CHAPTER ELEVEN
I stood on the edge of precipitous cliff. In front of me lay a dark and undulating land lit by the icy power of a full moon. There were no clouds in the night sky but there was a strong wind that came from invisible origins and ruffled my hair till it was blowing behind me like a flag. I was in bare feet, just inches from falling into the shadowy canyons below. My arms were outspread like a young condor about to take its first flight.
“The truth is in the fire,” a voice whispered from behind me.
I dropped my arms to the side and slowly turned around. I was facing a fire that smoldered and crackled high in the star-lit sky. Around it sat two people in high-backed chairs. On one side was a man dressed in denim overalls, on the other was a woman in a black dress. They had deer heads poking out of their collars, watching me with those blank, liquid eyes.
“Look in the fire,” one of them said, though their deer mouths didn’t move.
I looked at the fire. It swirled and flowed like a red river of flame. In the base of the fire, where the logs burned and cracked, the ashy black kindling moved. A snake made of charcoal crawled out of the flames leaving a trail of black soot in the ground behind it. It made its way to me and was about to strike.
I gasped and stepped backward. There was nothing left beneath my feet.
I fell and I fell through the air like a stone sinking in a bottomless pond. The angry mouth of the canyon below was open and waiting to engulf me with its sharp rocks and horrible depths. I was gone for.
“Perry?” I heard someone say.
I opened my eyes. I was standing outside, in between the Lancaster’s house and the barn. Dawn was breaking somewhere in the east, bringing hazy light to the horizon and warming up the ending night.
I looked down at my feet. They were barefoot. In front of me was the remains of a fire, only blackened logs remaining. My hands were bloody.
“Perry!” I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Dex peering anxiously at me, dressed in just his pajama pants. I showed him my hands, frightened out of my gourd.
He swallowed hard and looked me over.
“It’s OK, you must have ripped open your cuts,” he said softly. I looked down at my stomach. Blood had seeped through my tee shirt.
Dex leaned over and cupped my face in his hands. I had a hard time focusing on him, or on anything, really.
“What happened? Why are you out here?” he asked.
I didn’t know. I didn’t remember coming outside. I remembered my dream but…that was just a dream. Wasn’t it?
I told him about it. He took in a deep breath, trying to process it.
“And there’s a fire,” I said slowly. “I don’t know what that means.”
“What happened?” we heard Bird yell out from behind us. He came barging out of the house with his shotgun in hand and ran up to us.
“What happened?” Dex sneered. “What happened to you? You were supposed to be watching her.”
Bird shook his head looking worse for wear. I felt sorry for the old man.
“I must have fallen asleep for a second, I never heard her leave,” he said helplessly.
“I’m sorry,” I said meekly. “I guess I was sleepwalking or something.”
“Let’s hope that’s all this was,” he said. He peered behind me at the fire remains. “Somehow I doubt it. Come on, it’s freezing out here.”
He took one of my arms while Dex took the other and they led me back in the house like I was some kind of invalid.
Inside it was warm and the floor felt delightful against my cold feet. They led me into the kitchen. Bird brought the first aid kit out of the top drawer. It was certainly getting a lot of use lately.
It was dark in the kitchen except for a small lamp in the corner but the day outside was coming on brighter by the minute. It didn’t seem Will or Sarah were up yet, which was a huge relief. I waited patiently while Bird lifted up my shirt and put on a new bandage on my wounds. It looked disgusting but he said it wasn’t infected.
“Do you remember now how you got this?” Bird asked.
I told him the truth, what I had kept from Dex last night.
Dex was shocked. “Are you serious? Claws?”
“That’s what it felt like. It wasn’t knives, he didn’t have any. It felt like I was being raked by a giant bird. I think I know what that feels like now. It’s what it looked like.”
Dex folded his arms and mulled that over. I noticed he was still shirtless. And with madness comes the light. I had to disagree.
“I’m not surprised,” Bird said, his voice heavy. “I think I’ll give Rudy a call. The sooner we can get a start on things today, the better. I’ll be right back.”
He pulled my shirt down over the wound and left the house. I looked at Dex and managed a small smile. “Sure. That’s what they all say.”
Dex walked over to the doorway and peeked out at the rest of the house. Satisfied, he came back in the kitchen, grabbed my hand and sat me down at the tiny kitchen table. He took both my hands in his and looked at me intently.
“Listen,” he said softly. “I think you should leave.”
I opened my mouth to say something, though I wasn’t sure what yet, but he continued.
“Just listen to me. Maximus is right. It’s still early, I doubt he’s left yet. You can get a ride back with him to Albuquerque. The longer you stay here, the worse things are going to get. And I can’t forgive myself for what happened to you last night.”
“Dex,” I started.
“I’m responsible for you,” he said. “And clearly I’m not very good at taking care of anyone, let alone myself. I don’t know what I’d do if anything else happened to you. So you need leave, today. Now.”
I looked into his eyes. I had never seen them so worried, so sincere. I squeezed his hands lightly. His concern melted me inside but I couldn’t leave him. I wouldn’t leave him here with these people. These things.
“I’m not going unless you go too,” I whispered, paranoid that people could be listening.
“Don’t do that,” he shook his head. “You know I have to stay here.”
“No, you don’t!” I said. “We’ll just do something else. There are a lot of other things. Or just make something with the footage we have. We have those rocks and stuff on film, that’s something. Nobody said we had to be freaking Paranormal State.”
“Yes. I did. If I go back with just that, Jimmy’s going to laugh me out of the office and this whole thing will be done. We will be done. We only get one chance.”
“It’s not worth risking your life over,” I implored.
“It’s not worth risking your life over. Mine means nothing.”
I was surprised at how serious he was about that. How could he say such a thing?
He must have noticed my frustration because he added, “And nothing is going to happen to me. It’s obviously you that they want, that’s what Bird and Rudy said and I really believe them now.”
I leaned back in my chair and squared my gaze. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“I’m not worth it,” he challenged back.
“Yes. You are,” I said. “And if this is what it takes to make something of my life, then so be it. I’d rather die here then leave without trying.”
“You don’t mean that,” he said roughly.
“Well, no, I’d rather not die but staying here is worth the risk.” I was even unsure about that.
“Why do you care so much about this? You’ve got plenty going on for you back at home.” He narrowed his eyes and tried to read me.
Was this the time to tell him I was not only jobless and living a lie, but there was a possibility that I was in love with him as well? Nah.
“I just do,” was my winning answer.
So we were kind of between a rock and a hard place as we sat at that kitchen table in the wee hours of the morning, when the house was still quiet and the nightmares of last night were swept away like flimsy cobwebs. We were both too stubborn to give up and neither one of us wanted to see the other one hurt.
“What if I can’t protect you?” he said softly, looking down at my bandaged hands. Rare waves of his vulnerability and honesty were flying all over the place and hitting me straight in the chest. I had the biggest urge to tilt his chin up and kiss him gently on the lips. Just to let him know it was OK, just to see what it would feel like, just to tell him how I felt. It seemed the most fitting thing to do.
Instead, I said, “You did protect me last night. I don’t know what would have happened if you weren’t there. And in most other circumstances, I’m pretty good at protecting myself.”
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, a little lost boy look in his eyes. A lock of his black hair fell across his forehead. I wanted to sweep it away but was afraid that if I touched his face in any way I wouldn’t be able to help myself and it would lead to other bad things.
Sensing something in me, he looked up and our eyes met. Sparks were flying through a current between us. This could lead to bad things too, I thought. A man and a woman just can’t stare at each other like this. Something has to give.
“OK,” Bird said as he suddenly appeared in kitchen. We both jumped a little and gave him a sheepish look, as if he had caught us doing something we shouldn’t be.
“Am I interrupting something?” he asked, stopping in front of us.
Dex was first to let go of my hands and shook his head. “Not at all. What’s the plan?”
Now, being that we were pretending to be married, it wouldn’t have seemed out of place if Dex had continued to hold on to me but I guess that little thought of Jenn was still present in his head somewhere.
“As soon as you get dressed, I’ll take you to Rudy’s. It’s best if you don’t eat anything either.” >
“What do we say to Will and Sarah?” I whispered.
Bird leaned in closer. “Say nothing. Let me take care of that. Meet me by my truck in 15 minutes.”
It ended up being about 20 minutes later when we met him by his truck. I was still super woozy and a bit sick, so getting dressed took some extra effort. It felt like it was the worst hangover I ever had and I didn’t want Dex helping me anymore. I could put on my own pants, thank you very much. It just took a few attempts.
“What took you so long?” Bird said as we walked over to him. He looked me over and pointed at my jeans. “You can’t wear that to a sweat ceremony.”
“Well, I don’t know,” I said feebly but he just shook his head. Bird had really changed in the last 24 hours. I guess we all had.
“It doesn’t matter, get in,” he said as he climbed in the driver’s seat of his red Ford truck. I exchanged a look with Dex and got in, feeling Bird’s urgency.
He backed up the truck and started to pull out of the lot. I looked back at the house and gasped. Sarah was standing at our bedroom’s window, looking out at us. At least, that’s what it looked like.
I looked at Dex beside me to see if he had noticed but his eyes were focused sharply on the road, his tongue flicking a toothpick anxiously. I kept it to myself. What was the difference anyway?
We drove for about a half hour, past the town and into the craggy gullies that jutted in and out by the surrounding mountain ranges. Down a simple dirt road, framed by cacti and boulders, lay a modest adobe rancher. We parked the truck next to a newish SUV and stepped out.
The air here was fresher and hit my lungs sharply. I hadn’t noticed a grade while on the road but perhaps we were at a higher elevation. It was still very early and the air hadn’t warmed up yet.
A lazy woof came out from around the corner of the house and a happy looking mutt came trotting towards us, tail wagging. Seeing a dog made me feel warm and fuzzy inside and I happily petted his rough fur and endured a few rounds of sloppy doggy kisses.
Dex watched me with mild amusement as Bird started for the back of the house.
“That’s just Boy Boy,” Bird said, waving at the dog. “Come, Rudy is back here.”
We walked around the corner, with Boy Boy at our heels, and saw a large tent nestled among some skinny trees. A neat fire was roaring beside it and Rudy was feeding it juniper branches and stones. I guess in my head I had pictured Rudy wearing ceremonial robes and a huge feathered headdress but those were just stereotypes floating around in my mind. Rudy looked the same as he did last night except that he was a little less blasé.
He greeted us sternly and shook his head at my pants. “Those won’t do. Your top is fine but you’re going to have to go pantless in there.”
He looked at Dex’s cargo shorts and told him, “You too. You could get sick in there with so many clothes on. It’s customary for people to be naked during a sweat ceremony, but I understand if you don’t want to do that with us here.”
“Hell no,” I muttered. Even going in there in just my underwear was going to be traumatizing. And it wasn’t because of Bird and Rudy.
The hut was about four feet high and about the size of a six-person tent. From the outside I could see it was made of heavy tarpaulin material and the door, which we would have to crawl through, was in the style of a tent’s door, complete with zipper. At the moment it was unzipped, showing nothing but blackness inside. I was in no hurry to go in there.
Rudy poked the fire one last time and gestured at the house’s back door.
“It’ll be another half hour before the rocks are hot enough,” he said. “We might as well get you prepped for what’s going to happen.”
It sounded terrifyingly ominous. I looked at Dex who was beside me. His expression said the same thing: this wasn’t going to be a typical sauna session, was it?
We went into the house and sat in the kitchen while Rudy brought out several pitchers of water and poured us all a glass.
“Drink now and it’ll help you once you’re in there,” he said.
Then he took out a small pouch and some rolling papers and started to roll sweet smelling cigarettes. He did this as he told us what was going to happen.
“The Great Spirit watches over us but sometimes we need a little help. Traditionally the sweat ceremony is done to cleanse one’s own spirit so that it is clean and good. The negativity and evil thoughts that we experience each day, even without us knowing it, cling to our shells. The sweat purifies us so that we are born again, brand new. The good spirits can find us and protect us while the evil spirits are unable to track us. Eventually they will find us again, as evil always does, but this will give us some protection in the meantime.”
He finished rolling one, lit it with a match and handed it to Dex. “Here smoke some of this.”
Dex took a puff, then coughed. It was a lot, even for him. He took a gulp of water and opened his eyes wide, achieving that crazy look of his.
“Wow, that is some strong shit,” he exclaimed.
Rudy smiled slightly at Dex’s outburst and nodded at me. “Her turn. Have some Perry, it will please The Great Spirit.”
This Great Spirit was so far sounding pretty cool compared to my God, though I was starting to suspect they were all one and the same. I took the cigarette from Dex’s fingers and inhaled. I hadn’t smoked since high school and it showed. Once the smoke entered my lungs, I also broke out into a coughing fit. It was a strong hit of nicotine and I immediately felt simultaneously alert and relaxed. The tobacco tasted very good, almost like licorice and agave. If we had packs like that on the market, there was a good chance I would take up smoking again.
I passed it on to Bird and Rudy continued, “It used to be that men and women would do the sweat separately but those things don’t matter so much these days. Once the rocks are hot enough, I will move them into the center of the hut. I’ll lead us through a few prayers and we will have some breaks in between where you can get out, stretch your legs and get water. As time goes on, it will get hotter and hotter. It may be so hot that you can’t handle it and that’s fine. I strongly suggest you stay in the tent no matter what. Lie down on the ground if you have to but if you leave the tent before the session is over, it may make everything redundant.”
I started feeling a bit nervous. The cigarette hadn’t helped.
Rudy went on to explain how the tent had been made with willow branches, each branch strategically placed to pay homage to various animals and the Great Spirit himself. Everything was connected and the whole experience was to show us our place in the universe, as well as cleanse our sins.
Soon enough, Rudy had stopped talking. It was time.
We walked outside. The fire had died somehow, smoldering under the weight of the rocks, which glowed neon red in the morning light. We watched Rudy and Bird carrying the hot stones on a pitchfork and shovel them into the tent. I felt like I should help them somehow, but I think in this case it was OK if Dex and I were just the curious bystanders. This was sacred to them and I didn’t want to mess it up.
When they were done, Bird went into the kitchen to fetch the water. Rudy pointed at my clothes.
“No time to be shy,” he said simply. He took off his glasses and his denim shirt and placed them in a neat pile outside of the tent. Oh God, Great Spirit, whatever, I thought, please don’t let this turn into a naked old man expedition.
But Rudy kept his boxer shorts on. Dex did too. I sighed and slipped my pants off. Thank goodness I was wearing my comfy black underwear that pretty much covered my butt, or at least most of it. To think I was close to putting on a thong that morning.
Bird came out with the drinks and placed them outside of the tent. He sat down on a log and wiped his brow.
“You’re not coming in?” Dex asked him.
“No, I think it’s a good idea if someone is outside of the tent,” he said. I had to agree with him.
“Ladies first,” Rudy said opening up the flap of the tent even wider and pointing inside. I really did not want to be the first to go in the hot dark tent, let alone have Dex and Rudy stare at my butt as I went in. On all fours, no less.
I turned to look at Dex behind me. He was already grinning.
I smacked him across the chest. “You keep your eyes to yourself, mister.”
“That reminds me,” Rudy said. He walked over to us and held out his hand. “You will want to take off your rings. You could swell up in there.”
Rings? Oh, right. We both slipped them off and placed them in Rudy’s open palm. He examined each ring closely and then stole a glance at our ring fingers. Could he even see without his glasses? I could have sworn a smile skipped across his stony lips.
“In you go,” he said tapping me on the shoulder.
I took a few steps towards the entrance and got down on all fours. I heard Dex snicker behind me but ignored it. The wall of heat I felt emanating from inside the tent was intense. I took a deep breath and went inside.
It was dark as hell except for the glowing stones in the center. The floor was packed with very soft dirt that was still cool on my knees. I crawled along the outer edge of the circular floor, making sure I was far away from the hot rocks, and sat back. It was so hot, and so dry, that I couldn’t imagine it getting any hotter.
Dex came in next, his shaggy silhouette against the door, and crawled towards me. He sat next to me, cross-legged, our knees touching. I was glad for that.
Rudy came in last and settled across from us, pulling a doeskin bag of stuff up beside him.
“OK Bird,” he called out. “Time to seal us.”
I heard a rustling outside. Bird appeared at the door, the blinding daylight behind him. I couldn’t see his face from the exposure but I could feel he was giving us all a hopeful look. He nodded and disappeared. The tent flapped shut and the loud tear of the zipper filled the air as he shut us in.
Now we were sitting in complete darkness. The stones at the middle gave off a bare glow that did nothing to illuminate the interior of the tent. I heard Rudy shuffle around and the tinkling of water. I smelled sage and other herbs. A whipping sound and Rudy was hitting the rocks with wet sage branches. The smell was incredible, but the steam and heat that came off the rocks was all-encompassing.
Rudy started to chant and sing in native Navajo. I hadn’t heard it spoken yet so it was a bit jarring to my ears. But there was something beautifully rhythmic and complex about it.
Obviously, neither Dex nor I could join in on these prayers, so we just sat there on the dirt floor that was increasingly getting warmer and did our best to endure the heat. Personally, I said a few prayers of my own to myself, followed by wishes, and then positive thoughts and mantras. I was hitting all angles.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, it felt like hours, but just as I was getting light-headed Rudy put the branches away and said, “Now time for our first break.”
“Bird,” he called out and thumped on the wall of the tent. The willow branches shook above us. The sound of the zipper and the flap opened. The light spilling inside hurt my eyes.
We made our way out of the tent and into the sunlight. I’m sure it was a hot day already but compared to the interior of the tent it felt very refreshing. I stood up unsteadily, Bird reached over and held me.
“Take it easy,” he passed me a bottle of water. “Drink some of this, slowly.”
Water had never tasted so good. When I was finished the bottle I looked over at Dex who was doing the same thing. He was a sweaty mess. I was too. Only Rudy looked remotely composed.
“Are you doing OK so far?” Rudy asked.
I shrugged. I didn’t feel like I was cleansed or anything. I just felt like I had been in one hell of a sauna.
“I think I lost a few pounds,” Dex joked.
“Oh, we’ll all be a lot lighter when this is done. Of course, drinking water will put it all back. But the weight of our sins will be lost for long enough.”
Rudy walked over to me and asked me to hold out my hands.
I did so, palms up. The bandages were pretty gross, there hadn’t been time to change them that morning.
Rudy held his hands above mine and waved them around. I thought I could feel my wounds burning slightly but I couldn’t be sure. He was giving off some heat but that was normal. We all could have doubled as radiators at that moment.
“What are you doing?” Dex asked, coming over to see.
Rudy closed his eyes, ignoring Dex and continued to hold his hands above. Then he stopped and looked at me, “Your hands will be OK in a bit. I did a prayer on them last night. They are healing fast.”
He waved his hand above my stomach. “This too will be OK by tomorrow.”
I didn’t know what to do except thank him. It sounded far-fetched that some hand waving would do the trick, especially when Dex mentioned I had been pumped with antibiotics, but the truth was, whatever he did, I did feel like I was healing by the second. My hands didn’t hurt anymore, my stomach didn’t sting or pinch when I had sat down and a quick glance to the mirror this morning showed that my cheek cut was almost gone.
“Time for us to return,” he said and nodded at the tent. I took a deep breath and crawled back inside.
This time Rudy sprinkled the water on with a different, spicier smelling branch. The steam and heat was about double the intensity as the first round.
I shuffled further back from the stones until my back hit the wall of the tent. The tarp stung my back with its heat. I wondered if it came close to melting.
“You can lie down,” Rudy said in the darkness as the steam grew stronger, the hissing noise filling the space above us. “You too, Dex.”
I lay on my side, wanting some respite from the heat. I immediately regretted it. Yes, it was a smidge cooler but I was covered in sweat from head to toe and having to lay down on the dirt floor, I was pretty sure a layer of mud now covered my side. >
I felt Dex moving around beside me and suddenly one of his arms landed on my head.
“Hey,” I cried out.
He giggled, his voice heavy and breathy. “Sorry. Not much room here, kiddo.”
He adjusted himself but ended up propping himself up on his elbow just behind my head. It felt nice knowing he was there, in the darkness, at my back.
Rudy went on to recite a few more prayers. His words slowly faded and I could almost see them floating up with the steam to the roof of the hut.
“So,” he said slowly in English, his accent thick at first. “You two aren’t married, are you?”
Uh. Busted?
“How could you tell?” I asked sheepishly but with great effort. It was becoming harder to talk.
I heard Rudy snort for the first time. “I do not need to be a medicine man to see that.”
I could hear Dex breathing behind me. He wasn’t saying anything. What could we say anyway?
“For one,” Rudy went on, “your wedding rings left no tan lines on your fingers. Which means that you don’t usually wear them. For another, you do not act like a married couple.”
“What do we act like?” Dex asked. Oh man, Dex, why did you have to ask that? I did not want to hear the answer.
Rudy was silent. Then he said, “You act like people who are forever on their first date.”
If I had any doubt that that was true, it was quickly erased by the imminent awkward cloud hanging over our heads. I kind of liked that analogy Rudy used. I certainly felt it. But it probably didn’t do me any good in Dex’s head.
Yet, I felt him move behind me until his mouth was behind my ear.
“How’s our date going then?” he whispered. I could hear the lightness in his voice.
“It’s like Groundhog Day,” I answered back without turning my head. I kept my eyes focused on the stones.
“It’s good,” Rudy said. “I know you did all of this on behalf of the Lancasters. I’m sure some would frown upon that but I can see that you didn’t want to offend them and acted out of the goodness of your hearts.”
Yeah. That was it. But that reminded me.
“Do you know if Maximus is still in town?” I asked. It occurred to me that Dex hadn’t heard from him at all that morning.
I could almost hear Rudy nod. “Yes he is gone. He was sorry to go but he couldn’t stay.”
My heart felt a bit heavy at that, like the last chance to get out was gone and a helping hand had vanished. As much as I trusted Bird and Rudy, Maximus was an outsider like Dex and I, and even though he obviously came into this situation with his own agenda, I still knew he was on our side. He had been looking out for me, if not Dex.
Rudy went back into the chanting and prayers for a while. I was starting to get incredibly thirsty. I could hear Dex panting heavily behind me. If I wasn’t so damn uncomfortable , I would have gotten some pretty sexy thoughts from that. But alas, I could barely move or breathe without feeling gross and exhausted. Maybe all the toxins were coming out of my pores, along with the so-called evilness.
“OK,” we heard Rudy say. He patted on the side of the tent.
“Time for a break, Bird,” he called out. We waited for the zipper to open. There was nothing.
Rudy cleared his throat and shuffled towards the tent door, yelling louder, “Bird, please open the door now. We need water.”
The only sound was the hissing of the rocks. As they glowed redder and redder, the sound got louder and louder. I had a funny feeling. They shouldn’t be getting hotter, should they?
Rudy sighed, annoyed. “Must have gone to the washroom.”
In the darkness we heard him shuffle away from the fire, then it sounded like he was trying to unzip the tent door from the inside. I waited for that loud zip of serrated teeth and the blinding flash of light but there was nothing. Only the suffocating darkness.
Rudy mumbled something in Navajo and started pulling at something. The tent rattled.
I felt Dex straighten up. “What is it? Do you need help?”
“I should be OK, it’s probably just stuck. It’s an old tent.”
Suddenly the rocks hissed loudly, louder than it had ever been. I turned to look at them. They glowed brighter until every single rock in the pit was a fiery piece of hot scarlet. They hissed and steamed as if someone was pouring buckets of water on them. They hissed and steamed as if they were angry at us.
“What’s going on?” I cried. I leaned back and felt Dex put his hands on my arms, pulling me up slightly so I was back on my heels.
Rudy started chanting very loudly in Navajo. The rocks were now giving off enough light that I could see his hazy, grainy figure off to the side. He was facing the fire and waving his arms at it, yelling unrecognizable words.
The rocks only hissed louder and the heat that came off of them felt like an invisible hand coming to choke me. Sweat piled off my forehead and stung my eyes.
Then the walls of the tent started shaking violently. The willow branches overhead creaked and groaned.
Rudy crawled for his bag and his bucket of water. He took the bucket of water and turned it over the stones in hopes to put them out. Only no water came out of the bucket. No, it wasn’t water at all.
Hundreds of small scorpions came tumbling out of it, landing on the stones and making a dash towards us.
I have never moved so fast in my life. We screamed bloody murder and jumped to our feet. My head collided with the low ceiling and I heard more branches crack. I didn’t care. We had to get out of there, even if we took the whole tent down with me.
“Don’t panic!” Rudy yelled at us.
Too f*cking late. I couldn’t breathe, I could barely see. We were trapped. I blindly tried to run into the walls to escape. I could feel the scorpions pinching at my feet with their little claws, aware that those venom-tinged hooks were waiting to jab me at any second.
Dex started breaking the branches off the walls, as eager to get out of the tent as I. I joined him, hoping from one foot to another, and concentrating on getting out of there, futilely grabbing at the walls in the darkness.
“Do you have a knife?” I cried at him.
“Does it look like I have a knife on me?!” he yelled.
“Hold on, I will get rid of them,” Rudy said, his voice high and tight. I didn’t believe him.
I heard him reach for the sage branches behind us. Then he gasped. Something dropped to the ground with a thunk. Too heavy to be a branch. I was scared to turn around and look, so I called out, “Rudy?!”
Nothing. Nothing but the distinct rattle of a rattlesnake’s tail amongst the hiss of the rocks. I started to think it wasn’t the rocks hissing at all. I wanted to cry.
Instead I propelled my energy into getting the tent down. I ripped a branch down with Dex and there was enough support gone that the side of the tent started to cave in.
“Now we run, ready?” Dex yelled, grabbing my hand. Was I ever. It was pitch black, I was so hot that I didn’t think I could manage another breath and we were surrounded by scorpions and perhaps a snake or two. If I didn’t get out in three seconds, I would lose my mind forever.
We took a few steps backwards, careful not to step on the stones but unfortunately unable to miss the sting and crush of the scorpions beneath us. I ignored the pain and together we ran straight into the wall of the tent.
As hoped, it started to give and we could feel the rest of the twigs and branches snapping as the tarps came loose under our force. We ran feebly, awkwardly, for a few seconds, going nowhere, until it finally gave away. We plunged forward. I almost lost my footing as the sheet covered me like a heavy blanket and weighed me down but Dex pulled me along and soon we were free. The tarp fell behind us and we were running into a supernova of bright sunshine.
We ran for a few feet before collapsing on the ground on our knees. Our hearts could not take a moment more. I rolled over, trying to catch my breath and take in the comfort of the open world. Dex got on his fours and had a coughing fit.
When I felt well enough, I looked behind me at the tent. It was completely flattened. Bird was nowhere around but Rudy was still under that tarp. As much as I didn’t want to go back, we had to help him.
Dex had the same idea. We got up and approached the tent, our senses heightened.
“Rudy!” he cried out. We stopped above a shape in the tarp. It looked like a body lay under it. I was afraid to look but we both picked up the tarp, expecting the worst.
There was nothing under there. The bucket was there, but the bag was gone. There were no scorpions, no snakes, and no Rudy.
“What the f*ck?” I swore and put my hand to my head. I looked over at his pile of clothes, neatly stacked next to ours. Where was he?
Dex was just as perplexed.
“I don’t like this,” he said.
“What? What’s going on?”
“I don’t know but it’s not good. Not good.” He looked behind him at the house and nodded at it. “Come on, let’s see if they are inside.”
I followed him into the house. The backdoor was still open so we let ourselves in.
I gasped as we turned into the kitchen.
Boy Boy was standing on top of the kitchen table, growling at us. The raised, tough hairs on his back gave him a porcupine effect, and his teeth snarled into vicious points. His eyes were as wild as I’ve ever seen on a dog before.
“Hey Boy Boy,” I said softly but didn’t make any movements.
“We can’t even be sure that’s a dog anymore,” Dex whispered into my ear. It sent a chill down my spine. What if it never was a dog? Oh god. What if that was a skinwalker the whole time and he offed Bird and then did something to Rudy?
Dex pulled me back towards the door. “We need to leave now.”
I nodded and slowly walked backward. The dog continued to stand on the table top, growling like a lawn mower. Drool dripped off of its fangs and fell to the table top with a sinister splash.
We stepped outside and closed the door gently until it latched with a click.
WOOF!
Boy Boy jumped up at the window, inches from my face, snarling and snapping. I screamed in surprise. Dex ran for the side of the house and pulled me away.
We rounded the corner and saw Bird’s truck still in the driveway. Both their cars were there.
We hopped in the red truck but of course he hadn’t left his keys in the ignition. If this were a movie it would have been a different story.
“Shit, shit, shit,” I said hitting the dashboard.
“Calm down,” Dex said and started ripping wires out of the area beneath the wheel.
“Are you kidding me?” I asked. How did he know how to hotwire a car? Oh, nevermind. Probably took auto-theft classes along with his years of theater school.
“It’s an old truck,” he mumbled and concentrated. I looked out the windshield. I saw Boy Boy standing by the side of the house, staring us down. He must have gotten out somehow. I pictured him getting on two legs and physically opening that door, paws on the handle.
“Um,” I squeaked to Dex, “could you do that any faster?”
Dex paused, then kept going. “The dog’s out there isn’t he?”
“Uh huh,” I said through clenched teeth, not wanting to make a single movement. I realize it wasn’t like Jurassic Park, and just because I was still that didn’t mean he couldn’t see me, but it still felt better to be on the safe side.
“Okay, I think-”
“Dex!” I cried. Boy Boy made a sudden dash for us and leaped onto the hood of the truck, its nails screaming across the paint job.
“-I got it!” he yelled and the car suddenly vroomed to life. Dex slammed the truck into reverse and the dog went flying off the hood. He kept the truck going backwards all the way down the driveway until we reached the end and then he spun the truck around as soon as the smooth blacktop was felt underneath the wheels. Dex popped the car in gear and we were zooming down the road.
“Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God,” I whimpered. “What the f*ck happened?”
He didn’t say anything but gave my body a quick look.“Do you have any bites on you from those scorpions?”
I looked down at my feet. They were caked in dirt but they looked fine, no pain and no swelling. The sight of my bare thighs, though, made me wish I had put on my jeans before I left. Now they were gone forever, along with my boots.
“I’m fine,” I told him. “You?”
“No, nothing,” he said.
“But you saw them, didn’t you? You felt them?” I asked, hoping he did.
“Yes, I saw them. But that doesn’t mean they were really there.”
“How could we both imagine that?”
“I don’t think it’s that simple,” he said but didn’t offer anymore.
It didn’t matter. The fact was Bird and Rudy were gone and Rudy’s happy dog just tried to kill us.
“Do you think Boy Boy killed Bird or Rudy?” I asked softly though I didn’t want to hear his answer.
“I don’t know,” Dex said grimly. “F*ck, I wish I could think properly.”
“So what do we do?” I repeated.
“I guess the only thing we can do is go back to the Lancasters and explain to Will what happened.”
“But what if they are in on it?”
“I don’t know who is in on it anymore. For all we know, Rudy and Bird could be in on it.”
I didn’t want to believe that but I’d be lying if that thought hadn’t crossed my mind, especially when Bird failed to open the tent door. It did almost have that set-up feeling. But the idea that we had no one to trust was too much to handle.
“Too bad you didn’t get any of that on camera,” I said to him. I knew we left the equipment at home because it would have been inappropriate to film a sweat ceremony. >
“Oh, it’ll be coming out as soon as we get back. I don’t know what the hell is going to happen next but whatever it is, we are getting that shit down. If anything should happen to us, we should at least get the truth out.”
I didn’t like the idea of more stuff happening to us but I knew it was just going to get worse.
We sped down the road until Red Fox came into view again. We drove down the main street and saw a blur of people up ahead. We slowed down. There was a crowd gathered in the middle of road, their backs to us, staring at something in front of them.
We brought the car to crawl. I was tempted to get out and ask what was going on but I still wasn’t wearing any pants. I was also worried that people would notice we were in Bird’s truck, with no Bird in sight. But no one turned to look at us. We put the car in park.
Dex stuck his head out the window and yelled, “What’s the hold up?” to no one in particular.
A scrawny Mexican teenager in skate shoes turned around to see us and sauntered over.
“It’s crazy,” he said.
“What is?” Dex asked.
The teen pointed at the crowd. “I don’t know what caused it. There are five dead cattle on the road. They’ve all been turned inside out. It’s f*cking sick.”
“Excuse me?” I said feeling a chill go down my back. The teenager noticed me and gave me a funny look. I forgot I was covered in a lot of dirt.
“Yeah,” he said slowly. “It’s like science fiction or something. Their skin and muscles are gone. It’s only bones and organs. F*cked up.”
He sounded disgusted but there was a hint of excitement in his voice.
“When did this happen?” Dex asked. They hadn’t been there when we drove through town.
The boy shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Do you know another way to the La- get out of town, heading west?” Dex asked, almost asking for the Lancasters.
The boy told us a quick detour down the suburban side streets. We thanked him and did a U-turn. He watched us go, looking puzzled. I didn’t blame him. We were probably quite the sight. Not as gruesome as inside-out cows, though.
“What the f*ck?” I couldn’t help but exclaim again. “Now cows?”
“That alone might be worth filming,” he said, his eyes squinting in thought. “If we could get our cameras and go back there, that’s just weird enough to make the episode worthwhile. I think we should go back, explain to Will, not Sarah, what happened. Pack our bags, get everything in the Jeep and then get the f*ck out of there.”
That sounded like the best plan ever.
“You should text Maximus and tell him what happened,” I told him.
“F*ck,” he yelled and pounded the steering wheel. “My phone is in my shorts.”
Ugh. It seemed like we couldn’t have an adventure without one of our phones going MIA.
“We’ll call him from the Lancasters. Will has his number.”
Dex grunted, obviously upset, and kept driving until we saw their familiar gate again. We pulled the truck up to our Jeep and carefully climbed out.
Will came hurrying out of the house and nearly fainted at the sight of us pantless, dirty people standing before him.
“What on earth?” he cried. “Where’s Bird?”
“Um,” Dex said, looking around him. He moved to the back of the truck and beckoned Will to come over.
Dex explained what happened in a hush. Or at least part of it. We left the skinwalker talk out but said that Rudy had planned for us to take part in a sweat ceremony to cleanse us from evil spirits. The rest was history.
Will kept shaking his head the whole time, muttering “I don’t believe it” over the story. But in the end, he had no choice but to believe it. It was the truth and it was apparent that we weren’t kidding.
He looked pained. I patted him gently on his shoulder, feeling even sorrier for him than I was feeling for myself. This was his friend, this was his problem, and it seemed like we were making things worse by the minute.
“Has anything like that happened before? Where do you think they went?” I asked, hoping to get something out of him.
He didn’t budge. “It’s all too ridiculous. There has to be a simple explanation. I could call the sheriff and put an APB on both of them, just in case.”
“You should,” Dex agreed.
Will gave us an absent look before turning back for the house and walking away. “You should probably get yourselves cleaned up. Again.”
I exchanged a look with Dex and whispered to him, “I’m starting to think we may be the bad luck twins.”
It wasn’t appropriate to joke about it but it’s all I had left. He put a comforting arm around my shoulder and we walked back into the house. I wondered what my breaking point would be.