The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!
Take It Back
by Naching T. Kassa
“Stay down!” Tony cried, his freckled face growing red, a thin thread of blood streaming from his nose.
Deshaun rose from the dirt and squinted through his rapidly swelling eye. He raised his fists once more. “Take it back!” he said through gritted teeth.
Tony lashed out again and Deshaun ducked the blow. His own fist collided with the bigger boy’s belly and this time, Tony fell into the dirt. He clutched at his stomach.
The other kids, the ones who had been cheering the fight, seemed to sense it had ended. One by one they took their leave until only Tony and Deshaun remained.
Deshaun loomed over Tony, his fists clenched. “You gonna take it back?” he asked.
Tony coughed and nodded. “I take it back,” he said at last. “Your mama ain’t a witch.”
Deshaun reached down, took Tony’s hand and helped him to his feet. When Tony had brushed himself off, Deshaun offered a hand.
“We good, man?” he asked.
Tony stared at him through slitted eyes and then took the hand. They shook.
“You’re good,” Tony said. “Nobody’s ever got up before. Usually, they stay down. You got up twice.”
“So did you,” Deshaun replied.
“Except the last time.”
Deshaun grinned, “Yeah, except the last time.” He turned to go and Tony fell into step beside him.
“You live just past my house, don’t ya?” Tony asked.
“Yeah. Up the road.”
“Have you seen the spider web? The one in the trees near my house?”
Deshaun shook his head.
“It’s almost as big as me,” Tony continued.
“Almost as big as you? Man, there ain’t no spider big enough to make that.”
“Must be. You want to see it?”
“Yeah.”
“Come on then.” Tony broke into a run and Deshaun followed.
***
Tony’s house lay near the road they traveled. Rundown and paint peeling, it radiated darkness. One could imagine it as the center of a black hole, robbing light from the air around it. Only…it wasn’t just light it took. It snatched joy too.
Tony had changed the moment it came into sight. He grew subdued, as though the house had weight and had pressed him down beneath it. A rusted LTD stood on the dry and yellowed lawn.
Raised voices, those of a man and a woman, soon filled the air. Tony slowed, his gaze on the house. He stood on the edge of the lawn, his face pale. He remained frozen until the voices faded.
“Where’s the web, man?” Deshaun asked.
“Web?”
“The one in the woods?” Deshaun said, tugging on his sleeve.
The tug seemed to break the spell. Tony pulled away from the house and the color returned to his cheeks. “It’s this way.”
They rushed into the woods. After a minute or more, they arrived at the foot of a tall lodgepole pine. A huge spider web lay spread among the branches, its filaments as thick as Deshaun’s little finger.
“Jesus!” Deshaun breathed. “You weren’t lyin’. That spider’s got to be a giant! Have you seen it yet?”
Tony shook his head. “Nope. But look at what’s wrapped up in there. It’s big enough to be a squirrel!”
“Probably is,” Deshaun said, his voice hushed. A chill crawled up his neck and over his head. They stood silent for several minutes.
“Sometimes…I wish he would get caught in it.” Tony said, his expression grim.
“Who’s he?”
“Harold.”
“He your dad?”
“Not my dad.”
“Stepdad?”
Tony shook his head.
“Ah,” Deshaun said.
“He hurts her,” Tony said, his tone dripping venom.
“Your mom?”
“My sister. My mom and dad…they’re…” He turned to the side, but the tear slid too fast to go unseen.
“Does he hurt you too?” Deshaun asked. He didn’t expect an answer. Too much had been said already, and it was an encroachment on the new friendship.
“No. Not yet.”
A woman screamed.
Tony took off, running fast. Without a thought, Deshaun followed.
When they reached the house a greasy looking man in a dirty T-shirt was rushing for the LTD. He jumped in and pulled out, the tires squealing when they reached the asphalt.
“Mia!” Tony cried, running for the front door. “Mia!”
Deshaun didn’t pause, he rushed after Tony and into the house.
***
Deshaun stared at the purple and swollen face before him, unable to take his eyes away. Mia lay on the gurney in the back of the ambulance as the paramedics tended to her.
“Can I ride with her to the hospital?” Tony asked. “Please, please can I ride with her?”
The paramedic, a younger man, glanced at his older counterpart who gave him a curt nod. Tony moved to climb inside, but Deshaun held him back.
“He’s going to pay for this,” Deshaun whispered. “You don’t worry. My mom will make him pay.”
“Better get in the back, boy,” the older medic said.
Tony climbed up. “How, Deshaun? How can she get him?”
“Easy. She knows spells. Most witches do.”
Before Tony could say a word, the medic slammed the ambulance door and the vehicle pulled away.
***
Authorities found the desiccated body of a thirty-year-old male hanging in the web three weeks later. Cause of death: extreme exsanguination. Two large puncture wounds, the size of golf balls, were discovered in the neck. The body has not yet been identified.
But…it will be.
.
Fiction © Copyright Naching T. Kassa
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com
More from Naching T. Kassa:
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A collection of manuscripts, meticulously penned by John H. Watson M.D., is unearthed in 2019 amidst the restoration of Broadmoor Hospital, found inexplicably in the grave of Richard Dadd. The manuscripts’ concealed journey and their remaining unpublished raise a myriad of questions, enveloping them in a veil of mystery.
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