18
"Tomorrow, we leave," David commanded as he paced the dining room floor, running his hand through his hair.
"Where?"
"A hotel, Doc's place, anywhere but here. I won't have you in danger."
Kayla didn't like being ordered around, but David was right. The full moon was coming soon, and her family needed to be somewhere safe.
"We'll get some rest tonight, pack up in the morning, and get a hotel room," she agreed, standing up from her chair. A look of relief washed over David's face. "Right now, I need to take a shower. I feel filthy."
"I'll join you." He put his arms around where her waist used to be. There was nothing sexual about his statement. Kayla thought it was mostly because he didn't want to be separated from her for even a few minutes.
"Cool, you can scrub my back." Kayla laid her head against his chest.
"Let's not push it," he joked. Kayla pulled back and playfully slapped him on the chest.
They made their way upstairs and climbed into the shower together. David had designed the shower expressly for this purpose, installing two showerheads on opposite ends of the extra-large enclosure, allowing both of them to get clean at the same time.
While the hot water poured over Kayla's stiff neck and shoulders, David shampooed his hair and quickly cleaned the rest of his body. He stepped in front of Kayla and indicated that he was ready to scrub her back. She felt all of the tension rinsing away with every circular motion of the loofah. He moved his hands up and began shampooing her long hair. It had finally grown out enough that the black could be cut out of it. She moaned with pleasure as he worked his fingers over her scalp, applying just the right amount of pressure.
Kayla's moment of contentment was once again interrupted. A series of loud booms emanated from downstairs. Kayla turned around and quickly rinsed the shampoo from her hair. She didn't like being in a vulnerable position and felt more than naked being here in the shower with her hair full of suds. David was already out of the shower, drying himself off. After she finished rinsing, Kayla stepped out as well. The banging continued.
They both got dressed as quickly as possible, throwing on sweats and t-shirts without any consideration.
David grabbed the baseball bat from the corner of the room, and they headed downstairs cautiously. The banging stopped, and Kayla found the silence even more frightening.
David slowly opened the door to the garage, where the sound had been coming from. He reached out the door and flicked on the light, illuminating a heart-wrenching scene.
The red stingray had been demolished. All four tires had been ripped to shreds, possibly by sharp claws. Every window was smashed, along with the hood. The apple red paint was marred with dents and scratches. The metal and fiberglass were twisted, broken, and bent. Even the interior had been shredded. Foam stuffing littered the floor all around the car. Kayla burst into tears when she saw the automotive carnage in the garage.
"My car," she wailed, looking away.
David scanned the garage to see if anyone was still there then made his way to the broken outer door. He scanned the backyard, and when he was satisfied that the intruder had left, he motioned Kayla to join him.
David extended the bat in his right hand, indicating the direction in which she should look.
Kayla scanned the yard herself before her eyes settled on the wooden shed. Even though it had been built to last, the little shed was no more. It had been demolished, wood planks strewn all over the garden. Pieces of it floated in the swimming pool they had installed the summer before. It looked as though a catastrophic shipwreck had happened in their landlocked backyard.
As both of them stood in the garage doorway shaking their heads, Kayla tried to work out the logistics of the situation.
Suddenly, a large board that had once been part of the shed came clattering down on the pavement in front of them. The wood landed face up at Kayla's feet, and she read the words they already knew would be there.
I WILL HUFF
AND
I WILL PUFF
"How is he doing this?" Kayla asked rhetorically.
As if in direct response to her question, a chorus of howls and yips came from all directions around her home. Kayla tried to count the number of wolves responsible for this cacophony, but was unable to figure on an exact number. Her best estimation was five.
"You don't scare me!" she screamed defiantly into the night.
"They scare me," David said from her side and urged her back into the house.
After securing the door leading from the garage to the house, David picked up the phone. Kayla watched him shaking the handset and checking the power cords.
"Dead." He looked at her as if asking what they should do.
Kayla suddenly felt woozy, so she sat down in a dining room chair.
"Try my cell phone."
"No signal," David said, waving the phone in the air.
Just then, a knock on the door startled the couple. The knock was joined by tapping on the front window, then the window in the kitchen. Something was clawing at the other side of the garage door. All of these sounds grew louder and louder until Kayla could no longer stand the commotion.
"Stop it!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. A gravelly voice that seemed familiar to her growled from outside the front window.
"Little pigs! Little pigs!" The voice from outside began making oinking noises, and his cohorts began echoing his taunts at every portal.
The jeers continued coming for quite a long time, until Kayla could no longer sit still. She stood up quickly, and was assaulted by a violent attack of vertigo. As she plopped back into her seat, the room seemed to be twisting on an unseen axis. The nausea and dizziness slowly subsided as she gripped the oak table for support.
David ran around the house, trying to make sure that the extra security measures Gus had installed were holding against the onslaught. Satisfied that they were doing their job, he came back to stand next to Kayla.
"Baby, what do we do?" David asked like a little boy lost and frightened.
"I don't know," she yelled over the ruckus. Then, as if a bright light had turned on above her head, she turned to David and explained her idea.
"Get a mirror."
"A mirror?"
"Quick! Any mirror!"
David jumped to action when he recognized the urgency in her voice. He tried to think where a mirror would be, but it was all but impossible with the chorus of shouts and oinks coming from just outside the windows. Giving himself a mental slap in the face, he was able to concentrate on his task. He rushed to the living room and focused on a small, gold mirror Kayla had hung on a side wall. He pulled it down and rushed back to his wife's side.
"Perfect," Kayla said, taking the mirror from him and holding it in front of her.
Even in this desperate situation, David could not help but feel a sense of pride. Since finding out about Kayla's magical prowess, and taking a back seat as she defeated evil witches and the like, David had felt all but useless. He had even felt a little emasculated at having to stand back while she saved him with her magic. He didn't like feeling that way, but sometimes he couldn't help it. Now, that feeling gave way to happiness at being able to assist, even in this one small way.
Kayla stared into the mirror, trying with all her might to concentrate above the continuing whooping, banging, and yelling.
"Daddy?" she asked, beginning to sound scared. David watched in awe as the small reflective surface began to glow softly.
"Kayla?" a familiar voice asked from inside of the mirror.
"Daddy, I need your help. They're here, trying to get in, and they demolished my car, and they're outside yelling, and I don't know what to do," she rattled like a set of chattering teeth, unable to stop the flood of emotions and words that spewed out.
"Slow down, honey. I can assure you that if they wanted to get in, they would have already. I've been watching whenever I can, and right now they are just trying to scare you. It looks like it's working," Richard said, attempting to comfort his daughter.
"What do I do?" She felt like a helpless little girl, unable to get herself out of a tough situation.
"Wait it out, Kayla. They will leave you alone tonight. Tomorrow is the full moon, and you'll need to be prepared. That's when they'll come at you with full force." The image in the mirror began to flicker, and Richard's voice became faint and difficult to understand.
"What do you mean?"
"I can't talk. Others are listening. Use your gift…" His voice faded completely, and his image became harder to see.
"Dad?" she yelled at the mirror, trying to will him to come back, with no luck.
"…Love you…"
"Dad, come back." It was no use. Richard was gone. Who is listening? Kayla thought.
As Kayla pondered the little bit of information that Richard was able to provide her, the sound of breaking glass and a loud crash brought her abruptly out of her deep thoughts.
David ran into the living room to find the source of the commotion. Kayla got up as quickly as possible and followed him. When she stepped in to the living room and saw the broken glass and the large rock in the center of the floor, she realized that the noise outside had stopped. There was no more banging or scratching. The yelps and howls had turned into silence. David had realized it as well, and he went to the window to find out if their uninvited guests had left.
As he checked around the yard by looking out through the broken pane, Kayla looked down at the rock that had caused the damage. Unable to bend down, she rolled the rock with the tip of her foot. She expected to see the last line of the nursery rhyme written on the surface of the small boulder, but the message, written in black permanent marker, caused her waves of nausea to return.
We are gonna eat you alive
Kayla sat down on the couch as a pain that felt like a hot poker shot through her abdomen and ended in her now weakened knees.
"David, something's wrong." She clutched her stomach as David rushed to her side. She looked at him, pleading for an answer.
"What's happening to me?" She asked desperately before she passed out.