Dark Keys of Uncomplacency

Chapter 9: Race to Lyndhurst Manor

Outside, Julian raced down the Faulkner's driveway and across the street, clutching his baseball in his right hand. The cool sweat that had settled on his collar dried up in an instant. There was no sign of a thunderstorm like he thought while standing in the middle of that basement.

He took one more look back at the old house before turning forwards and narrowly avoiding a collision with Mrs. Marley.

"Jesus Christ! Watch where you're running, you almost knocked me over", she complained with her hands at her hips.

"Sorry Mrs. Marley, I didn't see you there", he said with a deep breath in and out between each word.

She turned her nose up at him and continued down the road from which she came.

"Is everything alright?", he asked looking perplexed. She wasn't in a pleasant, upbeat mood like she usually was. Even her perfume, which rested on her brown knitted vest, seemed a little more unbearable than normal. Without the insightful smile or complementary hug, she was a completely different person.

"I should be asking you the same thing", she replied. "You look like you've seen a ghost".

"Me?—No way. I just ran over there to get my baseball". He showed her the baseball which was now grass-stained from his awkward plunge into the front lawn.

Mrs. Marley just stared at Connor's house, through her squinted eyes. She had felt a presence she had not felt since she herself had moved to the neighborhood; a dark presence that was suddenly set free to do as it pleased.

Julian finally caught his breath and continued to explain why he was running, but he stopped when he realized Ruth wasn't listening to anything he had to say.

"Hey Mrs. Marley—Ruth—are you alright?".

She replied only with what sounded like labored breathing, muffled by the solar winds that blew through the trees.

"Hey, you shouldn't be out here for too long. My grandmother caught heat stroke in these temperatures once, wasn't pleasant. Let me help you to your house".

As Julian got up he heard a loud crack as if someone had just snapped a twig. He looked up and saw Ruth with her head bent to the left at a perfect 90-degree angle, causing her neck bones to protrude from the right side of her neck, just under her skin. In an instant, her head snapped to the right in the same fashion.

Julian's heart sank as his eyes widened, in disbelief of what he was seeing. He looked around at the other houses; nobody around to confirm the twisted scene.

"Mrs. Marley?", he cried out in terror.

Again her head shifted violently, this time towards the sky. Her hands were spread out by her side as if she had just been struck by lightning. Then, in a raspy high-pitched voice, she responded, "It is not you we need, boy".

"W-what? What are you saying".

In a slow, bone-grinding motion, Mrs. Marley's head rotated past 180° until it faced Julian completely. He looked into the whites of her eyes which were now dark as night. Her tongue appeared to be bleeding, leaving red streaks along the edges of her mouth.

"Send the other. NOWWWW!!". Her voice grew deeper like a broken record being taken off the track. Before she could say another word, Julian ran for the front door. He punched in the code and slammed the door behind him, all the while hearing Mrs. Marley's voice echo down the driveway.

On the other side of the door, Julian was met by the sound of roaring A/C and laughter coming from the TV in the living room. He ripped his cleats off and slid into the living room to find Friends on the screen and his sister sitting on the couch only half watching. What happened outside might as well have been a bad dream.