Michael Hunter - Come Get Me

Maria looked unsure of what to do. Obviously what was happening wasn’t part of her grand plan. She looked around the room like a deer caught in headlights. Her eyes were wide and darting all over the place trying to find the source of the miniature quakes. He’d actually like to know himself.

Glancing at the front entrance to see if maybe Pete was there causing this he saw nothing. He briefly entertained the possibility that Pete might’ve been able to reach someone and they come to the rescue like the proverbial cavalry. Apparently that wasn’t the case. There was some other explanation for what was going on. He just didn’t think he would be around to find out what it was. His vision was blurring quite a bit around the edges. If it wasn’t for the situation it might’ve been kinda interesting but as it was it was just a bad sign of things to come. Looking at Maria he could barely make her out. Between the drifting dirt and dust and his failing eyes she looked more like a ghost than an actual human being.

Jim knew the combination of all his injuries were finally taking there toll on his mind. His body was telling him it was time to shut down for a while and relax. But he couldn’t. There was still a crazy woman with an axe he had to find some way to deal with so he willed his addled mind back to the brink of consciousness. He probably wouldn’t be able to talk her out of killing them but he could try. At the very least he would face his death awake just like his friends had.

“Come on,” he croaked, “this place is getting ready to fall down around our ears. Let’s go. We won’t tell anyone what happened. We’ll all just go our own ways.”

“You won’t tell anyone?” she repeated. “What do you think I am? My name isn’t Johnny. I’m not some puppy dog following someone around so close that if they stopped his head would go up their butt. Give me a little more credit than that.”

“You’re right,” he said gritting his teeth, “obviously something isn’t going according to your plan. Maybe you should just get out of here and leave us. That would work wouldn’t it? Nobody would find us for days. We might even be dead by then.” He couldn’t believe he was saying crap like this but he didn’t really have any choice. A bum arm and a rattled head weren’t the best things to have when trying to negotiate for your life. He was about to say more when the house suddenly shook again worse than either of the previous two times. Things fell from the roof, boards splintered in the walls, a crash sounded from another room then everything stopped. Nothing broke the silence but the echo of the metal on metal sound he kept hearing. It still sounded familiar to him. Almost like something from a dream he’d once had but he couldn’t remember what it was about.

“Well,” Maria said totally forgetting anything Jim might have said, “I don’t have the slightest idea what that was,” then to Jim, “but where were we?” She acted as if she were trying to remember. “Oh yeah, that’s right you were begging for your life like a little girl and I was ignoring you and getting ready to start cutting off little pieces of your body.” She sound really excited about this. “Let’s just make sure this is sharp,” she said as she reached up and plucked some hair from her head. Jim watched the dust cloud out from her head like a man on death row watched his lethal injection be plunged into his

The dust settled about her shoulders and chest but instead of watching what she was doing a slight movement in the doorway behind her caught his eye. He couldn’t see what it was but his heart started beating faster with excitement in anticipation of a rescue. Unfortunately this proved to be just a little too much for his throbbing head and body. As the blood pumped through his veins faster than he was used to a blinding pain shot to his head. He almost thought Maria had somehow kicked him again without him having seen her move. When the pain finally subsided, through blurred vision, he looked past Maria to the door. He could vaguely see the outline of somebody standing in the doorway. No, he had to correct himself, whoever it was filled the doorway. It must have been his injuries but Jim would’ve sworn it looked as if the doorway could barely contain whoever it was. Regardless of what it was it didn’t move. It seemed to be waiting for something.

Maria didn’t seem to notice and Jim had no intention of warning her about his possible rescuer. Instead he stayed where he was and kept his mouth shut. His vision was really starting to play hell with him. It was quickly giving way to blackness. He knew he wouldn’t be able to remain in the world of the wakeful and happy for much longer whether he liked it or not.

Beginning to drift off he remembered what Pete had yelled as he dove out the window earlier. He’d said they’d called the Goatman and that he was coming just like they’d asked. He just needed to wait a little longer. Jim was sure that whatever his pain filled mind was telling him was in the doorway couldn’t be much worse than the Goatman and was I all probability a whole lot better so more power to it. Maria had finished her inspection of the axe and quickly stepped closer to him covering the last few remaining feet between them before raising the thing above her head readying her swing.

“Any last words?” she asked.

“Yeah I think I do have some,” he said after a moment’s hesitation. He’d finally remembered why the ringing sound was so familiar. Unfortunately he couldn’t say anything since a coughing fit seized him. Everything in his line of vision flashed alternately between black and white. It didn’t help him much in his efforts at remaining conscious. Maria obviously hadn’t expected anything from him since the look of glee that had been covering her face turned to a pout as she waited for him to spit out his last words. Once he able to speak again he quietly whispered his final words in this world.

“Goatman,” he said once, “Goatman,” he said again gaining a little more volume, “Goatman,” he almost yelled for a third time, “Come get me! And come get me now!”

It was the most defiant thing he could think of doing at this point. He didn’t know why he’d said those words but somehow it’d felt right. It was almost sad that this was the most he could do in his current state but it would have to do. His head fell back to the floor with a thud causing his vision to fade even more if that were possible.

“What the hell was that all about?” Maria scoffed after she’d made sure she’d heard what she thought she’d heard. Jim barely heard her. The world was quickly leaving him or he was leaving it. He wasn’t sure which. When he opened his eyes he could still make her out but only just barely. He could tell who she was but that was about it. Any details about her escaped him. Not wanting to waste anymore energy he let his eyes shut until they were just barely cracked and all he saw was a sliver of the world in front of him. “Oh well,” she said seeing him drifting off, “time to make Jimmy feel just a little bit of my pain!”

He saw her arms start their downward swing when he suddenly felt the house shudder again. The ringing sound that accompanied it felt like it was piercing his skull. To her credit she only faltered a little but it didn’t matter. The axe was descending on a course that ended somewhere near the middle of his body. Steeling himself for the impact he forced his eyes open so he could at least defy her that little bit but the blow never landed. Instead Maria was knocked from her feet and slammed into a wall across the room by an arm the size of a tree trunk. Jim struggled to sit up but his body still wasn’t letting him do it. If anything he was worse from lying so still for so long. Gathering enough strength he looked toward where Maria had taken flight.