The Tiffany Box- ONC 2021 Shortlister

11- The Town of Demons

When the van had stopped at Los Demonios, Bodhi'd asked Ash to stay twice more. He said Cali was waiting for her. There were miles of warm sand and perfect beaches, it was a gnarly place to chill and forget that the world had got to hell in a tutu. With animated eyes and his arms giddily flailing around the interior of the van, he said it was a city that still carried its old beauty, one of the few left in North America.

"Naw, Bod," Ash had said as she'd carried herself and her two backpacks out of the van. "I'm going to have to love ya and leave ya as they say in the movies."

As she stepped out of the van and moved to Bodhi's side of the van, he stuck his elbow out of the window and asked, "Which movie is that, Ash?"

Shrugging, she hoisted one of the bags over her shoulder. "No clue, but it's bound to be in one of them, right?" Tiptoeing up, Ash touched her nose to his. "I'm not going to miss the others so much but I'm going to have to get used to not seeing your ugly face every day."

Chuckling, Bodhi squished his nose against hers and uttered, "Going to miss your ugly face, too, pyro-princess."

Stepping back, Ashlyn rapped her hand against the van. "See you someday maybe, eh?"

"That's all I can hope for, I guess." There was the glisten of a tear in Bodhi's eyes as he winked at Ashlyn.

"We're free now," she reminded him. "Plus, you're about twelve hours away from the beach and the waves. You're going home, Bod."

"Won't be the same without you." Bodhi shrugged lightly. "Say goodbye, kids," he called to the others in the van.

"Byyyyyyyyyyyyyye, Ash!" came a choir of voices from the back followed by a high-pitched squeak.

"Goodbye you wonderful assortment of nuts, bye Roxie."

"Later, Ash." Bodhi twiddled his fingers. "Be good, yah?"

Giving Bodhi a final wave, Ash headed into the belly of the town and disappeared between walls of concrete.

Ash looked at a spider crawling on the ceiling above her bed. The arachnid's spindly legs moved gracefully, it was a prima ballerina in the ugliest outfit ever. Ash tucked her arms behind her head. It had been a few days already since she'd been dropped off. In the comfort of the motel room, she spent most of her time watching TV and waiting to have another dream about God, waiting for a sign as to where to start searching for Him. The spider created little spirals above her, moving as though it were dancing to a melody only it could hear. Ashlyn watched it until her lids felt heavy and she dozed off.

A dream came to her moments after she'd closed her eyes. Platinum hair curtained a small ball of black fluff which lay on his lap. The man sat upon a ground of awful red dirt, his feet and hands were covered in it. Every time he stroked the ball of fluff, streaks of red rubbed off on its fur. Only when the ball wriggled and mewled did Ash understand that it was a kitten. A gust of wind swept up a handful of sand making the man and the cat vanish. In their place, she saw a redneck leaning out of the passenger's side of a rusty ol' van. Traces of childhood illness pocked his face. The man was waving money to a figure who stood on the side of the road. Ash saw rain pelleting down so hard that she could not make out any other faces except for the man's which was now facing her. The pock-faced redneck howled and sent shivers down Ashlyn's spine. "Just show me it," he leered as his face zoomed in closer to hers until she thought he'd crawl right inside her.

Still asleep, Ash flinched. She lifted a hand, trying to keep the disgusting man at bay. "Undo your jeans slooowly." She heard him say even though he never moved his lips from the ugly wolf-like expression glued on his face. The man reached out his arm and in an instant, he broke through the rainy vision and entered the one of storm of dirt. Ashlyn saw the arm slithering through the red dirt, it headed towards the white-haired man and the black kitten. But as crater-face was about to grab the man, Ashlyn woke.

"Mother fu..." she growled, letting her words trail off before she began swearing like a sailor on leave. "Dirty pervert." Lifting her palm to her face, Ash tried to unwrinkle the anger from her forehead. She knew there was an angry vein sticking out. "Dunno who you are but if I ever come across a slime-ball like you, you better hope you can run faster than I can."

Rising off the bed, Ash shuddered and made her way to the TV. Slapping her hand on the buttons, she switched it on. The TV came to life with a weary fizz. Particles of static floated on the screen before a black and white horror film sizzled to life. Flopping on the bed, she coiled a finger around her Tiffany and Co. necklace and watched a winged demon fly out of a burning church and head up towards a blood-red sky.

On the nightstand next to her, the silver Zippo grinned at the flames pluming from the building on the small set. 

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