log.

  Liz leaned back against a rock and stared past Claire. “Do you believe we will find our way out?”

  Claire nodded. “Why…don’t you?”

  “I don’t know,” she replied. “Claire… tell me the truth. Do you think we can outsmart this deranged child—ghost—or whatever she is?”

  She gazed up from the warming tendrils of the fire with a glowering look on her face. “Don’t speak of her. If you mention her name, she’ll find us. And God only knows what she’ll do to us.”

  Liz slowly sat upright shaking her finger at Claire. “Face it, Claire. She's the reason we’re stuck in this hellhole. No matter if we talk about her, you can bet your sweet butt she’s watching us. And you know she took Kari.”

  Whether Claire wanted to believe it, what did it matter? The beast had them caged in her domain and unless Maddie Ann had a vestige of morality, they would never see civilization again as they knew it. “Can we change the subject and talk about something more interesting? All this negative stuff drives me batty. How ‘bout we talk about school?” Claire asked, trying her best to relieve the tension.

  Liz’s face turned red. “Okay…would you like to know who asked me to go to the prom?”

  “Yeah…sure,” Claire said, shrugging.

  “Bayne Givens. He's the hottest creature I’ve ever seen. His smile makes me melt and my heart sputter.” A smile stretched across her young face. “Anyway, how about you? Have you asked anyone yet?”

  Claire gazed down at the cave’s floor like she had something to hide. “Yeah, but I’d rather not say. He’s a liar and a jerk.”

  “He can’t be that bad, can he?” Liz asked.

  Claire nodded. “I know, but he’s the main reason we came to the cemetery. He told me that he loved me.”

  “If I had to guess who ‘he’ was, I’d say it’s Mitch Styles. I know you have the hots for him. He’s so good looking.”

  Claire nodded her head, then lifted her chin. She raised her finger to her lips and shushed Liz. “Did you hear that?” she asked, glancing further into the cave.

  Liz sunk down against The Rock. “What did you hear?”

  “It sounded like a whistle.”

  Claire scooted toward Liz. She grabbed a large stick and gripped it tight like a baseball bat.

  “Maybe we should leave? What if it’s a bear or a mountain lion?” Liz asked.

  “What? A bear or a cat cannot whistle. It has to be a person, and I’m going to check it out. You stay right here and don’t move.”

  Liz yanked her back. “Don’t leave me here alone. I’m scared,” she cried. Freeing her wrist, Claire gestured for her to stay. She tiptoed past large boulders and entered a cavern beyond the center of the cave. The walls sparkled like gemstones. Red, blue, yellow, and green fluorescent colors lit up the room. “Liz, you’ve got to come see this,” she shouted, forgetting the reason she left her alone.

  As Liz started to get up, something wet from a rock ledge above her head dripped on her. “What the….Claire, hurry! I need you.”

  The sudden loud sound startled Claire. Her breath caught in her throat, and she ran. “This better be good....” The stick dropped from her hand and rolled toward the fire. Claire stood there agape.

  A black figure crawled down The Rock wall behind Liz, digging its talons into her sides and yanking her backwards. Fear etched Liz’s face. �
�Help me,” she mumbled, outstretching her arms.

  Claire wanted to move closer, but she couldn’t. She studied the repulsive monster with terror in her eyes. “Ka…Ka…Kari…?” Half of Kari’s body, missing the legs, gripped Liz in its talons. Liz’s blood spurted everywhere. She watched as the mutant dropped Liz to the ground and then dragged itself toward Claire. Jagged fingernails reached for her. The flesh on its disfigured face appeared melted, covered with dime-sized pus sacks; her lips shaded bluish-purple. Frightened by the horrible sight that lay by her feet, Claire's legs went numb, paralyzing her.

  “It’s me Claire, in the flesh,” Kari said. “Well, most of it, anyway.” She cackled the most evil sound Claire had ever heard.

  Stumbling over her words, Claire replied, “Wait…you…you're…not real.”

  Gasping, she looked into Kari's dark bloodshot eyes and regained strength in her legs. This nonhuman half-creature appeared pure evil. Reaching up to clutch Claire’s chilled hand, Kari’s shrill laughter pierced Claire eardrums. Claire leaped backward into the rocks and placed her hands up over her ears to block the tormenting sound. A warm sticky substance seeped through Claire’s fingers, rolling down her arm, dripping off her elbow and falling in the dirt beside her foot. Every opening in her body oozed blood.

  She squeezed her eyes shut, but when she opened them again, the blood had disappeared. Shifting her gaze to the carcass on the cave’s floor, Claire mumbled, “Why are you doing this to me?”

  Ignoring her plea, half-Kari glared up at her and said, “Death has become me, Claire, and now the time has come to take you and Liz with me.”

  Claire shook her head. Liz screamed, then slumped over fainting dead away. “You stay away from me! Oh, God, Liz,” Claire cried, racing to her side.

  “Don’t worry, Claire. She’s not dead yet,” half-Kari retorted nonchalantly. “When I start ripping her flesh open, she’ll come to.”

  Claire lifted her friend’s head from a cold rock slab, and held her in her arms. “Wake up, Liz. We’ve got to get out of here.”

  Fluttering of her eyes suggested she could hear Claire’s warning, but she couldn’t move.

  “Liz is paralyzed. She’ll lay there frozen until I release her from my spell.”

  Wiping the tears from her face, Claire gazed up into the beast’s eyes. “Why would you do this to us? We’ve been best friends since grade school. Don’t you remember how much we meant to each other?”

  A deep grin spread across Kari’s face. “You mean a lot to me. And Liz.” She reached up, stroking Claire’s hair. “That’s why I come for you, so we can be together again.”

  “No! I won’t let you take us,” she shrieked, pulling Liz closer.

  Kari slithered back from Claire and raised her arms in an angry rage. She wiggled her blistered fingers and from the tips of her fingernails, red sparkling light shot up, then flew at Claire. “You should have listened to me. I’m not so gracious when you make me mad,” Kari shouted.

  Claire’s lips twitched and her body writhed ferociously. She forced herself to her feet with the intent to lunge at her attacker. Before she had time to react, Kari sunk her notched fingernails into Claire's forearms. The pain surged down her arms and into her hands. Chills flooded through her limbs, numbing her extremities. “Please STOP,” Claire cried, fighting the urge to pass out.

  Laughter erupted from Kari’s mouth. She squeezed Claire tighter. “Doesn’t it feel good? The pain?”

  Claire’s eyes skated around the cave’s walls. She had to focus on how to break free other than the throbbing sensation poisoning her body. Warm tears descended her cheeks.

  Just then, boney fingers gripped her ankle and yanked her rearward. Speckles of blood rained to the floor mixed with tiny chunks of Claire’s flesh as her arm tore away from Kari's firm hold. She cast her eyes downward to see Liz sprawled on the floor, barely holding on to life, and relief coursed through her as she released herself from the clutches of the demon.

  Anger filled Kari’s demonic eyes. Claire snatched her prize from her and she looked furious. But before her hands made purchase once more, Liz woke suddenly, grabbing Kari around the neck and holding tight. Then in a panic-stricken voice, she said, “Run for it, Claire. I don’t know how long I can hold on.”

  Claire turned to see her friend pinned beneath the beast’s putrid torso. Kari’s claws came up and before Claire had a chance to turn and run, Liz’s blood squirted from a gaping wound in her neck, and then sprinkled onto the cave’s floor. “Noooooooooo,” Claire yelped, clapping a hand over her own mouth in shock.

  Claire’s eyes darted outside the cave and back at Liz. Anxiety coursed through her. She breathed deeply. Her eyes fixed on the gruesome duo locked, in a dance of death. Claire knew if she didn’t get out of there, she’d be the next to feel Kari’s wrath. Before she could make herself turn away, a tear fell and she whispered, “I love you, Liz, and you, too, Kari. I’m so sorry.”

  The color drained from Claire's face as nausea racked her body. She inched her way backward out of the cave and ran in blind panic. The thickness of underbrush was in every direction. Darting through the trees, bare limbs fought her, clutching at her hair and her clothes. She lifted her scraped and bruised hands to block her face, but out of nowhere, a thick branch caught her across the right cheek. A warm wetness rolled down her face and neck. Claire ignored it and kept running. A stitch in her right side slowed her pace, but she took in a deep breath, and continued to weave up the dirt path at a breakneck pace. She burst into a clearing. Claire's breathing labored as a dank, moldy odor caused her stomach to churn. Something foul lives here, she thought.

  Her mouth went dry. Before she had time to stop, vomit erupted all over the ground and down the front of her shirt. She didn't think she had anything in her to throw up, but the smell produced ample amounts of her stomach contents. As she wiped her tears and spit the vomit from her lips, she detected a much lighter area of the woods up ahead and forced herself toward it. Creeping though the trees, she stood in a bright ray of light streaming from above.

  The warm sun felt good on her face. She closed her eyes, and imagined lying on the beach, listening to the sound of the ocean’s waves and simultaneously letting go of her worries and fears. She wanted to feel this way forever, so she’d never have to go back to the hell her mind created. As reality struck her, Claire opened her eyes and stared straight ahead. Off in the distance, a field with tall yellow weeds waved gently in the breeze. Did she stumble upon an opening awaiting her freedom on the other side of those trees?

  Claire raced toward an opening through the thick ochre bushes. She burst through the trees into a field of waving yellow plants. Her feeling of liberation overwhelmed her and she shouted to the sky with a grin that swept the corners of her mouth. “I’m free.” The wide-open fields beyond resembled her grandpa’s crops.

  She remembered as a child the sound of the plow that tilled the ground for his yearly wheat crop, and the smile her grandpa gave her as he drove by on the tractor. She saw the farmhouse in her mind’s eye as it sat among the cornfields, with a big white porch where her family spent summer nights sipping on fresh lemonade and talking about their day. As her grandmother baked, the aroma of homemade apple pie and fresh bread made her hungry indeed. Claire’s vision became a reality. She swore she smelled bread and apple pie. She ran toward the enticing scent.

  A house? Did a house actually exist in this crazy place? Claire hurried until she stood before the tall, white two-story building. It needs a face-lift, she thought. The roof appeared ill suited to the broken-down frame. The house looked abandoned long ago—white paint chips covered the ground, shutters torn from their brackets, and the porch leaned to one side. Curious, Claire approached the entrance.

  The front door hung at an odd angle. As she yanked on the broken door, it flew towards her—hard—like someone pushed it, striking her left shoulder and knee. She fell back onto the rickety porch boards, smacking the back of her head. While lying daz
ed and rubbing the bump on her head, noises came from inside the old house. A familiar gentleman’s voice called to her, as if he knew her. Pushing the old broken door aside, she pulled herself to her feet and called out to the mystery man. “Excuse me, sir, are you there? Hello? Can you help me, sir?”

  Stepping across the threshold, a soot-grimed armchair sat smack-dab in the middle of the room, making it the only furniture in the space. Old wallpaper hung off the walls in strips with chunks of plaster everywhere. Panes of shattered glass from the front windows lay on the floor, while the frames remained intact. Holes scattered across the wood flooring looked unsafe for her to cross. She tiptoed between them, feeling for weakness beneath her feet. As she continued to explore the empty rooms, sadness fell on her as if the house tried to tell its story.

  Off the living room, the most magnificent door Claire had ever seen stood before her. Thick, heavy, and strong, she reached a finger to trace its perfection. Beautiful leaves surrounded the doorframe, while the carving in the center formed a circle of names that stood out with three-D effects.