“Can you move?” I asked.
“I don’t think so,” answered Beth. “I feel kind of stuck.”
“Alright, listen. I need you to tell yourself this isn’t real. I need you to stand up and walk with me to the car.”
She grunted, but her body stayed still. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
“No.” A tear ran down her cheek. “I’m paralyzed.”
“It’s all psychological. You opened your eyes. Now just lift one finger for me.”
“It’s not working. Please, help me.”
“Maybe if we get away from here, you’ll snap out of it. I’m going to pick you up. Okay?”
“Okay.”
I put my hands underneath her and lifted her up into my arms. She weighed less than a feather. I carried her over to the car and, still holding her with one arm, opened the back door with my free hand. I set her down gently, letting her lie across the back seat. Her body looked tense as if had been restrained by invisible rope. I went around to the front of the car and got in on the driver’s side.
“How’d you get so strong?” she asked, her voice muffled.
I smiled and started the car. “It’s just a trick I picked up over the years,” I explained. “I can manipulate weight with my mind.”
In actuality, I learned the skill out of necessity. An inmate named Arthur Casey didn’t particularly like the idea of me going into his dreams so he’d try to force me out of them.
More specifically, he had worked in construction and came at me with a wrecking ball as soon as I entered his mind. At first, I retreated, but then reminded myself that the rules of gravity didn’t apply. I walked right up to him, and he swung the ball straight at me. I lifted my hand and stopped it with my pinky finger. After that, he must’ve thought I was some kind of wizard because he ceased the defensive strikes and cooperated.
“I’m going to your parents’ house,” I told her. “All I need you to do is tell yourself this isn’t real.”
“This…isn’t…real,” she said and then became quiet.
I drove along the highway until we arrived at the farm road that led to her childhood home. As I turned at the intersection, two zebras raced past, nearly sideswiping the car. I hit the brakes as two elephants thundered by in front of us, followed by two lions and two horses. I sat and watched behind the wheel as more animals ran down the highway in pairs. Hundreds of them hurried off in the opposite direction of where we were headed.
“I take it you went to Sunday School when you were a kid,” I said.
“Yeah,” she said sleepily. “Why?”
“The passengers of Noah’s Ark just bolted.”
I continued down the farm road and, apropos for the Old Testament motif, it began to rain. The closer I got to the farmhouse, the harder it came down. By the time I reached the Martins’ home it was pouring. I stopped the car as close to the front porch as I could. I considered willing the rain to stop but remembered that manipulating someone’s mind can cause a backlash. If Beth needed it to storm, so be it.
I quickly got out of the car and went around to the back door. I opened it, picked Beth up from the seat, and hurried with her through the torrent to the shelter of the porch. Once we were under cover, I knocked on the door with my free hand. Beth opened her eyes slightly and looked at me. I didn’t know in that moment if it was stranger for her or me standing there with her in my arms.
The door finally opened, and Allie peeked her head outside. “Oh, heavens!” she said when she saw us. “What on earth happened?”
“Beth’s a little beat up right now,” I answered. “Do you mind if we come in?”
“Of course not.” She opened the door. “Come inside out of that mess.”
I carried Beth into the house and laid her down on the couch in the living room. Edward was sitting in a rocking chair and staring at a television screen. Only there was no show on, just static. He focused on the black and white dots despite our arrival. Allie stepped out for a second and came back with a bowl of chicken noodle soup on a silver platter, the same one, in fact, that she served pie from when Linden and I first visited their home.
She laid the platter down on the coffee table and sat next to Beth on the couch. “Did you know that chicken noodle soup fixes everything?” she asked me and then dipped a spoon into the bowl.
“I did not,” I replied.
“Oh, yes.” She held the spoonful of broth an inch from Beth’s mouth. “I bet if Hitler’s mother served him chicken noodle soup more often, World War Two would’ve never happened.”
“Is that so?” I played along, opting to not point out the illogic of her statement.
Just then, Teenage Beth came into the living room from a hallway leading to the back of the house. She was wearing a Pink Floyd t-shirt and, with her hair mussed up, appearing as if she had just gotten out of bed. She saw me and winked at me. Allie noticed her and frowned.
Meanwhile, Adult Beth wasn’t accepting the chicken noodle soup. Her eyes were wide open, but it was as if she were in a trance.
“What’s for dinner?” asked Teenage Beth, evidently oblivious to the presence of her older self.
Allie sighed. “Same thing we always have,” she replied, placing the untouched spoon back in the bowl. “Ham hocks and pigs’ feet.”
“Jesus Christ!” exclaimed Teenage Beth. “Can’t we ever eat anything normal?!”
“You watch your language, young lady!” said Allie. “Don’t you ever use the Lord’s name in vain in this house!”
“Fine!” she said. “I’ll leave then!” She went to the front door and opened it. It was still raining heavily outside. “On second thought, I’ll go back to my room.” She slammed the door and disappeared down the hall.
“You’ll have to excuse her,” Allie said to me. “She’s going through one of those phases.”
She placed her hand on Adult Beth’s forehead and quickly pulled it away. “Oh, my.”
“Is she hot?” I asked.
“She’s freezing,” she answered. “Pretty soon, she’ll be dead.”
“Well, that’s concerning.” I leaned forward and put my lips next to Beth’s ear. “I’m not sure what’s going on here, but I need you back with me. Remember, you’re the one in control.”
Little Beth came in through the back door, soaking wet and crying. “There’s a man outside!” she screamed. “He tried to kill me.”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” Allie told her. “And change out of those clothes before you catch a cold.”
“I’m telling you the truth!” cried Little Beth.
I got up from the chair and went to her. “Show me,” I told her.
She shook her head. “I’m not going back out there,” she said, sobbing.
“Tell you what. I’ll go look. How does that sound?”
She nodded and wiped away her tears. “Be careful.”
I opened the door and stepped out on the porch. The wind was blowing so hard I could barely stand still. I looked out across the land behind the house. At first, I saw nothing, but then a man dressed in a tattered, black suit appeared in the cornfield. His eyes glowed red. His face was covered in soot, and his thick, dark hair was slicked back. The rain pounded him, but he did not move. I willed an opened umbrella into my hand and held it over my head. Despite my better judgment, I descended the porch steps toward him.
I walked across the grass as the water pelted the top of the umbrella. Evidently, I posed no threat to the strange man because he made no sudden movements as I got closer to him.
About halfway to where he was standing, I turned back toward the house. Little Beth was standing at the edge of the porch, shaking from the cold. I stopped about three feet from the man.
He stared straight at me, unflinchingly.
“Who are you?” I asked.
He grinned and showed rotten, yellowing teeth. “I am the harvester of souls,” he said. “I’ve come for the girl.”
“I’m sorry. You can’t have her.”
He laughed, and the earth shook below my feet. Before I could react, he brushed past me and sprinted toward the porch. Little Beth screamed. The man leapt up onto the porch and grabbed hold of her. I ran after them, but it was too late. Once he had her, they both disappeared into a cloud of black smoke. At a loss, I willed the umbrella to vanish and went back into the house.
I quickly made my way to the living room and was glad to see that Adult Beth hadn’t moved from the couch, not so much so to discover that she was still paralyzed. “Okay,” I told her close to her ear. “I really need you to come back to me now. Things are getting super freaky.”
Edward, who hadn’t budged from his chair in front of the television, turned his head and looked at me. “Ain’t no use now,” he said. “They all go away some time.”
Just when things couldn’t have gotten worse, Beth’s body began to tremble. Her eyes still transfixed on nothing, she shook as if she were having a seizure. I tried to hold her down, but it was no use. Edward, of course, was no help at all. As Beth continued to vibrate, lights shot out of both of her pupils like laser beams and onto the ceiling. More spontaneous illumination escaped from various orifices, causing her to appear as if she were a human disco ball.
Allie was nowhere to be seen. I took a step back from Beth as a crack suddenly appeared in her forehead and slowly crept its way down her face to her stomach. I shielded my eyes as the brightness emanating from the opening became blinding. Through a small sliver between my fingers, I watched as the familiar crimson creature pushed its demon hands out of the crevice and pushed open Beth’s body. The beast climbed out of Beth’s lifeless shell and leapt onto the coffee table. As soon as it was freed, Beth’s split carcass vanished, blinding light and all.
Allie entered the room with a blueberry cobbler on her signature silver platter. “What in the name of all that’s—”
Before she could finish her sentence, the crimson creature lunged at her, knocking both her and the blueberry cobbler to the ground. The monster pounced on top of Allie and sliced her face with its sharp claws. Allie struggled and pleaded for help. I picked up a vase and smashed it over the beast’s head. It didn’t even phase it. I tried pushing it off Allie, but the monster only shoved me into the wall. It mauled Allie until she fought no more.
After the creature was finished with Allie, it turned its attention to me. Edward continued to watch pixilated snowflakes on the television. The monster dived at me, but I quickly jumped out of the way. It ran headfirst through a window in the living room, shattering glass into shards that fell onto the ground. The impact didn’t stop the creature. It landed on its feet outside in the grass and then sprinted through the rain toward the highway. Then it merged into the darkness.
“What’d I tell ya?” Edward said without taking his eyes off the static. “They all go away some time.”