The Skull Hunter, 2
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Ghosts, demons, witches... What a royal pain in the butt. If anyone ever has any doubt that something happens to us after we die, just send them to me. There is an existence after this life, and some of it is very, very bad. I know: I deal with it every day. I’ve seen it up close and personal. The things that make most people wake up in a cold sweat are par for the course in my job. My name is Rick Vargo. I’m a private investigator, and these are my stories.
Abbey lived in a secluded two-room shack on the sparse edge of a dense wood. She was all alone except for her young daughter and the wildlife that surrounded them. I don’t think she realized just how wild that life was until the night we met.
It was a cold, rainy Wisconsin evening. Abbey was washing the supper dishes while her daughter, Nessa was finishing her studies at a small handmade table. The room was lit by several lanterns as well as a fire in the stone fireplace. Wind howled outside the small house as a late October storm was blowing in the fall cold. The sound of the driving rain pelting the windows and the wind whistling through small cracks in the loose boards gave Abbey an uneasy feeling. The clatter of some branches hitting the roof made her jump as she nervously brushed back some fallen hair from her eyes. Nessa looked up from her book and saw the worried expression on her mother’s face.
“Momma,” she said in the small voice, “Don’t worry, it’s just the wind.”
“I know dear,” answered Abbey while trying to force a smile. “Are you almost finished?”
“Yes Momma.”
“Good, then put your book up for tonight and we’ll...” Before Abbey could finish a large branch crashed through a window making Abbey cry out. Nessa ran to her mother, firmly wrapping her arms around Abbey’s waist. “Are you all right?” asked Abbey as she bent down to hold the frightened little girl who just nodded with big round eyes.
Abbey quickly stood up and went to the window as the rain blasted through the broken glass. Grabbing the tree limb she forced it back outside, closed the inner shutters, and latched them. “We had better close the rest of the shutters. Hurry,” said Abbey as she tried to slow her breathing.
Nessa did as she was told, quickly she ran to the small bedroom as her mother closed the shutters in the main room. When they were done, Abbey leaned against a wall, drained. When Nessa came out of the bedroom, she looked at her mother and began to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” asked Abbey.
“You’re all wet,” replied Nessa.
Abbey looked down at herself, realized that bits of leaves where peppered in her hair and on her dress. “I must look a fright,” she said as the sound of Nessa giggling and the passing tension made her laugh heartily.
Suddenly the front door was flung open, crashing against the wall with a loud thud. Nessa screamed as Abbey jumped back. Gathering herself up, she slowly walked to the door as the wailing wind and rain blew through the opening.
Just as she reached the door to close it, the shadowy figure of a man emerged from the doorway. Abbey was too frightened to move as the man limped inside, took a few steps, and fell hard to the floor.
Pausing for only a moment, she instinctively knelt beside the drenched man and rolled him over. She saw his bloody face and torn clothing.
“Are you all right?” Abbey asked nervously.
“I’m having a bad day,” I said trying painfully to stay conscious. “Hurry, you must close that door and lock it. Hurry!”
Without hesitation, Abbey got up and started to close the heavy wooden door when something from the other side pushed with tremendous force, sending Abbey tumbling to the floor. Long bony fingers reached around the doorframe as a tall, blood-red creature entered the room. Its face looked like it had been melted from its skull, its eyes glowed a pale yellow as it sniffed the air.
The creature looked down to where Abbey and I were lying. Lifting its head, it bellowed violently and came at us. I lifted the two pistols I was holding in both hands and emptied them into the monster’s chest. It squealed wildly as it backed up, bursting into a cloud of glowing ash.
“What was that?” asked Abbey still in shock.
“My bad day,” I whispered as I felt all my strength drain from my body. The last thing I remembered was my head hitting the floor and everything going black.
When the light finally started to come back, it seemed like I was in a tunnel with the light far away, but approaching fast. I started to make out the blurry shapes of room. I squeezed my eyelids tightly hoping that my eyes would focus, but all I could make out was fuzzy shapes. I could hear the storm still raging outside as wind seeped though the walls making the flame in the lantern flicker shadows on the walls.
I turned my head to the side and saw a small face staring at me. Again, I squeezed my eyes shut and when I opened, I could make out the face of a young girl looking at me.
“Where am I?” I asked in a weak voice.
The girl got up from the chair she had been sitting in and rushed from the room.
“Wait, I won’t hurt you, please...” I tried to sit up but a pain shot through my head as I feel back against something soft.
“You’re in no shape to get up right now,” a calm voice spoke as a woman entered the room.
“Where am I?” I asked still trying to get my eyes to focus.
“You’re safe in my bed,” Abbey answered. Her voice had a kind, motherly sound. “You have a bad gash on your head and several deep cuts on your arms and chest. You’ve lost a lot of blood.”
It was then I realized I wasn’t wearing any clothes but had pieces of cloth tied around my head, arms, and chest.
“How long...”
“About an hour or so, you need to rest.”
“You don’t understand, I’ve got to get up. We’re in great danger,” I said again trying to raise my body from the bed. Pain pierced through me like a shotgun blast, I fell back as the room began to blur.
“It’s okay, please you must sleep. Here take these they will help you rest,” said Abbey as she gently folded my finger around several small stones and placed my hand onto my chest. “Sleep, these will give you energy to heal.”
I tried to answer, but slipped away to the darkness once again. When I awoke, my eyes were stabbed with a bright light that filled the room. I no longer heard the sound of the storm outside. I cautiously lifted my head testing for pain. I was sore but the throbbing had stopped.
There was a window opened on the wall across from me and the sun glowed brightly through. I slowly sat up; it hurt, but not like before, and sat on the side of the bed. My clothes were neatly folded on a low table.
Holding my right arm firmly against my chest, I pushed myself off the bed with my left. A wave of dizziness washed through me, but quickly passed. I stumbled to my clothes and with much effort got my pants on. I tried for the shirt, but it hurt too much to bend my right arm.
Under my long coat, I felt the hard barrel of one of my pistols. I pulled it out and slipped it in my front pants pocket. Using the wall for balance, I made my way to the other room. It was empty except for a long table and several chairs. Along the far wall stood a wood burning stove with a washbasin hung above it on the wall. Some shelves held dishes neatly stacked on one end with cans on the other. A pile of short logs were stacked near a fireplace, which snapped gently with a small fire. I slowly made my way out the front door when I saw the little girl and the woman putting sticks into piles.
“Good morning,” I said hobbling to a porch chair that looked to be fashioned together with twigs.
“You shouldn’t be up,” said Abbey as she wiped the sweat from he forehead.
“Never was one to lounge around in bed,” I said sitting down in the surprisingly comfortable chair.
“You don’t need that,” she said staring at the outline in my pocket.
“It helps me to relax,” I said rather embarrassed. “My name is Rick. Rick Vargo.”
“I’m Abbey O’Reilly and this is my daughter Nessa.”
“I don’t know how to thank you for fixing me up. I guess I was in bad shape.”
“So, you’re feeling better now?” asked Abbey as she stepped onto the porch.
“Yeah, fine. Fit as a fiddle,” I said, but as I smiled, my head began to hurt and my face winced in pain. “Okay, maybe not.”
“Here, let me loosen this,” she said, unwrapping the cloth from my head.
“Look, I don’t want to scare the little girl, but there is a danger out here. Is your husband around? I would...?”
Abbey paused for moment as her face changed into a serious expression. “I have no husband.”
“I so sorry, I didn’t realize...”
“No need to apologize. You couldn’t have known,” she said returning to the task of rewrapping by bandage.
“When did he die?”
Abbey pulled back and stared blankly into my eyes. It was the first time I really looked into her face. She was pretty in a natural sort of way. Dark hair pulled loosely into a bun, smooth ivory colored skin that reflected the sunlight, but it was her eyes that dominated her face. They were the brightest green I had ever seen. Like two emeralds placed into a shining sparkling pool. She held her glance and I was mesmerized, by the beauty of those eyes.
When she spoke it was like a soft whispers in my ears, but the words snapped me from the trance of her gaze. “He didn’t die,” she spoke slowly yet firmly. “I have no husband.”
The depth and feeling of her words tunneled into my consciousness, I began to understand why she lived so far from civilization. Some societies place so much stigma on such things that it is better to leave than feel the stares on the back of your neck. Those same people will smile to your face then talk in hushed whispers as you leave the room. It’s not fair, but then again who said life was fair.
“You know, apologizing is becoming a habit. Again, I’m sorry.”
“There,” she said as she finished with my head. “That should be better.”
“Yes, thank you,” I said, as the pressure seemed to fade. “But I am serious when I say that there is a danger here. If you don’t have protection, then we should leave right away.”
“And go where, Mr. Vargo?”
“Please call me Rick.”
“Okay, Rick, where do you suggest we should go?”
“Anywhere... The nearest town. Anywhere but here.”
“You believe there are monsters in these woods?” Abbey said as she sat down on the porch steps staring off into the trees.
“You saw that thing last night, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I saw something,” she said calmly. “I couldn’t tell you what since it seemed to disappear.”
“Then you should know it’s not safe here,” I said not understanding her calm. “Think of your little girl.”
“I am, Mr. Vargo,” she said turning her back to me. “You think I should be afraid of monsters here. Well, maybe I should be. I don’t know if there are any monsters here, but I do know there are monsters there, in those towns where you want me to hide. I tried hiding in towns, but those monsters will find you. You can’t hide from their stares and taunts. They tear at your soul, and it hurts just as bad as those cuts on your chest. The only thing is, those wounds are deeper and don’t heal.”
She turned to face me and I could see her eyes had swollen as tears began to form in the corners. “You’re asking me to run from monsters that might be here, to monsters I know will be there.”
I sat speechless as she turned away and wiped her eyes. I felt bad for her, real bad, but somehow I had to convince her of the dangers here.
“Why are you here, Mr. Vargo?” Abbey asked as she pulled her emotions into check and tightened the bun in her hair. “If there are monsters here, then why did you come?”
“Well it all started the other night...”
Copyright © 2006 by S. Michael Leier
