Hungry Independents (Book 2) (20 page)

She stood and turned to find Samuel and Dylan
staring at her. Their mouths hung open like they had their own
plans on how to trap the flying insects.

“You’re… you are…” Dylan tried to say.

“You’re glowing, Molly,” Samuel said.

Margaret smiled and opened her hands. She
held twin circles of light. “I need you to take these. We’re going
down there and this will protect you.”

Samuel stared at the light she offered, but
made no move to touch it. “That’s crazy. This is crazy. What is
that?” He stepped back. “Who are you?”

“Samuel,” she snapped. “I am your friend and
I’m telling you to take the light. It’s a gift that has been given
to us to help everyone trapped down there. It won’t hurt. Take it.
Or I will rip your shirt to shreds.”

His mouth dropped open again. He narrowed his
eyes at her. “You wouldn’t dare.”

She smiled and stepped toward him. “Please,
we don’t have time to waste.”

“Just don’t hurt my shirt.” Samuel reached
out and grabbed the light from her hand. It seeped into his palm
and shot through his body. Margaret knew he felt the same euphoric
transformation from the power of the Lord’s holy light. Samuel now
glowed as brightly as her, wrapped in a cocoon of power and
protection. His smile gleamed with magnificence.

“Okay, Dylan. We need your help too.”

Dylan stepped up and took the light without a
word. His skin blazed, and together the three of them appeared as
stars sent down to walk the Earth.

“Now,” Margaret said. “Follow me.”

She spun towards town and sprinted down the
hill with abandon. Her feet barely touching the ground, she felt
like she was leaping the whole way there. Houses and trees blurred
as they crossed the half mile from Dylan’s house to Main Street in
seconds. Margaret and the two boys drove into the center of town,
and as their lights pierced the heart of the storm, the bugs fell
in lifeless piles. The swarm of insects curled away to avoid them,
hovering near the two story rooftops, unwilling to come down any
farther.

“They’re afraid of us,” Dylan said.

Samuel laughed like he’d had a little too
much of his homemade wine. “I always thought bug zappers were cool.
I just never thought I’d be one.”

Margaret took in the situation. Every window
on Main Street had shattered. Tendrils filled with grasshoppers
dipped down into some of the buildings, like festering streams
running in and out. The sight sickened Margaret. She prayed they
were not too late.

Margaret pointed to Brittany’s. “Everybody’s
in the cafeteria. You guys get in there and drive the remaining
bugs out.”

Samuel nodded. “What are you going to
do?”

“Ginger,” Margaret said and ran to Luis’s,
where a long tongue of the swarming cloud streamed into the broken
window of the clinic. Margaret jumped through the window frame,
right into the thick, swirling chaos that had nowhere to hide from
the Lord’s light. The place exploded with bugs dropping, followed
by screeching and movement as the panicky insects struggled away
from Margaret’s path to the safety outside.

A naked bloody lump lay by the far wall.
Margaret’s rage surged. And then sorrow threatened to take her out
of action when she recognized what was left of the tawny hair on
the head of her best friend, but the Lord’s light kept her
strong.

The baby’s crying came from behind a closed
door down the small hallway in back. The door swept open and a
wild-eyed Scout burst through, brandishing a mop.

He shaded his eyes from Margaret’s light.
“Molly, is that you? Where’s Ginger?” But then he saw her on the
floor and stumbled into the wall. “Oh, sweet Jesus!”

Margaret rushed forward and gripped his
wrists. A small amount of her light seeped into him and he calmed.
The baby screamed from where Scout had left little James safely in
the restroom.

“Go tend to the baby while I see about
Ginger,” she said.

He nodded like that was the most reasonable
thing he’d heard all day. Scout turned down the hallway, dimly lit
by the glowing light he now carried. She knew the light would be
enough for Scout to soothe James as well.

Margaret knelt next to Ginger and gently held
her bloody hand. She still lived, but the mass of bugs had gnawed
at her skin. The pain and the crush of their numbers must have
knocked her unconscious. Margaret touched Ginger’s head and
confirmed the concussion.

The baby stopped crying and Margaret heard
Scout gently singing to little James. She thought her heart might
burst when she recognized the song, “Jesus Loves Me.”

She closed her eyes and blocked everything
out except for the need to heal Ginger. The conduit of light the
Lord supplied filled her with strength and power. Margaret rested
her other hand above Ginger’s still beating heart and made the
connection between her friend’s mind and soul so that the body
could be healed. She prayed again and a surge of power from the
light covered Ginger’s torn flesh. Margaret breathed in the light
and held the tension of that pain until she opened her eyes,
releasing all of it.

The glow shot from Luis’s clinic into the
roaring cloud above Main Street where it suffused like lightning
rolling in a thunderhead. The flying insects lifted higher and
moved away until the natural light of day returned.

Margaret’s light was depleted, spent in the
service of saving her friend. Ginger lay naked on the floor, her
hospital gown in shreds and her wounds healed.

Margaret remained conscious due to the
generous help she had received. Still she swayed from the light’s
absence. Unable to stand, she crawled to the bed and pulled the
fitted sheet from the mattress to cover Ginger.

Scout slowly entered the room with James, the
expectant look of sorrow creasing his face. He stopped—sorrow
swapped with surprise.

“How is he?” Margaret asked.

Scout stared at her, then back to Ginger,
then finally down to the little sleeping bundle in his arms. He
smiled. “He’s perfect.”

“That’s good,” Margaret said, curling up next
to Ginger and closing her eyes.

“What happened? How did she get better?”

With her eyes still closed, Margaret wiggled
her fingers at him. “Magic.”

“You’re not funny.”

“Yeah, I’ve been told that before.”

Something screeched outside. The sound
traveled along Main Street, bouncing off the buildings in echoing
waves. Margaret opened her eyes and pushed herself up. Scout handed
her baby James. His feet crunching through the dead bugs and broken
glass scattered on the floor, he headed toward the empty window
frame.

James opened his bright blue eyes that
reminded her of Catherine. The smell he carried in his pants
reminded her of something else. She searched around for a clean
diaper and found one under an upturned table.

“You’re not going to believe this,” Scout
said from the window.

She quickly changed little James and wrapped
him up in his blanket like she’d done for thousands of babies in
other lifetimes. She had already guessed what was walking the
streets outside and it made her heart sink. All that was left was
the description.

“Some tall, creepy dude is standing out
there. He’s looking for something.”

Margaret held James close and kissed his
cheek.

“Food,” she said, but Scout didn’t hear
her.

“I bet he’s looking for trouble,” he
said.

Jimmy’s head throbbed and he thought that was
really weird, considering. He tried lifting his hands to check out
the situation and found his arms restricted, as well as his legs,
and realized he was tied up.

That was totally weird, considering.

He opened his eyes and took a deep breath of
carpet fibers where his face was currently planted. He knew that
was absolutely weird, considering he was supposed to be dead.

Jimmy rolled his head to the side and coughed
out the dust and stray hair from the carpet. His mouth already held
many other disgusting flavors. What he wouldn’t give for a glass of
water and some toothpaste.

“What’s it doing now?” Catherine asked.

Mark looked back into the front door. “The
cloud is heading out towards the fields.”

“That’s what I thought it would do,”
Catherine said, sounding like this cloud was the worst thing to
ever happen in the world, or at least in Independents.

The events before he passed out rushed back
to Jimmy all at once, and now he knew he was lying on Billy’s
carpet, but everything beyond that got really weird. He remembered
the confrontation with Billy. How Billy had obviously lost his
mind, with all the talk about eating Mark and Catherine, and then
he remembered sinking into Billy to try and stop him.

Mark was staring at him. “He’s awake
now.”

“He is?” Catherine came around so Jimmy could
see her. Her forehead was bruised and a frown crossed her lips. Her
eyes grew wide when she looked at Jimmy. “Oh!”

“What’s happening? How can I be all tied
up?”

Mark quickly stepped back into the house,
carrying an aluminum bat and looking absolutely terrifying with the
way he held it. “You’re tied because you’re some kind of sick,
twisted freak. You’re lucky I don’t brain you right now and be done
with it.”

Catherine placed her hand on Mark’s arm, the
one holding the bat. “Mark, will you give me a moment to speak with
him, please?”

“Sure, speak away, and then I’ll brain
him.”

Jimmy squirmed in his bonds but quickly
stopped when Mark took a menacing step forward. He tried to shrink
or melt into the carpet fibers. Neither amazing feat happened. He
held his breath and prayed he wasn’t brained on the spot.

“I need to speak with him alone,” Catherine
told Mark.

“I don’t think so. This crazy bastard might
try and chew through the ropes.”

“He won’t do that, silly. I can handle this,
trust me. Just stay outside the door and I’ll scream real loud if I
need you.” She emphasized her request by placing her hands on her
hips like she meant business and Mark was delaying progress.

Mark looked at her then at Jimmy. He pointed
the bat and the tip of the barrel swung an inch from Jimmy’s nose.
“I’ll be right outside, Billy. If she even makes a peep loud enough
to be considered a scream, I’m running in here and putting this in
the center of your skull. You got me, right? Shake your head once
for yes.”

Jimmy shook his head once even though Mark
had called him Billy. Something was totally wrong and Jimmy needed
answers now.

Mark walked out into the fading sunset. Jimmy
realized he must have been unconscious for a while since it had
been mid-afternoon when they confronted Billy.

“I was wondering where you were.” Catherine
kneeled next to him.

“What is happening? Am I who I think I
am?”

Catherine cocked her head and smiled. “That
didn’t make any sense, silly.”

“You know it’s me and not Billy, right?”
Jimmy said.

“Of course. I knew the moment I saw your
eyes. They are the gateways to the soul, you know. You can’t hide a
soul as big as yours anyways.”

“But how is this possible?”

Catherine shrugged. “Possession would be my
first guess. But I’ll have to investigate before I can say for
sure. Do you mind?” She raised her hands and held them above Jimmy,
ready to do something miraculous.

“Go ahead. Knock yourself out.” Jimmy’s voice
sounded nothing like him. “This is the most excitement I’ve had in
months.”

Catherine laid her hands on his head and
bowed her own. A wind tore through the front door, blasting dust
around the room. Jimmy felt a strange stirring in his chest like a
giant fish swimming in a small bowl. Catherine’s hands started
glowing and the fish grew agitated and thrashed wildly. Jimmy was
unable to do anything but wiggle because of his bonds. His stomach
rippled and his arms strained against the rope cutting into his
wrists. He felt a scream ripping him apart from his toes to the top
of his head and fire burned in every nerve, melting his skin and
setting his bones ablaze. He searched, but only saw light, and
wanted nothing more than to tear away and scurry into darkness.

The light continued pulsing through him,
chasing the big fish until it gripped the creature in both hands
and yanked it out, freeing Jimmy’s borrowed body from the entity’s
powerful presence. A terrible apparition writhed in the air above
him, trapped by Catherine’s light. Another gust of wind blew in
through the door and the creature’s form shattered into a thousand
fragments.

Jimmy watched the light dissipate with
nervous tension still holding him rigid. Catherine knelt above him,
panting like she ran a race and smiling because she won first
place.

Mark stood in the doorway, tightening his
grip on the baseball bat. “What happened?”

Catherine, still breathing hard, turned her
head. “Had to… chase away … a demon.”

Mark narrowed his eyes. “So what do we do
with him now?”

Catherine winked at Jimmy. “You can untie
Billy. He’s going to be fine.”

Mark walked over, looking unconvinced. He
tapped the bat against Billy’s chest. “Is that right, Billy? Are
you okay?”

Catherine pushed the bat away. “Would you
stop, silly? You’re scaring him. I told you he was okay.”

“Yeah, but I want to hear him tell me.”

Jimmy swallowed. “I’m okay, Mark,
really.”

He said it, but he didn’t believe it. How can
you call possession being okay? Sure Catherine had chased something
away, but what was Jimmy? He was another something. And where the
heck had Billy gone? Jimmy had questions, but Catherine was up to
her secretive routine and he figured it best to play along until
they had a private moment together when he could make her tell him
everything.