“What’s bugging you, Alma?” asked Ben. “You’re acting weird.”
“I’m just sick of it,” said Alma. “I hate him so much. I’m going to tell Mom that I don’t want to come out here anymore.”
Ben finished loading the VHS tape and returned to the couch. “No, Alma, you can’t do that. You know what he’ll do. You can’t tell Mom.”
“I don’t even care anymore. I don’t care if he does kill me.”
“Don’t say that.” Ben pushed the garbage off the couch between them and scooted over to sit beside his sister. He put his arm around her and set her head on his shoulder. “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be able to survive in our crazy family. I need you, little sis.”
“I need you too,” said Alma as she hugged Ben.
The movie started and they settled into their seat. They’d seen the movie far too many times already, but it was the only new movie in the basket this year. All of the others had been here the last time they were forced to camp on the couch for a week, and they’d watched all of them more times than they cared to remember.
Alma was the first to notice the fog outside.
“Ben, look,” she said and got off the couch.
She went to the window and he glanced outside to see what she was looking at. A thick smoke was billowing forth from something down the street. It was a light grey cloud, but swelled as if made of foam or liquid. Then the cloud flashed with green light and the hair on Ben’s arms stood straight up as if he’d been shocked. “Alma, get away from the window.”
“What is that?” she asked, still perched on the loveseat that was backed up against the wall, under the window.
“I don’t know, get away from the window.”
“Do you think there’s a fire?” asked Alma as she continued to ignore her brother’s command.
He grabbed the back of her dress and pulled her back. The fog swept over the street and started to blot out the sun, causing the cabin to grow dark. Green lightning flashed within the cloud, and it crackled along the frame of the cabin.
Soon the fog enveloped the house, blocking out all of the light except for what was coming from upstairs. Killer yapped furiously as Ben stared at the light up the stairs.
“I need to go tell Dad,” said Ben.
“No!” Alma took her brother’s arm with both of hers. “You know you can’t. You can’t go up there.”
“I have to. I have to make sure he knows what’s going on.”
“He’ll kill you, Ben. Please don’t go up there.”
He pulled out of her grip and went to the stairs. The green electricity continued to flash and illuminate the living room, casting wicked shadows on the walls. He reached the bottom of the stairs as Alma continued to plead with him to stop, but he knew that he had to tell their father what was happening. The light in the hallway was still on, but it flickered as he made his way to the master bedroom door.
He knocked, but heard no response.
He tried again, and thought he heard someone in the room choking. Ben put his ear to the door, and was certain of what he heard. “Dad?” he asked and knocked again. The choking persisted, and no one answered him.
Ben pushed the door open.
Terry was on the floor, nude, and her hands were shaking as her head flopped back and forth. Her red hair was mopped with sweat and her eyes were aflame with red veins. She turned and stared at Ben and white foam formed on her lips as she tried to speak. The foam fell from her mouth and dripped to the floor as she reached out to him.
Ben’s father appeared in the master bedroom’s bathroom. He had a cup of water in his hand and stopped when he saw Ben. “What did I tell you?” He screamed and dropped the cup of water. It bounced on the floor at his feet and water spilled out as the furious man charged through the room.
“What happened?” asked Ben, terrified.
“You little mother fucker, I told you not to come in here.” Michael Harper grabbed his son by the arm and slapped the boy across the face. Then he slammed Ben’s head into the door as he continued to curse at him.
Tears sprang to Ben’s eyes as he screamed an apology. He could hear Alma crying at the bottom of the stairs, pleading with their father not to hurt Ben.
“Get in here, you little shit.” He pulled Ben into the room. “Alma, shut up and stay down there.”
“Daddy,” said Alma. “There’s smoke outside.”
“I don’t give a fuck if the Devil’s at the door, girl. You shut the fuck up and watch your movies. If I hear one peep out of you, I swear to God I’ll kill you.” He slammed the door and then turned to Ben. “Well, kid, you did it now. You fucked up for real this time.”
“What’s wrong? What happened to Terry?”
“She’s fucking dying, that’s what’s wrong. The bitch OD’ed.”
“Should we call an ambulance?”
“No,” said his father. “No, that’s not what we’re going to do. You’re going to help me get her up.”
Terry started to convulse and her arms slapped against the floor as her head bounced. The white foam spewed from her mouth, followed by a putrid yellow fluid that splashed on her cheeks.
“Clean the shit out of her mouth,” said Ben’s father. “I’ll get some more water for her.”
“Daddy, she’s naked.”
He looked at Ben as if disgusted. “So what? You’re the one that came in here when you weren’t supposed to. It’s time to grow the fuck up, Ben. Now scoop that shit out of her mouth.”
Ben moved on his knees over to the shaking woman. Her breasts flopped around as she shook, and he was ashamed to look at her. The veins in her chest and neck were blue, engorged, and easily visible through her pale skin. He tried to put his hand on her head to hold her down and clean out the foam from her mouth, but the contact of his hand alerted her to his presence. She reached out and clawed at his head and shoulders in a desperate attempt to pull him down.
“Dad!” Ben screamed as the woman clawed at him. “Help!”
His father ran back in the room, but Terry’s arms fell suddenly limp. They hit the floor and only had the strength to twitch. Ben fell backward and scooted away as he wiped foam and bile from his shirt.
“What did you do?” asked his father.
“Nothing. I tried to help, like you said, but she grabbed me.”
His father bent down and placed his fingers on Terry’s throat. “Jesus fucking Christ, Ben. You killed her.”
“I didn’t, Dad. I swear!”
“Well she’s dead. She’s dead, Ben. She’s dead now!”
“I didn’t do anything.” Ben started to cry. “I was trying to help.”
“Well, now we’re fucked. You killed her.”
“Dad,” said Ben. “You have to believe me, I didn’t do anything to her.”
“Stop panicking,” said his father. “We’ll figure this out. I’m not going to let you go to jail. Okay, Ben? I’ll protect you.” He stood up tall and started to look around the room with his hand on his chin, as if surveying the scene in search of clues.
He snapped his fingers and pointed at Ben. “I’ve got a plan, but I’m going to need your help.”
“Okay,” said Ben. “What do you need?”
“Go downstairs and start boiling some pots of water. Then get all of the cleaners from under the sink. Don’t ask questions, just do what I say.” He bent down and put his arms under Terry as he started to drag her toward the bathroom.
“What are you going to do?”
He dropped Terry and her body thumped on the floor as he stood and glared at Ben. “What did I just say? No fucking questions. Go do as I say or they’re going to put you in jail for this.”