by Cyle James
Violet let out a shrill scream as her knees began to buckle, as if she couldn’t possibly support her own weight. With reflexes that her husband wasn’t aware he had, he caught her mid-fall, roughly placing his hand over her mouth to silence the noise that she continued to try and make.
Riley had no proof that it was Sourmouth that done it, but there wasn’t a logical alternative. And if it was the wolf creature that had killed Tusem out of sheer circumstance, then it would be looking for them next now that they had returned. He looked around the room, as it might have been hiding around the dark corners, watching with sick pleasure as they reacted to its handiwork. But fortunately they were alone, at least on the bottom floor of the house.
Violet continued to whimper from behind her husband’s hand. She wasn’t even sure why. She wasn’t close to the young man. There wasn’t an emotional connection there. And yet his gruesome death nearly crippled her. Perhaps her reaction was to the realization that everything that was happening had real and utter consequences. While Tusem’s end was tragic and terrifying, she was more torn up about the fact that the niggling fear in the back of their heads was not just immature imagination left to run wild. She cried because she knew that they almost undoubtedly were going to die that night.
Riley tried to tighten the pressure he placed on her mouth. He was sure that they were alone on the main floor; he couldn’t know if the basement and the upper floors were as vacant. And the only way to know for sure was to check, which was not in the cards without a dozen Mounties with shotguns as reinforcements.
Without completely removing his hand from her face he pointed upwards to the ceiling to convey that the beast might be up there.
Violet closed her eyes and began rapidly inhaling and exhaling through her nose, trying to steady her nerves. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t stop herself from glancing towards Tusem’s body, absorbing every detail she could. She tried to take a mental picture in her head of the way he laid, the shape of his twisted fingers, the amount of blood leaking from his corpse, the look of sheer horror in his eyes. She did it as if remembering him like that made the fact that he died the way he did any better.
“We need to go,” Riley whispered as he rested his head against hers.
She nodded. Violet wasn’t confident in her ability to actually walk, but she did know that she didn’t want to be in the room with the dead man for any more than she already had been.
“Can you stand?” he asked as he pulled his hand away.
She clenched her jaw and nodded again. Violet wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck and used him to brace herself as she pushed upwards to standing position.
“We’ll get to the car, get down that damn mountain again and drive. We’ll drive until the sun comes up and we’ll get on that boat and get the hell out of here,” Riley explained, his voice cracking as he rushed to speak.
“Let’s do it,” Violet moaned as she readied herself.
Both of the Tylers looked back at Tusem on the floor, or specifically what was left of him. For a brief moment of reflection they felt guilty. It was their fault that a young man was dead. It was their stupidity that put their lives at risk. But there would be time to think about everything if they managed to squeak out of everything and survive.
The couple quickly, but most importantly quietly, left the house, closing the door silently behind them.
Riley fished the key out of his pocket and locked the front door, which hopefully would buy them a little extra time if the creature was still in the house.
Riley exchanged the keys in his pocket from Poyam’s house to the key to the rental car as they stepped off of the porch and back into the downpour.
“Can we please get out of here?” Violet asked as she anxiously eyed the car, kicking through the mud and animal pieces as she walked.
“We could...if it wasn’t for that thing,” Riley replied as he abruptly stopped her by the arm, raising his free hand to shield his eyes from the rain.
The Tylers looked out from in front of their car to see the twistedly-shaped being which was stalking out from the dense cover of trees.
Chapter 18
At first sight the couple figured that it was a hallucination. They were praying that Sourmouth wasn’t truly there. But it was. It was stalking them from a distance. They watched as the downpour bounced off its thick hide like bullets, matting its fur down against its translucent grey skin and navy blue blood. Much clearer a declaration of existence was its pungent smell. Even from afar, the Tylers were hit by its foul scent, overpowering the smells that spilled from the trees and lake around them. The wolf’s musk filled the air with an almost indescribable putrid odour that was as much sweet as it was sickening. The creature smelled like a rotting corpse in an old candy factory, a body left to mummify in a vat of caramel. Sourmouth’s very presence could be tasted thick on the tongue like a wretched mixture of candied blood and bile.
“Get in the car,” Violet said as she ran forward, her feet trudging along in the thick layer of bloody mud from the heavy rain that still fell. She sprang the car door open and hurled herself into the driver’s seat, then leaped into the passenger’s side without so much as bumping her head.
Riley was a bit slower to move, never breaking eye contact with the wolf as he sprinted along, collapsing into the driver’s seat and closing the door behind him.
The Tylers sat in dread-filled silence, their bloodshot eyes ascending from the bottom up to the top of the imposing figure before them. Sourmouth stood upright like an arrow with its nose towards the moon, its muscles taut and readying to pounce. Violet fumbled with the dial as Wait’s Yesterday Is Here blared from the cassette player, trying in vain to turn it off as if it was the music that was drawing the beast in. She barely even noticed when she failed the task and switched her attention back to the creature in front of them.
Even from a distance they could see its teeth, which seemed to glow in the soft moonlight, tightly packed in their rows like razors. Sourmouth had its large head cocked to the side like an inquisitive puppy, eager to play with the tiny prey as they scurried about. Over the music they couldn’t quite hear, but the beast seemed to be clicking its claws together in a rhythm as it watched them. It was a silly thought, but the Tylers couldn’t help but be in awe of the realness of Sourmouth. Its reflection had been so close and still for so long, that its very existence was earth-shattering.
“Drive,” Violet uttered with a voice hoarse with fright.
Riley pressed his foot on the accelerator with resolve, noticeably spinning the wheels helplessly in the mud, slowly sinking the car even further into its rut. He turned to his wife wordlessly, his eyes saying the last thing either of them wanted to admit. They weren’t going anywhere.
Lightning soared through the air above, illuminating the edges of the brute’s fur in the pitch black night. Suddenly, the sky cracked with thunder. The deafening sound surprised Sourmouth, who turned and roared into the clouds in a frenzy. The very air around the wolf seemed to vibrate as its throat violently shook. What was left of the skin around its mouth that connected the bottom of the jaw to its skull tore wide open, the tear continuing upwards along its mandible until the pale colour of bone and teeth could be seen underneath the ripping flesh. When it turned back to the Tylers, its face dripped nauseatingly with gore and chunks of facial tissue. Sourmouth’s expression had lost all curiosity, to be replaced only with its unrelenting fury.
“We need to go. We need to go now,” Riley said sharply, placing his quivering hand on the latch of his door.
“Where are we going to go?” Violet cried out, shifting her weight in her seat to follow suit, not fully sure if her feet could carry her if she tried.
Riley turned and eyed the front door of the house, nodding in its direction.
They had only turned away for a few seconds but it was long enough to close the distance. As quick as a whip Sourmouth sprinted forward, leaping feet-first onto the hood of the car with a crash.
The claws on its hind legs came down with an ear splitting scrape, nearly matched in pitch by the scream from Violet’s mouth. Without hesitation, Sourmouth lashed out, its mammoth fist crashing into the windshield of the car, bursting a hole inwards in a cascade of glass.
Riley opened his door with a snap just as another gigantic clawed hand came crashing down, lodging itself wrist deep in what was left of the window.
As her husband leaped out of the vehicle Violet tried to hurdle over the seats to escape behind him out of his door. It was then that she felt a tug. Sourmouth had grabbed a handful of her hair.
Riley stood in the cold drenching rain, watching in horror as the creature held his wife. He could see that the only thing stopping it from yanking her out of the car was that the glass was cutting into its arm, slicing into its skin with every movement. He contemplated waiting, hoping that it might slit its own wrist open. But the fact was that it might still try and drag her out of the hole it had punched, which most likely would decapitate his wife far sooner than the creature would bleed to death. He had to do something fast.
Riley dashed towards the house, leaping over the remains of the woodland creatures. His feet slipped underneath him as he landed knees first in the slimy mud. Crawling on hands and knees he got to the pile of firewood by the deck, grabbing hold of the axe.
In the car, Violet grabbed the creature’s humungous hand, pushing it away as hard as she could, trying to yank out her own hair in order to get free.
The beast snapped, its heavy jaws colliding against themselves, spraying its rose-tinted saliva through the air in heavy streams. With its hand still stuck in the windshield, blood dripped down and fell onto Violet’s arm, almost burning her with its heat. She could feel an increase in the amount of blood leaking as she was lifted higher in the air out of her seat, her face getting closer to the jagged glass as the wolf pulled her nearer.
Riley moved forward in the slippery muck, using his momentum to carry him closer. With one downward swing the head of the axe found its way into the muscle of Sourmouth’s arm, ripping through the flesh with a revolting squish that sprayed crimson blood into the air.
The creature roared in pain, releasing Violet from its grasp as it pulled its arm from the windshield, slicing itself even further. With its injured arm it swung outward, its backhand colliding with Riley’s face.
Riley was sent reeling onto his back, landing directly on top of a half-eaten deer with a crunch that broke the animal’s ribcage. The axe fell limply beside him, close enough to dive for, but not close enough to just reach..
“Riley!” his wife called out as she fell out of the car, landing on her stomach in the mud a few feet away from her husband.
Riley could feel the side of his face swelling up, the hot sensation of blood as it spilled from his lacerations and ran down his cheeks.
Sourmouth stood on top of the car, licking its wounds to try to slow the profuse bleeding.
Violet tried to run to her husband, slipping wildly in the mud as she did. With one hand she grabbed hold of the axe on the ground and tried to help lift up her husband with the other. A fruitless endeavour as they both nearly toppled over.
“Get to the house!” Riley said as he tried to get on his knees to regain proper footing.
“Not without you,” she screamed, her eyes watching as the wolf turned its attentions back towards them. Its gaze alone straightened up her spine.
“Go!” he yelled, pushing her on the lower back to propel her in the right direction.
Sourmouth leaped off the hood of the car and landed on the ground with a tidal wave of mud and animal bits. The rushing liquid crashing into the back of Riley’s legs made it even more difficult to run. The beast crawled forward towards Riley who frantically scrambled on hands and knees to get away. Sourmouth swung its healthy paw downwards and dug three of its three-inch-long nails into the back of Riley’s calf.
Riley screamed in agony as he was slowly dragged backwards on his belly; the claws in his leg acting like anchors as the creature pulled him closer. No matter how hard he tried to kick at Sourmouth’s forearm, Riley couldn’t seem to break the hold. Every inch that he got closer, he could feel the thick fingers digging further into the muscles in his leg.
Sourmouth was practically on top of Riley, snapping its jaws furiously as it leaned in to bite. When suddenly it was cracked in the skull with the top of the axe. Violet thrust forward with it again, hitting the wolf in the jaw, knocking it backwards with a thud against the driver’s side door of the car.
“I told you to get in the house,” Riley groaned as his wife helped lift him to his feet, the pair slowly trying to make their way to safety.
“I’ve never been good at taking orders,” she said with a huff, his weight straining her already wobbling legs.
They looked back as Sourmouth was shaking the cobwebs from its head, leaning on the side of the car as it tried to stand back up.
The Tylers nearly fell onto the porch when they finally managed to get there.
Instantaneously Riley began digging deep into his pants pocket to find the key to the front door.
“Hurry up, babe...it’s coming...” she muttered as she slapped his shoulder, urging him to find it faster.
Riley grabbed onto the small key, covering it in mud from his dirty hands. It took precious seconds to wipe it clean before placing it in the keyhole, turning it with a clunk.
Sourmouth roared from behind as they forced their way through the front door, slamming it shut behind them. The Tylers both braced themselves against it like a barricade, pressing their weight on it in effort to keep it shut.
Instantly, the wolf crashed into the door with its shoulder, splintering the wood on both sides from the impact. The force rocked the couple backwards and nearly off their feet. Without hesitation they threw themselves forward against the door again. They could hear the beast outside, pacing back and forth across the deck, the claws on its feet scraping with every footfall.
Riley looked at his wife, his eyes focused on the tears that streamed down her face. Her hair was frazzled, small sections of her scalp bleeding and bald. Her face was patterned with blood where the glass from the windshield had rained down from above, cutting into the skin. She was caked in mud that was quickly trying to dry, which would make it hard to move in the near future. It was just then that he realized he was in pain. His own face was scratched up, as was his forearm from when he attempted to shield his face from the glass. His cheek was swollen and purple from the hand that had struck him. His leg felt numb from blood loss aside from the dull ache of dying muscle that seemed to pulse outward from the inside of his calf.
“Listen,” Violet whispered with her ear pressed against what was left of the door.
Riley pressed up against it, holding his breath in to quiet his haggard sounds. And in return he heard nothing. The beast had gone.
Violet turned around and pointed at the couch, “We need to block the doors. Block the windows if we can”.
Riley looked over towards the couch, past Tsitusem’s quickly decaying corpse. He nodded and pushed away from the wall, limping towards the sofa with determination, leaving a trail of blood from his leg as he walked. It took far more effort than he was expecting to move the furniture. What was normally a mild annoyance during spring cleaning now seemed like a mountain he was trying to shove. Every push of the couch required him to put more weight on his injured leg, which seemed primed to give out any moment.
Violet looked at the door as if to tell it to stay in place, before abandoning her position and running over to help her husband.
Together the Tylers pushed and pulled the couch across the floor, placing it firmly against the damaged door as reinforcement.
Without words Riley pointed to the side window, which was only covered by the dusty old curtain.
With an agonized groan the Tylers made their way across the room which now felt barren and exposed. They walked up to the large cuckoo clock, which must have w
eighed at least a hundred and fifty pounds. Riley positioned himself on the side while Violet took the job of steering it from the front. Together they pushed and pulled again, sliding it inch-by-excruciating-inch across the floor. Slowly but surely they placed it in front of the window, blocking the entryway at least temporarily.
Riley sighed out as he leaned back against the wall, the muscles in his leg shrieking at him to stop and rest.
From outside, the Tylers heard an ear splitting howl, barely muted by the worn walls of the house. Sourmouth was still out there, still alive and still angry. The animal’s cry was followed by an aggravated thump, its paws slapping against the side of the house as it attempted to figure out a way to gain entry.
“Apparently, it doesn’t remember being here before,” Violet choked out in a sad laugh, a small smile slipping across her face.
Seeing his wife happy, even if only for a moment lit Riley’s heart up.
“I’m so...so sorry,” he said, banging the back of his head off the wall to help hold back his tears.
Violet closed her eyes as hers welled up, reaching out to place a hand on her husband’s chest.
“I am, too. I want you to know that whatever happens here...I don’t blame you. I don’t regret anything...as hard as that might be to believe”.
Riley leaned forward to kiss his wife.
It was in that moment that Sourmouth rammed its hulking body into the front door, nearly cracking it in half. Then it hit again, forcing the top half off of its hinges and tilting the door into the house, angling over the sofa that held the bottom in place.