Shamrock Samurai

6 | SHOWDOWN

Eerie silence hung over us.

I approached the big rig. Cold damp fog rolled in overhead. Rain seemed probable.

The she-devil could be anywhere and I needed to be on my guard.

As I neared the truck my senses went haywire. Or was it adrenaline? Both.

Tain bared his teeth.

The cab door opened and the truck driver groaned as he tried to climb out.

A swift shadow snatched the guy's arm, ripping him out of the cab. I raised the gun but he vanished in an instant. A single cry escaped his lips. A sickening crunch followed. Then silence.

Before I could even register that she'd taken the man's life, loud banging on the trailer top got my attention.

She arose from the shadows, triumph smeared across her face. And blood too. Man, was she ugly. And it wasn't from the auto accident. She had transformed again. She had been a beautiful, young twenty-something then she turned into a woman in her prime. But now she was terrible, her true form exposed; an old hag with burning eyes. Her hair stood on end and blew in the wind. Beauty is vanity as they say.

Disgust mingled with my anger, which both gave way to outrage. My grip choked the shotgun.

She opened her mouth to shout, but I pumped the Mossberg 500 and gave her a slug. The shot cut her shriek short, echoing off the walls of the highway.

The Banshee absorbed the hit head on and dropped on top of the trailer. Fumes rose from the barrel of the gun. Got 'er! I just needed to climb to the top and verify she was finished.

I expected her to be lying in a pool of her own blood. But she wasn't there. Blood trailed off of the side of the truck.

Before I could stop him, Tain took off after her into some tall bushes that served as part of the center divider to the highway. He snarled and wrestled in the bushes. Then I heard the sound of a strong impact and Tain yelped. Why didn't she die already?

I leapt from the trailer and landed in tall grass. The fall was quite higher than expected and I had to duck and roll into the landing. All while holding the Mossberg 500. Yep, I'm that good. I did it earlier with the katana, remember? But for some reason I couldn't access my Luck power, even though my senses went off like crazy.

I was about ready to run into the bushes and search for my dog when he came flying towards me and knocked me to the ground. I rolled over, pushed him off and inspected him. He had several claw marks along his back and rib cage and was bleeding, but he'd be okay. At least I'd hoped so.

My grip tightened on the gun and I pumped it again. "Come on out. Face me!"

I fired a warning shot into the bushes from the direction my dog flew from. "What? Now you're scared?"

Fog and mist lowered rapidly. It swept through the center divider bushes of the highway and surrounded the truck and my car. If it weren't for my car lights I wouldn't be able to see anything.

To my back, headlights shone from a vehicle fast approaching. No, turn around, I thought. Go away. I already had enough people to defend. Speaking of people to defend, my mom and brother were screaming. I left Tain and bolted back.

The sight unfolding before me almost gave me an emotional overload. There stood my little brother Aiden, bat in hand ready for a swing as he barred the Banshee's way into the car where my mom was trying to drag him back into the safety of the vehicle.

The hag tried to claw him but he sidestepped and gave her a home run swing to the temple. While it was a solid strike, it did nothing to stop her.

I aimed the shotgun and fired. It only grazed her shoulder but it was enough to knock her off balance.

As she scrambled up, she looked from me to the approaching vehicle. She was in the beam of the incoming headlights that were driving straight towards her. With an inhuman leap the hag cleared the Datsun pickup truck. The Datsun driver slammed on his brakes and whipped the car to a skidding halt. The driver's side door opened and in a flash a black man in a trench coat hopped out, staff in his left hand at the ready, glowing with purple magic energy.

"Nehemiah!"

He didn't have time to answer.

The hag unleashed a sonic scream like a tsunami, ripping up asphalt in its wake. Nehemiah stood there, staff held up high, like Moses or Charlton Heston.

As the scream hit him, a force field of purple magic flickered to life around him. The sonic scream blew past either side of him, leaving the wizard unscathed.

But her attack was just a distraction as she grabbed my brother by the arm and fled into the mist.

"Aiden!"

I cocked the shotgun again but it was too late. The strange mist enveloped us. If I tried to shoot I could accidently hit my brother. I set the gun on the ground and settled for a two handed grip on my katana.

"Uh, Nehemiah," I said. "Is this natural?"

"No," he said, gripping his staff with both hands. "She's trying to draw us over to the Otherside."

"The other side of what?"

Instead of replying, he ran off into the mist which was now so thick I couldn't see anything. With my arms outstretched I walked forward to where I thought my car and mom were.

"Nehemiah? Tain? Mom?"

No response.

I should have found the car by now. I walked faster. The asphalt under my feet became gravel, then dirt. I turned around but my inner compass was way off. I almost felt sick to my stomach. Something was dreadfully wrong, making me feel out of place and time.

I walked a long time, and no time at all.

Time was relative.

Now, then, when?

I walked into a wall. Dizzy stars filled my eyes. A big welt would spring up on my forehead tomorrow.