Headless (9 page)

     “Cover him up and send word to General Washington. The Devil is dead. Here he rests, and here he stays. And until the day he manages to walk again amongst the living, and find a new head, may his spirit never rest in peace.” The old man looks around at the people who have joined him there.

     They all nod in agreement, some laughing at what they assumed was a mocking tone to his curse on the Horseman, and walk away.

CHAPTER XV

     “Little did they know that the Devil didn't die that day. They just gave birth to a demon. A demon that some say comes back every year, to hold his promise to the townsfolk true. That this place was cursed,” Harold whispers, staring into the fire.

     There is an awkward silence amongst the group.

     When he grins, Caleb, Dougie and Jackie laugh. Then the others join in.

     “You're an idiot, man,” Dougie speaks up first, exhaling smoke from a cigarette.

     “That stuff isn't true though, is it? Like him being here and stuff?” Tina hugs herself, looking up from the fire.

     “Depends who you ask, I guess. Nobody's ever found his body, but the only description of the grave is a marked grave under an old tree,” Harold shrugs.

     “There are a lot of old trees here,” Jackie notes.

     “So does anyone know why the people moved?” Caleb asks, tossing his cigarette in the fire.

     “Little of this, little of that. Some died from disease; some disappeared; fire; crops dried up. One day the rest of the people that were still here up and moved on,” Harold answers. “Or maybe it was a demon Horseman risen from the grave that ran them off. Who knows?”

     He grins, but it's clear that some of the group is unsettled.

     “I don't like this place, I want to leave,” Tina whispers.

     The others laugh at her. Even Sam, who twirls the head of the sledgehammer in the dirt, watching it slowly dig deeper into the ground. Danny jumps to his feet walking around the fire, looking out into the woods as the sun dips low.

     “Any German assassins out there!? Hello! Hey, the girls are scared of the boogeyman! Come on out, faggot!” Danny screams, spinning around the fire.

     “Hey!” Sam hisses.

     Danny grins, holding a hand up to his mouth. “Oops, I mean German demon assassin that lovingly likes to suck cock! Are you out there?”

     “Stop being an idiot,” Caleb speaks up, twisting the cap off his beer bottle. Danny goes for the cooler, and Caleb smacks his hand away, pointing to Danny's seat. “You don't need anymore, man. Not right now, at least.”

     “Aw, thanks mommy!” Danny snaps, walking back to his stump, sitting down.

     “Every time you get too fucked up, you pass out and break something. I'm not pulling your ass out of the fire pit. You can calm down for a half hour or so.”

     “Whatever, man.” Danny scoffs, getting up from his stump and starts walking off. “I'm going to go look around. Anyone want to come?”

     “You sure that's a good idea?” Kat speaks up.

     “What? I ain't scared of no ghosts!”

     “Dude, sit down,” Caleb growls.

     “Fuck. Off,” Danny retorts, holding up a middle finger.

     After a few moments of nobody wanting to join, he shrugs, walking off.

     “Danny!” Katerina yells after him.

     Amir rests a hand on her shoulder. “Let him go. He just needs to cool off a bit. I think Caleb's right.”

     “Anyone want to play a drinking game? A shot every minute that goes by before Danny comes running back, squealing like a pig?” Jackie inquires, raising the bottle in her hand.

     “I'll take that bet,” Dougie speaks up.

     “Aren't you supposed to be driving, at some point?” Tina inquires.

     “The van isn't going anywhere tonight. The fuck else am I going to do sitting around here with a bunch of frightened white folk?”

     Everyone laughs, as Dougie pulls a bottle of scotch from the bag.

     “Maybe one of us should go after him? There are wild animals out here,” Amir whispers, looking over his shoulder at Kat. She lowers her eyes to the ground, nodding, but doesn't move. “You want me to go get him?”

     “No. Caleb or Doug will in a bit, I'm sure. Danny's a big boy, he can fend for himself.”

     “You sure?”

     “Yeah, the less time the kid is around here, the better,” Kat nods.

     “Why don't you like him?” Amir turns to her, as the others joke and talk amongst themselves.

     “He's wanted to get in my pants since high school. It's not the sort of endearing behavior I find attractive in a man.”

     “Some women find determination sexy,” Amir chides.

     “True. And I do, too. But not when there are weekly dick pics included, with texts like 'Hey girl, drunk. Wanna fuck?' – it's not titillating.”

     “Fair enough,” Amir laughs. “So what sort of uh, what sort of guy do you, I mean are you, I mean...”

     “I like you,” she cuts off his awkward line of questioning, giving him a gentle smile. “That's why I asked you to come tonight. I like you, Amir.”

     “Oh. Good!” His face lights up, and the burning sensation in his cheeks subsides.

     The bonfire was just a speck of warm light in the distance at this point, as Danny trekked a path away from the group. He had picked up a random leaf on his walk, and was presently picking it apart piece by piece, throwing the scraps to the ground, as he whittled the foliage down to its stem slowly.

     “Assholes always mocking me. Like I can't handle my booze --” he trips over a branch, and barely avoids planting in the dirt face first. He exhales deeply, walking on. “Like I'm some kind of pain in the ass. Fuck 'em all!”

     He kicks a rock and it bounces loudly off the wood of the Church wall. A clap of thunder immediately follows, and Danny jumps, looking up at the sky. He laughs, and continues stumbling his way into the woods, on the path leading away from the dilapidated town. He never notices the giant black figure that moves away from the wall of the Church to follow him into the woods.

     “And this fucking Mexican that Kat's wasting her time with!” ...Danny mumbles out, screaming into the trees. He pauses for a moment, catching his breath, as the alcohol sets in more and more, before he starts laughing. “He's not Mexican; he's Arab. Meh, same difference, right? Right!” The college kid carries on, stumbling down the dark path into the woods. “Can't see shit out here...”

     He stops, taking his cell phone out, and turns the flashlight on it, on. He aims it around into the trees, then down the path.

     “That's much better,” he notes, continuing to stumble along his way.

     Danny stops, reaching down and picking up a branch along the path, swiping it back and forth, laughing at the faint whistling sound it makes, as he can barely walk in a straight line at this point.

     “I shall avenge you, my love! Ki-ya!” Danny yells out, swinging the branch around.

     In his mind, a great ninja warrior twirls his blade with precision, and deft control. In reality, a drunk spins a stick around, mostly hitting himself with it as he fights invisible forces in front of him along the path. He attempts to spin it in the air, but it gets away from him, and cracks against wood as it flies off into the trees, and out of his line of sight.

     “Damn it!”

     Danny spins in circles, looking for something else to play with, and finds a good size rock. He picks it up, and begins tossing it up and down, as he starts walking again. The figure of the Horseman watches from just off the edge of the path, set back in the trees, as Danny fumbles along, heading deeper into the trees.

     After another few minutes of walking, he comes to the river's edge, finding the broken down pieces of wood that, at one point, made up a small bridge. He stops at the edge of the water, looking down into it. It's a good fifteen-foot drop into darkness from here, and the alcohol content in his brain starts to give him vertigo. He gags a bit, stepping back from the edge and shaking his head.

     The young man reaches down, picking up an old splintered piece of wood that was once part of the walkway to the bridge. He examines it, before tossing it over his shoulder. In his drunken state, he never notices that it doesn't make a sound landing anywhere. He begins whistling again, or at least attempting too, as he sways, staring out over the gap in the land. Danny eyes from one side, to the other, seeing no way to cross. Especially not in the dark, where visibility only extends about the ten feet the light from his phone does.

     “What sort of Country fucks would live all the way out here?”

     Danny begins tossing the rock up and down again, lost in his own booze-filled head. He tosses the rock up again, and holds his palm out to catch it, but it never returns to him. This takes him several moments to realize, as his brain is still a few steps behind.

     He finally realizes it hasn't come back down, and he looks around on the ground, assuming he just missed it. As he shines his light around, the beam lands on the massive boots of the Horseman, standing behind him. Danny looks up to find it's gloved hand clenching the rock over his head, and he follows the beam of light as he examines the large figure's wardrobe, finally coming to its lack of a head.

     “What the fuck are you supposed to be?” Danny ask, confused. It takes a moment for his brain to catch up, thinking back on the story he just heard, and he laughs. “Oh, right. Headless Horseman. Scary, Dougie. Real scary. Come on, man, did that Harry dude put you up to this?”

     Danny pats the large figure on its shoulder, watching the ash and dust float off it. He shakes his head, staring at the dirt confused. He looks around, half expecting the rest of the group to jump out and surprise him. After a moment of this not happening, Danny sighs, shaking his head.

     “Come on, man. Let's get back to the others.”

     No response from the figure.

     “Dude, I said let's go. Come on.”

     It still just stands there. Danny sighs again, and starts to walk past him. The Horseman grips the back of Danny's collar with two fingers on the hand gripping the rock, and yanks him back towards the river, with ease. Danny flies backwards, and lands on his ass hard.

     “What the fuck is your problem, man?!”

     The Horseman drops the rock, and holds up the piece of wood in the other hand that Danny had thrown just a bit ago. Danny turns his attention to the piece of wood, growing more confused.

     “Seriously, Doug. This isn't funny. Fuck off.” Danny attempts to get to his feet, but stumbles and falls back. He laughs at his own drunken clumsiness, before extending a hand up to the Horseman. “Help me up, man. I think maybe I did drink too much. Don't tell Caleb I said he was right though. I'll never hear the end of it.”

     The Horseman towers over him a moment before extending a gloved hand down to him. Danny nods, taking his hand and climbs to his feet, as the Horseman lifts him up. Danny brushes himself off, and grins, looking the costume over.

     “You guys spent a hell of a lot of time on this. Could have let me in on the joke. You going to go back and scare the others?”

     No answer; no movement.

     “Alright, man. Suit yourself. I'm going to get another drink.”

     Thunder claps in the air, and Danny takes a step back down the path, when the Horseman lifts the wood plank up, and jams the splintered end into Danny's throat. His eyes go wide, as blood spurts from the neck wound, and reaches up, grabbing at the wood. He chokes on his own blood, as he begins coughing the red liquid out, gasping for air.

     The Horseman watches him, as Danny stumbles away, his eyes wide in fear and panic. As he backs up to the edge of the river, the Horseman takes a couple steps towards him, and rears back, kicking the young man out into the water. Danny flies back out over the darkness, and falls, still gripping at the wood lodged in his neck. A loud splash echoes up from the crevice, and the Horseman stands there a moment before heading back towards the group.

     Danny floats along in the water, his blood seeping out into it, as he barely keeps his face afloat. As he continues to gag on his blood, and lack of air, his eyes roll back in his head.

CHAPTER XVI

     Caleb throws a football over Harold's head to Dougie, as they play very immature game of keep away just at the edge of the firelight. They chuckle with glee at the kid's misfortunate of being stuck in the middle.

     “Come on, guys! I want to play too!” Harold whines childishly.

     “Then get the ball!” Dougie teases.

     “What's the matter? Can't jump high enough to catch it?” Caleb inquires.

     “I can jump higher than you, fat boy,” Harold snaps.

     Caleb catches the ball, and rests it on his hip, burning a hole through Harold with his eyes. Dougie laughs at Harold's nerve. Caleb grins, clicking his tongue off his canine, and nods his head.

     “Alright, I tell you what. You catch this pass, and I'll sit my fat ass down. Then you can play too, how's that?”

     “Deal!” Harold yells.

     “Guys, come on. Leave the kid alone,” Jackie speaks up.

     “Watch this...” Caleb whispers to Dougie as his friend steps up close to him. “Alright, you ready? – Hike!”

     Harold takes off running.

     “Go! Go! Go!” Caleb shouts.

     He releases the ball and it sails, a near perfect spiral on it. Harold watches over his shoulder as it closes pace quickly. He extends his hands, running full force, watching as the ball lowers in his direction. He'd show them he could keep up. Then he found the wall of a house. Bone, muscle and flesh collided with sturdy wood at full force, and a gasp of breath rushed from him as he immediately felt his lungs cave in.

     Dougie and Caleb are bent over in laughter, tears rolling down their face as Dougie falls to his knees. Caleb hugs his sides. Harold bounces off the wall, he hits it so hard, and slumps there a moment before the ball bounces off the wood just above his head. He shakes the blurriness from his eyes, as he tries to get a breath back. But he falls to his knees, still propped up against the wall.

     Jackie is the first one running to his aide. Tina, Sam, Amir and Kat are on their feet look towards Harold's direction. Kat hugs at Amir's side, but he rests a hand on her shoulder, before taking off for his friend, as well. Tina's hand rests over her mouth.

     “You're a dick,” Kat snaps at Caleb.

     Caleb looks at her and shrugs, grinning. “Need to be mindful of your surroundings.”

     “He could be hurt!” Sam yells.

     “Oh, we're just fucking with him. He'll be fine. It was just a joke.”

     “Is that what you say every time one of your teammates gets a concussion?” Kat asks before storming off in the direction of Harold, Jackie, and Amir.

     Jackie kneels down next to Harold, looking him over. She holds up a flashlight, looking at him. He's got a cut on the edge of his forehead. He still gasps for breath, holding his chest. She rests a hand on his shoulder, and he looks up at her. She can see the embarrassment in his eyes, and on his face. She pats him on the shoulder, smiling softly at him.

     “It's alright. Breathe in through your nose, out of your mouth. Just focus on breathing,” she speaks softly, trying to comfort him. He nods, trying to do as she asks, but he finds himself dozing off a bit, as he leans against the wall. She shakes her head vigorously, smacking his face lightly. “No, no. I need you to stay awake. You hit your head. Just listen to my voice and focus on breathing.”

     “Why – why are you help – helping me?”

     “I'm a nursing major, I like helping people. Even if I have to stop drinking once in a while to do it,” she answers, smiling.

     He smiles slightly, in return.

     “Is he alright?” Amir asks, coming to a stop next to them, resting a hand on his friend's shoulder.

     “He'll be alright. Just hit his head, and knocked the wind out of himself,” Jackie nods.

     “Want me to beat his ass for you, buddy?” Amir asks softly.

     Harold shrugs Amir's hand off his shoulder, groaning. “Just leave me alone, man. Drop it.”

     He slowly pulls himself up along the wall, and pushes himself off it, walking away. Amir watches Harold as he stumbles away. Kat catches up to them, resting a hand on Amir's back. Jackie stands up, holding her hands up.

     “It's alright, I've got him,” Jackie nods to Amir, walking after Harold.

     “She'll take care of him. Jackie knows what she's doing. She actually does pay attention to her nursing stuff. I'll give her that much. Come on,” Kat takes Amir's hand, leading him back to the fire, as he watches his friend and Jackie walk off.

     Harold pushes the door of the Church open, and wanders inside. He makes it to the third row of pews, before he slumps down in a seat that's still partially erected. Jackie finds her way in, as well, and walks up to him, taking a seat.

     “We're just trying to make sure you're alright. Nobody needs to get hurt while we're just trying to have fun,” she notes.

     “I don't need you babysitting me.”

     “I'm not babysitting you, I'm trying to make sure you don't die on us out here.”

     “Yeah, well if anyone's going to die, it's going to be your asshole friends back at the fire. I should go back and...” he trails off.

     She pats him on his thigh, and nods. “Caleb and Doug can be assholes, but – let's not go down that route, alright? They're not the type you want to start shit with.”

     “You think I'm scared of them? I'm not!”

     “No. No, I'm just saying – some people are fighters. You don't strike me as a fighter.”

     “What do I strike you as?”

     “A skinny stoner,” she jokes, smiling. He scoffs and nods, grinning. “But maybe that's what I dig?”

     She turns towards him, reaching for his belt buckle, undoing his pants.

     “What are you doing?” He asks, leaning back and watching her, confused.

     “Helping you stay awake,” she grins deviously.

     Amir and Kat make their way back to the fire. Kat rubs Amir on the back, as he steps past her to take his seat. She sighs, sitting down next to him.

     “Is he alright?” Tina asks.

     “He'll be fine. Just a mild concussion. Jackie's looking after him,” Kat answers.

     Amir glares at Caleb and Dougie across the fire. Caleb grins, shrugging.

     “The fuck you gonna do, Habib? Tell your friend not to be such a douche, and he wouldn't get embarrassed. Some games aren't meant for little boys like him.” Amir stands up. Caleb does as well. “Come on, come get some.”

     Amir leaps over the flames, and Caleb catches him turning and slamming him to the ground. They roll over each other a couple times, with Amir ending up on top. Amir punches Caleb several times, before Caleb catches his arm, and rolls him over. He straddles Amir and begins punching him repeatedly.

     The girls are on their feet screaming at both of them to stop. Dougie watches, taking a sip from his beer. Caleb climbs off Amir, who gets to his hands and feet. Caleb kicks him in the ribs repeatedly. “Stupid fuck. You want to fight? Fuck. You!”

     Amir catches Caleb's leg and twists, sending Caleb to the ground. Amir climbs on his back and places Caleb in a headlock. Caleb gator-rolls across the ground, but Amir's choke tightens even more. Caleb elbows back into Amir's ribs, but he holds on tight around the bigger man's throat. Caleb starts to fade out, when Dougie grabs them both, pulling them to their feet, and apart from each other.

     “That's enough,” Dougie growls.

     He pushes Amir back, who takes a step back towards them, but Dougie puts up a hand. Amir stops, trying to catch his breath. Caleb coughs, rubbing his throat, as he tries to breathe.

     “He started it,” Amir motioned.

     “And I'm stopping it,” Dougie retorts.

     “Fucker,” Caleb snaps, as he tries to reach for Amir. Dougie grabs him by the collar, holding him back.

     “Take a walk, bro. Cool off.”

     Dougie pushes Caleb in the opposite direction of Amir. Caleb scoffs and starts walking away. Tina watches him and climbs to her feet, following after him. Sam watches her confused, but shrugs it off, and turns back to the others at the fire.

     “This was not the Halloween party I wanted to have,” Kat whispers, opening a can of beer and taking a drink.

     Jackie's head bobs up and down in Harold's lap, as he groans softly, and watches her. He rests his hand on the back of her head. She looks up into his eyes, and he looks back into hers, smiling from ear to ear. He leans his head back and moans out as he climaxes, and she chokes a moment. As she sits up, wiping the corners of her mouth, and clearing her throat, she smiles at him.

     “Feel better?”

     “That was great,” Harold continues grinning widely. He pats her on the head like a dog. Her jaw drops. “Thank you.”

     A fast slap across the face. He scoffs.

     “Prick.” She storms out of the building.

     “What did I do?” He yells after her, laughing.

     Harold stands up to follow her out of the Church, when a window back near the front of the building crashes. He jumps and turns, looking into the dark room, only beams of light peering in through the window spaces.

     “Hello? Is anyone there?”

     He starts making his way towards the front of the Church, noticing the broken window. He makes his way around the front pew, coming up on the shattered glass laying on the floor. He looks around for a moment, before heading back towards the main door.

      As he's walking, he hears footsteps crunching on the glass. He stops at the door, and looks back, but sees nothing. He squints, looking harder, but sees nothing in the shadows. He pushes the door open, and Claire's mutilated body falls in through the crack. He shrieks, jumping back, and falling on his ass as he stares at the young girl's body lying on the ground.

     The Horseman steps up to him, a foot on either side of his head, as Harold looks back, and up at the mercenary. The maniac reaches his axe overhead, and as Harold screams out, swings it downward, splitting Harold's skull in two, all the way down to the floor. Harold's skull slowly slides down the blade, on both sides of it, making a wet thud as it hits the ground.

     Harold's body goes rigid, and twitches violently, as the Horseman pulls the axe from the wound, splattering blood across the pews. The Horseman steps over the body, making his way out of the Church, but yet again stops and crosses itself at the door, before exiting the building and making his way off after someone else. The door creaks on its hinges, swinging shut. Blood seeps from the large gap that used to be Harold's head.