A Night to Remember, Page 3

Steve was crying loudly for help.

  I walked over to the dog and grabbed her by the collar. I stopped and looked up and there before me, through the glass, a body stood. I looked slowly up and into the face of whatever god awful thing that made me look into its eyes. I took a step back, dragging the dog away from the window, the curtain closing behind me. "Stay back!" I wasn't sure if I was yelling at the dog or that creature that made me want to stop in my tracks in fear, but I could still feel its eyes beckoning me back. I took the dog and put her on the couch, hoping she would stay. Only one thing I knew, I had to get the gun out of Sam's room.

  I sure didn't want the door leading to the stairs closing on me from behind. But I wasn't too sure if I wanted to take it off its hinges either. And that thing standing outside, if it was still there, I didn't know if it was watching my every move. I went back over to the curtains. I took a deep breath and slowly moved them and then finished by throwing the curtains open. "Since it knows that we're here, why waste having the curtains closed?", I asked myself. Nothing. Just the wind blowing about. The leaves kept whipping across the porch. A few cushions from the porch chairs blew across like tumble weeds from the prairies. "Why hide?" I smiled to myself. "They expect us to hide. So this is what I'll do." I parted the rest of the curtains open, letting the light from the living room be taken to the night beyond the windows. I then began to bash down the rest of the door that separated the stairs from the first floor of the house, but I didn't take the door off its hinges. The frame was left hanging. I turned around and picked up the knife; reaching into my pocket I walked over to Steve and laid the crucifix down onto his chest and smiled at him.

  "This fell down outside." I told him. "Hold it till I get back, will you?" He held a fake smile for me. "I'll be right back." I smiled back at him and said, "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

  I stopped between two deer heads mounted in the living room, one across from the other. There was an ominous look about them. I didn't mind them in the past, however, I don't like them now. I wanted them off the walls, and fast. I took a step back away from the door, not wanting to be between them. It was crazy enough I wanted them down, but when their eyelids fluttered, I wanted them off immediately. As if being woken from a long sleep, their eyes no longer a glassy stare into another world, their heads slowly turned towards me. Their mouths opened, giving a yawning stretch. Then their heads slowly turned as they ominously spoke, "Don't go up there." They whispered, their words overlapping one another. I heard Steve moan behind me. I turned around and looked at him, feeling empathy. I had no way of getting him out of here, I was his caretaker, I had to take care of him. Nevertheless, I turned myself around to look back at the deer. They stopped speaking, but their eyes remained focused on me as I walked between them, I heard the creaking of the wood as they turned their heads, watching me. All of a sudden, that high pitch scream came out of their mouths where once a living thriving tongue lay. I grabbed a chair and threw it under one of them and began to wretch it off with all my might, throwing it on the floor, fighting to stay on the chair. Blood splattered on me from where the head was mounted on the wall. It flopped around on the carpet, spreading blood everywhere. The one still hanging on the other side of the room began shouting.

  "Don't let him get me! Bite his leg off!" I looked at both of them, their eyes were a solid white. "Get him! Destroy him!" Its voice went deep and guttural, a large difference compared to its winy one. The head that was bouncing around on the floor began to squirm its way over to me like a maggot looking for food on a dead rotten carcass. Cinderella jumped down and began to try to grab it. It swung its head around, hitting her with its antlers.

  "Cinderella, get back!" She hobbled off to the couch, but continued her barking.

  "I'll get him! Stop telling me what to do!" The one on the floor hollered back. Its mouth latched onto the wooden leg and began, with powerful jaws, chewed madly. I jumped up onto the desk just as the chair fell over.

  "Get Steve!" The one on the wall shouted. The squirmy one began to move itself towards the bed and started to chew on a leg. I jumped down to meet it and grabbed it by the antlers. It was strong, but I was able to haul it off to the bathroom and throw it against the far wall, and closed the door. I ran into my bedroom and grabbed a bat that was laid up in a corner; walking up to the other deer head, it shook its head side to side, grunting, snorting in anger.

  "Don't you do it! You'll regret it! You'll die, boy, you'll die!" I grabbed another chair and threw it under the deer, brought the bat over my head and began to pound away at it. It kept saying, "They'll get you! They'll get him! He's theirs! He's..." I swung back and smacked the bottom part of its jaw off. It flew across the room and onto the couch.

  I could hear the other one cursing behind the bathroom door. I hopped off the chair and threw the bathroom door open, knocking the deer head backwards. All I could feel in my hands was the blunt force of the bat as it thudded against the skull of the deer. Its wailing soon subsided.

  I walked over to the mirror, laying the bat across the back of the sink; turning the faucet, I washed the blood of the beaten beasts down the drain. It was warm and refreshing. Standing there for a minute, I looked into the mirror and slapped my face, hoping to bring myself to not go insane. I grabbed the bat and closed the door behind me. I hoped I knew what I was doing.

  I walked over to Steve and put my hand on his. "Everything will be alright, okay?" He nodded. "I won't let them get you. But I have to go upstairs. There's a gun up there, it can help us out." He nodded in agreement. I didn't want to leave, but I had to get it. I went through my head where everything was up there, the bullets were in the closet, the gun next to the television. I reached for the flashlight that was next to the bed and decided to stick with the bat instead of the knife as my weapon of choice. I clicked on the flashlight and began my slow walk up the stairs.

  I tried not to cringe at the few stairs that moaned and creaked as I slowly inched my way up. The cool wind from upstairs whipped down the stair well and across my skin. It rippled the plastic that covered the bare wooden walls. I couldn't let that distract me though. All of a sudden I felt something cold touch my leg. I turned around and looked down. Cinderella was following me up. I pointed my finger back down the landing. She turned around and carefully went back down the first half of the stairs. I finally made my way to the top landing and looked over to my right, where the attic was. The light gave me some comfort in the pitch-blackness. Pressing my back against the wall of the stairwell, where Sam's room was, I reached up to the blanket and began to rip it down. I had to give it a few hard jerks and then tossed it onto an old television set. I breathed my hardest and slowly peered around the corner.

  My breath stopped, my heart beat faster with sweat rolling down my forehead. I saw four creatures standing around in the darkness, facing each other, swaying back and forth. I could hear some words being spoken, but I couldn't recognize them. I spotted the light on their feet, and in the center of them, I couldn't believe my eyes. A heart?! I couldn't hear it, but could only see the blood spurt out with each beat. I didn't know where the blood was coming from, or care at the moment. I moved back behind the wall and took the hook that was attached to the flashlight, hung it from my shirt, giving me freedom to use the bat and gun. I then brought up the bat and slowly looked back around the corner. They were gone. The creatures that stood around the heart, which was still there in the middle of the room, beating like before, were gone. I looked back behind me to the bottom of the stairs. Cinderella was still down there watching, whining a little. The door to the other room was still closed.

  I now had a strange predicament. I still wanted that gun, but the heart, for some reason appeared important to them. I had to make a decision fast, either grab the heart and throw it in a bag that I saw lying on the couch, or run over and grab the gun. I heard the dog barking again. I grabbe
d the bag, threw the bloody heart into it, and threw it around my shoulder. I ran towards the doorway and back down the stairs. Just then, the lights downstairs went out.

  I grabbed the bat tightly. The dog kept barking, growling, whatever she could do. I hurried down the stairs. Then all I heard was a sharp sound from her. There before me, three of the creatures were standing around Steve's bed, the fourth one was holding the dog by the throat, her legs kicking effortlessly in the air.

  I grabbed the bag and held it up too. Their bright red eyes locked onto it.

  "Get away from him! And put down my dog, or I'll smash this thing!" The other three around the bed vanished then reappeared next to the one who had the dog in its long slindered fingers, sharp claws at the end of them, digging into her skin. It was dark, but I could finally make out what they looked like from the light hanging in front of me. About six feet tall, appeared fully black, but occasionally I could see a grayish reflection off their skin from my light. Their eyes appeared to change sizes between big eyes that seemed to take up their full head to half that size. Their mouths