A Snowball's Chance in Hell And Other Stories.

  Chuck turned at the bottom of the steps, stopped, wide-eyed and let out a high-pitched scream. Katie halted at the bottom step and looked around the corner. Amanda stood in the hallway by the front door.

  "You cannot leave me, children. I am this house and it is me. We keep each other eternal and I can be anywhere within its walls." Amanda stepped forward. "Your fat friend will feed us, then my dear Katie, I'm afraid you will have to be punished." She smiled at Katie. "But do not worry, it will pass and we will be the best of friends."

  Chuck had backed himself up against the kitchen door. Quickly, he grabbed Katie by the arm and pulled her in front of him. He shoved her in the back as hard as he could. She careened ahead and crashing into Amanda. Dust filled her eyes and her body jerked as an electric shock went though her. She felt the pull again, dizzy as blackness filled her.

  She woke, dirt choking her. She struggled and pushed and pushed, trying to get air, panicking, trying to scream. She broke free, forcing her head out of the ground. She sucked air into her lungs as she crawled out of the shallow grave. She looked around. It was the cellar of her home, potatoes in a sandy patch of the farthest corner. Shelves of canned vegetables along the wall. She felt hot, anger. After all she had done for that man, he buried her alive in the cellar. She had married him, kept his house, tried to have his children and all she got was a beating and a shallow grave in her own cellar. And that at the word of a liar like Conner. She could feel her husband, he was in the house. In the house with another woman. Fire seemed to fill her veins. Hatred gave her strength. He would pay and so would that slut. She looked down at her hand, the veins in her hand were glowing green and seemed to get stronger as her anger flared. Hunger, too, that grew and made her strong. He would pay, dearly.

  Katie sneezed as the green dust flew. She spun around and looked at Chuck as he pulled the door open and raced into the kitchen. She followed quickly.

  Katie slammed through the door and saw Chuck windmill to a stop. Katie guessed by the bright green glow in front of Chuck that Amanda had made another appearance. She ran and hit Chuck's broad back hard.

  "This time you get to be the one to hit her, Chuck."

  Chuck grunted and screamed as he plowed ahead. Katie kept pushing from behind, channeling all her anger at Chuck, Eddie, Tony and Amanda. She felt a bump and then heard a loud crash as they burst through the door. Green dust flew through the air, catching the breeze and drifting out over the blackberries. Katie kept her hands on Chuck's back, pushing him further down the path.

  "Come on, lard butt, keep moving." Katie said.

  Chuck yelled as they hit the hedge. Katie stopped and whirled around. A loud screech cut through the air, replaced by wood splintering and glass shattering. Chuck dropped to the ground, whimpering. Katie stood, the breeze ruffling her hair as she watched the top story of the house collapse in on itself. She took a deep breath of the cool air, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. The walls of the house were tilting, then slowly leaning further and further out. Finally, they fell, hitting the ground with a bang that sent vibrations up Katie's legs.

  Katie looked over her shoulder at Chuck lying on the ground. She shook her head and turned around. She prodded him with her foot.

  "Come on, get up."

  Chuck looked up at her, tears streaking the dirt on his face.

  "It's safe now, Chuck, she's gone." Katie said, smiling, "She said she and the house were one. We knocked her out of the house, and they both died."

  Chuck slowly stood up. Katie looked at him. "Well, I hope Tony had a spare set of keys." Katie said as she ducked through the hedge and started down the road. "I doubt Eddie waited for us."

  "What are we going to tell people about Tony?" Chuck asked as he staggered after Katie.

  "That he was showing off and went inside the old house. It collapsed and we tried to get him out." Katie looked at him. "Don't worry, I won't tell them what you guys were planning on doing. But don't think that I'll forget, either."

  Katie turned around and stopped. Chuck tripped, caught himself and stopped a foot away from her. Katie reached out and brushed her hand along his cheek. She felt the tingle, but held back from doing more than brushing his memories of himself whimpering as he cowered at Amanda's feet. Katie smiled at Chuck as his mouth dropped open.

  "And you don't want to make me mad, do you, my dear boy?"

  The Spiral Gate

  The moon peeked through my window, moving shadows in the darkened kitchen. The bare, desert hills sparkled in the moonlight, contrasting with the deep shadows cast by my orchards below the hills. I sat alone at the old, scarred wooden table. I felt surrounded by the silence, relaxed into a state of no time and no place, just feeling what is. Quiet, peaceful. No stress, no worries. I heard a loud chuff-snort.

  I listened and heard it again. A chuff-snort, like when a big dog smells something it doesn't like. I stood up, my skirt rustling around my ankles. The noise seemed to be in the kitchen, but it wasn't. I could see the old table and chairs, the ten-year-old stove with one bad burner and the counter with the stainless steel sinks. I turned to look out the window.

  The trees of the orchards created a deep, black background with a few leaves twinkling like stars. The light glimmered off the shed where my father's old restored DeSoto, the accumulated toys and junk of four generations of the Fry clan were stored. The second shed with the tool shop and extraneous parts and bits of the machinery needed for the orchard and the long warehouse for storing crops loomed like gray toads. Scattered around the circular driveway between the house and sheds were tractors, trailers and lifts for picking, hauling and storing the crops. I stepped over to the back door and reached for the light switch while peering out the small panes of glass in the door. My father worked up to twenty hours a day, so he had installed several flood-lights to light up the area between our house and the sheds. I heard the chuff-snort and flipped the light switch.

  Bright lights flickered, came on, lighting the ground with sharp, white light. My old Saturn stood out against the John Deer tractor. Shadows ran and so did something else.

  I didn't recognize it as anything normally skulking around the orchard. I saw a snarl of big teeth. I saw shaggy fur. Teeth, fur and blur. It speed by the door, shifted across the open space into the orchard before I could gasp.

  "Sam?"

  I squeaked. I always do when I'm startled. I have ever since I can remember and now at the old age of twenty-four, I really hate it.

  "I'm sorry, Sam." Moonlight had trouble talking while she giggled. "I thought I heard something, then all the lights went on outside."

  "I heard it, too." I said. "So I turned on the lights." I tried to calm my shaking, no reason to scare the kid. "I think I scared off a coyote or a wild dog."

  "Then it's alright." She smiled, "Let’s go to bed."

  "I'm not really sleepy." I shivered. "I'll stay up a while longer."

  "You're tired Sam, and you've had a long day. Her soft voice slid over me. I yawned. "Samatha," she continued softly, "you have to go to sleep. There's lots to do," her voice faded, "tonight."

  Moonlight flipped off the lights and took my hand. Strange, the still awake part of my mind said, she's only been here a few hours. I hadn't even gotten around to showing her my office and the outside door there. She led me through this old maze of a house, in the dark, like she had always been here. Who is this girl?

  ***

  Earlier, as the sun dropped behind the hills, I drove U.S. 95. Blythe, California lay behind me and home in front and I seethed with hatred for both. Not even the sight of the setting sun drizzling gold and pink over the landscape could cheer me the way it usually did. My family settled out here in the 1920's when my great-grandfather bought the land, cleared it and began our orchard. He said the Fry clan had a duty to protect the land, but the land wore him out and he died at the age of fifty, his son at the age of forty-eight and my father died at forty-nine. This desert land drained the life out of everything. Now,
I had the land and I wanted to get rid of it even if it hurt. Sell it and move to LA or San Francisco. But no one wanted it, or so the real estate agent said, not at the price I asked.

  I hit the halfway point, taking the curve fast when she ran out of the old, concrete building, straight toward the road. I jammed the brake pedal down as I slid the car into the gravel turnout. The Saturn swerved and careened, stopping five feet from the building. I climbed out.

  "Hello, are you alright?" I called. "Hello?"

  Turning, I closed the door and looked toward the road. She stood shivering by the roadside, her arms wrapped around herself. She wore a long-sleeved red and blue flannel and a t-shirt that peeked out from under the flannel, a pair of baggy jeans and old sneakers. Her hair, waist-length, dirty blonde seemed to fit her sharp-chinned, elven face and big blue eyes. I guessed her to be twelve or thirteen.

  "Are you alright?" I reached out and she jumped into my arms. "You scared me." I said, feeling her sob. She seemed fragile and I felt protective. "Why are you here?"

  "It's all wrong." Her voice broke, "Tony's place should be here. And, and where are my parents?"

  I couldn't think of anyone called Tony. I looked back at the old, familiar, concrete building, noticing comments such as Jane sucks Dick; Amanda did the 89 football team and other faded statements. Dad told me it had been a small grocery store, an early 7-11 for people driving from Blythe to Needles, back when people wanted to go to either Blythe or Needles. Don't ask me why.

  Concrete floor and walls were all that remained of the building. An empty door and a large hole where a display window once faced the road. During the day you could see the back door opening, a smaller window and accumulated debris inside.

  Something flickered in the shadows and I jumped, holding the girl closer. A breeze swirled over me and I smelled a musky, dog-like smell.

  "No!" I looked down at the girl, her eyes closed and her voice dropped to a whisper. "Not her."

  "What did you say?"

  She looked up at me. "I'm scared."

  Of course, I just heard it wrong.

  "Me, too." I said, "Let’s get out of here."

  ***

  Scared then, but not now. Moonlight is with me. I brought her home, intending to call the police, but soon had settled her into bed. Now, soft hands help me undress and together we climb into bed. Hard to think, her soft hands sliding over my stomach, from just below my breasts to just below my belly button. I feel so strange, sleepy, exhilarated.

  "Rest, Samantha, my love, join with us. It is time to hunt."

  She hadn't spoken very loud, but her mind, closer, joining, I heard it clearly. Her and something else, something that growled with hunger.

  ***

  We open our eyes.

  The warm glow of living scampers in and out.

  Our body.

  Moonlight, myself and another.

  All in one.

  Strong body with claws.

  We feed soon, we know where.

  Down the road they lay asleep in their flimsy metal shell.

  A home that rides the asphalt roads.

  Not wanting to pay to be secure with others.

  We smell the scent of food, meat and vegetables.

  Food fit for cattle, not hunters like us.

  We circle, smelling them.

  An open window, strong claws remove the screen.

  Inside on the floor, smelling our prey.

  First the man, old and weak, but full of blood.

  Blood of life, coppery taste.

  Then the old woman who gave life to others.

  Her screams fill our ears and we laugh in delight.

  Slowly we bend our head to her throat and bite.

  Her blood is filled with life, makes us strong.

  Warm flesh to complete the feast.

  We scream in joy and pain.

  ***

  I remember me, who is named Moonlight.

  Queen of the damned am I.

  My world lies in blessed darkness.

  I smile with Dediedes by my side.

  My hand on his coarse fur.

  My throne is bone and blood

  The old man with white hair.

  Black when we were young

  I am young I said, you are old and weak.

  Better you run now I said, for soon we hunt.

  Soon you will have no one to hunt, he called.

  Then I will find a new world, I yelled,

  The old man turned and walked away.

  He who once I played with.

  Now old and weak he still walks.

  I am ever young and strong.

  I stroke Dediedes strong sides.

  He who kept me young

  Now, I said, it is time to hunt.

  ***

  I took a deep breath, awake in my bed. I could feel Moonlight's small body snuggled up against my side. She made a soft sound, her leg jerking slightly. I flipped the covers off and climbed out of bed, grabbing a pair of jeans and an old shirt as I left the room. Down the hall, I slipped into the bathroom, turning on the light and looking in the mirror. Still me, on the outside, not me on the inside. I could feel them inside my mind, softly, far away. I wanted to throw up, but I couldn't, not yet. I took a mouthful of Listerine mouthwash and spit it out. I got dressed and turned off the light.

  Sneaking out of the bathroom to the stairs, I wished it had been a dream but I knew it wasn't. A retired couple now had a Darkone feeding on them. Moonlight and Dediedes had ruled elsewhere and they had come to this world to hunt. I licked my lips thinking of the hunt then, realizing what I had done, I nearly threw up. I reached the bottom of the stairs, then grabbed my purse and moved on to my car.

  ***

  Back on U.S. 95, this time heading toward Blythe. I couldn't let her do to my world, my land, what she had done to hers. I never wanted to be a farmer but now I had to protect this land. Protect my home. Then I thought about Dediedes, what of him? How could I stop him? I swung through the next curve and saw the motor home.

  Suddenly, a large furry, doglike face with a protruding snout, large doglike fangs, glowing yellow eyes and a red tongue complete with drool, stared at me. Two hairy, hand‑like paws with large claws scraped down the windshield on both sides of the face, leaving white streaks of powdered glass.

  My mouth fell open and for once I was so scared I didn't squeak. I stared, my hands frozen on the steering wheel. The face and paws were gone. I blinked and saw a curve coming up fast.

  Now I screamed as I hit the breaks. I felt the backend break loose, but managed to compensate as I fishtailed through the curve and into the next straight section of road. I had it under control. I just needed to get me under control.

  I tried to calm down as I pushed the gas pedal lower. I felt Dediedes following me. I pushed the pedal down some more as my car hit seventy. I slowed to take the next curve. Suddenly I realized that Dediedes wasn't following me. I looked to the left and saw that a faint glow brightened the horizon. Dediedes was headed back to the shed with the DeSoto to hide.

  ***

  A few minutes later I parked next to the concrete building where I had found Moonlight. I climbed out of the car. The world turning from grey-black to slightly pink grey as the sun came closer to rising over the hills. I smiled as I looked at the colorful sky. Even though I have hated the life here, there has always been some beauty to it, the beautiful sunrises for one.

  The cool air made me shiver. The building looked the same as it had when my friends and I partied here in high school. There was nothing inside except wood pieces, dirt, beer cans and probably some used condoms. I looked over the interior and wondered what I hoped to find. I turned and looked across the road.

  Across the road the steep slopes of the rise climbed up to the flat desert top. I ran across the road feeling my answers were somewhere nearby as I stepped into a wash. The wash twisted and turned, becoming narrower as it rose to the flat hilltop. At the top, I looked around.
r />   The hills above the Lower Colorado River floodplain spread out toward the distant mountains. It looked smooth in the distance, but washes and dry streambeds cut the landscape. The ground consisted of dark, sun-varnished rock.

  The dark varnish builds up on the rocks over hundreds of years. I heard at school that no one has figured out exactly how long it takes. Long ago the native people made trails and art work in the desert by clearing away the stones leaving a white line in the dark desert. They made the giant Blythe intalligos a few miles away. Right now I looked at the white line of an ancient trail that ran north and south along the ridge. Turning south, I followed the trail as the sun began to peek over the horizon.

  The trail moved along for a hundred yards to a place where the ridge split into three fingers. At the center of the split the trail spiraled in on itself. I followed the trail, slowly spiraling inward, wondering why I was doing this. Then something twisted and the world went dark.

  ***

  I stood in the same place on the spiral trail. Looking around, I saw a darker landscape, darker gray sky with a faint gray glow near the eastern horizon. An eclipse, I thought, like in 2001. With it this dark, Dediedes might return. I turned and hurried back along the trail.

  I felt stupid for coming out here. Just what did I hope to learn? No magical doorway, no mystical gate in the middle of stonehenge. No magical answer to Dediedes and Moonlight. The whole thing might have been a dream, except... I dropped down into the wash and hurried to the road, and stopped.

  The road lay broken with a small, weak-looking salt-ceder struggling in the cracked pavement. I made my way across the cracked asphalt. No sign of my car. The concrete building still stood there, but with a tilted wooden sign over the doorway. I could just make out the lettering. "Tony's Car Stop."

  I looked around. A short, weed-covered road lead back to four trailer houses that sat in a row. Two had burned some time back and the other two had broken windows and doors. My mind stuttered, there had never been a trailer park here. Never. I've been by this place since forever.

  I walked over and looked into the concrete building. The door leaned back against the interior wall. I stepped inside. The roof seemed to be laying on top of a large wooden shelf that had a couple of bloated cans sitting on the highest shelf.