Ruby 8

Sometimes in the most desperate of times, even the soul of the most cold-hearted person will cry out to God in a thin hope of salvation. Ruby hadn’t always been the most devout church-going woman, but she wasn’t a complete skank either. Working at a bar, she saw some pretty horrible lowlifes. She saw the ugliness in mankind. But then again, she saw some wonderful people as well. She knew that there was always hope. Except now…she wasn’t so sure.

The house enveloped all three people in a shroud of heat, stink, and darkness. Ruby was still clutching the boy to her, trying to keep him from running out the door and into the clutches of whatever was prowling in the night. The boy whimpered in her arms, his cries silenced but not completely stopped. Ruby was thankful that he had stopped clawing and pinching at her though. She was going to be bruised like hell in the morning…if she was still alive. Beside her, she could hear Gran’s labored breathing. She hoped that the old woman was doing okay. Fear can do a lot to a person…and Gran wasn’t in the best of health to begin with.

For a second, Ruby thought about pouring them all a shot of the corn liquor that she had brought to Gran earlier. God! That seemed like such a long time ago! Instead, she closed her eyes and prayed for spiritual alcohol to calm her nerves. She wasn’t sure if God would even bother to listen to her…but she needed to talk.

“That’s right child,” Gran whispered beside her, “Pray…pray like you’ve never prayed before. Whatever that thing was out there was pure evil. I could feel it.”

Ruby could feel it even now. The air had turned from the haze and heat of summer into the cold chill of winter as the creature had bore down on them. They had all turned and ran into Gran’s house, slamming the door behind them. Ruby didn’t want to think about what would have happened if it had caught them…but she suspected that they would all be dead by now.

“Why doesn’t it come in?” she questioned out loud.

“I don’t know child,” Gran’s hand found her shoulder in the darkness, “I honestly don’t know.”

Ruby sat and listened some more. When they had first run into the house, she could still hear the creature snuffling around at the doors and windows. She had known that it would just burst through with a snarling tangle of claws and fangs…but it hadn’t. And then, the sounds had quieted…and vanished.

“Do you think that it’s gone child?” Gran asked beside her, “I don’t hear it anymore.”

“I don’t hear it either Gran,” Ruby whispered back, “But I don’t think that it is gone. Can’t you feel that?”

The air still held some of the unnatural chill. It felt cold and clammy against Ruby’s skin…like the touch of the dead.

Just then, she heard a voice call out from outside. It was a voice that she instantly recognized. It was a voice that she had been dying to hear for a few days now….it was Joe Neace.

“Ruby?” Joe called out, “You all in there? Are you all right?”

Ruby’s heart started beating wildly. How had Joe found them here?

“Joe?” she cried out, “Is that you?”

“Yeah,” he called back, “I was out this way and I saw your car. The power lines are down and I thought that I would check on you. This dang power is out all the way to town!”

“JOE!” Ruby screamed, running toward the door, “There is something out there! Do you see anything?”

“Bless that boy’s heart for coming all the way out here,” Gran’s voice shook with emotion from behind her.

“No,” Joe’s voice rang out, “I don’t see a thing. Of course, it’s so dark out here that I can’t see much of anything. Can I come inside?”

Ruby was just about to invite Joe to come on in when Ruby felt the boy run up behind her. She reached out to grab him, thinking that he was going to run out the door. Instead, he ran into her arms and grabbed hold of her head.

“NO!” the boy shouted, “Don’t invite it in! It can’t come in unless you invite it in! If you do….we’ll all die!!!”

Ruby was shocked. What was the kid saying? He sounded like a crazy person. At first, she thought about just telling him to hush up and inviting Joe in anyway. She knew that it sounded awful, but she wanted to have a man around. It was some sort of primal thing.

“Ruby honey,” Joe’s voice called out again, “Is everything okay? Can I come on in?”

And then she could feel it. The coldness had returned. She could sense it….standing and trembling right outside the door. She had been so excited about hearing Joe’s voice that she had been ignoring it. But now….she could feel it. And she knew…..what she had been talking to wasn’t Joe.

And then the voice changed. It was no longer Joe’s reassuring voice speaking to them now. It was something much darker…full of pain and anger.

“You’re all going to die,” it screamed out in agony, “And your death will be painful and long. And I’m going to start with you Ruby. I’ll save the boy for desert.”

Screams rang out in the darkness. It took Ruby a second to realize that the screaming was her own.

Until next week….class dismissed.