Page 6 of Devil's Crossroad

“That bed is comfortable too. Are you ready to go and see the town? See what scary shit this town offers for two people who don’t believe in the supernatural.” Kylar says, walking back into the front part of the cabin.

“I’m ready if you are handsome. Let’s mingle with the town folk. Maybe we can scare them.”

EIGHT

Kylar/Devil

We do a slow drive through town, and when it fades into the outskirts of town, we turn around and go back into Pandora. Callie points out a small grocery store. I pull up in front of the store. It doesn’t look like much of a store, but I didn’t see another store that looked like it might have groceries. The town is small. The brochure they sent said quaint but not tiny. I don’t kill my bike but Callie dismounts. I wiggle my finger for her to come closer to me so she can hear what I am about to say. “You go in and pick out what we need. I found a grill in the storage room, so get a small thing of wood chips, charcoal, and charcoal starter. I can grill us dinner. Hamburgers, hot dogs, or steaks, your choice. I’m going to fill up with gas while we are here. As cool as it is, we have plenty of time to get back. The meat won’t ruin. Get me a six-pack of beer, too, please. The saddle bags are empty, so we should have plenty of room.” Callie kisses my cheek, nods, and steps back from my bike. I back out and go further up the road. I am almost to the gas station and a black cat runs out in front of me. I swerve hard to miss the little thing. I didn’t lose control of my bike, but it was close. A less experienced biker would be having road rash for a while.

I turn into the drive and pull up to the first pump to get some gas. The pump comes on without me having to pay first. You won’t find these old pumps around where we live. An older man walks over to me.

“You should have run that cat over. The blasted animals need to learn their lessons around here. These damn cats come around here every damn Halloween. They roam the streets because no one will feed them anymore. They’re cursed, I say. If you are passing through, then keep on traveling. On Halloween, this place will give no one anything but grief. If you are here at sundown, they’ll come for you too. Get on the road and get out of here, or find a place to stay inside until tomorrow when the sun rises.” The pumps clicks off and I hand the man some money from my wallet.

“The brochures for this place say it is a friendly town. I call bull shit. Is everyone in this town crazy?” I ask the older man.

“You think I am crazy, then by all means, be on the streets or anywhere outside when the sun sets. No one will ever see you again. I hope you like roasting in hell.” The older man tells me. I feel someone behind me, and I turn to look but keep the older man in my peripheral vision.

“John is right. Anyone who isn’t indoors by sundown disappears forever. It happened to the town folk until we figured out what was happening. This town will be locked up tight before dark. You could go to the police office and beat on the doors, but no one will answer. I had two cousins who both disappeared on the same Halloween. They thought it was all a bunch of malarky. They snuck out of their bedrooms to go and get drunk with their buddies. All six of the boys disappeared that night. Their bodies were never found, and we searched for months. None of the teenagers have been heard from since. We found their cell phones all together, and all melted. It was spooky as hell. You can damn well know I will be locked up tight with my family. Listen to us and get the hell out of this town while you can.” I won’t be scared off by these two. I will spend the night with my woman here in this town. Bikers don’t fucking run. I start to leave, but I won’t let these two men think they scared me away.

“You have cold drinks inside? I need to check my bike out, too. I want to ensure there was no damage from the quick swerve.” I was blowing smoke up their ass, but they don’t know.

“Have it your way; don’t say I didn’t warn you. Come inside. We have some sodas and oil.” John tells me. “That’s Paul. He works here part-time.”

“John, I’m leaving for the day. I need to gather the family so our doors are locked by sundown.” Paul tells the older man.

“Go right ahead. I will be out of here within an hour.” John answers Paul back. I walk to the soda case and take out a bottle of icy water. I hope the women in this town aren’t filling Callie with this shit about disappearances in the night. She will laugh at them.

NINE

Callie

I walk inside the store, and everyone turns and looks at me. I ignore the stairs and how the older ladies whisper to each other, but their eyes never leave my face. This isn’t uncomfortable, not. I shake my head and go about my business. After scanning the tiny aisles, I see the meat market in the back and go there first. The ground round looks good, but the steaks are better. As the sign says, I ring the bell for the market manager, but the little woman that comes out of the back shocks me. She can’t be over four foot three or four, and I estimate she weighs no more than eighty or ninety pounds. She’s not as big as our eleven-year-old.

“Can I help you, or are you going to stand there gawking at me all day?” The woman has sass, and I decide I like her.

“I apologize, but you are so tiny. I’m not trying to be rude, but my eleven-year-old daughter is bigger than you.” The woman smiles at me, and she has a beautiful smile.

“I don’t find that rude at all. I was being bitchy because it has been a long day. Everyone always waits until the last minute to pick up their food for Halloween night. These people can’t catch on if you are a good person; the beings out there will not give you a trick but a treat. No one listens to me.” I look at the woman. I know she is in her late twenties to early thirties. Maybe she is a bit odd. “I see you don’t believe me either. How old do you think I am?”

“Late twenties to early thirties. What does that have to do with anything? I don’t know you enough to trust you. I just met you. I don’t even know your name.” I tell the woman.

“My name is Zelda.” The woman tells me.

“I am Callie. My husband and I are staying the night in one of the cabins at the edge of town. We came into town to get supplies for this evening.” I decide that everyone in this town wants us to believe the city is haunted. If that is what they think, I won’t change their minds. It’s none of my business anyway. I’ll go along with it. What harm will that do?

“I see. I want you to understand, child, I am seventy-eight years old. I haven’t aged a day since I met Esmeralda in the woods that Halloween night. Sometimes, what you wish for isn’t what you want. I’ll be seeing her again tonight. I’m tired, and it is time for me to rest. You and your young man need to stay in tonight or be very careful what you wish for. Eternal beauty and youth is not what I thought it would be. I have buried three good men in my lifetime. I wanted to die with each one of them. Yes, you need to stay in tonight, but if you are good people, you won’t be harmed. What can I get you from the meat counter?” I don’t know what to do with everything Zelda said.

“I would like two of the ribeye steaks, please. I would also like a half pound of the forest ham and the smoked turkey. That’ll be it for me and thank you.” I tell the woman.

“You have any more shopping to do; get it done, and I will have this at the front waiting on you.” The woman never makes eye contact with me again. It’s like she has dismissed me. Oh well. I do my shopping, remembering we have limited space to return these groceries to the cabin. I walk to the front of the store, and the older women are still there. It must be their gathering place every day. You would think they would choose a place they could sit down. To each their own.

The woman at the cash register checks me out. Everything I bought and it all only came to twenty-five bucks. “Ma’am, are you sure you checked everything? This bill of groceries is very cheap.” In stores back home, the two steaks would have been that much or more.

“Yes, today is Halloween and everything in the store is half-price. The steaks are seventy-five percent off since we will close in an hour. We don’t keep processed meat for the next day. The store guarantees fresh processed meat each day.” The woman tells me this as if I should know that fact. I go with the flow and smile at her. I hand her cash from my back pocket and then put the remaining money back in my pocket. I grab the bags with my items and walk back through the front door. Kylar is still not back. I put the bags up against the wall, and I go for my phone to call him, but when I turn around, there is an elderly lady there, and she has three black cats walking around her. It strikes me as being weird, but I don’t say anything. The lady is carrying two heavy bags. She is struggling with them. I step up to her.

“Hello, ma’am. Can I help you with these bags?” I reach for the bags and she hands me one of the bags.

“Thank you, sugar. I am waiting for my sister. We need to get home.” The woman tells me. “I’m Zara, and my twin sister should be out any time now.” I walk back to the wall, and she follows slowly behind me. I sit the bag I carry against the wall, like my things. I turn around. Zara is right behind me, so I take her other bag and put it against the wall next to the first one.

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