Heckel Casey (16 page)

"Um…not sure what you are talking about, Jack," I said haltingly.

"It's become pretty evident that something weird is going on. I mean besides the bikers, we've had other bizarre incidents, such as horrible violent storms, packs of wolves, and…a…" Jack's voice became faster and more agitated as he listed all of Madeline's attacks. He presented his case as if he were the most experienced lawyer Texas ever saw.

After a while, I found a chair to sit down in as Jack paced around the room presenting his theories.

At one point, he stopped in front of me and asked, "What the hell does she have against little old McKinney, Texas? I mean…for Chrissake there are numerous other little cities around, why is she attacking us? Why are we of any importance?"

The answer hit me like a test-car dummy hitting a wall.
Attack the town, attack me. She knew I was coming here and that these people would help me.

When he was done, I said, "Listen, I know what you are talking about. We have experienced many of the same attacks from Madeline. She must be out to exterminate mankind or something. She's done a pretty good job of it so far, I'd say."
Now there was a brilliant deduction!
I felt like an idiot.

"That's why we have to stop her and maybe you were sent to lead the charge," Jack said putting his hand on my shoulder.

I was about to jump up and ask why he thought I was 'the Chosen One,' words that seemed so cliché and Hollywood, when Sela, standing in the doorway to the living room calmly said, "Heckel, he's right, you know. Tell him."

Caught. Sela was absolutely right. I paused and guardedly asked, "Tell him what?"

"Heckel, you know what I mean. Tell him what you have done. The power that you control," she said sternly walking up to me. "We can trust these people. I know it."

I paced the room in silence for the longest time. Finally, I stood in front of the large picture window and narrated all the ways I, more or less, attacked Madeline back. After each account, Sela would elaborate and give her take on what I did. It felt like I was again in a courtroom with my defense lawyer bolstering my deposition. I don't know why it felt like I was in a courtroom; I'd never had to hire a lawyer or anything. It must have been from watching too many law shows on TV.

When I was done spilling my guts, I asked, "Now what?" as I threw my hands up in the air, pleading for an answer.

No one said a word. I didn't realize it, but at some point Missy had joined our little group. She was the one who finally said, "You take one day at a time, and you'll figure it out. We'll help you."

I smiled at her, feeling as if the weight of the world were strapped to my shoulders. Right, easier said than done. Figure it out? Figure what out? I felt completely useless and afraid. Now other people were getting sucked into this…battle or war or whatever you want to call it.

Jack sensed I was upset and said, "Heckel, if it's any consolation, I'm behind you and I think this entire town will be at your side."

Great, more pressure.
Sela flashed me a warm, comforting smile. I sat down next to her, and Jerky, my personal bodyguard, came strolling into the room, jumped in my lap and began purring.

Vonnie walked in and said, "How's it going?"

I burst out laughing, followed by the others. "Oh, just fine," I said.

"What'd I miss?" Vonnie asked.

"I'll fill you in later, honey," Jack said, standing up. "How about some lunch?"

With all in agreement, we went over to Jack's house. The conversation at lunch gravitated toward more mundane topics as well as funny stories. Thoughts of Madeline kept pushing into my head.

After lunch, Sela and I moved all our meager belongings over to the new house. She let the horses out into an adjacent field. I lay down and fell asleep.

Over the last year or so, all my dreams seemed to center around Oregon. In the past, I would have dreams where I was on the coast, enjoying the ocean views, while other times I was in the mountains. None of those dreams ever had any bad things going on. In those dreams, I was always alone and not feeling threatened in any way. However, the dreams I had during this nap were much more focused. I stood on a large field, surrounded by trees. At first, I was alone. One by one, people materialized behind me, carrying a myriad of weapons—pitchforks, swords, clubs, guns and spears. The power, which I had felt seethe inside me during that storm or when the Madeline avatars appeared, burst forth like a floodgate opening. A bright blue ball flew from my chest; two other ones shot out of my hands.

I yelled and sat up. My arms flew up into the air, flailing like one of those wacky tall inflatable arm-waving tube men at car dealerships.

"It's okay," Sela said, putting her arm around me. "You just had a bad dream."

I was panting so hard from yelling.

She hugged me tighter. "What was it about?"

"Oregon. We have to go to Oregon."

Over the next several weeks, Sela and I both found ways to help out working around the town. The town leaders had done a remarkable job with the whole business of food, such as storing, preserving and allocating. I was really impressed how everyone contributed in some way or another. I had always been pretty good working with wood, so I joined a group of carpenters who currently had a project building wagons. Sela enjoyed working with the assortment of animals, including goats, chickens and cattle. She assisted a couple of the town's veterinarians as well.

One afternoon walking home, Sela asked, "When do you think we can start heading out to Oregon?"

"Hmm…I'd say maybe in a few months—as soon as spring starts to show itself."

"Do you think they'll come?" she asked.

"Who? Jack and his family?"

"No, I mean the whole town."

I stopped, looked at her and laughed. "What? You're kidding right? Why would they do that?"

"No," she said punching my arm. "I'm serious. I think the whole town will follow you."

"Sela, that's nuts. Why would they?"

"Because they believe in you," she said, turning and walking.

I froze. My stomach got those pesky butterflies again. They kept finding their way inside. Obviously, by now there must have been numerous road signs or Google maps to my belly.
I'm still not ready for this,
I thought.

As if she could read my mind, Sela said, "You will be."

Great. Now I have a mind reader on my team. Hell, I didn't even know I had a team.

We walked up the front porch stairs and Jerky met us at the top step.

"Hello, Jerky. How's my trusted alarm system?"

The cat rubbed its head on my leg and purred.

"Looks like all is secure and no bad guys coming." The minute I said those words, I got a chilling sensation and a terrible taste in my mouth. I looked to the east, down the road we came in on, and stared intently.

"Everything all right?" Sela asked.

I didn't say anything.

The next three months progressed without any incidents. We continued to make great friends. Besides all the hard work, the town knew how to have a good social gathering. We'd have barn dances, bingo and potlucks. It was during a warm early spring evening that the evil returned.

It was a little before six o'clock. Sela and I were helping out at the barbecue, passing out potato salad. Everyone was in great spirits, most likely because of the return of warmer weather. A bluegrass band was playing a rollicking tune when one of the scouts came running into the field. Gunshots immediately erupted.

"Everyone get inside quickly," someone shouted.

Sela and I ran up to the teenager who came running into the field.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Snakes. Thousands of rattlesnakes are coming up from holes out at the edge of town. They're coming this way!" After reporting his gruesome news, he ran off. More shots disrupted the festivities.

I stood looking out at the direction of the evil approaching. I had that funny taste in my mouth. Sela stood next to me and gently took my hand. She didn't say anything.

That funny feeling within me began to grow. It wasn't the butterflies; it was the power. I let go of Sela's hand and said, "Go back to the house."

"Not a chance," she said. "I'm staying with you."

"You need to take care of Jerky. We can't lose her."

Sela didn't move and flashed me a determined look.

"Please. I don't want to lose either of you. I'll be fine. I can take care of this," I said holding her hand.

She kissed me tenderly and said, "Okay. I know you can."

I hugged her tightly.

As she ran off toward the house, she turned one last time, flashed a big smile and hollered, "Send them all back to hell!"

That smile seemed to fuel the power inside me and I marched defiantly toward Madeline's latest assault.

When I got to the field, I was stunned by the magnitude of snakes. The scout who announced the attack didn't quite have the numbers correct. It was more like millions of snakes and there weren't just rattlesnakes. There were cobras, black mambas, vipers, coral snakes and some I didn't even recognize. Where in the hell were they coming from? There aren't any cobras in Texas. Then I saw something that really made the hairs on the back of my neck stand erect. I even shook my head, thinking I wasn't focusing right, that maybe my eyes had something in them. Nope, they were fine.

"What the fu—" There, off in the distance, as if they were in a Special Forces squad, were snakes with two heads. Now you don't see that every day!

"Here, you might need this," a man said, running up to me and handing me a large broad axe.

I must have looked like I was in shock or something. He practically pushed the axe into my chest. "We have no time to waste," he said. "The snakes are getting closer. We've gotten some of them, but our ammunition is almost gone. It's hand-to-snake combat now. Come on let's go."

I ran alongside of him. I looked to my left and then right. There must have been a good hundred men lined up in a row, each one carrying a weapon. As I ran, I thought of all the movies I had seen where the two opposing armies had lined up on a side of a field and then on a command charged at each other. Sometimes the armies had swords or spears and would clash, hacking away. It was always the same. As time progressed, the armies evolved from swords to guns that fired one shot, like in our Civil War. Over the years, the weapons progressed, but in the end it was a clash of armies on the field…still hacking away at each other.

As I ran faster and felt my adrenaline rising, there was also that power expanding throughout my body. My hands felt warm and tingly. I looked down at them and could see a tinge of blue.

The sound of the snakes was deafening. The hissing made my skin crawl.
Oh, great…now what?
Suddenly, I remembered how much I hate snakes. Usually, they petrify me. I mean literally petrify me. I've been known to freeze up when I've encountered snakes in the past when hiking or visiting the zoo.
Funny, I'm not afraid now,
I thought.

The first men in front of me attacked the snakes viciously, hacking with all their might. Then the screaming started. Our men were getting slaughtered. A few of the men in the front ranks became entangled with snakes covering their bodies. Besides just biting the men, the snakes, with their long incisors, were actually taking out large chunks of flesh from the men. This was not your normal snake behavior. I don't care what species of snake we're talking about. Without thinking or doing anything for that matter, the blue flame welled up into a ball in my hands. I stared in fascination at the swirling conflagration on my palms. A snake slithered up to my feet. A man standing next to me slammed his huge machete knife onto the snake's head, spewing blood up my pant leg.

"Throw it," he yelled.

"Oh, yeah," I said, flinging the searing balls at the snakes. "Duh." No one said I was the brightest bulb on the planet. Then again, one doesn't have blue flames sprouting at their hands ready to command.

The first wave of snakes in front of me erupted into flames. The men around stopped and stared at me. All the snakes turned and slithered directly toward me. The ground appeared black with the squirming snakes. Large balls of blue fire kept appearing on my palms. I flung them at the attacking serpents. None of the snakes attacked the men around me. They had a singular purpose—to get to me. The men inched closer and stood in a protective stance on both sides of me, attacking any snakes that got close.

A large black plume of smoke was curling skyward as more and more of the snakes burned. The power from deep inside me never felt like it was showing signs of quitting. I, on the other hand, was getting exhausted.

"Are you all right?" someone near me asked.

"Fine…just enjoying the barbecue here," I replied, throwing two large orbs of fire at a group of snakes. Immediately, two balls flared up again in my hands.

The men around me cheered as the fireballs smashed into the snakes.