Keene Brian - A Gathering of Crows

“You’re going to attract attention,” his wife said.

“Whatever is—”

A long, agonized wail cut her off. They couldn’t tell from which direction it had originated, but it sounded nearby.

“It’s getting closer,” Jerry said. “I think that was next door.”

“I want to go home,” Stephanie sobbed. “My parents and my little brother are at home. I need to be there with them.”

Randy glanced at Sam, annoyed that he wasn’t doing more to comfort Stephanie. If it had been Randy, he’d have stroked her hair and whispered soothing words and promised her that everything would be okay. Sam did none of these things. He merely sat there, mute and dumbstruck. He looked uncomfortable, and when he glanced up and saw Randy glaring at him, he shifted uneasily. The couch cushions groaned beneath him.

“You can’t go home right now, sweetheart.” Cindy reached over and patted Stephanie’s knee. “But I’m sure your family is fine.”

Stephanie didn’t look up from Sam’s chest. Her voice was muffled. “How do you know?”

Cindy opened her mouth to respond, paused, looked at the others and then closed her mouth again. She removed her hand from Stephanie’s knee and wiped her eyes. Randy noticed that his mother’s hand was shaking.

“We don’t know,” Jerry said, and Randy got the impression that his father was talking to himself rather than to the rest of them. “That’s the problem.”

“Let’s try calling them again,” Sam suggested. “Maybe try calling Marsha’s cell phone again, too, while we’re at it.”

Jerry shook his head doubtfully, but before he could speak, another volley of gunfire echoed down the street. He flinched.

“It sounds to me like somebody is going door-to-door, shooting folks.”

“Maybe we’re just hearing people fighting back,” Randy suggested, trying to sound brave for both his mother’s and Stephanie’s sakes. “Could be that—”

Something thudded against the back of the house.

Slowly, all of them turned to face the kitchen and the sliding glass doors that led out onto the patio and the Cummingses’ backyard. Even Stephanie looked up. Randy’s breath caught in his throat when he caught sight of her tear-streaked cheeks. They glistened in the dim candlelight. A lump formed in his throat. Then his attention was drawn to the flame atop the candle. It flickered and danced as if blown by a slight breeze, but the air inside the house was still. He looked up to see if anyone else had noticed it, but they were all focused on the patio doors. The thudding sound returned, followed a second later by something scuffing across the patio’s cement foundation.

“What was that?” Cindy mouthed.

“Stay here,” Jerry whispered. “I’m going upstairs to get the gun.”

Unlike most of the men (and many of the women) in Brinkley Springs, Jerry Cummings wasn’t much of a hunter. As a result, Randy hadn’t spent much time hunting either. He’d gone out a few times with Sam and Sam’s father and uncle, but he’d found it didn’t interest him. Randy didn’t like the cold or the tedium. Despite his lack of enthusiasm for hunting, he did enjoy target shooting, and his father had taken him out to the woods many times and let him shoot the family’s Kimber .45, which Jerry kept secured in a lockbox on the dresser. They’d killed many empty soda cans and plastic water bottles.

His father motioned at all of them. “Don’t move. Don’t make a sound. I’ll be right back.”

As he started for the stairs, something brushed against the glass on the other side of the patio doors. Cindy gasped and Stephanie whimpered. Sam moaned, his eyes wide. He hugged Stephanie tightly, and Randy wondered if it was to comfort her or himself. The sound came again, more forceful this time. The doors rattled in their frame. Then something tapped the glass.

Jerry ran for the stairs and took them two at a time. They heard his footsteps above them as he hurried toward the bedroom. The tapping sound continued, slow and rhythmic. Clenching his fists, Randy stood. It seemed to him that it took a very long time to do so. His heart pounded and his ears felt like they were on fire. Unable to see past the curtains that covered the sliding glass doors, he slowly crossed the living-room floor. Sam, Stephanie and his mother watched in horror.

“Randy!” Cindy reached for him. “Get back here.”

Tap… tap… tap…

He shook his head, not bothering to turn around.

His mother called for him again, louder this time. Still not looking back, Randy waved his hand impatiently and continued toward the kitchen.

“Dude…” Sam made a choking noise. “You heard what your dad said.”

Randy ignored them both. The only words of concern he wanted to hear were from Stephanie, but fear seemed to have rendered her mute. He stared at the doors, wondering what was out there.

Tap-tap… tap-tap… tap-tap…

Swallowing hard, Randy strode forward, his mind made up. Whatever was out there, he wasn’t going to let it fuck with his friends and his family any longer. He kept his gaze focused on the doors and felt the living-room carpet give way to linoleum floor beneath his feet. He skirted the kitchen table and drew closer. It was darker in the kitchen than in the living room, and Randy wished for a moment that he’d brought the candle with him.

The tapping became more insistent, changing to a rapid-fire staccato. Randy stopped in front of the sliding glass doors and realized that whatever was making the sound was doing it from near ground level. He reached for the curtains and hoped that Stephanie couldn’t see his hand shaking.

“Randy Elmore Cummings…”

Randy cringed, his hand pausing in midair.

Frightened or not, his mother clearly meant business. She only used his middle name when she was seriously pissed off at him. Worse, that middle name had now been revealed to his best friends—both of whom he’d managed to keep it secret from for the past eighteen years. Shaking his head, he reached again for the curtains. The tapping grew louder, as if whatever was on the other side of the patio doors was agitated at the delay. His fingers brushed against the coarse fabric.

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap…

A hand slammed down on his shoulder and squeezed hard. Randy yelped, both in pain and surprise. He looked up, and his father was beside him, clutching the handgun in one fist. Even though he’d fired it many times in the past, the weapon looked bigger than Randy remembered.

“Dad—”

Removing his hand from his son’s shoulders, Jerry raised one finger to his lips. Randy fell silent. The tapping on the glass resumed, frantic and angry.

With it came a dry, rustling sound. Randy held his breath. Jerry grasped the curtain and pulled it aside.

A large black crow stood on the other side of the glass, tapping at the doors with its beak. It stopped, tilted its head up and stared at them. Both Randy and his father exhaled at the same time. Then Jerry laughed.

“What is it?” Sam called. “What’s out there?”

Jerry turned around to face them. “It’s just a bird. That’s all. Just an ugly old crow. Big sucker, too.”

The others murmured among themselves, and Randy, whose attention was still focused on the bird, heard the relief in their voices. He tried to speak, tried to get their attention, but suddenly he had no breath. The bird was changing. As he watched, it turned shadowy, blurred. And then it changed .

A tall man, dressed all in black, stood on the patio where only a second before there had been a crow. He grinned at Randy, revealing rows of white teeth. Too many teeth. Randy didn’t think human beings were supposed to have that many in their mouths.