Short stories

A hunt; continuation

Roy threw down the bent rifle on the floor with a huff, taking the other good one.

"Let's go." Eli said firmly, but first, rummaged through the bag, taking out some things. A smoke bomb, a small explosive, pocketing them and handing more to Roy.

They slowly moved out the back door, looking around slowly, but seeing no movement. Eli looked at Roy and nodded his head in the direction of what looked to be the main street of the city. It was big and open, leading directly into the city, where they could see big buildings, looming over the smaller ones in the outskirks. Big open areas meant they would able to spot any movements in the surrounding better.

They headed that way, Eli going forwards, while Roy followed behind him, every few second glancing back, watching.

As they headed down the street, they saw many buildings. A school, the one base corner was busted out, bricks from it strewn out into the street. A bank, the door hanging off the hinges, and the wooden steps broken. A few other buildings, maybe stores at one time. It was noted, that they were all tall, and very modern looking. Almost every window in the buildings were broken. Most of them had ivy climbing up the sides, and were sun worn.

Eli looked these things in confusion. The town was said to be old, but the buildings didn't appear old. They looked like how the modern buildings in the bigger towns now would look like. It was very strange.

They stopped wqlking when they came to what looked like the center of the main street. To mark the center bricks were layed out in a circle on the ground, a tall clock standing in the center of those. The base was large, made of metal, a thinner pole stretching around 10 feet up. The face was big, the glass flat, making the numbers pronounced. The hands were gold. It wasn't working, but the golden hands were stopped at exactly 3 o'clock. The glass face surprisingly wasn't cracked at all.

They suddenly whirled around when they heard the noise of wind chimes. They saw in the distance, a house, or a store, but they immediately focused on a bright, shiny, long, set of wind chimes tied to the corner of the roof on the porch, very noticeable. They jingled, a pleasant sound, but in the circumstance it made them feel anything but pleasant.

Roy beckoned with his thumb toward the building, and began to walk low, but swiftly, towards it. Eli followed, looking about them as he did. They reached the porch, climbed up the few steps, and entered the building through the already open door. A significant change in lighting greeted them the moment they entered through the door. It was very dark inside.

Eli stopped, blinking to adjust his eyes, tilting his head back towards the door. A ticking noise traveled through the street. A... clock? There was no way. He turned and sprinted out, tripping on a hole in the porch, and fell down the stairs into the street. He got his bearings and sat up, squinting his eyes to see the clock down the street, which unbelievably, had begun to tick again.

"Eli, what happened?" Roy had stepped back out onto the porch.

"The clock, its-" but Eli made it no further, before the door to the house slammed shut, wood splintered and a few boards from the porch roof fell, right on top of Roy. His eyes widened and he turned his back to it as it fell on him.

Eli leapt to the porch and pulled the boards off Roy. He looked at Eli through narrowed eyes, a trickle of blood from a scrape slid down the side of his face.

"We fell right into that trap." Roy said angrily, his jaw clenched tight.

"Maybe... but we might know how he works." Eli said in a low tone, his eyes scanning the area around them nervously.

They both turned to gaze down the street, hearing a meoldy from a piano being played, floated on the silent air. It came from somewhere down the street, beckoning them.