Come Get Me (31 page)

He saw her arms start their downward swing
when he suddenly felt the house shudder again. The ringing sound
that accompanied it felt like it was piercing his skull. To her
credit she only faltered a little but it didn’t matter. The axe was
descending on a course that ended somewhere near the middle of his
body. Steeling himself for the impact he forced his eyes open so he
could at least defy her that little bit but the blow never landed.
Instead Maria was knocked from her feet and slammed into a wall
across the room by an arm the size of a tree trunk. Jim struggled
to sit up but his body still wasn’t letting him do it. If anything
he was worse from lying so still for so long. Gathering enough
strength he looked toward where Maria had taken flight.

Gasping for air, he saw her roll over to her
hands and knees trying to get her feet back under her. She still
clutched the axe in her hand but what he saw next showed him that
was the least of his concerns. He felt the floor shake again and
saw a hoofed foot come into view. Numb with horror he watched as
the arm he’d seen only seconds ago reach down and pluck Maria from
the ground by her neck like she was a newborn baby. Unable to keep
himself from following that arm back to its source he found himself
gazing open-mouthed at a creature that looked like it had stepped
from the pages of some satanic book.

The creature looked just as it had in his
dream only more horrific than he could’ve possibly imagined. It’s
horns sprouted from the crown of its head like small twisted trees,
hairy legs that looked like they would be better suited to a
buffalo tapered down into huge cloven hooves and last but not least
the thing that had haunted his night for as long as he could
remember. The Goatman’s' Axe. Not just any axe but one that
might’ve at one time belonged to Paul Bunyan or some Norse God from
the heavens. It showed glaringly clear even in the dim light.
Looking at it Jim thought he could almost feel his soul being
ripped form his body. He idly wondered if Pete were any where
nearby seeing any of what was taking place. He really hoped he was
because if Jim made it out alive he really wanted to know someone
else saw what he was seeing. If this was some type of weird figment
of his imagination he really did belong in the loony bin with
Pete.

Maria dangled inches from the creatures face
as it took its time studying her. Her face was turning nice shades
of blue that Jim thought were quite becoming. The creature looked
at her as if trying to decide what to do with the strange soft
thing it had picked up. Luckily Maria chose that second to help it
out in its decision. Using what little strength she had she raised
her axe, which she’d somehow hung onto, and buried it in the
creatures shoulder. Bellowing in surprise it dropped her in a heap
on the floor.

“What the hell is that thing?” she screamed
as she scrambled to her feet.

“The Goatman,” Jim said with a weak
laugh.

“Shut the hell up!” she yelled gripping her
axe in both hands readying for another swing.

The creature had retreated a few steps to
examine its wounded arm. It turned its head and sniffed the place
Maria had struck it. Looking up it hissed at her in what could only
be anger.

Maria darted forward and swung her axe again,
connecting with only a glancing blow this time. It wasn’t enough to
actually hurt the creature but it did make it mad. With blood that
looked slightly green running down its arm the thing hefted its axe
and warily advanced on Maria. It moved slowly, taking its time
almost as if it were stalking her even though she was right in
front of it. Jim couldn’t understand why it didn’t just use its
superior size and strength to end things quickly. As he watched
through hazy eyes he saw that it seemed to be herding her towards
the door. He was surprised it was being so nice. He wanted to yell
at the thing and ask what the hell it thought it was doing. If it
kept moving her the way it was she would escape.

That couldn’t happen.

If she got away she would just run back to
town and act like she was the victim in this whole mess. He was
pretty much an outsider after all these years plus everyone knew
Johnny was in love with her. All she would have to do is tell
everyone he and Jill had abducted her for some kind of kinky stuff
that she didn’t want to do and when she refused he threatened to
kill her. He could see exactly how it would all play out in his
head. She would have the whole town ready to shoot on sight by the
time they made it back. He just couldn’t understand why the
creature was trying to let her go.

Maria, in full bloodlust now, didn’t realize
what the creature was doing until she felt a breeze on her back.
Quickly glancing over her shoulder she saw nothing but the doorway
to darkness and freedom. Smiling, she took another tentative swing
at the creature, almost as if she were testing the waters. Instead
of striking out at her, the creature retreated a step. It dipped
its head towards the door as if trying to tell her to leave.

Seeing the pleading look on the Goatman’s
face, Jim suddenly understood what it was doing.

The thing didn’t want to kill her. Even
though everything she did was aimed at harming since it stepped
foot in the house, the creature still didn’t want to harm her.
Looking back over her shoulder then at the creature again she shook
her head.

“Hell no I’m not going,” she yelled at it. “I
still got work to do on Jimmy boy. I’m going to take your damn ugly
head then I’m going to take his. Think I’ll hang them on the wall
next to each other.”

Not giving the beast a chance to make a move,
she quickly made an awkward swing at the things leg but missed.
Overbalanced by her overconfidence, she was surprised when the
beasts arm shot out and clenched an iron grip around her throat. It
pulled her close, making sniffing noises and shaking its head like
it didn’t like what it smelled.

Maria, not one to be defeated so easily,
continued struggling. She reached up with her hands and tried
prying the creatures hands from her throat, kicked her legs trying
to hit some vital spot that might make it let go; she even tried
spitting in its face but that’s hard to do when you’re having a
hard time breathing.

It hissed in her face, spraying her with spit
and mucus tossing her aside. Jim couldn’t believe it. The creature
turned its back on her and slowly walked towards Jim and Jill. The
creature hesitated when it reached them as if trying to decide
which one to help first. Jim was about to tell it to tend to Jill
when he saw something leaping through the air behind him. His words
of direction turned to a feeble yell of warning. The Goatman spun
just in time to have the axe Maria had been using planted in its
chest. Jim saw his hopes of making it out of here alive fall to the
floor. He wouldn’t have thought it was possible for someone as
small as Maria to kill a beast like the Goatman but she seemed to
have just done it.

“That takes care of one of you,” she rasped
as she yanked the gore covered axe from the brutes’ body. “You’re
next,” she said staggering in his direction.

“Lucky me,” he laughed. Why not? He had
nothing to lose.

“I’ve waited a long time for this you little
bitch,” she spit at him as she loomed over him. Well, not exactly
looming, more like leaning. Leaning on the axe like it was a cane
if he wanted to be exact about things. If only he had any energy he
might be able to beat her. The Goatman had softened her up for him
but too bad for him his limbs weren’t obeying him at the moment.
First he’d gotten his ass beat by a girl. Now he was going to get
killed by that same girl after she finished killing a creature that
by all rights shouldn’t exist. If anyone had told him he was going
to die like this he would’ve had them committed.

Maria slowly raised the axe and Jim closed
his eyes. He didn’t think he wanted to see what came next. After a
few seconds he realized he was still alive and thought he shouldn’t
be. Cracking an eyelid he looked up and saw Maria standing there
just like she had been a few seconds ago. But there was something
different. The Goatman’s hand was around her throat again. That
couldn’t be right, he thought. The Goatman was dead, wasn’t he?
Maria’s face was turning a brilliant shade of purple and her eyes
were starting to protrude a little farther than Jim thought might
be healthy for her when he heard a snap. He was reminded of braking
branches when he was a child. At the sound of the snap Maria’s body
went slack. Then she was unceremoniously dropped on the floor where
she landed with a thump. He couldn’t really turn his head to see
her and was pretty sure he didn’t really want to. His attention was
caught by something else.

The Goatman was swaying back and forth in
front of Jim looking for all the world like he might follow Maria
to her resting place. He really hoped that didn’t happen
considering he was the only way they were going to get out of here.
The gash in his chest seeped something but Jim was pretty sure it
wasn’t blood. Focusing his eyes as best he could he swore he saw
movement in the things chest. He was pretty woozy but he was sure
the hole was closing. It took a few more second but after what
could’ve only been a minute the wound was no longer there. The only
thing left was another scar that matched all the others. The beast
shook its head like a horse, flexed its chest muscles and stood
straighter. It was completely healed. Jim just wished it was that
easy for him.

Even after everything it had done for them,
when the Goatman moved towards Jill he wanted to scream. All he
could do was watch as the creature looked at first one of her hands
then the other trying to figure out how to get her down. Jim
strained himself into a sitting position to get a better look but
it cost him. Stars danced in his vision for a few seconds before
everything went black. Drifting off into unconsciousness he
whispered an apology to Jill for not being able to save her and for
ever getting her into this mess. It didn’t make him feel any better
since he was sure she would never hear it.

He wasn’t sure how long he was out when he
was suddenly shaken from his forced slumber. The creature was
hovering over him sniffing him the way it had Maria a little while
ago. If he could’ve he probably would’ve screamed. He knew he was
indebted to it but the creature still wasn’t the prettiest thing he
could think of. Especially after being forced to wake up.

Seeing he was awake the beast raised its head
so that they were eye to eye. Dreading having to look at the
creature much less stare it in the eye Jim squeezed his tightly
shut. Jim could feel its breath blowing gently across his face. It
didn’t smell as bad as he thought it would. Actually it smelled
almost like flowers. He still kept his eyes shut. It might be some
kind of trick. The brute didn’t seem to care. It seemed content to
wait him out.

Finally after what seemed an eternity Jim
gave in. Cracking his eyes he found exactly what he expected but
then not what he expected. He was face to face with The Goatman.
Instead of the animal savagery he thought he was going to see he
saw something surprising. Kindness and caring seemed to reach out
from the creature’s eyes and wrap him in a warm embrace. All his
life Jim had heard horror stories about this creature and how it
had killed and maimed too many people to count but looking into its
eyes he couldn’t believe it. He knew it wasn’t true. This creature
had never harmed anything that hadn’t harmed it first. All the
stories were just that. Stories.

Not taking its eyes from him, he, as Jim was
now thinking of it, gently picked him up and cradled him to its
chest like a lost child. Turning swiftly from the room, it strode
from the house barely looking away from Jim to see where it was
going. Jim could only look up, smiling at it in wonderment. The
creature gave him what must have passed for a smile and said in a
rough voice unused to speaking, “You called and I came.” The sound
was like two trees rubbing together in a strong wind. They seemed
to echo in his head for a few seconds. After the words faded to
nothing but a memory Jim was unsure if he even heard it right.

Wanting to ask it all the questions that were
almost brimming over in his mind Jim found he was unable to. His
body once again chose the most inopportune time to hit the shut off
switch on him. As he slowly passed out he knew he was in no danger
as long as he was in the creatures arms. What had scared him for
life was now like coming home to a familiar friend he’d never known
he had. All these years they thought the Goatman was out to hurt
them but they had it all wrong. He was only there to help. If he
actually chased them when they were kids it was probably only his
way of playing. The poor creature life had to be one of the
loneliest in existence. Now Tommy and Rob would never know the
wonder of meeting this wonderful creature. With that unhappy
thought floating through his head he was out.

He awoke some time later to the alarming
smell of smoke. Opening his eyes too quickly he found he was
momentarily blinded by a bright light. Not immediately
understanding where he was he tried to sitting up but quickly found
he was unable to. As his eyes adjusted he saw that the bright light
was just the morning sun. He must’ve been out for quite some time.
Making small movements trying to sit up he felt his muscles scream
their protest. He was sore from head to toe not to mention spikes
of pain still shot through his body every time he tried taking a
deep breath. Turning his head slowly to keep the pain to a minimum
he found Jill curled up on her side not more than two feet away. He
could see her breathing was deep and steady and felt as if a great
weight had lifted from his chest. She was ok and so was he. Quickly
thanking God that she was ok he looked in the other direction and
was greeted by the smiling face of Pete who was propped up against
a tree.