Chapter 11A Chapter by CLCurrieMr. Crow, Mr. Crow comes in the dark and leaves with the night with all the children's souls.Willy Arkansas shook his head, standing at the back of the
car. He took a deep breath, looking up into the night sky before he pulled out
a cigarette and lit it. The light flashed only for a second in the cold dark of
the world around him, but his rage was starting to burn bright from his
daughter, causing all this death. The smoke flew away from him as he breathed
it out as if it was trying to race from his dark soul. Willy loved the numbing
effects of the smoke, but he was getting tired of this little girl trying to
run away from him. He
didn’t mean to be so cruel to her. He tried to give her everything she wanted.
She asked for it, and he made sure his men got it for her, but at the same
time, she had to learn there were evil people out in the world. Some might say
he was one of them, and to some people, he was evil, but when it came to his
daughter, he was trying to protect her. Her
w***e of a mother was going to take Evangeline away from him. She was a cruel
woman who caused Willy to step over his limits. She always pushed him to get
mad, and she knew he couldn’t control himself once he got mad, so she kept
pushing. The
smoke flew from his nose. She was
leaving him. She would run to her father, telling the old man that Willy wasn’t
a husband. The great man from the city in the sky always thought he was better
than Willy. Willy could have looked the other way if she wanted to leave, but
to take Evangeline was crossing the line. All he was planning to do was rough
her a little bit, but then he found she knew all about his side gig. Willy
couldn’t let her tell her old man about his other work. She
made him put her in the ground. He wished Evangeline didn’t have to watch. He
thought she hadn’t seen, but when he glanced over to the window, Evangeline was
staring at his bloody hands. It was
the only time he almost cried. He tried to explain to her it was for both of
them. He was protecting them both from her w***e of a mother. Evangeline
didn’t believe him, but she was good at lying like her mother. She made him
believe everything was fine until she ran. She ran from him, and Willy knew she
was going to bring Hell back to his house. He
flicked the cigarette off into the night, watching the burning stick fly like a
shooting star, and turned back to his men and the house. Most of
his crew had gone into the house with the candle in the window and found an old
man drinking a cup of coffee at his table. The house was shot to Hell, and all men
were dead on the ground. One of their cars was missing, and Willy wasn’t thrilled
about it. He had
walked into the house to talk to the old man with the metal leg, but all the
old man did was sit there drinking his coffee. “Where
is she?” The old
man looked Willy dead in the eyes. “Best to let her go, son,” the old man said,
“or you’ll be facin’ an angel of the Lord.” He nodded at the door. “And we’ve
seen what he can do.” Willy
rolled his jaw, shaking his head, and put a bullet in the old man’s head. The
blood rain out behind him while his head hit the table. Now, his boys were
pouring gasoline all over the house and dragging the men into the place. They
were going to burn it to the ground. “You
called for me, Mr. Arkansas?” a smooth voice came from the darkness around him,
and a man who walked like an owl flying overhead stepped out from the hidden
world of the night. He was tall, with skin the hue of red mud, and his face was
painted up like a warrior from his old tribe. He carried an array of necklaces
from his medicine man. “I
did,” Willy said, uneasy with this man before him. “It’s just you?” “I’ll
be enough.” “All
right, Mr. Crow,” Willy said, not knowing his first name; he was not sure the
man had a first name but was very sure Mr. Crow wasn’t his real name. He was
the best tracker and hunter Willy could buy, and for the most part, coming from
the Shadow People, he was great at his job. There were many myths about Mr.
Crow, like how he could walk in the shadows using them like doors or how he was
made from the shadows of the world, but Willy didn’t believe in anything he
couldn’t see with his own eyes. “Someone
got me, daughter,” Willy said. “Been killing my men as well.” “I’ve
heard,” Mr. Crow said. “Might
be a hitter from another family,” Willy said. “It’s
not,” Mr. Crow told him. “It’s something else. Best to leave it alone if you’re
asking me.” “Well,
I’m not,” Willy growled, almost jumping forward, but Mr. Crow's look caused him
to step back. “I just want my daughter back, that’s all.” “And
kill this man?” “If you
would,” Willy said, nodding in agreement. “Then
I’ll deal will be complete, Mr. Arkansas,” Mr. Crow said, sticking out his
hand. Willy looked at it for a moment before taking it and shook. “It
will be completed,” he said as the flames from inside the house swallowed it
whole, sending a chill to Willy’s soul as if he had made a deal with the devil
himself. He didn’t let go of Mr. Crow’s hand, but when he turned back to look
at the man, he was gone, had faded into the night, and was hunting for his
prey. © 2024 CLCurrie |
Stats
211 Views
Added on November 9, 2024 Last Updated on November 9, 2024 Tags: #adventurestory #steampunk #hist AuthorCLCurrieHarrisburg, NCAboutI am a storyteller who comes from a long line of storytellers. I literally trace my heritage back to some Bards (poets and storytellers) of England. My family, in the tradition of our heritage, would .. more..Writing
|