Curfew (4 page)

Completely terrified and freaked out,
the boy screamed at Mary,

“
We all need to get home
creepy girl! But whatever it is that keeps banging on the door
won’t let us! What does it want?”

Barry tilted his head while twisting
his mouth to the right side of his face in response to the boy’s
question. Instantly feeling like an idiot, the boy cowered away
into one of the empty toilet stalls.

“
What’s your name?” Mary
asked as she peered inside the stall where the boy had retreated
to.

“
Christopher, my name is
Christopher Winston.”

“
I would say nice to meet
you Christopher, but under the current circumstances that wouldn’t
be a good look.”

Christopher chuckled while shaking his
head at Mary.

Mary turned around and caught Barry
staring at her with eyes filled with anger, searching for answers
that he needed.

“
I told you I needed to be
home by twelve, but none of you listened,” She said with a look of
sorrow in her eyes.

“
Wait, so that thing is
here because you missed your curfew?” Christopher asked while
jumping up from the toilet seat. “What kind of crazy shit is that?
Who are you people?”

Barry shrugged and pointed at Mary
before responding,

“
Ask her! It showed up as
soon as the clock struck twelve.”

Christopher turned to Mary looking for
answers and all he got was silence and a blank stare.

The constant banging was starting to
drive Christopher crazy and he covered his ears trying to drown out
the noise that sounded like grenades going off right next to his
head. Mary and Barry looked at each other and then at Christopher,
confused by his reaction. Noticing them staring at him while
seemingly being unbothered by the noise Christopher
asked,

“
That doesn’t bother
you?”

“
What?” Mary and Barry
asked in unison.

“
The pounding! The banging
of that thing trying to get in here!” Christopher yelled loudly,
trying to be heard over the thunderous noise.

“
Huh? It stopped banging
minutes ago.”

“
What?!”

“
Yeah, the banging been
stopped dude,” Barry responded looking at Christopher as if his
high had returned and he was now tweaking out.

“
Wait a minute, are you
serious?”

“
Yes!”

Slowly removing his hands from his
ears, Christopher noticed the tranquil silence and a look of
bewilderment came over him.

“
I swear to God this entire
building was shaking and that thing was banging like crazy! I’m not
tripping out either.”

“
Shhhh, don’t you dare
swear to God while it’s still around,” Mary warned as she
cautiously backed away from the bathroom door.

“
Why not?” Christopher
asked angrily.

“
Because this isn’t God’s
night. It’s the devil’s and that thing belongs to the devil. Sorry
to inform you boys, but God is sitting this one out tonight. We’re
on our own.”

“
How can you say something
like that?” Barry asked, throwing his hands in the air. “What, you
don’t believe in God?”

“
I do, I also believe in
that thing out there and its master.”

“
So are you gonna tell us
what exactly is that thing and why it looks like your
mother?”

“
What! That’s your mom out
there?! Aww hell nawl, I’m getting away from you! Dude, whatever
your name is―”

“
My name is
Barry.”

“
Barry is it? Yeah, you
probably want to stay as far away from this girl as
possible.”

“I can’t leave her alone,” Barry responded.

Mary smiled brightly after hearing
Barry’s answer and walked over to hug him, but he held out his arm
to keep her at a safe distance.

“
I’m not gonna leave you
Mary, but I’m not gonna hug you either. Not until you tell me what
the fuck is going on!”

Sighing and rolling her eyes Mary
responded,

“
It’s 12:20am and we are
being chased by a demon.”

“
You think this shit is a
joke? Triston is dead, Amanda is missing and we are trapped in a
bathroom with a pothead and no weapons to defend ourselves while
a
demon
waits
outside to do to us what he did to Triston!”

“
Wait, what happened to
this Triston guy?” Christopher asked while slowly raising his
hand.

Mary and Barry ignored his question as
the two of them argued about her not getting home by curfew.
Christopher kept asking repeatedly about Triston until he couldn’t
take being ignored anymore and yelled to the top of his
lungs,

“
WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO
TRISTON?!?!?”

Looking at Christopher up and down
Mary responded,

“
He got his head torn off.
There, does that make you feel better?! Nothing I say to either of
you will make you feel better or bring Triston and Amanda
back.”

“
We don’t know if Amanda is
dead,” Barry snapped.

“
Oh trust me if she isn’t
dead by now, she will be very soon.”

“
How can you be so coy
about all this?” Christopher asked Mary, still trying to process
the situation he was in. “You don’t appear as terrified as me and
your boyfriend over there. So as high as I am, I’m not that high
not to notice that this shit ain’t new to you! Bitch,
you’ve
been here
before!”

Mary’s eyelids lowered until
Christopher could barely see her pupils and her nostrils flared as
her breathing got heavier.

“
What, you mad? Fuck yo’
feelings bitch! That thing is out there because of you, not us!
Your boyfriend is staying by your side and you refuse to tell him
what you already know which is really fucked up to say the least.
So yeah, in my book you’re a Stone Cold Creamery type of
bit―”

The wall behind Christopher suddenly
exploded as the demon crashed into the bathroom; sending large
chunks of concrete and plaster all over the bathroom. Barry
immediately unlocked the door and he and Mary sprinted out, leaving
Christopher alone with the demon. As Barry and Mary ran up the hill
they could hear the repulsive sounds of the demon doing ungodly
things to Christopher while he screamed out in agony.

“
We have to get outta here.
We can’t keep running all night. I have to get home and once I’m
home then that thing will go away,” Mary said as she ran beside
Barry towards the parking lot.

“
We can’t out run that
thing. So we’ll need a car and Triston had the key transponder in
his pocket when he….and we can’t start that truck without it and
judging by how his truck is the only car left in the parking lot we
are on our own. So we need to get those keys while that thing is
busy with Christopher.”

“
Barry no, it’s too
dangerous!”

“
What other choice do we
have? None, so if you say getting you home will end this then
that’s what we have to do. So let’s go get those keys.”

“
No Barry, if you want to
succeed in getting those keys you‘re gonna have to go
alone.”

“
Why?”

“
Just trust me Barry. It’s
safer for you if you go without me and we don’t have much time to
argue, so just go,” Mary said before pushing him in the direction
where Triston’s mutilated body laid.

Barry turned to look back at Mary
right before she ran off in the other direction leaving Barry alone
in the dark. Shivering from fear and the disgusting sounds of the
demon devouring Christopher’s remains; Barry decided he’d better
get to it. So he sprinted towards his objective while hoping he
didn’t meet a similar fate. When Barry reached Triston’s body the
smell almost made him puke. As he stepped over his body his foot
suddenly sank into a muddy pool of blood that almost covered his
entire gym shoe, causing him to stumble forward. His quick reflexes
allowed him to stop himself from falling over by bracing his weight
against Triston’s body. As Barry’s hands pushed down, the dead
flesh reacted like jelly giving in to Barry’s weight. Barry’s hands
tore through the body’s outer skin; plunging deep into its inner
organs. Barry quickly lifted himself up and almost placed his blood
soaked hands over his mouth as he tried to hold in the scream and
vomit that danced around inside his throat.

Swallowing deeply, Barry forced his
stomach rejections back down and went about searching Triston’s
pockets. A sudden frigid hand on his neck caused him to scream as
he took off running until a familiar voice said,

“
Looking for these?” Amanda
whispered as she looked around with eyes wide with fear and a face
as pale as artic snow. In her hands she shook the transponder to
the SUV. Barry reached forward grabbing her hand as the two of them
ran off towards the parking lot. As Barry and Amanda approached the
truck Mary walked out of the darkness and wrapped her arms around
Barry. Her embrace a welcomed gesture a few hours ago now was an
uncomfortable experience that caused Barry to unconsciously turn
away. Seeing her heart broken expression didn’t deter Barry from
immediately hopping into the driver’s seat.

“
Let’s go,” he said
coldly.

Upset by his rejection, Mary decided
to climb into the back of the truck while Amanda scurried into the
front passenger seat; rushing him to start the truck and
leave.

T
he roar of the V8 engine was the only sound that vibrated
through the cabin of the SUV as Barry maneuvered down River Road
heading towards Mary’s house and hopefully salvation. He was going
about thirty miles over the speed limit and kept looking in the
rear view mirror to see if they were being stalked by the demon…or
was he watching Mary? He couldn’t quite figure out which frightened
him more, the demon or that she knew what was coming and didn’t
warn them. Looking over to his right he glanced at Amanda shivering
in her seat as she jumped at everything that moved past her window.
On the other hand, Mary sat in the back seat calm and quiet.
Shaking his head Barry set his eyes back on the road until he
suddenly felt Amanda’s cold hand in his lap rubbing between his
legs while she looked at him licking her lips. Barry immediately
looked back at Mary who seemed oblivious to Amanda’s actions as she
looked outside her window into the menacing darkness.

Taking one hand off the steering wheel
Barry tossed her hand away and grunted for her to stop, but Amanda
wasn’t going to stop as she moaned and placed her hand in his lap
again. The cold chill of her hands seemed to penetrate his jeans
and boxers, causing his nerves to twitch and vibrate. Amanda’s
touch was a touch of experience. She knew how to get a boy roused
up and no matter how he tried to fight her; every passing
millisecond her hand remained on his groin the weaker his resolve
became. His eyes slowly started to flutter as his body began to
give in to her and he suddenly jumped up causing the truck to
swerve into the next lane. Mary cursed loudly as she leaned forward
to see why Barry wasn’t in control of the vehicle and that’s when
she saw Amanda slowly removing her hand from Barry’s lap. Amanda
turned and seductively looked in Mary’s eyes while shrugging her
shoulders. As she sat back in her seat Amanda appeared relaxed,
showing no sign of remorse for crossing the line with Barry while
her boyfriend’s body still lay cold in the dirt.

Looking over at Barry she could see
the embarrassment on his face for allowing himself to give in, even
if it was only for a second to his deceased friend’s girlfriend.
Refusing to address either of them or the situation Mary shook her
head and sat back in her seat.

“
Mary I…I…”

“
Save it homie. It’s cool I
understand how things work and how other things don’t when they
should. It’s the typical response, I just thought you weren’t
typical,” Mary said sarcastically.

“
Oh please Mary! Don’t be
like that, I thought you liked to share. Barry tried to stop me,
but you know how persuasive a bitch can get when I really want
something or someone. I will say one thing though; your boy Barry
definitely has a more impressive “throwing arm” than Triston. Mmmm
mmm mmm girl, you picked an all American in Barry.”

“
You fucking tramp whore
bitch! Shut your fucking mouth, before I shut it up for you,” Mary
screamed at Amanda.

Amanda smiled and flung her dark brown
hair over her shoulder, seemingly unbothered by Mary’s rageful
outburst. Barry began to squirm in the driver’s seat as his stomach
muscles tensed and he began to feel light headed the longer the two
girls argued. As the argument escalated, Barry began to feel the
hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stand straight up
causing the muscles on his back to vibrate. A feeling of doom came
over him and tears began to well in his eyes and it was at that
moment the memory of Mary’s voice echoed in his head.

“
Don’t you feel
that?”

Barry immediately snapped out of his
memory and frantically looked in all the mirrors for the demon that
was stalking them. But after checking and double checking he didn’t
see anything, but he wasn’t taking any chances and he pressed his
foot down on the accelerator pushing the SUV forward. Mary noticed
Barry increased speed and looked over at him like he’d lost his
mind.