LJ Idol Season 8; Week 23: The Weak Force
“Hey mom, look at the birds.” Ethan was staring out the window and ignoring his breakfast.
Janet briefly glanced out the window toward the yard, “Yeah? What about them?”
“They’re acting weird. They’re in the trees and acting scared. They aren’t eating at the bird feeder like normal.” Janet noticed he pushed his scrambled eggs around with his fork.
“Well maybe they’re not hungry today?” Janet knew Ethan was easily distracted, his ADHD medicine did little to help these days, “Eat your eggs so we can get you to school on time.”
“It’s not just that, they look scared.” Ethan continued staring out the window.
“They’re birds, Ethan. If the wind blows the wrong way, they’re hysterical. Maybe there’s a cat in the yard with them or something.”
“I don’t know, maybe. I just don’t get why they’re huddled together in a tree like that. All kinds of birds too, the trees are full of them of them. If they were scared, wouldn’t they fly away?” His voice went up a pitch or two as his level of anxiety started to rise.
“You know, Ethan... You’re just freaking yourself out like you always do. Stop worrying about the damn birds and let’s go. I don’t know why I even bother making you breakfast anymore.”
Ethan slipped from his seat quietly and grabbed his backpack, “Okay mom.”
“We have to talk to your counselor about these little freak outs of yours, they’re getting out of hand.”
Ethan glanced out the window one more time before heading toward the door.
ooo000ooo
“Mom!” The all too familiar cry came from the next room.
“I’ll be right there, Ethan.” She thought for a moment before adding, “If this is about closing your window because you’re scared again, I already told you we can’t afford the electricity to turn on the A/C... You just have to deal.”
“But there’s a monster in my room.” His voice had a higher pitch than usual.
“I said I’ll be right there!” Another nightmare. God, when would they end.
The wine glass cracked as it hit the sink too hard; the wine bottle missed the trash as she tried to toss it in. Shards of glass sprayed across the floor. Glass everywhere and a kid screaming about monsters under his bed. Could anything go right tonight? She heard some banging around coming from his room followed by high pitch screams. She stumbled down the hall, trying to catch herself on the door before entering.
“Ethan, you know monsters don’t ex-”
She was confronted by a surprising silence. Even the humming of the electricity in the house was gone; the light in the hallway flickered before going out. Her heart raced as she heard a sound like fluttering curtains in the wind, and a small hissing noise coming from the corner.
“Ethan? If this is some kind of joke...”
She stepped into the room. Her feet slipped on something thick, and gooey and she landed flat on her ass. What had he gotten into tonight, she mused. She went to push herself up when her hand touched something warm and unlike anything she’d felt before.
“What the fuck...”
Her eyes finally made peace with the darkness and she focused a bit more on the odd shapes around here. Ethan was lying motionless on the floor and was surrounded by dark shadows. The sound of flesh being torn apart was followed by the crunching of bone. The shadows loomed above Ethan like vultures snacking on a bloody animal carcass.
Her heart felt like it was beating out of her chest, she couldn’t catch her breath. Stumbling, she tried to pull herself up on the bed before falling back down into the mess. Her hand once again landed in the warm moistness of what she now recognized as her son’s intestines.
The hissing around her grew louder, the fluttering surrounded her.
ooo000ooo
“Did you hear that?”
“Yeah, sounds like it came from next door.” Angela’s husband put his paper down and glanced at her.
“It sounded like a scream.” Angela rushed to the window.
“What’s going on?” He didn’t make any move to join her.
“I don’t know...I can’t see anything. Looks like the street lights are out.”
To appease his wife, Todd went outside on the porch and was met with darkness. Even the moonlight that usually cast a glimmer of light along the porch was gone. With no streetlights or other sources of light from the houses around them, it was hard to see. But it looked like there was movement in the windows of their neighbor’s house.
“Honey? You may want to call the cops, it looks like her ex is causing trouble again.”
His wife appeared beside him, “I can’t. The cell phones are dead and the landline is out.”
Todd’s attention was drawn to Janet’s house as he watched a figure emerge from the upstairs window and fly onto her roof. Several more joined it soon after.
“What the fuck is that thing?” Todd watched as the creature turned his attention toward them with eyes that seemed to shine in the darkness, “Angie, get back in the house.”
He could see her hesitation as she tried to make sense of what was happening across the way, so he shoved her in through the door. He slammed the door shut behind them and they were met with darkness as their own lights went out. He threw the lock and the deadbolt, which he rarely had to use in this town.
“Holy shit...” He paced the room for a moment, not sure if he could believe his own eyes.
“What did you see?” Angela looked at her husband, concern showing in her eyes.
Todd couldn't find the words to describe what he saw, he wasn’t sure Angie would believe him if he could. He decided to try to explain it the best way he could.
“Black creatures. With wings.... And they were flying out of her windows...” He collapsed down on the couch, trying to catch his breath.
“Oh no honey, your eyes had to be playing tricks with you in the dark...”
The door shuddered in its frame followed by the splintering of wood as something slammed against the door.
“What the fuck was that?”
THUD. It the door again. The knob from the deadbolt sprang off and hit the floor with a clang.
She tried to run for the window, but Todd grabbed her.
“They aren’t safe...”
Thumping came from above that made bits of plaster from their ceiling settle with each successive tremor. A sound like nails on a chalkboard moved across the roof.
Todd looked up at the ceiling and followed the footsteps from above. “The chimney... They’re going for the chimney. We need to get out of here.”
“The cellar.”
Todd grabbed her by the arm and pulled her down into the basement, shutting the door as he heard crashing coming from the living room. The cellar door that led outside was heavy and rusted, squealing loudly as they opened it. Todd winced and hoped it didn’t draw unwanted attention. Todd pulled himself out and surveyed the yard which appeared empty. He pulled Angela out and they made a break for the woods behind their house.
ooo000ooo
They had hunkered down in a bush, hiding away as best they could. Todd was deep in thought about what was happening when he noticed he was surrounded by the bodies of hundreds of dead birds. Not wanting to scare his wife any more than she already was, he simply remained silent.
“What time do you think it is? It must be close to dawn by now...” Angela leaned into him, and he felt her tremble even as the sweat dripped off her forehead.
“I don’t know. My watch is frozen at 12:03.”
“I can’t wait for the sun to come up, maybe then we can make a run for it?”
Todd kissed his wife’s forehead softly, “Sure honey. Once the sun comes out, we can try to run for help.”
Leaves rustled around them and Todd prayed it was just the wind.
“You don’t really believe there’s help to be found, do you?” She tried to meet his eyes, but he looked away.
“I didn’t say that, now did I?”
“You didn’t have to.” She put her head back down on his shoulder and snuggled in closer. He stroked her cheek gently as twigs snapped in the darkness around them and he knew he had nothing left he could say.