Threnody (017).

(This is a 500-word-a-day novel project.)

Will it hold? Maddy hissed as the boarded-up door shuddered in its frame – whatever was on the other side trying to get at them, Ryan thought, the motherfucker was big, and it was strong. One of the monsters m stomped on the floor hard, unable to figure out how to get to them; Maddy screamed and he grabbed her, covering her mouth with his hand and holding her down when she struggled. He couldn’t think; there was nowhere left to run. Something was going to get them eventually, so why not? His hands slid down to her throat. Why not? Why not just keep squeezing and squeezing –

Light was coming through the boards over the windows above the dryer – natural light. The demons were retreating, howling as they fled and leaving behind nothing but silence. Ryan went to the nailed-up wood, peeking through a gap – the red fog was slowly beginning to break up, and the last of the monsters was going with it, hurrying to avoid being left behind – those that were simply died, shuddering where they dropped and falling to pieces, their legs and pincers and stingers sinking in on themselves as every slow demon was turned to goo.

The woman was still curled up next to the dryer, her hands folded beneath her ruined face. Ryan squatted and gently shook her but she did not rouse, and he thought for a moment that she had done them a favor and died down here so they would not have to bury her, but then she murmured. He pressed his fingers to his temples; Maddy was going to demand that they take her with them. He had to make her understand that they could not.

His hands dangled between his knees. Or he could just end this problem right here.

That’s twice I’ve thought about murdering someone in the space of five minutes. He tasted sweat on his upper lip. I should be real proud of myself.

The woman’s fingers twitched. There was something about being around her that was like licking a battery, pleasant and revolting all at once. Ryan decided he did not like her.

He pried loose enough of the boards so that he could pull himself up and out: there was slime everywhere, saturating the grass and smearing the sides of the houses and cars. He spied a quivering leg at the end of the walk, black hairs sprouting at each joint, and he spat into the grass, his skin crawling.

Maddy had come out of the window after him, and then went behind the elm in the yard to relieve herself. She returned, buttoning up her jeans. Phew! She waved her hand in front of her face. This reminds me of that time Steve’s septic tank blew up. Remember?

She looked like she had forgotten their sparks from a few minutes ago, but Ryan wasn’t fooled. He walked to the car in the driveway – the windows were all intact and the doors still shut.