Eidolon Hunter
by Rob Holliday
William hungered as he
watched from the wood line. His pulsed quickened as The Ache Inside confirmed
he’d quench his desire tonight.
You’ve been good,
you’ve been patient, William. You deserve your reward. Reap it. A smile smoothed across his face.
He locked his eyes on the
house through the Bushnell binoculars, the directional microphone telling him
the story unfolding within the house.
“Jilly, you’re in charge
tonight, you’re a big girl now.”
“I know, Mooom, I turn 13
next week,” the daughter quipped.
“Oh, don’t we know it,
honey. There’s some dinner in the fridge for you and Theo, it’s ready to go,
just cold cuts and stuff. Theo?”
A small voice returned,
“Yes, momma?”
“Come on down, buddy,
Daddy and I are getting ready to go.”
“Aww, mom, I’ve got Bink
out of his cage, he hasn’t had anytime out today.”
“Bring him with you and
come down, please.”
Quick and light feet
bumped down the stairs. “See, Mom, he’s happy now.”
“Theo, that’s fine, honey.
Now, you two listen to me. You can answer the door for the trick-or-treaters.
Keep the lights on when you answer the door and no one comes inside.”
Except me. The smile broadened even more as his tongue snaked
over his lips.
“Yes, Mom, we get it.
Don’t let the Boogey Man get us, “ the snark rolling off Jilly’s tongue.
Oh, you’re going to
learn respect tonight, Jilly. Before I’m done, you’ll be wanting to please me.
And you'll beg me to taste your sweet spot but it won’t do you any good, but
you’ll learn to be respectful.
“You’re such a smarty
pants.” Laughter cut across the microphone.
“After the
trick-or-treaters, can we watch a movie in the movie room?”
A different voice, a man.
“You what? You want to watch a movie in MY movie room?” The kids all laughed,
as their father ribbed them. “Yes, you can watch a movie. What are the rules?”
“We know, Dad, only watch,
don’t touch your goofy stuff.”
“Goofy, huh? I’ll show you
goofy.” More giggles and snorts. “Yes, you can watch a movie, just don’t call
us because you’ve scared yourselves. We’re going across town and it’ll take us
a bit to get home, so no crying wolf, got it?”
“Yes, sir,” the children
in tandem.
“Alright, well, we’re
going. You two have fun. Oh, and don’t forget to feed the pets. That was the
agreement, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
William spied the garage
door lifting from his perch and watched the parents’ departure.
About time.
He inventoried his kill
bag- flex cuffs, braided wire, mallet and flooring nails. Night vision goggles
with soft mount. Gerber pry bar, duct tape, gauze and rubber tubing. He
unsheathed the polymer-gripped deer skinner at his belt. He admired the
scalpel-honed blade, ending in a bevel-edged hook at the top. The voices from
the house brought him back from his crimson envisioned evening.
“You hungry yet?”
I am, Jilly.
“No. Want to hold, Bink?
Be careful, he’s a little molty.”
“Uh, no, he’s gross and I
don’t want to hold you’re lizard. Whatcha wanna watch tonight?”
“He’s not just a lizard,
he’s a bearded dragon. Sheesh, don’t you know anything about our pets. Do we
have to watch one of those freaky ones you like?”
“Whyyyy? You gonna be
scared?” the sister teased, her brother laughing.
“No, they’re just boring.
Can I watch two since mine are short? I wanna watch “Frankenstein Meets the
Wolfman”, Frankenstein and Wolf Man are epic.”
“Sure squirt. Oooh, wanna
watch ‘House of Horrors” too? The Creeper is freaky!
“Ha! Yeah, that’s a good
one. I was hoping you wouldn’t pick one with that overdone herky-jerky
black-haired girl, those are stupid.
Go ahead, carry on. You two won’t be able to speak to each other after tonight, though
you’re going to be together in ways you never imagined.
As the evening set in,
William’s Ache grew, seeing the coltish blonde girl and her ginger brother
greeting each trick-or-treater with no idea of what was to come. They dressed
up too- the older girl, a candy corn witch I know you wore that for me, you
know you did and the boy, a wizard. You’re gonna squeal, little piggie,
as I cut off those toes. His palms glistened, his senses heightened, his
Ache hardened.
The parade of goblins and
superheroes dwindled and his time had come. He adjusted in his perch and put
the earphones back on his head and scanned the house for them.
“You getting hungry,
Teddy?” the sister asked.
“Yeah, but I don’t want to
eat too much- can we have popcorn with the movies?”
“Sure. I’ll go get dinner
and come back up and we can eat. Keep watching, okay?”
“Thanks, Sissy. Hey,
remember we gotta feed the pets tonight or Mom and Dad are doing to make us get
rid of them”
“Yeah, I know, we’ll do it
in a little bit.”
William grabbed his bag
and shimmied down from his perch. He inspected the area around him to ensure he
left no trace.
He left the woods and
crossed the street. He’d cased the house ever since seeing their picture in the
paper in the city section, “Wallace Family to Host Halloween Charity Ball”.
They looked idyllic.
Oh, I’ll smash that
picture tonight. There’s no safe place, not with me in the dark, in the
shadows.
William moved to the back
of the house and let his ears adjust. He heard muffled starlet screams from the
movies in the upstairs room. He peeked through a window. The refrigerator light
shone dimly, casting the girl’s silhouette, highlighting her body against her
cotton gown.
You dirty little whore,
you got ready for me, I see.
Jilly turned abruptly and
he snapped back and held his breath. He heard her talking, hoping it wasn’t a
call to the parents or police.
“I know babies, here’s a
little snack. When I come back, I promise, Teddy and I will feed you.”
Dogs inside. He felt for his small chloroform bottle and shook it,
the capsules winking against the glass. Pop a couple of these and they’ll go
down.
He peeked back in and the
kitchen was dark. He caught the swish of her gown as she turned up the stairs. Go
time.
He moved to a sliding door
and slipped the pry bar under the jam, lifted, flicked the catch with his
knife. The door slid open. He turned on his goggles, bathing his view in green
glow. He scanned the room, no animals.
Satisfied, he slid the door closed and angled for the stairs.
When he mounted the stair
landing, the TV glow from down the hall told him his prey was near at hand. You're
gonna love it, Jilly, when I stuff it in while Theo watches. He calmed
himself and pushed the door open.
Jilly and Theo sat eating,
watching the movie, not noticing William in the doorway.
“Hello, meat pies.”
The children jumped up and
reeled back away from the voice in the doorway.
“Please, don’t get up.
Love the gown, Jilly, go ahead pull it up and show Willie what you've been
dying to show me.
Theo came from behind his
sister’s shielding body, “Mister, you better leave or you’ll be sorry.”
William unsheathed the
skinner, “Nah, I don’t think so. I’m gonna have a good time tonight. Starting
with you, Theo.”
The two children looked at
each other, their look of surprise turned to something else. They looked back
at William, a familiar look in their eyes. He knew the look. It was the look of
predators.
Jilly looked past William,
“Get him, babies.”
William turned and saw
three diminutive sets of eyes below knee height, eyeshine glowing in the
hallway. “What is this, attack of the Chihuahuas? How ‘bout if I slice and dice
them to go with the cold cuts?” he guffawed, turning back and moving toward
them. His face went dead. “No more games.”
Jilly menaced, “No, no
more games.”
A shadow fell across the
children, William in its penumbra. He turned back to see a shadow with crimson
eyes five sets of eyes? looming above
him. It crashed down upon him, sending him into the darkness.
-----
“Wake up, mister.”
William woke, laying on
concrete, his arms and legs secured in cruciform by his own braided wire.
William glanced around,
his mind searching but still foggy in the candlelight. Shadows on the wall with
scarlet eyes stared back at him, their mouths jagged maws. He twisted his head,
counting at least eight sets of eyes. His breath grew ragged and panicked.
“What, what the hell…what
the hell are those?” He jerked at the wire with little effect. “You let me go
right now and I'll let you…”
Theo shushed him,
crouching down beside him, “Mister, I warned you to get out of here.”
Jilly came over and
squatted down on the other side of William. “You see, William, you think you’re
the scary thing in the dark. But you see, you’re not. Remember when you
were a kid, and everybody said there’s no such thing as monsters in the dark,
they’re just shadows. Well, that’s not true. What most kids don’t know is
those shadows, those monsters that are in the dark, once you embrace
them, they’re the best protection we have against real monsters, like you”
She sniffed at his face a
bit, “You stink, William. My babies smelled you in the woods for the past
week and they’ve been chomping at the bit to get a hold of you." She stood
back up. "Theo, let them off their leashes.”
“Can I, Sissy? Thanks!”
Theo gathered the candles and headed toward a door, Jilly joining him. She
looked back at William, “You should never have come after children, William. Go
ahead, Theo.”
The boy grinned and began
blowing out the candles, one by one, the beasts circling closer with each
extinguished flame. William whipped his head back and forth, “Please, I…I
understand now. I’ll…I’ll go confess--”.
“No, no, mister, now none of that,” Theo
tsked, as he picked up the second to last candle. “And for what you said out
there in the woods, I’m gonna have
Beatrice start with your little piggies.”
Theo blew it out and a
shadow emerged from the wall near William’s feet and set upon his legs. William
gasped as the darkness inched upward, arterial spray misting the room in black.
“Goodnight, mister. Don’t
let the monsters get you. Oops, too late,” Theo snickered. “Eat up, babies,
make him all gones.” With a wink, Theo blew out the last candle, plunging the
room into pitch.
The last things of
William’s life were crimson eyes, the mirthful growls of a pack ripping into
fresh prey and agony.
----
“Should we wake them?”
“Nah, they’re comfortable.
And look at them, they’re so sweet cuddled like that on the couch.”
“Okay, well, let’s at
least turn off the TV. Oh wait, before you do, let me get this candle over
here.”
Their mother lit a candle
and as their father turned off the TV. He noticed the movies lying about. He
laughed softly, “They do love these old movies.”
She chuckled, “They love
monsters.” The candle cast soft light about the room. Anywhere the
light cast a shadow laid a slumbering beast. One craned its head and
thumped a tail.
“Did my babies have a good
night?” More shadowed heads popped up, sleepy fuschia eyes slitting open, the
whisper of ethereal tail wags. Theo and Jilly stirred on the couch. The boy’s
whisper fell into her ear, “Hi, mama”.
“Hi, sweet boy. Did the
babies get fed?”
As Theo nodded, Jilly
turned toward her mother, “Yep, they sure did. They’re nice and full.”
“Good. Good night,
sweeties.” Their parents turned to leave.
In tandem, “Good night.”
Falling back asleep, Theo requested, “Momma, you can blow out the candle, we
don’t mind the dark.”
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