Sam Williams - Tales from the Swollen Corpse

The inside wasn’t any more welcoming. The interior was beyond shadowy, becoming pitch black at the ends of the many halls that were within the boys view. Dan produced a small flash light from his pocket but Josh insisted he not use it until they were downstairs or else someone outside might see.

“We’re going to the basement?” Dan asked hesitantly, not sure he wanted the answer.

“That’s where she’ll be. You’re not going to chicken out, are ya?”

Dan wasn’t going to go back after getting this far and told Josh to lead the way. Not far behind the librarian’s desk was another staircase, this one leading down. In the passageway, Dan noticed an unpleasant smell. He recalled smelling it earlier and now decided it was coming from his new friend. It reminded him slightly of the dead cat he had once found in his back yard. Not wanting to hurt the guy’s feelings, he didn’t say anything as they made their way down.

Josh opened a door at the bottom of the stairs. Dan was surprised to see a fluorescent light on. Hanging from the ceiling, it flickered and partially illuminated the room. Some boxes and a rusted cart lined the wall but other than that it was mostly empty. In the center of the room were two small circles drawn in white chalk on the concrete floor. Around the circles were black candles, their flames seemed to burn an odd blue.

“What are those for?”

“They are protection circles; as long as you stand in them she can’t harm you when she comes.”

Dan wondered where his friend learned to make such things. He also started feeling quite a bit out of his league. Suddenly the room got very cold. Before he could comment about it, the door slammed shut behind them.

“Hurry Dan, get into the circle, she’s coming.”

Dan didn’t need any more encouragement. He stepped into one of the circles, which were just big enough for him to stand without touching a candle with his foot. He watched as Josh did the same. He found it odd that Josh was grinning almost ear to ear, but before he could think about it much the light went out. It was pitch black around him except for the candles, whose blue flames didn’t seem to illuminate more than a foot in any direction.

Dan stood there in silence for a moment, then called Josh’s name; a peculiar hush was the only reply. Then, after a moment of more silence, came a strange clacking sound. The sound got closer and louder. Every hair on Dan’s body stood on end and a chill ran down his spine. Then the candle flames grew and a face came into view outside Dan’s circle, it hovered a few inches from his face.

It was Agnes and she stared at him with the same black eyes from the picture. The clacking noise was coming from her teeth, which she bared while chattering them together. The way she looked and clicked her teeth gave her an inhuman and lifeless appearance, like a puppet.

Fearing breaking the circle, Dan pulled his arms against himself tighter. Not able to look at the horrible apparition anymore, he turned and looked towards Josh who was now illuminated by the ever growing flames that surrounded them. Josh’s flesh was falling from his face and arms like melting wax, exposing something hideous underneath. As each bit of Josh’s true flesh underneath was exposed, it turned to dust and floated up into the air. Dan then saw the same dust was falling on him inside the circle. It was causing his skin to burn and itch.

Dan let out a crying scream, “What is happening?”

A ghastly woman’s voice replied from the darkness all around him, while the witch continued to chatter. “My familiar needs new flesh. We need your flesh Daniel.”

The flames were very high now. Dan tried to kick the candles but they didn’t move. In desperation he turned and jumped through the flames. He found his way in the darkness beyond the light of the blue flames to the door. He struggled to get it open while the chattering got closer.

“Clack, Clack Clack”

It now sounded inches from his ear. Finally with a hard pull that left his arm sore; the door opened.

Tripping on the stairs, Dan remembered his flashlight and pulled it out. He didn’t hear anything follow. On the top landing, he turned and shined the light down to make sure. Just a couple of steps down, was the top of Josh’s half dissolved head. He was slowly but steadily making his way up without a sound. Dan bolted back out through the lobby and out the front door to the bushes where his bike was hidden.

Dan rode his bike home faster than he ever had before. He had to take a break on his porch so his heavy breathing wouldn’t wake up his mom. After quietly scrubbing his skin in the kitchen sink, he peered out the front window. The street seemed dark and silent. In his bed, he lay thinking he would never sleep again. Dan fell sound asleep when the comforting rays of sunlight came through his window.

He woke moments later to pitch blackness and a horrible smell. Somewhere in the darkness, he heard a chatter.

Michael couldn’t believe he was in his old neighborhood. He had spent most of his life putting distance between it and him. A task that wasn’t always easy, money was sometimes tough, but it was guilt that proved to be the biggest barrier. Especially after his dad passed, not a day went by that he didn’t get a call from his mom to remind him he was all she had left.

He strolled down the street looking at the crab grass growing between the uneven sections of sidewalk, occasionally looking up at the houses as he passed. Most gave the illusion of being unchanged by the diligent upkeep of their owners. A few weren’t so loved and showed their true age impudently, and all seemed to stand ominously under the afternoon sky.

The field was three more houses down. He hoped to find a new development there, at least new to him. With every step it was clearer; things didn’t seem to change much here. Once he was past the last house, he could see the field as he had seen it in his nightmares his entire life. It was a large dirt lot, big enough to build ten more houses. Why they hadn’t was anyone’s guess. It had been his playground up until that day. Many imaginary battles had been fought and bicycle race tracks engineered on its sage spotted surface.

He felt uneasiness, but it was endurable, until he saw them. Out in the middle of the field, perched on the leafless limbs of the only tree, were two crows. They sat there seemingly unaware of Michael. Just the sight of them was enough to bring back the horrid memory he had been hoping to denounce by coming here.

It was twenty eight years ago almost to the day, the summer after fifth grade. He and Cameron had come to the field to shoot cans with Cameron’s new pellet gun. They had walked their bikes to the fence line behind the houses on the far side. Standing there they took turns calling out targets for the other to try to aim at. Cans, rocks and an old TV someone dumped. Then Michael pointed out the large black crow which had just landed on the old tree.

Michael remembered Cameron asking for a new target. His own morbid curiosity got the better of him and Michael teased and prodded his friend. Just as Michael was about to give up and point out a new target, a loud pop echoed across the field and the bird fell to the dirt.

“You shot it.” Michael remembered saying in disbelief. Without a word both boys grabbed their bikes and headed towards the tree to inspect the kill. Their progress towards the tree slowed when another crow landed where the other had been perched. Then another and another, soon the entire tree fluttered with black plumage. As the tree filled so did the air with relentless squawks.

The boys decided to take a wide route around the tree and head back to their street. Once past the tree, a single crow took to the air towards them. Michael and Cameron jumped on their bikes, standing down hard to get traction in the soft dry earth. Michael pedaled with all he had, the street almost under his tire when he heard his friend screaming. Looking back he saw Cameron’s bike lying in the dust and stumbling towards him was a huge black ball of flapping wings. He turned and road harder but the screaming behind him started to fade. Stopping, Michael turned and looked up to see a large orange sun and in front of it, being carried off into the sky by its outstretched arms, was a boy’s corpse. The orange rays showed through the picked clean portions of the carcass.