A Week of Death

Chapter 3

      I didn't sleep very well last night, and I still haven't seen my mom since yesterday morning. I woke up with a start today, and I was shaking all over. I don't know what it was that I saw last night, but I both didn't and did want to go find it again. I quickly put on my shirt and pants, then grabbed my jacket and backpack. I slept through my alarm a little, so I never got a proper breakfast. I waited for the bus for a good ten minutes, and when nothing showed up, I ran back to my house. I grabbed the keys to my truck, a 1947 Holden UTE, and ran out to the shop. I opened the door, and turned the key, listening to the engine rumble for the first time in many years. "Good girl, now let's get you out of the shop." I said to myself as I started driving to school.

     My bus wasn't the only one that didn't run today, but another hadn't shown up to pick up their kids either. I grabbed another protein shake off of the counter in the cafeteria, and went back to where my friends usually were. Today, Natalie wasn't at school either, and Terry looked worried. "I saw it again." he said, with a pale white face, and purple bags under his eyes. I nodded my head and put a finger up to my lips. "I got a close up of one, too. I dont think it's from here." I whispered to him. Mostly everybody at the school had at the least heard of the sightings, and I really wish I hadn't had the chance to see one up close. But after another many minutes, the school bell rang, and we went to our first class. Our classes were mostly empty, with a couple teachers barely at the school. My art teacher was missing today, and today was the day we were supposed to finish and show our recycling act, where we took discarded stuff and used it to build something to represent a saying against throwing out trash. By the time lunch had begun, most of the school had fallen apart. Nats was missing from our usual spot, and Terry seemed a bit more skittish than yesterday, more pale. When he saw me, he rushed over, asking me if I had seen one too. "It was so big," he said, "Its body was so fat I almost thought it was a grizzly." I stopped him there, and said, "Yours was fat? Mine barely had any muscles." He looked at me, then started drawing. He couldn't draw very well, though his abilities to draw were still good enough. "I know it's not good, but i have a rough sketch of what mine looks like driven into my mind." he pulled up the picture, and I could see what he meant. As mine was more Wendigo-like, his looked more like a bear-ish creature, with a jaw that seemed to go all the way down its stomach, with a horizontal jaw-line growing from its ribs down. It was still skinless, but looked to be more red in tone, and he showed its paws to have, at the minimum, 6 inch claws protruding from its front. I didn't know what to actually make of these creatures, so I didn't say anything, but as lunch ended, he asked if He could come with me after school. I looked at him, and said, "Sure, my mom's probably still got some work at the hospital, so I'm sure something will come up." We went through the rest of our days, and I made it back to my truck, and waited on him to show up. He came out a couple minutes later, and got in the passenger side. He marveled at the old truck, then we went back over to my house.

     That night, we stayed in my dad's shop almost until midnight, where we made weapons. I didn't keep them out, just in case my mom ever had to come in here, but I knew where to keep them. He had made a shortsword out of some old train tracks we kept in the back of the shop, while I went a bit more extravagant with my latest creation: a pendulum blade. I had heard of them in some old fantasy movies my dad had watched, and started working on it about a week before, but I kept it as a side job, only working on it Friday so I could keep it quiet against my mom. But my mom wasn't here tonight, and all that was left was the handle, where I wrapped the sheath in some real leather, and covered the hole at the end with some tightened cloth. I made sure to keep it all smooth, and when we were about to call it a night, I heard something outside again. Terry heard it too, as he grabbed his sword. I wasn't going to take out my pendulum blade, so I instead grabbed my dad's shotgun. We went outside with headlamps on, and began to walk around the house. I had my hand on the trigger this time, knowing full well that once I saw the creature I'd have but a split second to shoot it...

                    ... and that's what I did.