Gifted

There is something lurking in the Reynolds' household. Something dark and evil. Now sisters London and Berlyn must overcome their grief and face the creature. Before its too late.

London Reynolds lay wide awake in bed, frozen in fear.  Down the hall she could see it.  Only seven years old, she couldn’t comprehend what it was but she knew that it was not supposed to be here, in her home.  She wanted to scream for Mommy and Daddy but her voice had deserted her.

                It sat there looking at her, squatty and hairy and red-eyed.  It had sharp white teeth prominently shown in a fierce growl and it produced a strange gurgling sound deep in its throat.  Then is started to move slowly down the hallway towards her room.  Beneath London her little sister Berlyn slept soundly in the bottom bunk.  London thought of Berlyn and wondered if the strange creature meant her any harm.  London wanted to do something, to jump down and protect her little sister but she was frozen in fear.

                The red-eyed beast began to move faster, the gurgling sound becoming more threatening.  London’s mind raced but her body wouldn’t move.  She thought again of Mommy and Daddy and little Berlyn, all sound asleep and unaware.  Then the beast gathered its hind legs underneath it and leapt at her and she couldn’t even scream…

                           #

                London Reynolds sat on the end of a black leather couch, her chin resting in her hand, watching the rain beat down against the picture window.  It was a cold, dreary day and it reflected her mood.

                Friends and family swirled all around her, every one stopping to console her or say a kind word.  They offered their help and support.  They tried their best to make her feel better but she knew that nothing would ever make her feel better.

                Slowly the black-clad throng began to thin until she finally found herself alone in the old house.  Afternoon was turning to evening and darkness would soon consume them both.  She waited for the blackness to swallow her.  She wanted it.  She wanted to disappear.

                There was suddenly a weight on her side, leaning against her.  She turned her head and there was Berlyn, resting her head on London’s arm and staring out the window.

                Berlyn and London looked nothing alike, yet there was no doubt that they were sisters. Berlyn was muscular and athletic with deep brown hairs and naturally curly dark blond hair.  London was tall and thin with shocking green eyes and straight black hair.  Berlyn was a tomboy who lived in torn up blue jeans and oversized T shirts while London preferred the latest fashions and jewelry.

                London gave her sister a quick peck on the top of her head and turned to stare out the window as the streetlights began to blink on outside.  This was their family home, though now it seemed so empty.  The house that was once so filled with laughter and love now felt as cold and alone as the approaching night outside.

                “What are we going to do,” Berlyn asked, stifling a sob that try to sneak out.

                London just shook her head.  When she closed her eyes she could see the two of them outside playing in the yard when they were kids.  She could hear the laughter and see Mom and Dad sitting on the porch watching them, big smiles spread across their faces.  That was the way it was supposed to be.

                She tore her gaze away from the window and shifted in her seat so that she could look at her sister.  Berlyn sat up and looked at London expectantly.  She was lost and afraid and looking to her big sis for guidance. At the sight of her, London’s composure crumbled and the tears began to flow from her eyes.   Berlyn finally let go and let her own tears come, reaching out for her sister.  The sat there and held each other and cried as night overcame the house and the longest day of their lives faded away.

      #

                The sound woke London up.  She bolted upright, which stunned Berlyn awake.  At some point in the night they had passed out on the couch, still wrapped in each other’s arms.  Now they were both wide awake.  Berlyn rubbed her eyes and strained to see in the near total darkness.  The only light in the house came from the streetlight across the way.  “What are you doing?”

                London held a finger up to her lips.  “Do you hear that?”
                “Sounds like the dog barking,” Berlyn answered.  “He hasn’t had food or water all day.  We’ve been so preoccupied we didn’t even think about it.”

                Berlyn started to stand up but London reached out and grabbed her arm. “No, not the dog.  Listen.”  They sat in silence as the wheezing, gurgling sound stayed steady.

                “What is that,” Berlyn asked with an edge of fear in her voice.

                “I don’t know,” London answered.  “I’m going to find out though.”

                Again she started to stand and again Berlyn stopped her.  “If there’s someone in the house our best bet is to call the cops.”

                London yanked her arm out of Berlyn’s grasp and stood up, ssshing her sister.  “The cops would never get here in time and besides we don’t know that there’s someone in the house.  I don’t want to waste their time.  It’s coming from the hallway.  Stay here.”

                London started across the living room floor and Berlyn stood and followed against her sister’s orders.  She walked quickly to the front door, which they had left propped open, and reaching behind it pulled out an aluminum baseball bat.  She caught London looking at her and shrugged.  “Just in case.”  Berlyn had just made all-district in softball so London knew well what she could do with a bat in her hands.

                Together they tried to walk quietly across the spacious living room but the house was old and the floorboards creaked with each step that they took.  Even as they approached the strange sound did not waver.  The closer they came to the hallway the louder it got.  Behind her, London could hear Berlyn constantly flexing her hands on the bat’s leather grip.

                They reached the hallway.  The breathing sounded like it was coming from the left.  London stopped and reached back, lightly touching Berlyn just to assure herself that she was still there.  Again she heard the leather as Berlyn gripped the bat tightly.

                The light switch was on the wall on the opposite side of the hall.  “I’ll run over and flip on the light,” London whispered over her shoulder.  “You come in behind me ready to swing.”  Berlyn acknowledged with a nod.  “On three,” London whispered again.  She turned and focused on the spot on the wall where the light switch was.  She reached behind her and tapped Berlyn on the leg, once, then twice, then a third time.

                London leapt across the narrow hallway, hands stretched out in front of her.  Behind her, Berlyn stepped into the hall, bat cocked and ready in her hands.  The light flashed on for one brief moment, then blew out with a loud pop, throwing the girls back into the darkness.  A moment later, their parent’s bedroom door slammed shut.

                “What the hell was that,” Berlyn asked breathlessly.  London stood arrow straight and perfectly still.  The mysterious sound was gone, but something had been in that hallway with them.  The brief flash of light hadn’t been enough to see what, or who, it was.

                “Did you see it?”

                “No,” came Berlyn’s reply.  “I just caught a flash.  Whatever it was it was small and fast.  I thought I had it and then it was gone.”

                “Well, we know where it went,” London said, worry thick in her voice.  “Yep,” Berlyn agreed and they began to tiptoe down the hallway.  Outside the now closed door, the girls paused and listened, but neither could hear the strange noise.   London took the doorknob in her hands and took a deep breath, then shouted “Go” as she flung the door open and stepped quickly inside, her fingers searching for and finding the switch and the lights flick on.

                It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness but when they did, the girls found themselves face-to-face with their parent’s bedroom.  It was just had it had always been, the bed unmade, the nightstands cluttered with stuff, the walls covered with pictures of the girls.

                The sight of their parent’s room hit London especially hard.  She began to choke back sobs as memories of all the Sunday mornings playing on the bed come flooding back.  Berlyn, all business, checks the closets and under the bed and anywhere else the strange beast could be hiding.

                Confident that the room was clear, Berlyn approached London slowly and put an arm around her shoulder.  Her attempts to consolation failed and soon she too was crying.  They collapsed on their parent’s bed and continued to cry until they again fell asleep.

      #

                The next morning London awoke and stripped, pulling on a robe and heading for the bathroom for a shower when she saw Berlyn sitting on the trunk of Dad’s car, which was parked in the driveway under the limbs of a huge shade tree.  She tightened the belt on her robe and trudged outside in bare feet, careful not to step on any rocks.

                Berlyn was nursing a tall glass of lemonade and staring off into space.  She was still wearing the black dress she had worn to the funeral the day before.

                “What’s up,” London asked casually.  She was glad that today had brought sunshine and warmth instead of the cool rain of the day before.  In the yard beside the driveway, their old dog Bevo stood and whimpered for London to pet him. He stood, resting his front paws on the chain link fence and continued to whimper until she reached over and stroked his head.

                ‘Poor dog was starving,” Berlyn said coldly.  “We forgot all about him yesterday.”

                “I’m sure that he’ll forgive us,” London answered.  “After all, yesterday was kind of hectic.  Besides, he could stand to miss a few meals.”

                “It would kill mom and dad if anything happened to that dog.” The comment hung in the air a moment before she realized what she had said. “Well, it would have.”
                “Nothing is going to happen to Bevo.  We’ll take care of him.”

                “Where?”
                “What do you mean where,” London asked.

                “Where are we going to live?  Are you going to move back here to finish school?  Do you want me to go down there with you?  Or am I going to stay up here with Uncle Ed and Aunt Carol?  What are we going to do?”

                London sighed and leaned against the car, staring off in the same direction Berlyn was looking. “I don’t know.  I’ve thought about that a lot.  I’d like to keep the house, there are so many memories here, but I’m not sure that we can afford it.”

                “I want to stay with you,” Berlyn said flatly.  “I don’t want to live with Ed and Carol.”

                London shrugged and reached out for Berlyn’s lemonade and helped herself to a long drink.  “I don’t know what’s going to happen there.  It’s something that we’re going to have to discuss. If it means anything, I want you to stay with me too.”

                The stood in silence for a long while.  Finally London turned to head back inside for her shower.  “This sucks,” Berlyn spat out as London walked away.

                “Yes it does,” she answered.

      #

                London started the water running so that it could warm up while she rummaged through the hall closet for some towels.  She came back and put the towels down on the hamper next to the sink, shed her robe and stepped into the shower, ready and eager to feel the warm water spray on her.

                Instead she stepped into an icy cold stream that sent a torrent of cuss words pouring out of her mouth.  She quickly stepped out, shivering and shocked, and checked the faucet.  The hot water was turned all the way up.  She stuck her hand back into the water stream.  It was frigid.  Frustrated, she shut off the water and put her robe back on.

                Berlyn was just coming back inside when she caught London coming out of the bathroom.   “I thought that you were going to take a shower.”
                “I was going to but apparently the hot water heater is broken.  I got nothing but cold water.”

                Berlyn chuckled “No it’s not.”  She pushed past London and into the bathroom.  She turned the water back on.  After a few moments, stream began to fill the air.  Berlyn stuck a hand in the water.  “See?”

                London reached in and felt the warm water on her fingers.  “That’s so weird,” she said.  “A second ago it was freezing.”

                “Maybe you just didn’t let it warm up long enough,” Berlyn answered with a smirk.

                ‘Maybe,” London said skeptically as she put a hand in Berlyn’s back and gently guided her out of the bathroom.  Maybe she thought again as she again slipped out of her robe, but deep inside she had the sneaking suspicion that something in the house wasn’t right.

      #

                That evening, Uncle Ed and Aunt Carol insisted on taking the girls out to dinner.  Neither one wanted to go but London knew that there were issues that needed to be discussed and it would be best to get it over with.  Besides, why turn down a free meal?”

                They were now in their sixties.  Uncle Ed had a pot belly and thinning hair but that didn’t stop him from strutting around like a God.  Ed was always quick to regale whoever would listen about the great accomplishments of his life, even if most of them were made up.

                Carol was a tall, rail-thin woman with sharp features.  She had the personality of an ice cube but lacked the warmth.  She usually sat by sullenly and let Ed talk, only chiming in when she could talk down to someone.

                They had a daughter just a couple of years older than London who had run off with her boyfriend when she was fourteen and hadn’t been heard from since.  Neither London nor Berlyn felt that they had gone to a great deal of trouble to locate her and both wondered if there was a good reason why the girl had run away.

                They met at a local steakhouse that tried hard to emulate the look of an Old West saloon.  The look didn’t quite work between the neon beer signs and the TVs on every wall.  Still, they had eaten here a couple of times and knew that the food was good.

                Ed and Carol had gotten there early and had already ordered, dinner salads and water for the girls, thick steaks and beer for Ed and Carol.  The waitress set the steaks down in front of the older couple.  “Will there be anything else for the girls,” she asked sheepishly.

                “Yeah,” Berlyn blurted out.  “I would like a bacon cheeseburger, medium well.”

                Ed laughed, a deep, annoying laugh.  “No.  They’ll be fine with what they have.”

                Berlyn glared at him.  “Going all out for us I see,” she said sarcastically.  Ed answered her with an arrogant smirk as he took a bite of steak.

                “You could stand to lose some weight,” Carol added coldly.

                Before Berlyn could answer, London put a hand on her arm.  ‘Salads will be fine.”  Berlyn started to protest but London mouthed to her to calm down.

                “I guess it will have to be,” Carol answered.

                Again, Berlyn wanted to reply but London elbowed her gently in the side. Berlyn wasn’t the type to walk away from a fight, but London wanted to get through the night with as little drama as possible. “I assume that you brought us here to discuss what happens next,” London said to Ed.

                “Yes we did,” Ed announced, unnecessarily loud.  “I figure that I’ll bring the truck over in the morning and y’all can help me load up the furniture and stuff.  We’ve got a storage unit over by the mall we can put it into.  I’ve already contacted a relator about selling the house.  He assures me that we can sell it quick if we underprice it, which is fine by me.  It’s not like it’s a mansion or anything.  Or course, since we’re doing all the work we’ll have to insist on a percentage.”

                “Half will work,” Carol added smugly.  “Now Berlyn, I want you packed up tonight so that after we’re done emptying the house tomorrow you can come home with us.  We have a hide-a-bed in the garage.  It’ll be like your own little apartment.”

                “Not a chance,” Berlyn shot back.  “I’m not living in a goddamn garage.”

                “Watch your tone young lady,” Carol shot back, pointing her fork at Berlyn.  “We’ll not have profanity in our house.”

                “Well I’m not in your house, am I b***h?”

                Ed shot up out of his chair and instinctively reached for his belt buckle.  London and Berlyn shot up as well, Berlyn ready for the fight and London trying to be the peacemaker.

                “Berlyn, please sit down,” London said angrily.  “Let me handle this.”  Berlyn stared daggers at Ed, whose hand never moved from his belt buckle. “Sit down,” London said again, more forcefully.

                Reluctantly she did.  London then turned her attention to her uncle. “Ok, now I need you to calm down.  We’re going to talk about this like adults.”

                Ed nodded in Berlyn’s direction.  “She pulls another stunt like that and I’ll bend her over my knee right here in this restaurant.”  Beside her, Berlyn had to stifle the urge to respond.  London put out her hand to dissuade her from commenting.

                Finally Ed settled back in his chair and London did the same.  She realized that she was beginning to shake.  She hated it, but Ed and Carol had always intimidated her.  She had to stay strong now, she couldn’t let them bully her. She had to stand up for herself and her sister.

                “Berlyn can stay with me.  There’s no need in you putting yourselves out on our account.  I was thinking about transferring up here anyway.  We can stay in the house, it’ll save me money on room and board and we can both get jobs to pay for taxes and insurance.  We may even qualify for financial assistance.  I’m going to look into that.”

                “You have no business raising Berlyn,” Carol responded.  “You’re just a child yourself.”

                “I’m twenty and a junior in college, I’m far from being a child.  And Berlyn is a big girl.  She can take care of herself.”

                “I don’t think that the two of you could take care of a fake plant,” she said nastily.

                “I’m sure that Ed could tell us.  He takes care of you doesn’t he,” Berlyn shot back.

                “Berlyn, please,” London snapped before either of them could react. She leaned in closer to her sister.  “You’re not helping.”

                “Besides,” Ed continued.  “That is too much house for you. Insurance and taxes will eat you alive and you’ll be out on your butts in six months.  I’ll take it off of your hands and you can run back to Austin and do whatever it is you do down there.”

                “It’s called college Einstein,” Berlyn piped up.  “It’s where smart people go.  You might have heard of it.”

                “Berlyn please,” London begged again.  She hated being stuck in the middle of this fight, hated being put under pressure.

                “Well that just will not work,” Carol chimed in. “Berlyn will come live with us.”

                “My a*s I will,” she shot back.  “I’m seventeen.  In Texas that makes me an adult.  You can’t make me do crap.”

                “I’ve got a lawyer who will see things my way,” Ed said coolly.

                London sighed and stood, gathering her purse.  “Well then I suggest you call him.  We’ll see who is right.  Until then, don’t bother coming over.  We’re not going anywhere.”  She turned and started for the door but Berlyn couldn’t resist the last word.

                “Thanks for the wonderful dinner.”

      #

                That night the girls split a large pepperoni pizza and London cranked up the volume on the stereo while Berlyn drug a six pack out of the fridge.  “I don’t think that Mom and Dad will mind if we finish these off for them.”

                “I don’t guess they will,” London said as she took a can and popped the top.  “Besides, I’ll be old enough to do this legally in a few months anyway.”

                “Why put off till tomorrow…” Berlyn said, tipping her can towards London.

                London smiled and took a drink, but as she brought the can away from her mouth she turned serious.  “I promise you Berlyn, you won’t live with those horrible people.  I won’t let that happen.”

                “Neither will I,” Berlyn agreed as she peeled a greasy slice of pizza out of the box.  “Now I know why Erica ran away.  I would have too.”

                “Well,” London started, then paused to take a drink.  “I don’t know if they messed Erica up or if she was already messed up and they just went along for the ride.”

                “I think that they’re all messed up.”

                “That is true,” London agreed.  “Still I wish Mom and Dad had left a will.”

                Berlyn made a derogatory sound.  “Forty year olds shouldn’t have to.”

                “Good point,” London said, looking around the room.  “Still, I can’t believe that they didn’t leave something behind.”

                Berlyn swallowed a large bite.  “Maybe they did and we just haven’t found it. Have you gone through the filing cabinet?”

                “Yes,” London said exasperated.  “And the desk and all the boxes under the bed and every drawer in the house and anywhere else I could think to look.”

                “Did they have any hiding places?”

                “I don’t know.  If they did they didn’t tell me about them.  I.E. hiding place.”

                “Well it was a thought,” Berlyn said with a shrug.

                At that moment car headlights flashed across the wall and Bevo began barking madly in the front yard.  Both girls turned to look out the window.  At first all they could see were twin headlights.  Then they recognized Uncle Ed’s silhouette as he passed in front of them.

                London ran for the phone while Berlyn ran for the door, grabbing her bat as she went.  She got to the screen the same time Ed did.  He tried to pull it open but it was locked.  “What do you want?”  Her voice dripped with hate.

                “I want you to pack your stuff.  You’re coming with us, right now.”

                London came to stand beside Berlyn holding the phone up.  “Ed, leave right now or I’ll call 9-1-1 and we’ll let the cops sort it out.”

                “My lawyer assures me that I have every right to take you.  He tells me that I will get everything.”

                “You’re lawyer is a joke,” London shot back.  “I’m dialing in ten seconds if you don’t get out of here.”

                “Like hell you are,” Ed grunted and with surprising speed he grabbed the door handle and yanked it hard putting his considerable weight behind it.  The cheap plastic latch broke and the screen swung open. Berlyn, one hand resting on the inside handle, was yanked outside, dropping the bat and squealing in surprise.

                London threw the phone down and screamed at him, “stop it!”

                Ed had a hammerlock on Berlyn’s left arm and was attempting to drag her down off the porch.  Then, suddenly, the porch light began to flicker and the stereo died.  In another moment, all the lights inside and out died.  Ed let go and grabbed for his chest, his face going pale and his breathing became labored.  He stumbled backwards, lost his balance and tumbled down the porch steps, coming to rest with his back against the fence.  Bevo, who had been desperately trying to get up the height to jump the fence quit barking at Ed and instead started growling, deep and menacing, towards the house.

                “Uncle Ed,” London called out and she ran to him.  Carol was out of the car and coming up the driveway, cellphone in hand, but London got there first.  “Uncle Ed, are you ok?”

                He was flushed and struggling for breath. His eyes were protruding as if they were trying to make a run for it while his hand ripped helplessly at his shirt above his heart.

                London looked over her shoulder at Berlyn.  “Call 9-1-1.  I think he’s having a heart attack.”

                Berlyn looked down on her fallen uncle.  “Let the fat b*****d die,” she said coldly.  London shot a dirty look at her and Berlyn rolled her eyes.  “Fine.”  She bent over, scooped up the phone and began to dial the number.

                “Look at what you two brats have done,” Carol barked at them.  Then she put the cellphone back up to her ear. “If he dies do you think we can sue?”  She listened, nodded, and then said “so you think we’d have a solid case?”

                London shook her head in disbelief and turned her attention back to Ed.  “Just relax,” she said, keeping her voice smooth and soft.  She put her hands on his chest.  “Help is on the way.”

                Suddenly it all stopped.  The lights came back on and the stereo roared back to life.  Ed’s breathing started to return to normal and the color came back into his face.  He looked up at London in amazement.

                “You, you saved me,” he stammered.

                “I didn’t do anything.”

                “No, you did it.  You saved me.  I’ve never felt anything like that in my whole life.  It was powerful.  It was like, magic.  You touched me and suddenly I felt better.”

                “It was just a coincidence,” she said in embarrassment. 

                “No, you did it.  You saved me.”

      #

                Berlyn sat in the floor and poured some of her beer into Bevo’s water bowl.  The big dog came up and lapped away eagerly while she patted him on the side.  Across the room, London sat on the couch in stunned silence.

                “What was it like?”

                London shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs.  “What was what like?”

                “Don’t play games with me,” Berlyn started.  “Saving Tubbo’s life.  He’s convinced that you’re the Angel of Mercy.’

                “I didn’t do anything,” she said, although not very convincingly. “He just had a spell.  It was just coincidence.”

                “Oh stop it,” Berlyn said with annoyance.  “I was watching him.  He was seconds away from death and you put your hands on him and he came back.  And what about the lights and all of that?  They went out when he yanked that door open and when you put your hands on him they all came back on.”

                “Coincidence,” London dismissed.  “He was having a panic attack and I calmed him down.  That’s all.”

                “That’s crap and you know it.  Come on, you had to have felt something.  I felt it.  The air was like…electric.  It was weird.”

                “I don’t know Berlyn.  Everything was happening so fast.  I couldn’t think.  I didn’t feel anything.”  She paused for a second.  “Except warm.  I felt very warm.”

                Berlyn sat in silence, slowly drinking her beer and London was glad that the discussion was over.  The entire night was a nightmare that she was ready to put behind her.  Berlyn suddenly snapped her fingers.  “Remember when Mom would get sick and you’d rub her and she’d say that you had the magic touch?  What if she meant that literally?  That you really have a magic touch?”

                London couldn’t help but scoff at the idea.  “Magic?  You mean like witches and warlocks and all of that?  Get serious Berlyn.  You’ve been reading too many of those fantasy novels of yours.”

                Berlyn started to pout.  “I’m serious London.  Maybe you have a gift.”

                London stood and stretched.  “You have a gift.  The gift of imagination.  Now I’m going to bed and hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.”
                “If you had let shithead day then today would be a better day.”

                “He is our uncle,” London scolded her.  “He may be a vile, nasty person, but he is still family.  Besides, I would never want to just sit by and watch someone die, no matter how bad a person they might be. Now no more about it.  We’ve got a lot to do tomorrow.”  London trudged across the floor but stopped in the hallway and turned back.  “Don’t stay up too late.”

                “I won’t.  Sweet dreams Magic,” Berlyn assured her and London went on to bed.  Berlyn looked over at Bevo, who was staring at her strangely.  “What?”   The big red dog licked her on the face and sat down beside her, still staring at her.  “Let me guess, you want some more beer?”  She poured the rest of her can in his bowl.  Bevo didn’t budge.  “No?  Do you need to go outside?”

                Bevo instead laid down, but his eyes never left Berlyn’s.  “You’re being weird,” she said.  “Maybe London needs to use her magical powers on you.”  Bevo stood quickly and began to wag his tail excitedly.  Berlyn stared at him for a moment then shook her head.  “I must be losing my mind.”

      #

                Get up.

                The voice was deep and urgent in her mind.

                Get up now.

                Berlyn struggled to open her eyes.  Beside her, Bevo was pacing urgently and whimpering.  He kept looking down the hall toward London’s room.  Berlyn groaned.  “You have to go out now?”  She looked at the clock.  4:32. “Can’t you hold it?”

                Get up.

                Berlyn snapped awake.  Bevo was staring at her again.  She started to say something, then stopped. Certainly he wasn’t telling her…

                Get up now.

                She started to get up and Bevo ran to London’s door.  Berlyn shook her head again as she shuffled down the hallway. “You’re driving me nuts. I’m taking you out.”

                She felt odd as she walked down the hall.  She pulled at her nightshirt like it was a weight on her shoulders and she could hear a faint, metallic whine in the air.  She finally reached Bevo and reached for his collar to take him out.  Bevo stiffened.  She was about to lose her temper when she heard a muffled sound coming from inside London’s room.

                Go in.

                Berlyn looked at Bevo curiously, then opened the door and turned on the light.   London was lying flat on her back, eyes wide open.  Her hands were at her throat and she was desperately gasping for breath.  Her skin was starting to take on a bluish hue.

                Immediately Bevo pushed past Berlyn and jumped up on the bed.  He began vigorously licking her in the face.  With a start, London began to breathe normally again.  The weight that Berlyn had felt pressing against her lifted instantly and the metallic whine in the air dissipated.

                As soon as London recovered, Bevo jumped off the bed and trotted into the bedroom.  They could hear him sloppily drinking from his water bowl.

                “What happened to you,” Berlyn asked worried.  She sat on the edge of the bed and took London’s hand in hers.  “You looked like you were suffocating.”

                “I was,” she said, her voice was hoarse.  “I woke up and I couldn’t breathe.  I felt like something was choking me.  I couldn’t make any noise at all.  Thank God you came in when you did.”

                “Well, Bevo was driving me nuts.  He kept pacing and something kept telling me…” her voice trailed off.

                “Telling you what,” London asked.

                “To get up,” Berlyn answered.  She turned and stared off into the direction of the living room.  Then she turned back to London.  “Something kept telling me to get up, like a voice in my head.  It was almost like Bevo was talking to me.”

                London looked at her sister like she was crazy.  “Well, whatever it was, I’m glad you came when you did.”  She rolled over and pulled her covers up over her.  “Go back to bed now.  I’m fine.”

                “London, something weird is going on here.”

                “I don’t want to talk about this right now.  Take the dog outside and go back to bed.”

                “I really think…”

                “Don’t think about it, just do it,” London snapped.  “I had a panic attack, that’s all.  It happens sometimes.  Please go back to sleep.”

                Berlyn wanted to protest but London had made it clear that she wanted no part of it.  With a sigh, she pushed herself off of the bed and found Bevo lying by the front door.  “Come on, outside you go.”  She reached out and unlocked the door.  Bevo looked up at her but didn’t budge.

                Berlyn’ frustration was beginning to boil over.   She reached down and grabbed his collar and tugged.  Bevo shook his head and her fingers twisted in his collar and she let go.  “Ow,” she called out, rubbing her fingers.  “What has gotten into you?”

                Bevo ran past her and back into the hall.  He began a deep growl that you could feel as much as hear.  Again the air seemed heavy and the whine returned.

                “Damn it Berlyn,” London snarled.  Berlyn heard her feet hit the floorboards.  “I told you to take him outside.”

                They got to Bevo at the same time.  He stood with his back to London’s room, looking back down the hall towards Berlyn’s room.  His tail stood out straight and still and his jowls were pulled back to reveal his sharp teeth.  His eyes were focused on a spot somewhere beyond the walls in an unblinking, unwavering gaze.

                “He’s being weird tonight,” Berlyn said, trying to ignore the chill that was creeping up her spine.  When London didn’t answer, she looked over at her sister.  London was frozen in her tracks, a look of sheer terror on her face.  She was staring at the same spot Bevo was.

                Get back.

                Berlyn looked from London to Bevo and then to the spot they were both staring at.  Bevo kept growling.

                Get back, the voice said again, more forcefully.

                Berlyn was trying hard not to panic and failing.  Her breath was coming too fast and she suddenly felt very hot.  Sweat began to pour down her face, stinging her eyes.  She stumbled into the living room and Bevo followed, always at her side.  She began to feel dizzy and reached out for something to steady herself.

                Sit down.

                She wanted to but the room started to spin.  Berlyn felt a wave of helplessness wash over her.  He just wanted to close her eyes and never wake up.  She felt herself begin to fall.

                Just before everything went black she thought that she heard a voice say, leave her alone.

      #

                Berlyn woke up to see Bevo and London staring down at her.  Bevo licked her face and then trotted away while London dabbed a wet washcloth on her forehead.  She was obviously freaked out and her hands were shaking uncontrollably.

                “We are selling this house and getting the hell out of here.”

                “Why,” Berlyn asked weakly.

                “Because there is something here.  Something awful.”

                Berlyn sat up quickly and the move made her head start to spin again.  She laid back down.  “What are you talking about?”

                London took a deep breath.  “When I was little I used to see this thing.  It was short and hairy with red eyes and sharp teeth.”  Her whole body shook as she recounted the tail.  “It made this weird sound, like the sound we heard the other night I used to wake up and see it in the hallway.  It would stand there and growl at me and then run at me.  I’d always wake up screaming.  For a long time, I thought it was a dream.  But Mom once told me that she had seen it too.”

                Berlyn sat up again, more slowly this time.  “You’re telling me that there’s a monster in our house?”

                London licked her lips as she thought about it. “I don’t know what it is. I just know that it’s evil and we need to leave.  I think that it wants to kill us.”

                Berlyn ran her hands over her face.  “You’re serious?”

                “Yes I’m serious,” London snapped and bolted up off the floor.  “You said yourself that something weird is going on here.  That thing is what tried to strangle me.  It’s what made you pass out.  Didn’t things feel strange to you?”

                “Yeah, but I just thought I was getting sick or something.”

                “You’re not,” London answered. “I told myself for years that it was just a figment of my imagination.  Mom and I never talked about it after that first time.  I convinced myself that it was all a dream.  Until last night.”

                Berlyn started to argue, then stopped.  She had tried to tell London that something wasn’t right. 

                “You were right,” London said, as if she was reading Berlyn’s mind.  “I knew it all along but I didn’t want to believe.  I had convinced myself that it was all a dream, but I can’t lie to myself any longer.  We’re in danger here.  We’ve got to leave.”

                It will follow you.

                Berlyn put her hand up to her temple and rubbed the side of her head.  Bevo came up beside her and nudged her.  Instinctively she reached out to pet him.  “What if it follows us?”

                “It won’t,” London said confidently.  “It’s attached to the house.”

                It wants you.

                Again, Berlyn rubbed her head, hoping she could rub the voice out of her head.  “What if it’s not,” she asked.  “What if it’s after us?”

                “Why would it be?”

                “I don’t know,” Berlyn answered defensively.  “I just have this feeling that it wants us.  I can’t explain it.  It’s kind of like how I knew to come to your room.”

                “A voice in your head?”

                “Yeah,” Berlyn responded.  “Exactly.”

                London shuddered and hugged herself.  “I’ve been thinking about what you said earlier, about my having a magic touch.”

                “What about it?”
                She looked at Berlyn with complete seriousness.  “What if you’re right?  I did feel something when I put my hands on Uncle Ed and when I touched you after you passed out.  You’ve been hearing voices.  What if these things are gift?  Gifts that we’re supposed to use?”

                Berlyn shook her head and chuckled sadly.  “Life is certainly getting strange, isn’t it sis?”

                London shook her head.  “I’ve seen that thing, face-to-face.  There’s no rationalizing it away.  That thing is something unexplainable.  If things like that can exist in this world, then there may be people like us, gifted people.”

                “So what do we do about it?”

                “That,” London said with a chill, “is what I’d like to know.”

                           #

                The exhaustion finally overcame the girls and they slept through the entire day while Bevo kept a vigilant watch, keeping the strange creature at bay.

                That evening they let him out in the yard and went out for burgers.  When they returned, they tried to watch TV and pretend that it was a normal night but they both knew that normal was something that they’d never know again.

                At ten, the lights began to flicker.  Only occasionally at first but more often as midnight approached.  Several times Berlyn wanted to go bring Bevo in, but she always resisted.

                Finally the lights went out completely.  “That’s it,” Berlyn said, standing up quickly.  “I’m bringing Bevo in.”

                She stood and headed for the door, but it slammed shut as she approached.  Behind her, London lit a candle and placed it on the table beside her.  Berlyn looked back and they exchanged glances in the flickering light.

                The gurgling sound started next.  Berlyn grabbed her bat at shrugged at London.  “Better than nothing.”  The air again felt thick and heavy and the whine pierced the air.

                From the darkened hallway he sound grew louder.  Berlyn crept to the doorway and looked back at London.  London’s face suddenly went white as the terror overcame her again.  Berlyn could see nothing in the candlelight but she knew that something was there.  She listened intently to the sound and made an educated guess about where the sound was coming from.  With all of her strength, she swung the bat again and again, swatting at the air, praying that it would do some good.

                London gasped and fell back into the couch, gasping for air and clawing at her neck.  Outside, Bevo was wailing.  Berlyn raced to the door but it wouldn’t budge.  She ran to London instead, feeling around and hoping to get a hold of something solid but whatever had London was beyond her reach.

                With no other ideas, Berlyn yelled.  “London, you have to fight it.  I can’t see it, I can’t do anything.”

                London continued to claw at her throat and thrash violently on the couch.  Berlyn’s words slowly began to sink in.  She forced herself to be calm and stop thrashing and she began to make it out as it took shape in front of her.  I was right in her face, red eyes burning into her own, teeth inches away from her neck.  She felt its tiny claws wrapped around her neck, squeezing with all its strength.

                Instead of clawing at its hands, she reached out with both hands and put them on its head, using all of her strength to push its head back.  The creature’s grip relaxed just a little and London pushed her advantage.  She began to feel the warmth seeping inside of her, like she had when she had laid hands on her dying uncle.

                The creature’s guttural noises turned to squeals and it released its grip on London’s neck.  She kept her hands pressed against its head, pushing harder and harder until it let out a final, horrific sound and vanished.

                The next day, Berlyn and London loaded up London’s car for the long drive back to Austin.  They stood together in the driveway, unsure of what to say.

                “I’ll be back in a few weeks,” London promised.  “It’ll take some time for me to get things in order and then I’ll be back.”

                Berlyn gave her sister a big hug.  “I know you will.  Everything will be okay now. I know that.”

                “Did the voice in your head tell you that,” London asked, only half joking.

                “No,” Berlyn answered.  “I just know that it will.”

                “Are you sure that you don’t want to come down there with me?  I could use the company,” London said hopefully.

                “Nah, you go on.  I’ll hold down the fort up here.  If things get weird, I’ve got Bevo.  We can take care of things.  Just hurry back.”

                “I will,” London promised.

                Berlyn stood in the driveway and watched as London pulled out of the driveway and disappeared into traffic, then turned and went back inside the house.  When she walked in, the TV suddenly sprang to life.  At her side, Bevo growled and bared his teeth.

                “Stop it Bevo,” she chided.  “It can’t hurt us anymore.”

                She walked through the living room and into the hall.  Once she entered the hall, the door slammed shut.  On the other side, Bevo began to desperately claw at the door. She tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge.  She heard the shrill whine and felt the heaviness in the air.

                Down the hallway, she saw the creature for the first time.  It’s small, hairy body heaved with each breath and it made that bizarre gurgling sound. Bevo was going crazy in the living room but he couldn’t get through.  As it began to stomp to stomp toward her, Berlyn heard the voice in her head again.

                You were wrong.

Author's Note

This is a short story that has been sitting in my desk for years so I decided to dust it off. I'm interested in any feedback that you want to give. Thanks for reading!