Cold Fear

by Timothy Friesenhahn

  Chapter 18

  The house was small, and the outside was weathered, from years of low maintenance up-keep. As they approached the front porch Tanner smelled something good cooking.

  Turning to Hannah, he asked, “someone’s already here?”

  His head tilted back as he sniffed the aroma coming from the house. The smell of a spiced soup just for the cold weather was what filled his nose.

  Raising his hand to knock, he said, “it must be the lady that was supposed to help us or whatever.”

  The lady must have been standing near the door, because she answered after he’d only knocked a couple of times. When Cici opened the door, Tanner couldn’t help but look over her with a mesmerized expression; Hannah couldn’t help but notice the way he looked at her. The dark-skinned girl that stood in the doorway of his grandmother’s house was the most radiant woman he had ever seen. He couldn’t help but flush with a hot shame, because he knew his face was frozen in a lusting stare. Hannah nudged his arm, pretending to clear her voice, and Tanner came out of his daze over the superb woman before him.

  “Hello, miss, I’m Tanner and this is Hannah. This was my grandmother’s house. Are you the one she mentioned in the letter?”

  Hannah had been staring at Cici just as hard as Tanner was, but neither noticed that she had seen they had locked eye contact the whole time they were speaking.

  Cici answered with a smile that could bring world peace, “yes sir, I am. My name is Cecilia Ramirez, but you can call me Cici. I worked for your grandmother, Ms. McQuaid, for a long time. She was like a second mother to me.”

  As she spoke tears filled her eyes, but only a little. Tanner couldn’t stop the onslaught of feelings that flooded him as he stared at the woman, though. He was spellbound by the beauty of her. Her dark hair hung low on her back. The dark eyes she possessed seem to penetrate him with a loving intent. If there were ever a poster girl for all Central America, she would be it. Not knowing what came over him, it was as if he had an invisible impulse driving him, he stepped forward and embraced Cici. She squeezed him willingly and they hugged as if they had been lovers forever. Hannah made her pretend cough sound again and the two separated from the hug. Hannah shook Cici’s hand, noticing as the woman had never taken her eyes off Tanner.

  What is with this bitch, Hannah thought as jealousy flooded her heart.

  Even though she was planning on leaving Tanner’s side when they returned home, she wanted this woman to have nothing to do with him.

  Cici led them into the house and offered them a place to sit, saying, “I have a hot pot of Caldo on the stove, it should be ready any minute.”

  “Good, I’m famished.” Tanner declared as he squinted his eyes at the sound of his voice.

  As she walked away and back into the kitchen, he could feel Hannah’s glare burning him like fire.

  He turned to look at her and she asked, “famished? Since when are you proper? And what was with that hug and all the eye contact? You don’t even know this girl.”

  Looking at her, feeling a bit ashamed but, at the same time, he felt better than he had in a long time, he replied, “I have no idea, it just felt like the right thing to do. She seemed genuinely sad about my grandmother’s passing and she knew her better than I ever did. As far as saying famished goes, I have no idea where that came from, either.”

  Laughing softly at himself, trying to diffuse the building tension between he and Hannah, he realized she was hurt. His mind raced for a mere second and stopped, it didn’t matter what she thought or felt anymore; she was leaving him when they got home. All he could do was think about the elegant beauty that was in the kitchen cooking. Something pulled him toward her, and for the first time in any way, Hannah might as well not exist.

  The light went out in the kitchen; they could hear Cici try to flip the switch on and off to come back on, but it would not pop on. “Darn.”

  Tanner and Hannah were looking in the direction of the kitchen when Cici came back into the living room and said, “I have to go into the basement and get the lamp down there, the bulb in the one in the kitchen has burned out, but the one in the basement is still good.”

  Tanner felt like he could sense fear in the girl’s words as she spoke about going into the basement. He stood quickly and offered to retrieve the lamp for her.

  “Oh, thank you, that’s sweet of you, better use your phone light or you can light that candle on the small table next to the basement door.”

  The Enchantress stood pointing towards the direction of the table and door.

  “I’ll light the candle. Are there matches?”

  As he was asking, he could feel Hannah standing behind him and the jealousy building in her, “it’s okay we can use my phone light; I’ll go with you to the basement.”

  As she spoke, she had already flipped on her phone light and headed in the direction of the basement. When she turned, she could see Tanner and the woman still staring at each other with their eyes locked. Jealousy was burning through her like raging wildfires, but sadness was starting to wash the flames out. She had lost Tanner prior to current events, and by way and the lady were staring at each other, she would lose him for good. As a woman herself she could tell that the young Mexican woman was pulling Tanner. She had him caught; hook, line, and sinker.

  Chapter 19

  It seemed as if a blizzard was blowing. The wind was almost pushing him over as he tried his hardest to stand upright and make it to the house. He was less than a hundred yards away. He had to stop and take shelter in an empty house’s open garage. Out of the wind he decided he would light a cigarette, he needed one desperately. Arthur stood shivering; the frigid temperatures had frozen him right to his core. After the first marvelous drag of the cigarette, he appeared.

  “Sonofabitch, what do you want. Isn’t my job for you done? She’s dead, can’t you get someone else to serve you. Let me die already for fucks sake.” Arthur fumed as he puffed on his cigarette.

  “Calm down old man, that’s why I’m standing here. I have one last favor to ask you, and it’s a simple one. See, your grandson is at the house. He left his keys in his car. Open his trunk and retrieve the crystal ball.”

  Moloch stood before him, warm even in the freezing weather. His smile seemed to radiate as he spoke.

  Putting his smoked cigarette out, he immediately lit another. He stared Moloch directly in the eyes; well, into the dumbass sunshades he always wore, “why don’t you take them stupid sunglasses off? I know what you really are. Let me get this straight, you want me to steal the crystal ball? Why? Why don’t you just take it and do whatever it is you want to with it?

  “Because, old man, I have a plan in the works and its imperative that you retrieve the crystal ball from your grandson’s trunk.

  “But, why do you want me to do this?”

  “Look, you chain-smoking old bastard, do it or I’ll curse you with another thousand years of life.”

  Arthur stood as he tried to shake the cold from his bones and looked at Moloch. Extra years of living was not a reward. He was ready for death, but death would not come. His time was still coursing its way through each day; slower and slower. Moloch watched the old man consider the favor being asked. The smiling man knew that the old man would come through, he knew how much he hated his life. All the boys he had delivered to their death, it haunted him.

  Finally, Arthur remarked, “fine, whatever, I’ll do it. Once I have it, then what?”

  Out of thin air and into reality, Moloch pulled out a small tote-bag and offered it to him, saying,

  “Put the crystal ball in this bag and, when you have a moment alone with Cici, give her the ball. Tell her it’s time to make her wishes. You see, she has made a deal with me, a deal I know she will see through. But listen, as she makes her three wishes, you say nothing. You leave her if she asks you to. Just make sure she wishes herself to be married to your grandson. She may have been giving my favor of hers some thought since I spoke with her. The woman i
s very smart. She could have figured out by now that, if the crystal ball does grant wishes as we know it does, she can wish for whatever she wants. Just make sure she wishes your grandson to be her husband or else I will curse you and kill the rest of ‘em, I will kill everyone in this town.”

  Lighting up a fresh cigarette after taking the bag from the demon, Arthur looked at Moloch and said,

  “Look, demon, I have done my time curse me or don’t. I will give Cici the crystal ball and that’s that. Whatever she wishes for is your problem. I’m going to talk to my grandson if he will have me and then I’m going home. That’s that.”

  The smiling man stood, laughing under his breath at the stubborn old man. Of course, he knew the old man would say everything he was saying. The blood red boot wearing demon stuck his hand out for a confirmation handshake but was not shook. Arthur walked around him and left the garage.

  Moloch turned and hollered over the howling, snowy wind, “I’ll be seeing you again old man. I know you know that!”

  Arthur left the garage and walked briskly through the torrential snowfall. Irritated, he wished he would have lit another cigarette before retreating. Moloch always got on his nerves with his ignorance. Over the years his fear of the demon had subsided. He had seen what the beast really did to the boys. It was disgusting, it was terrible, it was beyond humanity. Arthur hated himself more then he hated the smiling man, that he was sure of.

  Walking as fast as he could, he reached his former lover’s house faster than he thought he would. He saw the small green car sitting in the driveway. The same driveway that held Mathelda’s black Cadillac for so many years, until she got rid of it. The keys dangled in the ignition.

  Whatever Moloch was planning it was being set up far too easily, he thought as he opened the trunk and rummaged through it.

  At the very back, underneath a pile of old clothes and magazines, the crystal ball sat. Picking it up, he felt his heart stop for a second, the sensation scared him at first and then it thrilled him. The moment passed. The vision in the crystal ball was brief. It showed Moloch holding hands with a young girl, maybe five or six, she looked happy. Arthur shook his head in disgust as closed the trunk, put the ball in the tote-bag and went to the front door of the .

  Chapter 20

  Her spirit lingered with the walls and within every room of her left behind home. Knowing what Moloch was planning, she knew she had to stop. Caught between worlds, she had no general direction in knowing what to do next. If tears could form and fall from an entity, she would have shed a million. Even though she barely knew her grandson, she didn’t want him to suffer the plans of the smiling man. Time was slipping away, and her hope laid in the hands of Cici. Despair would certainly follow the girl’s three wishes. Mathelda knew that her former employee would choose to take Moloch up on his offer. The girl knew nothing of the crystal ball. The entity of Mathelda lingered on knowing she would not be able to stop Cici from wishing Tanner to be her husband. There was no way to know what else Cici may wish for, Mathelda just hoped that the girl would not try and wish her dead parents back.

  The consequences would be dire; whatever they may be.

  When Moloch was speaking to the girl even, he seemed afraid of what would happen if she did in fact wish one or both of her dead parents back to life. The dead grandmother of Tanner had to find an escape, she had to reach Cici and stop her. If anything, she wanted to at least warn Tanner. Imminent danger was sure to wield its way into the house, and she was desperate to stop it. As she glided through her house looking over Tanner, Hannah and Cici, she looked for any clue of escape. She had hovered through the house since her death. Then like a kick to the face, a smack on the head, she realized she had not been into the basement. For most of the time, she had tried fruitlessly to escape her home and enter the other realm. Held back from moving on from the world and into the spirit realm she knew she was needed a bit longer.

  It didn’t seem to matter if she was needed or not, if there was nothing she could do to stop Cici from making her wishes. Even though she didn’t want to see her grandson with the harlot, Hannah anymore, she was lost in what she could do about it. Hovering her way to the basement she seeped through the basement doorway and floated down the stairs. As she drifted, it occurred to her that for many years Moloch had come and gone through the walls of the basement. When he fed on the teenage boys he had entered through the walls.

  But how?

  Staring at the empty wall at the backside of the basement, she noticed a dim light peeking through at the bottom near the floor.

  Approaching the wall, she had no hope still. Though she saw the mysterious light shining through, she felt there would be nothing she could do. Reaching out her fleshless hand, that looked more like a moving fog, she reached through the wall. If her spirit had a mouth it would have gaped open with excitement and apprehension. She stepped through the wall.

  On the other side of it she quickly realized her spirit was no longer a foggy mass. Her body had returned, and her old age stripped away. Looking as she did when she was in her twenties she stepped from the dark and into the light. Where she stepped to, she recognized right away; she was in the tall pines of east Texas. The spot she stood in was the exact spot she and Arthur had buried the crystal ball. Walking for several hours she found her way to the small highway that led out of the immense woods. By chance, a semi-truck was coming around the curve and she stuck out a thumb for a ride. The truck slowed to a stop. She approached it and noticed the passenger door was already open. The truck driver was immediately captivated by her beauty. His eyes were so locked in on her he had not even been able to speak.

  She spoke, “what year is it?”

  Thinking she knew the answer, she wanted to make sure. Everything seemed too real, and this was not the other side she expected to walk into. This was no heaven and it surely was not hell. The man replied with a pasty mouth, his beard covered most of his dark features. His blue blasted from his dark face.

  “It’s, uh, 2022.”

  Realizing she felt her heart for the first time since she died, she felt it stop briefly. Tears formed at the edge of her eyes. How had three years passed and why was she alive again. There are no answers she could come up with. Everything seemed fuzzy in her head. She knew she had been dead, and she knew she had stepped through the wall of her basement. Everything was wrong, she was supposed to be dead, she was supposed to find a way to stop Cici. The dark-skinned trucker finally shifted the truck into gear and began to drive.

  “My name is Mark Jones, ma’am, and it’s a pleasure to have such a pretty lady ride with me,” he introduced himself.

  Not in the mood for pleasantries, she shrunk away from the man, scooting to the right side of the passenger seat.

  “Oh, please miss, don’t be afraid. I ain’t no weirdo. See, this is my wife and chitlins right here.”

  His accent was thick with Texas speech with a hint of Cajun roots. Looking at the picture that hung underneath the radio, she saw a pretty lady with thick black hair puffed out all around her head and two cute children, two daughters. The tension in her restored body diffused and she became more relaxed.

  A small smile tried to form as she asked the driver, “where are you heading to Mr. Jones?”

  “Please, ma’am, call me Mark and I’m heading to Fort Worth, back home.”

  Atkinson was right on the way. Things were unfolding before her.

  What was happening? Why was she three years into the future?

  When she died, she was eighty-three years old, in the year 2019. Something beyond her understanding was at work.

  She spoke to the solemn driver and asked, “could I ride as far as Atkinson with you?”

  “Sure, ma’am, but first, if we gon’ be on the road together for a few hours, you might find it polite to tell me your name.”

  She snickered as she had totally forgot to introduce herself. Her real name was slipping from the tip of her tongue when she decided otherwise. The drive
r and everyone else had no reason to know Mathelda again. Mathelda McQuaid died on the other side of the basement wall in 2019.

  “I’m Em Kupp.”

  “Well, Miss Em Kupp, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  Extending his hand, she grasped it firmly and they shook. The ride to Atkinson would be a two- and half-hour drive. What she would find there she had no idea. What had happened three years earlier, she could not know, there was no way for her to know. All she could do was hope that Cici had not made her wishes into the crystal ball. She hoped Tanner and Arthur were okay, hell, she even hoped Hannah was alright. Thinking of Moloch, she tried to snap the smiling man’s face from her memory, but it stayed. For the whole two- and half-hour trip it stayed in her mind. His smiling face and solid white eyes just staring at her. It seemed as he knew she was coming. With that feeling she knew Cici had not wished him from existence.

  Chapter 21

  Cici opened the door and lit up with the joy at the sight of Arthur. She hugged him and offered him in the house. A familiar face was what she needed to see, to help break the spell Tanner seem to have on her. Something connected the two of them, an invisible force drew them together. She felt bad because she couldn’t hide her interest in him from his companion Hannah. Seeing her face, she knew that the woman was fumed with jealousy.