Maleficarum: Hunger of the Witch (5 page)

“Sh
it,” she muttered as she pushed her back against the cool tile that lined the walls and slid into a sitting position. She knew it was probably not a good idea to be sitting on the floor of a bathroom that Nick maintained, but she needed to be close to the ground. Resting her head in her hands, she repeated to herself, “Just breathe.” Beverly had no clue how long she had sat there before she heard a light knock at the door.

“How
are you doing?” Nick said from the other side.

“I’ve been better.”

“Can I come in?”

“Y
eh,” she said, still cradling her head in her hands.

The door
eased open, and Nick peeked inside. Beverly never looked up as he came into the room. He stood above her, looking like a helpless child before he gathered the nerve to slide in beside her, gently resting his arm on her bare shoulders. His skin was almost as soft as hers. Normally she would have thought this was sexy, but they were in a survival situation. Beverly longed for a more masculine grip—one that was rough and callused from years of hard labor, one that could crush with sheer power, and one that could scoop her up and carry her away from all this—like her father’s. The old fat construction worker would have handed her his beer, walked outside, and knocked half a dozen of those things out before they took him down. It was a feat she knew Nick could never accomplish with his spindly arms and weak chin.

She raised her head like
a rabbit checking to see if the fox had gone, and as she did, she caught sight of hazel eyes. It was like looking into compassion itself. Instantly she could feel that he would give up far more than his life for her. She still didn’t think he could fight, but at least she knew he would try. She raised her good hand and placed it on his cheek.

“I always liked you
, you know that?” she said timidly, still keeping her eyes locked on his.

“Yes.”

“I’ve been coming in here for three months now. How come you never tried to kiss me?”

“You’re eighteen
. I’m twenty-three.”

“So
?”

“I didn’
t want to take advantage of you,” Nick admitted, hiding his face like a puppy that had been caught chewing on his master’s slippers. Beverly gently pulled his face back to hers, and before he could react, she leaned in and planted a firm kiss on his soft lips. She pulled him in closer, increasing the pressure, as the pressure in her body seemed to release. In that moment, there was only the two of them, and as they parted, Beverly gave a full-lipped smile. When her eyes opened, she could see Nick doing the same.

“That’s one of the things I like about you. You
don’t take advantage of people,” she said, still grinning.

As she finished her words
,
it came
. The tiles on the wall fractured into spider-like patterns. Each crack ripped across grout and dingy tiles. Dozens of them splintered off, forming new cracks that raced to do the same. Chunks fell to the ground like disintegrated glaciers into the sea, and as they hit and shattered, all that was left of them was their hollow ring. Nick clung tightly to Beverly as the walls crumbled around them. In the center of the wall across from them, the breaking tiles formed one sentence:
Sinners will be
.

“They found us,
” Beverly uttered, but the overflowing dread that seemed to drown her let her know she was mistaken. It was something far darker than a human being could ever be. It felt like hate that had been brewing from before time. It was the same sense that had come over her when she saw Nick holding that dreadful book.

“No
, I don’t think it’s the witches,” Nick said. “I don’t know what it is, but I don’t think it likes us.”

“Let’s tell the other
s.”

“No
, there is nothing they can do about it.”

“I think
they’re going to find out as soon as they come in here, anyway. At any rate, let’s get the hell out of here before something worse happens,” Beverly urged as she rose to her feet and went for the door.

Nick followed her into the stock
room, and as they tried to collect themselves, there was a massive crash that shot from the main room. Both Nick and Beverly rushed through the doors and burst into the front of the store, not knowing what horrendous sight they might find.

However, everyone seemed relatively at ease
, and they were still going about their work. The two of them scanned the room till their eyes fell on Ann. She held one of the great tomes from the store over her head, and just as an old-time whale hunter would do, she flung it like a harpoon at one of the display cases. The book smashed through, sending chunks of glass flying. As soon as she could, Ann rushed to the display case.

“What are you doing?”
Beverly asked.

“They have swords
in there,” Ann explained, peering into the wreckage.

“I have a key for that,
” Nick yelled.

“Too late,
” Ann retorted. Despite Ann’s gentle nature, the sound of breaking glass had always satisfied some primal need in her, and if given the opportunity, she never passed it up.

Ann snatched the three biggest swords she
could and rushed them to the others. She passed a long sword to Beverly and a claymore to Nick, and she kept a rapier for herself. She pulled the scabbard off the sword and flicked the tip of the blade into an oak display case. A devilish smile spread over her face. They were all armed now, but the weapons brought little security to anyone but Ann.

“Why do y
'all have swords in a magic shop?” Beverly asked as she looked down at her new silver blade. She ran her fingertips across the sleek golden hilt as she looked to Nick for a response.

“They’re use
d a lot in ritual spell casting,” Nick said.

“Let
’s get back to boarding up this place,” Mike barked. The newly armed crew set back to work, but this time they had weapons that might actually kill something. However, with the number of attackers that Beverly had seen outside, the new weapons gave only a little comfort. Neither Beverly nor Nick said a word about what had happened in the bathroom.

*
* *

They had labored for about
twenty minutes or so when someone knocked at the door. All of their heads snapped to attention. There was no mistaking who it was.

Mike rushed to the door
, pulling his gun from his waistband. “Nick, you and Ann go guard the back door and make sure they’re not trying to fuck us in the ass.”

“Is that what you’re
into?” a youthful voice said on the other side.

Mike smiled a bit
, nearly stammering as he said, “Depends if I’m the one doing the ass-fucking; I can get down.”

“You can fuck
me in the ass. I like it dirty,” the ultra-feminine voice teased.

“Move
to the window so we can see you,” Mike ordered as he turned to check the others’ expressions. Their eyes were locked on the door as dread filled their hearts.

“It
’s a witch,” Beverly whispered to Mike.

“No shit,
” Mike said as he checked the chamber of his gun.

What
ever it was, it was lightly tapping the window to the left. Mike snuck to the pane and peered out, but he tried not to get too close. In the dim light from the porch, he saw her. A beautiful redheaded woman stood completely nude outside. Around her were three other girls, each more angelic than the next, and each naked as naked as could be. The redhead was tall and athletic, with full breasts and toned legs. Her plump lips smirked as she saw Mike make eye contact and quickly look away.

He was blushing as he turned and said to the others
, “Dude, it’s a bunch of hot naked chicks.”

“They’re
evil,” Ann said.

“No shit,
” Mike barked, peeking back out the window. The girls were flawless and everything that a man could wish for.

“So, what
do you want?” he asked, waiting in anticipation.

“To talk
, maybe more,” the redhead hinted coyly, flicking her long hair out of her eyes. Her voice was muffled by the window pane, but it still carried with it the tone of a woman about to have an orgasm.

“Where
are the others?” Mike asked.

“W
e chased the bad witches off into the woods, and we have placed a spell over this land, so they can’t come back,” the fair woman said as the others started to caress her body.

“Is that so?” Mike
was still grinning.

“Yes
…It’s safe, and we wish to reward you for valiantly fighting the forces of darkness. It takes a strong man to do something like that.”

“Doesn’t it
? So how is it you reward such heroes?”

“Any
way they want,” she said, putting as much pout into her lips as she could. Nick tried to say something, but Mike cut him off, pressing his finger to his lips. The look on Beverly’s face seemed to ask, is Mike really that dumb?

“O
K, I’ll tell you exactly what it is I need, but I don’t want the others to hear,” Mike said as he beckoned her with his finger through a hole in the boards. She moved in closer, her pristine face nearly touching the glass. As casually as one changes channels on a TV, Mike stuck his gun to the glass and pulled the trigger. They say beauty never lasts forever. This is especially true when glass and lead are involved. She crumpled to the deck that was now coated in her brains. The other girls scattered into the night like rats whose nest had been disturbed.

“Let’s get back to work,
” Mike uttered coldly as he checked over his gun.

“Ohhhhh
, my God, you killed her,” Beverly cried as the smoke from the shot still hung in the air.

“Yep
.”

Kim spit out between sobs.
“What if she was telling the Truth?”

“What if
? Fuck your what if. Haven’t you ever seen a horror movie, man? I’m surprised they didn’t send someone dressed as a fucking cop. Besides, what hot naked chick just wants to come up and fuck random people? This is the real world, not
Penthouse
letters. Get over it; she’s dead,” Mike screamed. He had just killed a pretty girl, and he knew it was going keep him up at night. His hands trembled, but he did his best not to let the others see. He knew he was right, so he could deal with his sleep being disturbed for the rest of his life.

Just then there was a heavy thud on the door.

“This is the police. Open up. We have reports of shots being fired,” a deep and authoritative voice called out from behind the door.

Mike
’s face twisted with rage. “You motherfuckers,” he growled as he pumped three shots into the door. There was a dull thud on the other side as something heavy flopped to the ground.

“You’re going to have to do better than that
, you satanic pieces of shit!” Mike screamed. His face was now as red as a baboon’s ass, and spit rolled out of his lips. “Fucking told you,” he said as he popped the magazine from his gun and began to reload.

* * *

Nothing else was said as they got back to work. Almost an hour had passed when Nick ran out from the maze with about a dozen bottles and several bags in his arms. It was all the herbs that he had mentioned earlier
,
as well as so
me big bags of bath salts. Without a word, he ripped open the bags and bottles and started pouring the contents around the perimeter of the store.

“What the hell are you doing?” Mike
asked while nailing up a piece of chair over the display window at the front of the store.

“I
’m trying to set a barrier. It should help to stop them from casting spells or busting in,” Nick said.

“I would rather you grab a fucking hammer.”

“I will, but after this.”

“O
K, but make it quick, man.” It didn’t take long for Nick to make his rounds, and then he rejoined the group in barricading the windows.

Beverly and Mike tried to keep as watchful as they could
while they worked, but nothing seemed to be happening outside. That is, until they saw the fire slowly rising. The flames were in plain sight, even through the fog that was still rolling in, but neither Mike nor Beverly saw anyone stack the wood or light the blaze.

“What the fuck
,” Mike grunted. Ann and Kim dropped what they were doing and rushed to the window. From the woods, the hordes reemerged. Nearly all of them were naked, and behind them came the beasts of the fields. Wolves, mad dogs, rabbits, rats, cats, birds, and all manner of frogs and toads emerged. From no place in particular, dreadful, haunting music played. The thin sound of flutes grated over pounding kettledrums, and lutes screamed as if they were being raped. Simple combinations of notes without purpose or thought raked across their ears, and the rumbling of the drums was all that stayed constant. The unholy voices of the hordes began to chant without thought of tone or key. The lights in the store flickered and then shut off as they sang.