Four black specks looked like they were hovering in one place but as Ted watched they gradually they got bigger and the whining sound got louder. He stumbled and almost fell backwards, his city boots slipping on the dry leaves, trying to keep his eye on the specks. Then he ran through the trees, whining getting louder, brittle fallen branches snapping underfoot. He had made it as far as the lake when they came crashing down from above. He dove for the water but they scooped him up in their net before he hit the surface, struggling now and twisting in the rope web as they flew him up above the trees, his bare arms getting all cut up. He couldn’t really see them from down there, just black silhouettes against the sun. They looked almost human, flying like airborne superheroes.

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Darla bit her lip and stared at the grey sky that glowed a flickering orange in the distance, above the sharp, silhouetted spires of the mansion. She got back on her bike and bumped down the cobblestone streets toward the village, picking up speed, the lightweight black fabric of her dress flowing and jerking in the wind. Cats darted out of her way and wizened farmers slammed worn, wooden doors with her passing.

The closer she came to the blaze, the colder she felt and began to physically tremble. She pulled her bike up to a small store with a freezer box for ice cream and two old, dirty tables out front. A young boy was at one table, drinking a soda, finishing an ice-cream. Hugging herself and trembling she went in to the dark interior of the store where an old woman with shiny beady eyes stared at her intently. Darla stared back, seeing the woman had no nose and her head looked like a shriveled apple with nail-heads for eyes.

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Martin dropped the wooden drawer on the cement floor, releasing a filthy cloud of dust and some dead spiders. The old linens fell out, stained and reeking of mildew. Then a snake poked its head out from between the ratty sheets and tested the air with its tongue. Martin froze, staring at the snake. Then he ran out of the room. The snake came out further and a tiny bare-chested Amazon could be seen riding it, pushing the sheet off as the snake emerged. “Where’d Martin go?” the Amazon demanded with a slightly Southern twang.

“Fuck if I know,” said the snake. “He’ll be back though, probably with a hoe or a baseball bat or something.” The Amazon shook her black mane of hair. “Yeah, but we’ll be long gone, right, Sam?” She chuckled.

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