Neighborhood Watch

by Stuart R. West

  “Yes.” Her voice remained cool and calm. She looked up at their captors. “Why are you doing this? We’ve never done anything to you!”

  Carl strode forward wearing his usual attire. Derek half expected them to be decked out in black robes instead of casual wear. “You’re old. Used up! That’s offensive enough. But for new life to be born, old life’s gotta go. Call it a harvesting if you want. Or the circle of life.” Another round of laughter.

  “You’re crazy!” If it wasn’t for their dire situation, calling someone else crazy for a change felt ironically good to Derek.

  “Nah, not really. Let me show you something.” He stood aside, thrusting out his chest. “C’mere, girls.” Kendra and Bettany stepped forward, Dr. Farraday behind them. “Show ‘em what you’ve got.” The three women lifted their shirts, displaying their bulging bellies. “They’re pregnant. You believe that shit?” He nudged Scott, who giggled.

  “Okay. We’re impressed. Can we go now?”

  Carl shot Toni a glare. Kendra lowered her hoodie, kicked Toni’s leg, and hissed. “Now, Kendra, show our guests a little neighborly hospitality. After all, they’re gonna make the ultimate sacrifice so Sharon can get pregnant.” Carl gestured toward the third woman.

  “So you’re sacrificing elderly neighbors so your wives can get pregnant?” Derek laughed and shook his head. “In what world does that even make sense?”

  “Shut up, neighhhbor.” As soon as Scott raised his bat, Carl thrust his arm in front of him.

  “It’s cool, Scottie. I got this. Okay, bottom line here. Kendra and the other two gals—well, they were barren. Couldn’t get pregnant. Before we met one another, all three of us couples went through everything, drugs, tests, in vitro, all that crap. Nothing worked. Then we heard things. Good things about Dr. Robert Langton. Our leader and savior.” The others responded with near-evangelical zeal.

  “Who’s Dr. Robert Langton?”

  Carl blinked at Derek. “I told you. Our leader and savior! Without him, these gals wouldn’t be pregnant. Dr. Langton started his own branch of…well, spirituality, guess you’d call it. We practice black magic. Also, we’re part Druids—that’s ‘bout the best way to put it. Dr. Langton found out about this neighborhood and the magical qualities here. Especially the oak tree.” Carl gestured outside. “The oak tree’s fulla fertility and possessed by dark demons. That’s what Dr. Langton says. Not only does the tree give life, it makes life better. I just gotta raise and won big at the boats. What can I say? I’m a fuckin’ believer! But to make an omelet, you gotta break a few eggs. You gotta take lives. Now, at first we thought, wait a minute…but then Dr. Langton taught us we could sacrifice the old folks who’ve already lived their lives. Hey, easy win-win.”

  “So, what? You put curses on Katherine? George and Dot?”

  Carl juggled his hands in the air, weighing good and evil. “Yeah, more or less. Sometimes we had to use…other means.” He winked at Kendra. She swayed back and forth, hugging her own shoulders, absolutely in love with herself. “But, look at the proof here.” He slapped Kendra’s belly. “The proof’s in the pudding.”

  Toni turned toward Derek and said, “Sorry, honey. I should’ve listened to you. They are crazy.”

  “Shut up, bitch!” Kendra kicked Toni again.

  “Leave her alone!” Derek struggled against the ropes. Too tight. But something sharp pricked his fingertip. The knife he saw earlier. Working his fingers around the handle, he angled it with the tip against the ropes. With miniscule movement, he began cutting thread by thread. “And what do you have to do with this, Dr. Farraday?” Derek sneered at her.

  “Oh, Derek, don’t take it so personally. It’s just business. They approached me. They’d found out I was desperate to have a baby but couldn’t. We cut a deal. I was supposed to establish your mental instability. Get you worked up. Ply you full of potent meds. Then you were supposed to die of a ‘drug overdose.’” She used finger-quotes. “Your death wouldn’t have been nearly so…attention-getting. Too many deaths of natural causes might start alarming people. But thanks to you being a busy body, now we have to step up the timetable. Before you start opening your big mouth to everyone. No one would’ve believed you, of course, but we didn’t need people talking. Poor Toni would’ve suffered an accident shortly thereafter.”

  “Fuck you!”

  Carl roared. “No, neighbor, from where I’m standing it sure looks like you’re fucked. We just cut a deal with your neighbor Sunny. I mean, to me, she’s gettin’ a little long in the tooth. Could go either way with her. But it’s better to have solidarity. She’s ready to trade in her husband for a baby. Now you. You’re the last of the damn holdups. Once we’re rid of you, Dr. Langton’s gonna move into your house. Soon our power’s gonna spread. With all us believers in the ‘hood, there’s nowhere to go but up.”

  “Or to hell, maybe.”

  “Funny. Too bad I don’t see ya’ laughing. Now, we’re just waiting for Dr. Langton to get here, and…” Carl looked at his watch. “Midnight. Then we’ll be performing a double sacrifice. Have to dispose of the bodies somewhere.” Carl dropped onto his haunches, hands on knees, and stared into Derek’s eyes. “Should be awesome.”

  Derek nearly cut through one length of rope. With any luck, and the element of surprise, he could wrench his wrists free and attack Carl. But taking on seven people would accomplish nothing, except to hasten their demise.

  Carl stood. “One final piece of business.” Walking behind the hanging curtain, he dragged a white basin across the floor with an ear-torturing scruuunch. He grabbed Dr. Farraday’s chin, holding it up. Her smug smile flew south; then she furrowed her brow. A click sounded. Light caught a hint of metal as Carl drew his hand up.

  “What are you do—”

  Carl dragged the switchblade across Farraday’s throat. Her eyes bulged. She gasped, her hands trying to still the torrent of blood. Blood spurted between her clenched fingers and poured down onto her white jacket. She dropped to her knees. Carl shoved her head into the basin.

  “That’ll do it.” He pocketed his knife and wiped his hands together with relish.

  “You bastard!” Toni looked away.

  “My God, you’re all sick!”

  Carl chuckled. “I wouldn’t say we’re sick. We’re all doin’ really good, as a matter of fact.”

  “Why’d you kill her?” Derek swallowed back his rising bile.

  “My mom used to have a sayin’. Some people just get too big for their britches. Farraday was raising noise, starting to threaten us, wantin’ a bigger piece of the pie. There’s only so much pie to go ‘round. We didn’t have a house for her.” He shrugged, rolling his shoulders back. “Sometimes there have to be sacrifices for the betterment of the strong.”

  The life leaked out of Farraday. Her neck lay on the basin’s sill, a twisted mockery of her sympathy tilt.

  Derek concentrated on cutting through the ropes, one hand nearly free. Toni sat still, shocked into silence.

  Thunder cracked outside. From the distance came a howling. A coyote? In suburban Kansas?

  Wind whipped against the windows, the thin panes rattling.

  The doorbell rang, sounding very far away, yet so close to make Derek pray for help.

  Yet all hope fled when Derek looked at the basement gatherers. Unadulterated excitement brightened their faces, children waiting for Santa Claus. “He’s here!” Carl turned to the third male neighbor. “Tommy, watch these two.” Tommy nodded while the others followed Carl up the stairs.

  Tommy knelt in front of Derek and Toni. “You know, you guys could’ve made it a lot easier on yourselves if you’d just moved out. On the other hand, we’ve gotta take our sacrifices where we can get ‘em.” He leered, no longer looking like an innocuous yuppie.

  Derek wrenched his wrists free. Lunging forward, he buried the knife’s blade into Tommy’s stomach and yanked upward. Hard. Tommy’s mouth fell open, shock in his eyes. He stumbled to his feet, hands wrapped around the
knife handle. He fell back, tripping over Farraday’s body. Writhing on the floor, he moaned quietly, his last breath of life. Then stopped. The two bodies wrapped around one another like exhausted lovers, blood spreading beneath them like a sullied blanket.

  “Derek, get these off me,” Toni whispered. Derek cut her free with one slice and pulled her to her feet. To steady his shaking hands, he anchored them on Toni’s shoulders.

  Upstairs, joyous voices and laughter rang through the house. A smaller party, but just as raucous as the night before. Derek turned to Toni, finger to his lips. He pointed up the stairs. Leading the way with the knife extended, he held onto Toni’s hand, his hand slick with sweat. The merriment upstairs drowned out the wooden steps squeaking beneath their feet.

  Outside, a sudden blast ripped through the night. The lights in the basement flared then went black. One of the women upstairs shrieked. A transformer exploded, enveloping them with darkness. Derek released Toni’s hand and grabbed the lighter from his pocket. Flicking it, he saw disappointment register in his wife’s face. An argument for another day. If there is another day.

  At the top of the stairs, Derek killed the lighter as he opened the door. Shadows bobbed into the kitchen projected from the living room candlelight.

  “Another hour until midnight, ladies and gentlemen. Then our reaping will be complete.” A new voice, threadlike and small, met with reverent cheers. “The dark gods have smiled upon our new neighborhood, and I couldn’t be prouder of my acolytes. Soon…”

  Toni read Derek’s mind—a talent she’d developed over the years—and grabbed a large knife from a cutting block on the counter. Derek stood, shaking, wondering what their next move should be.

  A shadow along the kitchen wall grew in height. Someone walking into the kitchen. Toni grabbed Derek’s hand and yanked him back against the counter. The shadow stretched across the kitchen floor, the candlelight etching out finer details as she came closer. Carrying a candle, Kendra padded in wearing only her underwear. Derek grabbed her around the waist, clamping his hand over her mouth. Teeth bit into Derek’s hand, fingernails clawed at his flesh. But his grip stayed solid. Derek wrenched her to the counter, forcing his weight on top of her. Now they have leverage. Derek shot a look to Toni. She nodded. Knifepoint touching Kendra’s neck, they slowly shuffled out of the kitchen, the three of them forming a human caterpillar.

  They stopped in the doorway. Clothes littered the floor. Carl, clad only in boxers, shot to his feet from the sofa. Candle flames bounced off their faces, their eyes black shades of inhumanity. The two other women lay on the floor, arms and legs entwined. A short man in a three piece suit stood in the middle of the room.

  “We’re leaving here. Now,” croaked Derek. “You make a move, so help me, God, I’ll kill your wife, Carl!”

  The small man stepped forward, his face now illuminated. Young, clean-cut cheeks glowing red with cherubic heat, he looked like a preppy offspring of Satan. “Mr. Winton. There’s no God here.”

  Carl shifted his weight, prepared to spring.

  “Stay where you are, Carl. I mean it!” Derek pressed the knife into Kendra’s neck, her skin indenting from the tip. Her nose fumed hot breath over Derek’s hand. “I’ll kill her!”

  Toni raised her knife, too, showing them they meant business.

  “You don’t have the balls!”

  “Oh, really? Why don’t you go ask Tommy?” Tommy’s wife’s hand flew to her mouth. Scott walked out from one of the back bedrooms, naked except for his ubiquitous ball cap.

  “Now, let’s not be hasty here.” The suited man waved his hands and clasped them together. “I’m Dr. Langton, the high priest of the new church of Satan. I’m sure we can come to an understanding.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” snapped Toni.

  “Understand this, Langton, we’re walking out of here. Alive!” Carl balled up his fists. “You’d better goddamned stop, Carl.” This time Derek drew a pinpoint of blood from Kendra’s neck. Her whimper slipped between Derek’s fingers. “Everyone go to the back bedroom. Now!”

  Carl and Scott exchanged looks, not their usual bromantic glances, either. Desperate looks. But their desperation scared Derek. Just a matter of time before they rushed them like a pack of wild dogs.

  Langton took several steps, hands out in a friendly manner befitting a small town preacher. “Come now. If you think the death of Kendra will deter us from our mission, Mr. Winton, you’re sadly mistaken.”

  If they considered Kendra expendable, Derek knew what he had to do. He thrust Kendra to the floor, reached out, and quickly snagged Langton in one fluid move that surprised even himself. Arm around his neck, Derek squeezed. Langton coughed, pulling feebly at Derek’s arm. Carl rushed toward his wife.

  Now or never. “Go, Toni!” Toni raced for the front door. Derek dragged Langton closely behind. Yanking open the door, they ran out into the pummeling rain. “We’ve got to get to the house. Barricade in ‘till help gets here,” he shouted. “Go on ahead. Get ready!” Toni ran, already at their front door by the time Derek dragged Langton to the street. Langton slipped on the wet grass when they hit Derek’s yard. Derek dragged him by the neck the rest of the way, not caring if he strangled the son-of-a-bitch.

  Across the street, the door cracked open. Derek risked a look. Carl and Scott, fully dressed, flew through the yard, arms pumping like pistons.

  Toni opened the door just as Derek managed to get Langton to his feet. He shoved him up the steps and inside. Toni slid the lock in place, phone in hand. The men launched on the door, howling like animals. One of their arms broke through the small window pane, too high for them to reach the lock inside. Derek jabbed at the hand with the knife, gashing the skin. The arm recoiled like a snake.

  “Did you call?”

  Toni nodded, turned, and spoke urgently into the phone.

  “Let me go! You don’t know who you’re dealing with,” Langton cried.

  “Shut up!” Derek slammed Langton into the wall, face first. For good measure, he did it again. One more time and it supplied Derek with a renewed energy. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with, you son-of-a-bitch!” Limping, Patch sniffed his way up to the commotion and growled at Derek’s feet. “You’re a bunch of insane murderous bastards. I’m gonna see you rot in hell!” Derek pushed him into a chair at the dining room table.

  “You don’t understand. This land—the tree! You’re wasting the dark powers here, you stupid fool.”

  Derek grabbed the back of Langton’s neck and shoved his face into the table. “I’m sick of this. The damn tree that’s—” He suddenly knew what had to be done. “Toni?”

  She appeared, snapping her phone shut. “They said they’ll be here shortly. There’s been a lot of accidents because of the power outage.” When she ignited a candle, her face lit up, pale, frightened, ghostly, yet strong as marble.

  The pounding continued at the door. Then it stopped. The silence frightened Derek more than their animal savagery. At least, he knew where they were before.

  “Are all the doors locked?” She nodded. “Keep the knife on him. I’ve got to do something.”

  * * * *

  Of course, Toni didn’t want him to go. But he saw trust in her eyes. Something he had missed over the past two weeks. She stood over Langton, knife poised in front of his face, determined. A warrior. He hated leaving her. But he had to finish this.

  He opened the back door quietly and locked it behind him. Pulsating rain stung his face. As he ran across the deck, he skidded over the slick wood. His ribs took the brunt of the blow as he fell against the railing. Picking himself up, he crawled over the railing, the shortest route to his destination. Then he scrabbled over the fence into Sunny and Bob’s yard.

  “Hey, there. Neighhhborrr!”

  Derek turned, his foot sliding in the mud, and dropped to one knee. Scott squatted in front of him, hands outstretched.

  “Where ya’ goin’, neighhhborrrr?” The water flowed over the bill
of his baseball cap.

  Derek leapt, knife out. Scott sidestepped and brought his elbow down onto Derek’s head. Landing in the mud, he rolled over. Scott’s booted foot smashed into his face. Then Scott dropped on top of him, his hands closing around Derek’s neck. Derek wiggled his knife-wielding hand free and brought the blade down into Scott’s back. He pulled it out and plunged it in again. Scott jerked and kicked before rolling away. Derek stood, dizzy.

  He looked into Scott’s open, frightened eyes. “Thanks for being such a good neighhhborrr.” Derek’s voice was lost in the storm. But it certainly felt satisfying.

  Derek made his way toward Sunny and Bob’s back door. He tried the handle. No time for niceties. The door opened. From the back bedroom, he heard sobs. A one-sided, rambling conversation.

  “Sunny? Bob?” He followed the voice down the hallway.

  Sunny sat at the end of the bed, her face buried in her hands. Bob lay in the bed, mouth open, wheezing.

  “My God, please, I don’t want this. I don’t want this...make it stop.”

  “Sunny!”

  She looked up at him, unsurprised by his intrusion.

  “What’s wrong with Bob?”

  “Oh, my God, Derek. Make him better! I don’t want this. Take it back. Take it all back!” Thunder crashed outside, jolting her into frightened silence.

  Derek shook her shoulders. “Tell me, Sunny! This is important! Did you do anything to him?”

  She shook her head. Bob turned, lifting a weak hand out. Derek thrust his hand underneath the pillow and pulled out another small bundle tied with a black ribbon. “Sunny, listen to me. Listen! Did you put this here?”

  “What? No! I’ve never seen it before.”

  Derek pocketed it. Bob hiccupped a deep breath. His chest rose and fell, his breathing regulated. “Call an ambulance for him. Now!” She nodded. “I’ve got to use Bob’s chainsaw. Is it full of gas? Ready to go?” She stared at him blindly. “Never mind, just call an ambulance!”

  Derek ran down the hallway to the garage where Bob kept the saw. He yanked the cord, hoped for a full gas tank. The tool roared to life and shook powerfully in his hands.