The Skin Worshipper

Chapter 7

  The sky clears and the sun comes out. There is a rainbow on the horizon and a few rays break through the tree crowns and shines on the girl lying on the ground. She moves a leg and moans.

  Maria's head hurts and there is something in her mouth, she can’t close it. Then the pain hits her and she screams, but no one hears her. The forest is silent around her, just rain water dropping to the soft ground forming puddles.

  She uses her hand and what she feels makes her scream again, there is a piece of metal going in her right cheek through her mouth and coming out just below her left eye. She can’t close her mouth, but at least she can see with both eyes. She manages to roll over on her back and touches her head where it hurts. Her hand comes back with blood on it, but not a lot. She feels nauseous, and then she vomits, most of it comes out, but some is still in her mouth, being blocked by the bolt going through it. She coughs, but it turns into another scream as the pain explodes in her head and mouth. Her tongue feels the jagged edges of her molars, and she realizes the bolt had hit them and was angled upwards, almost entering her brain and eye.

  When the pain lessens, she manages to get up on her feet and leans against a tree. She looks around, but sees no one. She doesn’t dare to scream because of the pain. She takes a few deep breaths, and then begins to walk in the direction she thinks the road is.

  The day moves into afternoon, and it becomes darker. She isn’t sure how long she has walked, and she is tired. Her head aches and so does the rest of her body. She was mumbling for the last hour, saying the same over and over again.

  "Dios mio, ayudame, porfavor. God, please help me."

  She reaches the top of a hill and she stops there to catch her breath. Suddenly she hears a rumble, and looks up thinking it’s another thunderstorm moving in. But the sky is clear above her.

  Then she hears it again and turns her head towards it. At first, she doesn’t understand what she is looking at. She thinks it’s a small river, maybe a few hundred yards away and slightly below her, but the water isn’t blue, it’s grayish.

  Then she gets it, the road. She made it, she will be OK. Standing up, she walks as fast as she can towards the gray line, and when she reaches the edge of it, she passes out.

  "Stop changing channels, honey, it’s driving me nuts, " says Harry, looking at his wife.

  "I just want to hear some good music, none of that dunka-dunka the kids listen to these days," says Helen.

  Harry sighs and wonders when his wife will understand they don’t play Polka on the radio these days, at least not around here.

  It’s getting darker outside, so he slows down his car and turns on the headlights, staying close to the right side. They only have a few miles left and he doesn’t want to have an accident now. He has read that most accidents happen close to the person's home, he guesses people pay less attention when they get closer to their destination.

  "Look honey, a dead deer. Poor thing, she must have been hit by a car."

  Harry looks to where his wife is pointing, first he thinks she is right, but just as he passes what looks like a dead animal, he sees something, an outstretched arm. He steps on the brakes and the car skids to a stop.

  "What in the Lord’s name are you doing Harry, you could have killed us, " says Helen, looking at her husband of forty years.

  "That is no deer, it’s a human being," says Harry and gets out of the car.

  "Be careful, it could be one of those crazy Hippies, they use drugs you know."

  "Oh, shut up woman, the Hippies disappeared thirty years ago," he says making his way back around the car.

  He carefully walks up to the body on the ground. When he gets closer he realizes it’s a girl, or he thinks it’s a girl. Her face is turned away from him, but her long hair is splayed out like a halo around her. She doesn’t look like she is breathing.

  "Dear God, please don’t let her be dead," says Harry under his breath.

  "What’s happening," he hears Helen calling.

  "Shut up woman."

  He kneels next to the body and sees the bolt sticking out of her cheek, he gasps and pulls back, falling on his behind.

  He is just about to get up and call the police, when the body moves and a moan escape.

  She is alive, my god she is alive, he thinks.

  "Helen, call the police, it’s a young girl, and she is alive, hurry!"

  He takes off his coat and lays it over her. She manages to turn her head slightly, and he looks into a pair of dark brown eyes, they are filled with tears.

  "Please, please help me. They are all dead, he killed them."

  Harry leans in closer to her and asks, "who killed your friends?"

  She swallows and says, "the naked man, he killed them."

  Before Harry has a chance to say anything, she takes a breath, then her body trembles and she exhales one last time.

  Harry looks down at the young girl and tears form in his eyes. He pulls up his jacket to cover her face, and then he stands up and walks back to the car where his wife is on the phone to the police.