Maleficarum: Hunger of the Witch (3 page)

“Run!” Ann screamed. Their feet hit the pavement hard as they sprinted. The sound of the hag
’s screams began to twist on themselves until it couldn’t be recognized if they were of pain or joy. The old woman wouldn’t be down for long, Ann realized, as her heart began to thump in her chest. They hadn’t yet run fifty feet when she looked back. Behind her she saw the old hag standing in the middle of the road with one hand clasping her injured eye.

“A pox on your homes and death to your loved ones.
For you, I still have something very special planned,” unholy voices screeched from Hegel’s throat.

Ann faced forward and just kept running. They had passed the bend in the road and
came to the streetlight in the parking lot of the porno store. Above them, the sound of flapping wings grew closer and closer. They ran as fast as they could, hit the wood planks of the store’s decks hard, and crashed through the door screaming.

“Help!” Ann shouted to the stunned people
in the shop. In a flash, Mike jumped over the counter and a stack of DVDs that featured young Asian girls doing borderline illegal acts.

“What the fuck
? Are you OK?” he said as he cradled Beverly in his arms. His sister broke down. She began sobbing as she pulled up her shirt sleeve, showing Mike her wound. Mike had always been her protector, even when they were both in school. It had been hard for Beverly now that she had to fend for herself in that harsh social environment, and she knew real life was going to be even harder. Mike had always been there to beat up the boys that picked on her. If a girl gave her problems, then Mike would simply beat up that girl's boyfriend. However, she rarely had to sic Mike on anyone. The threat was usually sufficient. It was not the most moral system, but it kept everyone in check and got her invited to all the parties. However, these last two years of school had been harsh without Mike. She was fair game now, and Ann was little help with her turn-the-other-cheek bullshit. Now with Mike there, she felt safe.

“Some crazy
lady attacked us,” Ann shouted as she slammed the door behind her and fumbled with the lock until it clicked.

“Call the cops,
” Mike screamed. Chuck ran from around the counter, ripping his cell phone out of his pocket as if he was in a quick-draw competition.

“What happened to
the attacker?” Mike said as he examined Beverly’s wounded forearm.

“I
…I…d…I don’t know—she was behind us, and then she was gone. She…She might be dead. I stabbed her,” Ann said.

“
OK, both of you get away from the doors.” Mike put his hands on the girls' backs and ushered them away from the Plexiglass door. “Watch them, Chuck. I’m going to go grab some antiseptic and get the gun out of Mr. Anderson’s safe,” Mike said as he started for the back room.

“H
ey, my wife can’t know I’m here,” a balding man whined as he tried to push his apple-like frame in front of Mike. The look of worry on the fat face was compounded when he realized that he was being shoved into the department’s rather large assortment of anal beads. With one swift motion, Mike had slung the man to the ground where he floundered like a horse that had fallen into a river.

“Shut the fuck up. No
one leaves until the cops show,” Mike said, barely hesitating to look down at the man. For once, Beverly looked glad that her brother acted overly aggressive when he was wearing his favorite Pantera shirt.

“Where
are you going?” Beverly asked.

“Th
e owner keeps a gun in his safe,” Mike blurted.

“We can
’t open the doors. Not with that crazy woman out there,” Chuck said to someone on the phone. Something caught his attention on the line as Mike rushed into the back room.

It felt like
several minutes passed as Ann scanned the inside of the store, and it sent a chill down her spine. Only about half of the florescent lights sent out their rays, and it looked as if she could get herpes if she sat on the floor. Leather-clad mannequins looked down on her, mocking her naiveté with half-cocked smirks. She drew her arms in close to her chest, trying to get as little of the store on her as possible.

“Oh, dear,
” she muttered. It was too much for a girl who had had only her first kiss last summer and nothing else.

“
What the hell d…does that m…mean?” Chuck stammered as he spoke into the phone. Chuck’s hand began to shake like one of the toys from the store, and perspiration spewed from his forehead. It came quickly and dripped down his face, giving the appearance that he was melting. His eyes shot into the back of his head, and the phone rolled out of his hand, crashing to the floor. The harsh florescent lights began to flicker and hum. Hegel’s voice could be heard muttering on the other end.

“Lust
” was the only word that Ann was able to catch.

“Hey, are you
OK?” Beverly asked. Chuck’s hand shot from his side, grabbing Ann by her waist, and with a smooth but forceful pressure, he sucked her into his chest. Without hesitation, he planted a kiss on her lips. Ann flailed her lanky arms, not knowing what to do and trying her best to look for Beverly. He began giving her tiny pecks as Beverly grabbed his shoulder and said, “What the hell are you doing?”

Chuck didn
’t respond. Ann’s eye’s widened as the shock of the situation was wearing off, and concern verging on panic set in. Her hands shot up to Chuck’s face as she tried to gain any kind of separation. Chuck smashed his lips into hers until they were being pinned against her teeth. Muffled screams of pain shot through the air, and in an instant Beverly grabbed hold of Chuck’s greasy black hair and ripped his head backward while simultaneously smacking him as hard as she could.

“Get off her
!” she screamed. One of the patrons of the porn shop rushed toward the two girls, but before he could reach them, Chuck pushed Beverly into a rack of assorted leather whips and handcuffs. She hit hard, sprawling onto the floor among the still crashing S&M merchandise. Ann, now in full panic mode, stuck her thumbs into her attacker’s eyes and pushed as hard as she could. Chuck slung a sloppy right overhand that careened into Ann’s face. She flopped to the floor with a thud as Chuck ripped the shirt off his back.

The concerned customer rounded the aisles, and he seized Chuck with his gorilla
-like hands. From the size and athleticism of the bearded man, it was clear that the twenty-year-old boy didn’t stand a chance in a fair fight. But lust never fights fair. Chuck yanked a box cutter out of his back pocket and with one swoop, sent a stream of crimson from the man’s neck sloshing to the floor at the same rhythm as his elevated heart rate. The nameless man’s face twisted in shock, and his hands instantly gripped his own throat. He stammered, and then his feet gave way. His body crashed to the floor, still pulsing blood.

Chuck turned his attention back to Ann. The right side of her face was swelling w
here he had landed his blow. He stomped the tile floor with heavy thuds from his boots as he moved toward her. Ann looked over to see the fat man that Mike had pushed cowering behind one of the racks of dirty movies.

Chuck pushed closer and soon he would be right on top of her
, able to do as his bewitched heart desired. He stepped past Beverly, who was still sprawled on the floor, but she was by no means finished. Ann could see her eyes were still alert, and she could see the rush of ideas that screamed through Beverly’s head. As Chuck’s foot hit next to her, Beverly snatched his ankle, and then a strange clicking sound occurred. Ann couldn’t tell what it was until Beverly slapped the display rack she had been smashed into and darted as far away from Chuck as she could get.

Chuck was now attached to the display case by means of a pink
, fur-trimmed pair of handcuffs that had fallen from the rack. Ann, seeing Beverly, jumped up and galloped to the next aisle over so that she would have some kind of barrier between her and the crazed man. Even if the aisles were only four feet high, at least it was something. Without hesitation, Ann snagged any bit of merchandise she could and launched it at Chuck’s head. Chuck dragged the display, making an evil screech as he inched closer to rounding the aisle. Beverly followed Ann’s lead and catapulted all she could at Chuck. Pocket pussies, boxes of edible underwear, and various implements made for anal insertion were all flung at Chuck. He never defended himself from the blows as he gave chase. Instead, he marched forward with the single-minded determination of a bear attacking a beehive. Blood trickled down his cheek, and his eyes gleamed like a rabid dog as the rage twisted his narrow face.

Mike burst out of the back room.
“What the fuck is going on?” he screamed as he gripped a small 9mm in his palm.

“Shoot him
—he’s crazy,” Beverly screeched. Mike darted in front of Chuck to see that his leg had been cuffed.

Ann squealed
, “Chuck killed him,” as she pointed to the body of the hapless Good Samaritan who lay crumpled on the floor. As soon as Mike looked down at the bleeding man, Ann slung a particularly heavy copy of the Kama Sutra. It smacked Chuck in the nose and bounced to the ground.

“For
fuck sake, stop!” Mike screamed as he looked over at Chuck. All of his mannerisms had become animalistic and disjointed from reality. He heaved and twitched, almost as if he had brain damage.

“What the fuck are you doing
, man?” Mike yelled. Chuck didn’t react. He had only one goal, and that was to reach Ann. He kept trying to move forward, but the display case had gotten stuck when he tried to make the turn into the next aisle.

“Shoot him,
” Ann pleaded.

Mike
hoisted the gun and took careful aim. “Chuck, what are you doing?”

Chuck seemed to hear his friend’s question. He looked up and made a deep and unnerving eye contact with
Mike. Out of his mouth tumbled a malevolent voice as the lights flickered, eventually winding down to darkness.

“I do invocate and conjure thee, O Spirit, and being with power armed from the
supreme majesty
, I do strongly command thee, by the power of the light bearer, by the most powerful Princes of Darkness, and by the Chief Prince of the Ninth Legion.”

“Chuck
, shut the fuck up and put the knife down, or I’m going to shoot.” A rushing sound of wind came into the store, but nothing moved from its presence. A vortex became tangible and swirled around Chuck’s feet. Slowly, he was lifted from the ground. The handcuffs still fixed to his leg pulled the display case into the air. The chains and whips rattled like an oversexed wind chime as they went up. His feet rose above the aisles, and it was evident nothing good was left in his shell of a body. It had been replaced by a twisted, revolting soul that sought only to destroy beautiful things. Ann shrieked at the sight, and all who witnessed it shivered. The air felt thick and smelled of rot, rust, and mold. It was so strong that it could be tasted. Chuck screeched with a voice that sounded like a thousand birds of prey singing in an unholy harmony.

“Also
, I, being made after the image of the most beautiful angel, endowed with power from him and created according to his will, do exorcise thee by that most mighty and powerful name of Satan, strong and wonderful.”

Mike fired the pistol
, sending out a blast of sparks. The round smacked into Chuck’s gut, but he didn’t move or react in any way. He simply continued his incantation.

“Appear unto me here before me without a seal and in no fair human shape,
with deformity, and tortuosity, and by these ineffable names of the accuser of men!”

Mike screamed as he unloaded his gun into Chuck’s gut. Lifeless
, Chuck dropped with a wet smack to the floor. The flash burn from pistol shots had nearly blinded everyone in the room, and the hollow ring of the gunshots was all that could be heard. The smell of smokeless powder hung on top of the ungodly smell of carrion as the lights flashed back on. Twenty seconds passed in which no one said a word. Mike took the time to reload his magazine and slapped it back into his gun. It was pointless to talk, anyway, as no one could hear.

When most of the ringing had slowly subsided
, Ann said, “What’s that?” She looked to the ceiling as she spoke. All eyes darted up. A light but tangible clicking could be heard at a regular pace.

“Foot
steps,” Mike said. The sound went silent, and then the crackling of plastic could be faintly heard. Exactly where it was coming from couldn’t be placed. It slowly grew louder and was joined by a faint popping.

“Behind you!” Ann shouted at the fat porno patron
who was still huddling at the back of the store. The sweating fat man swung around to see a wall full of cardboard boxes behind him. Clearly not knowing where the threat was coming from, he opted to scurry from his position like a mouse that had caught wind of a cat.

“What is it?”
he spat out from his plump lips.

“The box,
” she said, pointing to the back wall. The image on the cover was a thirty-year-old woman, who looked like she’d had a hard life, pretending to be a young blond schoolgirl with pigtails. The picture was being pushed and distorted from within. The box began to bulge, then split open at the seams. The sound of hissing air welled within it until it hit a fevered pitch.