a circle of consecration around
them.”
“But overnight?” Elfie asked, looking around them
until she spotted something strange just beyond where they
stood.
She walked about twenty steps away to kneel down and
study the dirt going in one direction. Splashes of coagulating
blood, tufts of brownish hair in a line pointed toward what looked
like a standup cave.
“What did you find?” Yancey asked.
“Looks like buffalo pelt,” she said. “This might
explain what I heard last night…what I saw last night…after
I…walked out.“
“You said you saw a dog,” Oliver said.
“I saw a dog…I'm pretty sure. There was very little
light, so it looked strange. It had to have been a dog, though. And
it was making a weird sound, like it was going to attack. From a
distance, there was the sound of another animal in distress. Then,
the…dog, I guess…ran away.”
“In other words, you’re not sure at all you saw a
dog,” Oliver replied.
“And you haven't thought to tell us until now?”
Yancey asked quickly.
“I wasn't exactly in the mood for conversation last
night when I came back in, was I?” she snapped. “I told you the
basics.”
Oliver looked around. “So where does the blood trail
lead?”
“Only way to know is to follow it,” she said. She
pulled up the jeep's storage bay and yanked out her tool tray bag.
“You guys focus on the cremains. I'll be right back.”
Yancey turned around to look at Oliver, and they both
turned back toward her. “Is it safe for you to go in the grotto,
you think?” Yancey asked.
She had already advanced toward the distant standup
cave. She turned around to give them a smile while she continued to
walk backward. “Yeah, I don't think I can't hurt it too badly.”
Obsidian, she recognized. The little cave was lined
with obsidian. But, the depression only went six feet or so into
the cliff. The grotto looked like a giant geode, cut open to the
light.
The blood and shredded pelt had indeed come from a
buffalo. The carcass lay there, small enough to fit inside the
grotto. It appeared to be young. Its curly brown pelt felt soft to
the touch, its skin still warm with life. The other carcass had
felt stiff from the twin effects of death and weather. This
carcass had just bloated and started to putrefy, which became too
apparent with its overwhelming stench.
This poor thing had fought like hell. Fought for its
life, against an enemy far stronger than it was, or so it appeared
from the butchery that had been done.
She knelt to check for life signs, but there were
none. Once again, the major arterial junctures felt deflated, empty
of blood.
Just then, she heard a too-familiar burbling sound
behind her.
She felt the presence of something by her shoulder.
She slowly looked around.
Its white face gleamed like high-fired porcelain. The
lambent blue eyes burned dark as soot at the center. The worst part
was the deadness in them, the vacancy of soul or anything remotely
human. It looked like a toddler child, its limbs pink and pudgy. It
burbled with the innocent sound of a human baby, but there was
nothing innocent about it.
The minute it bared pearly white fangs, all
resemblance to a child vanished. It emitted a harmonic high-pitched
growling sound that hurt her ears.
She stood so fast she had to grab for a cave wall.
She took a step back from the thing she had seen, and the two
others just like it standing beside it.
The taller one lunged first. Jumping away, Elfie fell
backward. The smallest one toddled forward, its mouth opening,
poised to strike.
A blast of light pierced the cave.
The light beam struck each one of the screaming
creatures, pulverizing them one by one into rubble and ash.
The light beam emanated from a flashlight. It blinked
out. Severin’s face appeared, just visible in the shallow
daylight.
“You okay?” he asked, tucking his flashlight into his
belt.
Elfie felt the cloudy stampede of her heart slow down
a little. She swallowed,
them.”
“But overnight?” Elfie asked, looking around them
until she spotted something strange just beyond where they
stood.
She walked about twenty steps away to kneel down and
study the dirt going in one direction. Splashes of coagulating
blood, tufts of brownish hair in a line pointed toward what looked
like a standup cave.
“What did you find?” Yancey asked.
“Looks like buffalo pelt,” she said. “This might
explain what I heard last night…what I saw last night…after
I…walked out.“
“You said you saw a dog,” Oliver said.
“I saw a dog…I'm pretty sure. There was very little
light, so it looked strange. It had to have been a dog, though. And
it was making a weird sound, like it was going to attack. From a
distance, there was the sound of another animal in distress. Then,
the…dog, I guess…ran away.”
“In other words, you’re not sure at all you saw a
dog,” Oliver replied.
“And you haven't thought to tell us until now?”
Yancey asked quickly.
“I wasn't exactly in the mood for conversation last
night when I came back in, was I?” she snapped. “I told you the
basics.”
Oliver looked around. “So where does the blood trail
lead?”
“Only way to know is to follow it,” she said. She
pulled up the jeep's storage bay and yanked out her tool tray bag.
“You guys focus on the cremains. I'll be right back.”
Yancey turned around to look at Oliver, and they both
turned back toward her. “Is it safe for you to go in the grotto,
you think?” Yancey asked.
She had already advanced toward the distant standup
cave. She turned around to give them a smile while she continued to
walk backward. “Yeah, I don't think I can't hurt it too badly.”
Obsidian, she recognized. The little cave was lined
with obsidian. But, the depression only went six feet or so into
the cliff. The grotto looked like a giant geode, cut open to the
light.
The blood and shredded pelt had indeed come from a
buffalo. The carcass lay there, small enough to fit inside the
grotto. It appeared to be young. Its curly brown pelt felt soft to
the touch, its skin still warm with life. The other carcass had
felt stiff from the twin effects of death and weather. This
carcass had just bloated and started to putrefy, which became too
apparent with its overwhelming stench.
This poor thing had fought like hell. Fought for its
life, against an enemy far stronger than it was, or so it appeared
from the butchery that had been done.
She knelt to check for life signs, but there were
none. Once again, the major arterial junctures felt deflated, empty
of blood.
Just then, she heard a too-familiar burbling sound
behind her.
She felt the presence of something by her shoulder.
She slowly looked around.
Its white face gleamed like high-fired porcelain. The
lambent blue eyes burned dark as soot at the center. The worst part
was the deadness in them, the vacancy of soul or anything remotely
human. It looked like a toddler child, its limbs pink and pudgy. It
burbled with the innocent sound of a human baby, but there was
nothing innocent about it.
The minute it bared pearly white fangs, all
resemblance to a child vanished. It emitted a harmonic high-pitched
growling sound that hurt her ears.
She stood so fast she had to grab for a cave wall.
She took a step back from the thing she had seen, and the two
others just like it standing beside it.
The taller one lunged first. Jumping away, Elfie fell
backward. The smallest one toddled forward, its mouth opening,
poised to strike.
A blast of light pierced the cave.
The light beam struck each one of the screaming
creatures, pulverizing them one by one into rubble and ash.
The light beam emanated from a flashlight. It blinked
out. Severin’s face appeared, just visible in the shallow
daylight.
“You okay?” he asked, tucking his flashlight into his
belt.
Elfie felt the cloudy stampede of her heart slow down
a little. She swallowed,
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