by Rick Suttle
“ That girl’s still walking around outside the stable,” said Deb, pointing to her left and down. “See her?” Jill could barely see her at first because of the darkness. She then saw the figure walk along the side of the stable. The girl stood their listening. The women were more than a hundred feet away behind a couple trees.
“ What’s the plan?” said Jill.
“I’m going to sneak down there and take her out,” said Deb.
“You mean kill her?”
“Only if I have to.”
“What about me?”
“Stay here until I signal for you.”
Deb stuck her right boot out and side-stepped down the steep hill, watching for rocks
and other debris that could trip her. She needed to stay quiet for a successful ambush. She reached the bottom of the declivity five minutes later and hid behind some tall weeds. The girl was now in front of the stable, pacing along the front.
“Damn,” Deb whispered.“Come back this way.”
Deb waited for twenty minutes as the girl continued walking around in front of the stable. She finally walked past the stable door and down alongside the building. When she had ambled a hundred feet down and turned around, Deb left her position and followed the girl.
She hit a thick patch of grass and started trotting toward her adversary. The girl was just five feet from the door when Deb said,“Hey bitch,” and struck her in the mouth with the tip of the bat. The unconscious girl fell backwards and hit her head on the side of the stables.
Deb walked over to the girl to see if she was out. She was. Deb then walked back to the side window to locate the other three in the stable. The fat one was talking to a girl in the far right corner. The black girl looked as if she were taunting Heather and Sarah, who were seated in chairs with their hands tied behind them.
Deb motioned for Jill. It took her fifteen minutes to reach the side of the building on her injured ankle. Fortunately, none of the girls had noticed that their friend was missing.
“ Just stay behind this stable door,” said Deb. “I’m going to lure the black girl out. As soon as she reaches the door, stab her.”
Deb had seen the black girl walk away from Heather and Sarah to the front of the building, as she took one last glance through the window. She hadn’t yet walked outside. Deb peeked around the door and spotted the girl. She was fifteen feet away. She had just turned to go farther back inside, when Deb tapped the door with her bat.
“Yeah, it’s me, bitch,” said Deb, just as the girl spotted her. The black girl charged Deb. Deb tried to whack her with the bat but the girl was quick. She tackled Deb ten feet beyond the outside door as the bat flew out of her hands. The other girls must’ve heard the commotion because Deb heard them shouting.
Theresa punched Deb in the face a couple times. She was about ready to land a third blow when Jill plunged the spear into her side. Jill quickly broke the limb by pulling it backwards, leaving the stub lodged inside the girl.
Theresa fell to her side moaning. Then the girl’s face sank in the dirt.
Jill had just stood on her wobbly ankle, when Sandy shoved her down. Jill just sat there a couple seconds as she tried to get her good ankle out from under her ass; Sandy pulled her up by her hair and dragged her backwards inside the stables. Jill screamed as she slapped at the girl above her head, but missed.
“ I knew you all would come back,” said Sandy. “But I didn’t think you’d kill my friend there.”
“I’m sorry,” said Jill, as the girl walked her inside. Sandy had Jill’s head and body twisted to the right as she clutched her long mane.
“You needn’t be. You were just trying to save your own pathetic life.”
Sandy motioned for the girl who threatened to pull the knife on Heather earlier.
“What?”
“Get me another chair,” she said, “so we can tie this one up, too. These women are making my job too easy.”
The girl pulled a metal chair from a cabinet in the far corner. She walked the chair over and placed it near the chairs Heather and Sarah sat in. Sandy shoved Jill in the seat as the other girl tied her arms behind her.
“That’s three of them,” said Sandy. “Where’s the fourth one?”
Sandy walked in front of each woman as she posed the question. She stopped in front of Heather.
“Where’s your friend, bitch?”
Heather looked up at the girl with her good eye, as the bashed-in eye pulsated with painful spasms. The blood on her forehead from when Sandy slammed her into the stable door was now clotted.
“I don’t know,” said Heather.
“I can’t hear that meek little voice of yours,” said Sandy. “You’re not so tough now that I beat you down, are ya?”
“I don’t know where she is.”
“You’re lying.” Sandy backhanded Heather across her cheek, a thud that echoed throughout the stables. Heather kept her head turned as fresh blood trickled down the right side of her mouth.
“I guess you wouldn’t know since you weren’t out there. I just wanted to hit you again. Make you bleed some more.” The girl laughed.
“But you know where your friend is,don’t you?” she shouted at Jill. Sandy grabbed Jill by the front collar of her western shirt. “Where’s your friend?”
Jill had seen Deb as she plunged the spear into the black girl. But she was gone when Sandy dragged her into the stables. Deb must’ve snuck away.
“You want to feel the back of my hand, too?”
“No,” said Jill.
“Then tell me where your friend is.” The girl let go of Jill’s shirt.
“I just told you, I don’t know.”
“Then someone’s going to pay for killing my friend over there.”
She then marched over to Heather. “Untie this one for me, Betsy.”
Deb had seen the behemoth coming when Jill plunged the spear into the black girl. While still out of view, she shook off the last punch, which had left her head spinning, and crawled behind the opened stable door to avoid detection. That’s when the other girl came at her, the one she’d knocked down moments ago with the bat. Deb plunged one of the two remaining spears into her gut. She’d picked it up near the door where Jill had left it.
Deb knew the fat girl would take Jill inside and tie her up, as she had the other two. Deb had been lying there long enough to surmise what the girl was up to.
Stay and fight and she’d probably end up in a chair like the others. Then the slob could murder them one by one, with none of them capable of helping each other.
Deb regained her balance after falling several times, as she scampered around the back of the stables. She was winded. She clambered the hill and found the fire still shooting out five-foot flames.
Deb walked over by the old school and peaked inside the window. She then grabbed two fistfuls of dirt by the shrubs, took them to the fire and threw them on it. The flame continued to burn with intensity.
Deb stared at the fire and saw the charred skull of the woman Sandy had killed. The rest of her had been reduced to ashes, except for some blackened remnants of her spine and ribs. Tears welled in Deb’s eye as she ambled over near the edge of the pavement, dropped to her knees and vomited. She wiped some from her chin and stood.
She looked around for a big rock, pail of water or anything she could use to reduce the flames. She had just walked toward the hill overlooking the back of the horse stables, when she heard the fat girl’s booming voice.
“Okay, you little cunt,” the girl shouted. “You can take a dive off the railing or into the flames.You’re choice.”
The girl held Heather by the back of her jeans and was pushing her up the hill in front of her. “Go on, get up there. I’ve wasted enough time with you.”
Heather was halfway up the hill and still fifty feet away. Her hands were now free. “Move it,” said Sandy, pushing Heather’s ass farther up the hill. Heather slipped and landed on her stomach. The girl picked her up and tossed
her several more feet up the hill.
Deb hadn’t seen the second girl, who had been hidden behind the obese one. Deb pulled the knife out of her jeans as Heather and the two girls cleared the hill and made their way toward the parking lot. Deb stood six feet in front of the fire.
Both the behemoth and Heather respired heavily as they approached the fire. The heavy girl then looked up and spotted Deb.
“There you are, bitch,” the girl said, as she caught her breath. She grabbed Heather by the arm and marched her forward. “Now I got you all where I want you.”
Deb could understand why Heather hadn’t tried to fight the girl on the hill. She’d already been battered and was probably now afraid of her. Heather’s eyes widened when she saw Deb. She then turned toward the fat teen and kicked her.
The blow knocked Sandy backwards; she stumbled toward the pavement. “Damn!” she shouted, as she landed on her butt with a thud.
Betsy tackled Heather before she could react. The two wrestled on the parking lot.
The girl climbed on top of Heather and started punching her.
“Heather!” shouted Deb. “Here.” She ran by Heather and placed the knife in her hand. She clutched the bat and watched the fat girl stand; she then circled around her and made her way back to the front of the fire.
Betsy threw another punch. Heather blocked the blow with her left wrist and stuck the knife in her stomach. She had to roll the girl off her; Betsy landed on her back. “ I think I’ve got this thing,” said Sarah, as she jerked on the ropes and loosened them. She was free three minutes later. She untied Jill and the two of them headed for the parking lot.
“ I’ll shove that bat up your skinny ass,” said Sandy, as she crouched and approached Deb. Heather got to her feet. “You don’t even look like an athlete. Certainly not a softball player.”
“ I’m a rodeo cowgirl,” said Deb. She swung the bat at Sandy and missed as the fat girl jumped back.
“That’s not a sport.”
“Hell if it isn’t,” said Deb, as she jabbed the end of the bat at the girl’s chin.
Heather joined her friend and crouched in front of the huge girl with her fists raised. Deb swung the bat from her left side but without the power she’d generated from her natural (right-hand) side. The girl ripped the bat out of her hands and promptly jabbed the handle into her gut.
“Ummmpphhhh!” Deb fell to her knees. Heather jumped up on Sandy just as the girl raised the bat over her head. She slapped her and pounded her fist on her shoulder. The girl dropped the bat and engulfed Heather in a bear hug. Heather moaned. She hoisted her up higher.
“You’re going in the fire right now,” she shouted, as she charged forward with Heather. Deb stuck her boot out and tripped Sandy. Heather tumbled to the pavement and rolled to within a foot of the fire. The dirt from her boots flew into the fire, creating a small burst of flames.
Sandy teetered near the edge of the fire but maintained her balance. She reached down, grabbed Heather by the hair and pulled her to her feet.
“Ohhhhhh,” cried Heather, swatting her arms at the girl.
Deb pounded Sandy from the other side. When she tried to shove the girl to help release Heather, Sandy grabbed her around the neck with her forearm.
The obese girl now had both women embraced in headlocks—one in each arm—as she inched closer to the fire.
“Any last words for you two shit kickers?” said Sandy, as she got set to slam the women’s heads together and shove them in the fire.
Deb was the first to see Sarah walking toward them, with Jill ten feet behind limping. She looked over at Heather who had her head down.
“Heather,” she said, as Sandy continued ranting. “Heather!”
Heather looked up. Deb pointed to the left with her index finger. She fought the girl some more as she jerked her head. Heather turned her head to the right and saw Sarah, who was now ten feet away.
The girl tightened her grip around Deb’s neck. She could barely breathe. She gagged. Heather was in a similar predicament and on the brink of passing out.
“Now,” said Deb, as she stomped down on Sandy’s foot. The girl released her arm but still had a grip on Heather’s head. Heather kicked the girl several times. Sandy pounded the top of her head. Heather stooped down as the girl continued pummeling her head, pushed herself backwards and got herself free. She landed on her ass.
Deb lay on the ground as Sarah charged the girl from behind and shoved her. Sandy again teetered near the edge of the fire, using the strength of her mammoth legs to keep her from falling in. She had just started to turn when Jill charged and gave her a final shove. Deb grabbed Jill by the arm just as her ankle started to give way, which would’ve sent her sprawling into the fire.
Sandy fell into the fire and started cussing more than screaming. The flames shot seven feet in the air. The girl rolled over several times and cleared the fire. She then stood, her entire body engulfed in flames, and ran toward the three women who were now ten feet away.
With her arms outstretched and flames shooting from her body, Sandy charged the women in an attempt to tackle them and set them on fire. That’s when Heather hit her with the bat and knocked her head to the side. The girl looked back at Heather and snarled. Her curly hair had burned down to her scalp and her face was charred with melted flesh. Heather stepped forward and whacked her again. The girl’s eyes rolled and she fell to the pavement.
“ Is everyone okay?” said Deb, as Heather dropped the bat and walked over to her friends. They all embraced.
“Oh, God, I’m tired,” said Heather. “I’m going to give up smoking right away.” Deb smiled.
“There’s one thing I don’t understand,” said Sandy.
“What’s that?” said Deb.
“Where the hell is everyone around here?”
“I had a chance to check the schoolhouse earlier,” said Deb. “It’s condemned and abandoned. I’d say nobody lives in this town anymore.”
“That’s probably why the girls used it for the initiation,” said Sarah.
“What about the woman?” Jill asked. “The girl said she grabbed her when she came out of the bar.”
“I doubt it,” said Deb. “They probably brought her here from the next town over.”
“ We’re going to have to report this,” said Sandy, as the quartet made their way to the edge of the parking lot to the woods. They didn’t want to take the valley so they could avoid seeing the dead girls. Their entire detour had been a disaster and much too painful to revisit. They’d call the cops in the nearest town once they found some gas for the SUV.
“ Wait a minute,” said Heather, as the first vestiges of light appeared on the horizon. “The stable has an old generator. I’m pretty sure I saw a container or two of gasoline down there.”
“You sure?” said Deb.
“Yeah. I had plenty of time to look around with my hands tied all those hours.” Suddenly Heather collapsed in the dirt. Deb ran over to her.
“You okay?” “ I think,” said Heather. “My nose is broken. My injuries, including the pounding I just took to my head, just made me dizzy.”
“You probably have a concussion,” said Deb.
“I wouldn’t doubt it.”
Deb looked back toward the fire and hill that led down to the stable. “I’ll go down and get the gas.”
“I’ll come, too,” said Sarah.
“Okay, you and Jill stay here, Heather. We’ll be back in fifteen minutes.”
Deb didn ’t look at the black girl as she entered the stable. They had gone around the opposite side to avoid the dead girl on the side near the woods.
“The generator’s over there,” said Sarah. They ambled toward the corner of the stable and found two cans of gasoline.”
“It’s not propane either,” said Deb. “That’s good.”
The women climbed the hill with the gas containers and met up with Jill and Heather ten minutes later.
The women retraced their steps fr
om earlier, hiking through the first set of woods and making their way to the clearing opposite the stable. Heather and Jill needed a break, so they sat down on the grass at the top of the hill that overlooked the valley. The flames of the fire still burned in the distance, but not with the same intensity. Moments later, the first sliver of the sun peaked over the horizon.
Jacko was just outside the trailer when Deb and the women reached the Ford Explorer. “ You okay?” she said, petting his mane. He rubbed his nose up against her shoulder and snorted. She laughed.
She had given him enough rope to walk around within fifteen feet of the trailer. He seemed chipper now and not as warm as he’d been when she’d returned for the knife and bat.
Try it again, ” said Sarah, after pouring the second container of gasoline in the SUV’s gas tank.
Deb stepped on the gas. The engine sputtered for several seconds then started up.
“Eureka!” she shouted.
“Let’s get to the next town, gas up again and contact the police department,” said Sarah. Heather and Jill moaned.
“We have to let them know, guys,” said Deb.
Deb drove down several roads until she saw a sign to Cherokee Mounds. She stopped at a convenient store, got gas and bought some ice for Heather and Jill. She then located the police station three minutes later.
“Small town,” said Deb. “Everything’s along this main road.”
“You say some of those girls are dead back there?” a wiry cop with black glasses said. “Yeah, six of them.” Deb had told them they were members of the Banshees. The cop seemed familiar with them. “ They’ve been causing trouble around her for years. We pull bodies out of the ghost town every month it seems.”
“They attacked us,” said Deb, “and threatened to kill us. All of our actions were in self-defense.”
“No explanation is needed,” the cop said. He sipped his coffee. “If it’s the six I’m thinking of, they’ve got rap sheets a mile long. Hate to say it but it’s probably a blessing in disguise. And you four are lucky to be alive.”
The cop cleared his throat a couple times. He then said,“That big girl was as mean as they get. She finished second in the state shot put championship this past year.”