Hello Dolly...

The Spider and The Fly

Mandy decided when the time was right, she'd tell her Aunt and Uncle that as soon as she was old enough (with money saved up) she would move out and take Nicky with her. No amount of protest would convince her to change her mind. She hated having to rely on anyone anymore. She was grateful for her Aunt and Uncles kindness, but she felt that her and her brother were overstaying their welcome.

There was enough kids, for her Aunt and Uncle to raise. The soonest she could, she'd take her parents place. It felt like it was her duty and responsibility to care for him in her parents stead. Their parents had taught her well and she felt that they would be proud of any decision she made. She was confident they'd approve. Besides, Mandy was the only one Nicky listened to anymore. And even that was starting to push it.

She had to practically manhandle her brothers compliance to set terms on him leaving the house. On that note, Mandy looked at the clock on the night stand. She silently cursed. Was that the real time? It was well past time for Nicky to be home. Sure every so often he was late. He liked to stop by and see Cody. She hated it, but allowed it reluctantly. She glared at the clock for what felt like twenty minutes. Nicky was never this late. Either he was jackassing it out there, trying to piss her off, or something was wrong.

Sure, Nicky had gotten really good at karate, but he was still a novice. The bigger, stronger kids could still do a lot of damage. Not to mention the shadowy presence that hunted them. She could sense it crouching in the dark ready to spring at them. The siblings always felt, like mice in a mouse trap. Actually, to be more accurate, it was like living on a boat over the ocean with thousands of sharks, that you couldn't see. All the creatures swimming just below, getting hungrier and hungrier. You could feel something's wrong, but you couldn't understand it. Not until the boat springs a leak and cuts open your leg in the process. Hell was pacing around them, waiting for that opening. Mandy didn't know how long she could keep patching up holes.

She felt ants crawling all over her body, dancing softly to a tune telling her she needed to go now. She shot to her feet and ran. Grabbing a coat, she yelled over her shoulder, to her Uncle, that she'd be back before dinner. She didn't hear what he said, as she raced out of the house.

Following his usual route home, she could see a small figure, in the distance. She knew it was her little brother before she reached him. Why was he just standing there? She frowned. He looked so close, yet far away. She was out of breath, ready to bitch up a storm, when she caught sight of his pale face.

No words could describe, the horror he was showing. It stretched his features into sharp points, aging him up by three or four years. His arm hairs stood on end. He was sweating heavily through his clothes. He looked like he'd either ran for hours, nonstop, or he'd fallen into a pool of ice water. He was shaking, his eyes peered ahead, seeing something she couldn't, he closed his eyes slowly. Whatever it was was terrorizing her little brother. That pissed her off on a level she had never felt in her short lifetime. She was ready to kill. And that's when his eyes started bleeding. He opened his mouth and screamed.

********

Nicky stopped in place to gather his thoughts. It was pretty much a straight forward way home; did he unknowingly make a turn? Unlikely, he thought. He'd become more aware noticing his surroundings, if he was lost it was because someone, or something wanted it that way.

Nicky was no fool. He knew the things he saw, weren't seen by anyone else; with the exception of Mandy maybe. Not even the cousins nearest to his age, saw anything. He'd asked his cousin Colin if he had seen anything standing outside his window, the day he found out his mom, dad, and brother were dead. Colin looked at him oddly, he hadn't seen anything weird. So it was just Mandy and him. This was something one usually found in a Steven King novel, except he wasn't some main character in a book.