“Me?You made me this way. You killed my husband andyou killed Brian!”
And there it is. So that’s her worthless son’s name.
“Maybe your worthless son killed himself, have you ever thought about that? I mean, stalking girls gets really boring aftera while, right? Maybe he decided to change things up and do this town a favor.”
“You bitch! I’m going to kill you!”
“Come and get it, cunt. Your limp dick husband couldn’t get it done. What makes you think you can?”
I’m a foot away from Maris when all hell breaks loose.
Drunk Mrs. Sheep lunges at Maris with a scream. She’s slow but still quick enough to get to Maris before the attending police officers can get their collective finger out of their ass to do anything about it. Naturally, I’m the fastest thing in the room and Mrs. Sheep isn’t getting near Maris but that doesn’t mean I don’t see Maris drop into a fighting stance.
The look in her eyes tells me exactly how she put down father and son. Maris is ready to die right now. If she were to get her hands on Mrs. Sheep, she’d go three for three as far as the Sheep family is concerned. There’s a darkness around her that crackles, it falls around her like a shroud and the human version of Maris that dressed prettily and carefully applied her makeup is gone. She’s the murderess now. Wild. Brutal. Cold. In this moment, Maris is a weapon, sharp as a knife and poised to kill.
I’m not the only one that sees it. Instead of moving towards Maris and Mrs. Sheep to intervene, like some mindless hive, the nearby townsfolk take a collective step back. They feel it too. That cheers my heart to know they see her the way I do. To be feared and worshipped, far beyond their mortal comprehension. Fucking humans.
I make it to Maris’ side in the next heartbeat and sweep her behind me. Mrs. Sheep crashes into my chest and falls back to the floor. I feel a burning sensation in my side and look down. Blood stains my shirt. This bitch fucking stabbed me. Fury rushes through my veins.
She tried to stab my wife.
“Grab her!” The Sheriff yells.
Mrs. Sheep is tackled by not one but three men from the crowd. They don’t look like they’re police, just normal townsfolk stepping in.
“She’s got a fucking knife. Help me get it out of her hand!” One of the men yells. I think one of them punches her. Good. I’d do it if I could.
“I got it!”
Maris comes to my side and gasps at the sight of the blood. “Julian. Oh my god.” She pushes her hand to my side to stop the bleeding. “She stabbed him! I-we need a doctor!”
I almost smile when she yells that. I put a hand over hers. “I’m the doctor, Maris,” I remind her and force myself to wince and lean on her for support. “I’m fine. It’s shallow, whatever she had wasn’t big.”
“B-but, oh my god, she could have killed you.” Maris holds me tight and looks up at me with tear filled eyes. The look of concern is like a drug to me. I touch a finger to her cheek and wipe away the tears. “You could have died because of me.”
“I didn’t. Look at me.” I bring her closer, curl a hand behind her neck and make her look at me when she tries to cover her face. “I’m fine. I’m okay. One bandage and I’ll be right as rain, I won’t even need stitches.”
“B-but this is because of me. She’s right. Everyone around me dies. Everyone.”
“No. She’s drunk. Deranged,” I remind her. Right on cue I hear the woman scream bloody murder.
“She’s going to kill all of you! She’ll eat your babies! Fucking wear their skins.”
“See? She’s out of her mind on whiskey and pills.” I’m not making that part up, I can smell the sickly sweet stench of alcohol rolling off the bitch that stabbed me. She shrieks again and kicks one of the men trying to contain her.
Maris swallows hard. She doesn't look like she believes me, not even with the woman screaming and rolling around on the floor nearby. She looks haunted. There’s a camera flash and she jumps. We both watch as her reporters go to town photographing the battle still raging between the drunk assailant and the odd mix of townspeople and police officers trying to subdue her.
“She’s a demon! Do you hear me? She’s a demon living in that house and she’s going to take us all to hell! She’s going to drag this town to hell, everyone! All of you!”
As insane as the woman’s ranting is, there’s a shift in attention from her to Maris. One by one everyone starts looking at Maris like they believe what they’re hearing. What the actual fuck is going on in this town? I was stabbed and they’re acting like she’s telling the truth? I watch Maris as she looks around the crowd and then back at me. Her grip on my shirt gets tighter and she turns into me. She knows I’m the only one she can trust. I’d be stabbed gladly a dozen times over for her trust.
What a gift she’s given me.
An EMT shoves their way through the crowd to me. “Doc, I’m here. We can get you patched up.” They kneel in front of us and start to open their kit but I stop them.
“I’m all right. It’s a shallow laceration. I suspect there will be more bruising than anything.”
“But the blood,” they say. They’re right, the blood does look bad. I’m wearing a light blue dress shirt and half my damn side is stained black. The bleeding has stopped by now, but I can’t let them know that. A human would still be bleeding, after all.
