Maleficarum: Hunger of the Witch

by Bennett, Jeremy

  “They found us,” Beverly uttered, but the overflowing dread that seemed to drown her let her know she was mistaken. It was something far darker than a human being could ever be. It felt like hate that had been brewing from before time. It was the same sense that had come over her when she saw Nick holding that dreadful book.

  “No, I don’t think it’s the witches,” Nick said. “I don’t know what it is, but I don’t think it likes us.”

  “Let’s tell the others.”

  “No, there is nothing they can do about it.”

  “I think they’re going to find out as soon as they come in here, anyway. At any rate, let’s get the hell out of here before something worse happens,” Beverly urged as she rose to her feet and went for the door.

  Nick followed her into the stock room, and as they tried to collect themselves, there was a massive crash that shot from the main room. Both Nick and Beverly rushed through the doors and burst into the front of the store, not knowing what horrendous sight they might find.

  However, everyone seemed relatively at ease, and they were still going about their work. The two of them scanned the room till their eyes fell on Ann. She held one of the great tomes from the store over her head, and just as an old-time whale hunter would do, she flung it like a harpoon at one of the display cases. The book smashed through, sending chunks of glass flying. As soon as she could, Ann rushed to the display case.

  “What are you doing?” Beverly asked.

  “They have swords in there,” Ann explained, peering into the wreckage.

  “I have a key for that,” Nick yelled.

  “Too late,” Ann retorted. Despite Ann’s gentle nature, the sound of breaking glass had always satisfied some primal need in her, and if given the opportunity, she never passed it up.

  Ann snatched the three biggest swords she could and rushed them to the others. She passed a long sword to Beverly and a claymore to Nick, and she kept a rapier for herself. She pulled the scabbard off the sword and flicked the tip of the blade into an oak display case. A devilish smile spread over her face. They were all armed now, but the weapons brought little security to anyone but Ann.

  “Why do y'all have swords in a magic shop?” Beverly asked as she looked down at her new silver blade. She ran her fingertips across the sleek golden hilt as she looked to Nick for a response.

  “They’re used a lot in ritual spell casting,” Nick said.

  “Let’s get back to boarding up this place,” Mike barked. The newly armed crew set back to work, but this time they had weapons that might actually kill something. However, with the number of attackers that Beverly had seen outside, the new weapons gave only a little comfort. Neither Beverly nor Nick said a word about what had happened in the bathroom.

  * * *

  They had labored for about twenty minutes or so when someone knocked at the door. All of their heads snapped to attention. There was no mistaking who it was.

  Mike rushed to the door, pulling his gun from his waistband. “Nick, you and Ann go guard the back door and make sure they’re not trying to fuck us in the ass.”

  “Is that what you’re into?” a youthful voice said on the other side.

  Mike smiled a bit, nearly stammering as he said, “Depends if I’m the one doing the ass-fucking; I can get down.”

  “You can fuck me in the ass. I like it dirty,” the ultra-feminine voice teased.

  “Move to the window so we can see you,” Mike ordered as he turned to check the others’ expressions. Their eyes were locked on the door as dread filled their hearts.

  “It’s a witch,” Beverly whispered to Mike.

  “No shit,” Mike said as he checked the chamber of his gun.

  Whatever it was, it was lightly tapping the window to the left. Mike snuck to the pane and peered out, but he tried not to get too close. In the dim light from the porch, he saw her. A beautiful redheaded woman stood completely nude outside. Around her were three other girls, each more angelic than the next, and each naked as naked as could be. The redhead was tall and athletic, with full breasts and toned legs. Her plump lips smirked as she saw Mike make eye contact and quickly look away.

  He was blushing as he turned and said to the others, “Dude, it’s a bunch of hot naked chicks.”

  “They’re evil,” Ann said.

  “No shit,” Mike barked, peeking back out the window. The girls were flawless and everything that a man could wish for.

  “So, what do you want?” he asked, waiting in anticipation.

  “To talk, maybe more,” the redhead hinted coyly, flicking her long hair out of her eyes. Her voice was muffled by the window pane, but it still carried with it the tone of a woman about to have an orgasm.

  “Where are the others?” Mike asked.

  “We chased the bad witches off into the woods, and we have placed a spell over this land, so they can’t come back,” the fair woman said as the others started to caress her body.

  “Is that so?” Mike was still grinning.

  “Yes…It’s safe, and we wish to reward you for valiantly fighting the forces of darkness. It takes a strong man to do something like that.”

  “Doesn’t it? So how is it you reward such heroes?”

  “Any way they want,” she said, putting as much pout into her lips as she could. Nick tried to say something, but Mike cut him off, pressing his finger to his lips. The look on Beverly’s face seemed to ask, is Mike really that dumb?

  “OK, I’ll tell you exactly what it is I need, but I don’t want the others to hear,” Mike said as he beckoned her with his finger through a hole in the boards. She moved in closer, her pristine face nearly touching the glass. As casually as one changes channels on a TV, Mike stuck his gun to the glass and pulled the trigger. They say beauty never lasts forever. This is especially true when glass and lead are involved. She crumpled to the deck that was now coated in her brains. The other girls scattered into the night like rats whose nest had been disturbed.

  “Let’s get back to work,” Mike uttered coldly as he checked over his gun.

  “Ohhhhh, my God, you killed her,” Beverly cried as the smoke from the shot still hung in the air.

  “Yep.”

  Kim spit out between sobs. “What if she was telling the Truth?”

  “What if? Fuck your what if. Haven’t you ever seen a horror movie, man? I’m surprised they didn’t send someone dressed as a fucking cop. Besides, what hot naked chick just wants to come up and fuck random people? This is the real world, not Penthouse letters. Get over it; she’s dead,” Mike screamed. He had just killed a pretty girl, and he knew it was going keep him up at night. His hands trembled, but he did his best not to let the others see. He knew he was right, so he could deal with his sleep being disturbed for the rest of his life.

  Just then there was a heavy thud on the door.

  “This is the police. Open up. We have reports of shots being fired,” a deep and authoritative voice called out from behind the door.

  Mike’s face twisted with rage. “You motherfuckers,” he growled as he pumped three shots into the door. There was a dull thud on the other side as something heavy flopped to the ground.

  “You’re going to have to do better than that, you satanic pieces of shit!” Mike screamed. His face was now as red as a baboon’s ass, and spit rolled out of his lips. “Fucking told you,” he said as he popped the magazine from his gun and began to reload.

  * * *

  Nothing else was said as they got back to work. Almost an hour had passed when Nick ran out from the maze with about a dozen bottles and several bags in his arms. It was all the herbs that he had mentioned earlier , as well as some big bags of bath salts. Without a word, he ripped open the bags and bottles and started pouring the contents around the perimeter of the store.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Mike asked while nailing up a piece of chair over the display window at the front of the store.

  “I’m trying to set a barrier. It should help to stop them from cas
ting spells or busting in,” Nick said.

  “I would rather you grab a fucking hammer.”

  “I will, but after this.”

  “OK, but make it quick, man.” It didn’t take long for Nick to make his rounds, and then he rejoined the group in barricading the windows.

  Beverly and Mike tried to keep as watchful as they could while they worked, but nothing seemed to be happening outside. That is, until they saw the fire slowly rising. The flames were in plain sight, even through the fog that was still rolling in, but neither Mike nor Beverly saw anyone stack the wood or light the blaze.

  “What the fuck,” Mike grunted. Ann and Kim dropped what they were doing and rushed to the window. From the woods, the hordes reemerged. Nearly all of them were naked, and behind them came the beasts of the fields. Wolves, mad dogs, rabbits, rats, cats, birds, and all manner of frogs and toads emerged. From no place in particular, dreadful, haunting music played. The thin sound of flutes grated over pounding kettledrums, and lutes screamed as if they were being raped. Simple combinations of notes without purpose or thought raked across their ears, and the rumbling of the drums was all that stayed constant. The unholy voices of the hordes began to chant without thought of tone or key. The lights in the store flickered and then shut off as they sang.

  “Ohhh, come and dwell with us, spirit of love. Dwell in our flesh and strengthen us, O Lord of the Flies. Come and dwell in our bodies and take pleasure in them as we do ourselves.”

  “Fiddlesticks,” Ann said. Most of the windows had been covered, but looking out at the raging hordes, everyone knew that they needed to double up on everything.

  “Holy crap, they’re starting their Sabbath,” Nick said as the shadowy figures danced around the hateful flames. Like a great serpent’s tongue thrashing at the sky, the fire raged, and around it the damned made their defiance known to God. Bodies writhed in sexual acts and dance. No discernment could be made between the two. Not man or beast, young or old, nor life or death played a part in their thoughts or their actions. Unnatural shrills, bleats of goats, and deep voices shouted horrific blasphemies that seemed to curdle the air. Fearsome naked bodies clashed like slobbering bulls intent on murder. The demonic sex dolls poured out of the porno shop and instantly began to commit horrendous acts of carnal sickness.

  The sight made Beverly’s stomach churn. For all her relativist and nihilistic musings in her high school papers, she knew on a gut level that what she was seeing was wrong. Some things were just evil. The witches were free to do anything , and anything was what they did. The sight repulsed her.

  “What time is it?” Nick barked.

  Beverly pulled out her phone and took a look. “Ten thirty.”

  “It won’t be long,” Nick said, turning away from the hellish sight.

  “What?” Mike asked, popping his head up.

  “The witching hour, and as we get closer and closer to that time, their power is going to grow. They’re calling to their evil masters, and when they arrive, we’re dead,” he said, trembling.

  “So, what do we do?” Kim asked.

  Nick looked bewildered at the comment. “I don’t know. I have no clue,” he admitted.

  The admission hit everyone in the room hard. He was clearly the smartest person in the there and had the most knowledge on the occult. With his mind blank, there was little they could do. Nick was shocked himself that he couldn’t come up with something. All throughout his life he had been the smart guy, the one everyone asked for advice, but with no brilliant plan or cunning strategy coming forth, it was like a piece of his identity was slowly eroding. He had to come up with something.

  Suddenly, a metallic crash accompanied by the sound of shattering glass exploded from inside the store. Everyone went silent as they peered around the dark room. Ann raised her sword in anticipation of the worst. Then, from a dark corner of the store, out stepped Rick. His eyes were sunken and black. Blood gushed from his mouth, and his face was covered in boils.

  “I think I’m sick,” he said spitting out globs of oily blood. “I think that thing gave me something.” He raised the hand that had been bitten. It was black, withered, and pulsing. As he tried to take another step forward, he crashed to the floor like a trash bag full of lard. “Help,” he whimpered.

  “Fuck, dude, I ain’t touching him. I hate to be like that, but fuck,” Mike said.

  Kim recoiled at the sight of the fat man trying to right himself.

  “It hit me so fast, guys. I can’t move. God, it feels like something’s moving inside my arm.”

  “Y’all, I’ve got to help him,” Ann said, trying to steel herself.

  “Don’t do it man! He’s got Ebola or some shit,” Mike said, grabbing Ann’s arm.

  Chapter 6: The Eye of Sickness

  “Please help me,” Rick moaned, slumping back to the floor, face down. Blood began pouring from his mouth with a fantastic force. The stream of blood and bile quickly changed to massive chunks of meat. The odor of feces filled the room, nearly choking off everyone’s breath.

  “Ohhh, my God,” Beverly screamed, raising her sword. Rick shot back up to his feet, and he took off, running through the store. As he ran into the catacomb-like bookshelves, they all lost sight of him. The sound of thrashing, ripping, and howling filled the air. The howling mixed with the sound of the witches’ chanting, almost harmonizing with it, and as abruptly as it started, it stopped, leaving nothing.

  “Suspiria…Suspiria,” Rick screamed, and then he went quiet once more, leaving only the hum of the witches’ voices. They were only vaguely able to triangulate him from the sound of his movement.

  “I’m just gonna guess, but I think we’re going to have to kill him,” Mike said checking to see if he had a bullet in his chamber. From the darkly lit bookshelves, the fat man crept out of the shadows. It looked as if he was professionally lit to be in a film noir as a single beam of light from the moon hit his blood-pulsing mouth. As he stumbled further into the light, all of them could see that his eyes had been plucked out. Almost as shocking was the fact that the fat man was completely naked. His belly jiggled each time he smacked into the shelves. Suddenly, Rick turned his back on them, but he kept walking toward them. The sound of his bare feet slapping the blood-soaked carpet visibly disturbed Beverley.

  “Are you OK?” Ann ventured timidly.

  Mike turned and shot her a glare for asking such a stupid question. The bleeding fat man slowly bent down and grabbed his hairy ass cheeks. He spread his cheeks apart to reveal a bulging human eye pushing out of his anus. The eye darted around, scanning the room, and the five stunned souls could only gasp in horror.

  “It looked right at me,” Mike screamed as he fired his gun, hitting the fat thing in the ass. In a flash the fat man spun around, baring a set of monster’s teeth, and with a vicious scream, the hideous creature lunged. Kim shrieked as Ann swung her sword, smacking the obese creature in the head. Falling to the ground like a hewn tree, the monstrous form landed at her feet. Mike fired wildly into the raging beast as it reached out and snagged Ann’s foot. Ann chopped at the arm, and if it had been a better blade, it might have gone all the way through. Instead, she had to chop repeatedly until the bone snapped on the howling beast. Kim took off, running as fast as she could into the depths of the store as Beverly stuck her sword into the creature’s back.

  “I am all there is,” the hellish thing yelled while spewing its body fluids. Ann and Beverly slashed wildly at the blubbery body, carving out massive chunks of meat.

  “Die, you son of a bitch,” Beverly screamed as she snapped her sword over the beast, but even though both girls were hacking at its flesh like Viking berserkers, the beast would not die. Blood and gore was flung into the air and painted everything within a ten-foot radius; however, no matter how hard they hit the writhing mass, it never stopped moving. Nick ran behind Mike and grabbed a leftover bag of bath salts and rushed it over to the screaming mass of ripped flesh. He tore into the bag, slinging the salt over the body.
With a horrendous shriek, the body began to boil and burst like a hot dog left in the microwave too long. A putrid red steam rose from the body. Its last gurgles trailed off, leaving only the sound of the chanting witches. The room looked like a piece of postmodern art as it dripped rancid fluids.

  “I’m not touching it, so don’t even ask,” Mike insisted.

  “I need that freaking drink now,” Ann exclaimed as the monster’s body began to wither. Mike stopped reloading his gun and pulled a flask out of his back pocket and tossed it to Ann. She caught the flask and popped the top. Without a thought, she took a deep pull. Her soft, feminine face scrunched as the heavy aftertaste hit the back of her nose from the gasoline Mike was trying to pass off as alcohol. It was the first time she had ever had a sip of alcohol, but what the hell? She very well could die tonight, so she might as well get at least one forbidden act under her belt before she stood at the pearly gates.

  “Ahhh, that’s bad,” she said, taking another swig. This time she couldn’t hold it down and gagged as she handed it back to Mike.

  “Good Lord, girl, leave some for me,” he demanded, swilling the rest of the booze before tossing the empty flask to the blood-soaked ground. Ann then ran and snagged a few more swords out of the display cases, and this time she took their construction into account. She picked the most durable-looking of the swords instead of simply taking the largest. She came back and handed one to Beverly. Beverly snatched the blade with her uninjured hand.

  “Fuck, I’ve got only a few shots left, y’all. Five, I think,” Mike said slapping his magazine back into his gun. Ann could see the look of fear on Beverly’s face and saw that tears were forming in her eyes. She was trying to hold back, but their coming was inevitable.

  “I got bit by one of them,” she whimpered as she slid her fingers under her shirt to feel that the bite on her shoulder was still not clotted. “I got bitten, and now I’m going to have one of those things inside me. They gave me whatever sickness he had, and I’m going to have one of those things inside me.” The tears finally burst from her eyes like a levee under too much pressure.