The Night the Sky Fell (15 page)

Dassi screamed, “Why is this happening?”
 

Murray pulled Dassi away and confronted Ann, “Put that down!” He held the syringe behind him. He charged for Ann’s arm that held the butcher knife. He then raised his other hand with the syringe. But Ann swung her case into Murray’s head. She then swiftly stabbed Murray in the shoulder blade. He toppled down the stairs moaning.
 

As Murray lay bleeding, Dassi ran after Ann flailing her arms. Murray warned, “No, Dassi. No.” Ann swung the case into Dassi’s chest and she fell from the blow. Ann approached Dassi with knife raised high. Ann’s head turned towards the Powers’ house. Interrupted from the apparent killing attempt of her mother, Ann withdrew the knife and ran to the front door.
 

Dassi crawled over to Murray who bled profusely. She locked and bolted the door. Regaining strength, Dassi grabbed Murray’s medical bag. She was a nurse in action.

At the same time, Julie and Stan crept through the second floor hallway of their home. They heard moaning sounds. The door of Banks’ room had been bashed in and the barricade was askew. Banks lay in the corner amidst the debris. His face was bruised. And Peyton Powers was missing.

Tricia emerged from the front door closet carrying Peyton while covering his mouth. She ran out the door. Stan caught a glimpse of her and followed in hot pursuit. Tricia got into her car and handed Peyton to Ann.
 

Tricia warned her father, “Don’t even think about following us.” Ann wrapped her hands around Peyton’s head to amplify the warning to Stan that Peyton’s death would be the consequence if this edict were to be disobeyed.
 

Stan nodded with understanding. “Tricia, stay. This is your home.”
 

As Banks and Julie staggered out, Peyton yelled, “Dad! Dad, what’s happening?”
 

Stan whined, “It’s okay, Peyton. You’ll be fine. Tricia and Ann will keep you safe.”
 

As Tricia drove off, Stan ran to the middle of the street. He crouched to his knees sobbing. The scene on Skyline Boulevard was chaotic. There were gunshots. People were screaming. Men ran out of their houses panicking. Julie and Banks each grabbed one of Stan’s arms and walked him to the front door. Banks stepped out. He took in the scene of Skyline Boulevard. He returned to the house. A moment later he ran out to his pickup truck and screeched rubber. Peyton was his responsibility!

Accelerating the truck Banks dodged the hysterical men in the street. He saw Tricia’s unmistakable ‘TRICIA’ license plate and slowed down. As he finished following Tricia’s car, he noted that he was at a gated entrance at Juneau Airport’s landing strip. He turned off his lights and ignition. He could see Peyton in the car sobbing and he and it appeared that Peyton was alone. He crept toward the car. Hunching down, he opened the door and whispered, “It’s Banks.”
 

He grabbed Peyton who cried, “Banks. Banks.” As Banks turned around he saw Ann! Ann grabbed Peyton from Banks. Banks attempted to grab Peyton back but her strength was overpowering. She shrieked a hideous sound. Other women joined the shrieking. Banks needed his hands to cover his ears or risk his eardrums bursting. He fell to the ground writhing in pain. Tricia’s car with Ann and Peyton entered the landing area. The gate was locked behind them.

In the darkness of Chief Dan’s apartment, he chanted in Tlingit while holding his father’s book. He eased into a trance though he continued to chant. That was why he did not realize that Marilyn White Owl walked in. She opened the Chief’s refrigerator which created an aura of light around the Chief. She pulled out a large glass bottle of soda and downed half of it. She crept to the back of Chief Dan and bashed his head in with the with the glass soda bottle. The deer hooves around his neck clanked as Chief Dan fell to floor. His blood stained his carpet. Marilyn grabbed the book. She had work to do. Outside, Marilyn got in a pickup packed with pregnant Tlingits.

Inside the locked landing strip of Juneau Airport Ann was busy ‘sending’ in Tricia’s car. Once the communications were completed, Ann and Tricia exited the car leaving Peyton inside sobbing. They approached several hundred other nine month pregnant women. All eyes were on Ann. In the background, the Juneau Glacier glistened in the moonlight. Ann and Tricia stood in front of the women. Marilyn White Owl looked on ready to take orders. All women locked arms similarly as they did so during their practice at Prom Night. Ann joined the group. Now, joined as one, the women adjusted to a shape similar to a trapezoid. This shape was exactly the same as the Juneau Glacier.

Banks regained consciousness from the painful sounds that Ann emitted. He was able to get a view of the strange occurrence through the locked gate but continued to cover his ears as Ann bellowed another eerie sound. All the women joined her. The trapezoid of women moved as a whole across the landing strip. Banks reflected on the similar tactics that he witnessed during Prom Night. As the group moved, so did the Juneau Glacier. The glacier calved and grinded against the shore and crumbled the Juneau-Douglas Bridge. As the glacier advanced nearby, the landing strip buckled knocking Banks down to the ground. The entire buckled landing strip made for an impossible safe plane landing.

Above the women were the sounds of a helicopter. Armed National Guard men warned the women below to cease and desist. Ann took a deep breath as did the others. As they exhaled quickly, a gale force wind forced the helicopter to crash into the glacier. Banks held on to the fence as his parked cars moved several feet. Exhausted and wounded from his previous encounters with Tricia and Ann, Banks stumbled into his pickup. He drove past a ‘No Exit’ sign. Then he saw a ‘No Entry’ sign.

Tricia parked her car in front of a Motel 6 office. Ann held on to Peyton. Tricia walked into the office where a nervous male clerk handed her a key. No usual request for a credit card appeared to be necessary. Ann carried Peyton to their room. Tricia closed the door behind them.
 

Peyton panicked, “Where are we? I have to pee. Tricia I have to pee.” Tricia took Peyton’s hand. The door to bathroom swung outward and Tricia guided Peyton to his new surroundings. There was a window over the toilet. Tricia retrieved a pillow and an extra blanket. She shut the door and locked Peyton in by adjusting a chair under the door handle.
 

Peyton yelled, “Tricia. I can’t get out. Take me home.” Tricia and Ann each lay on a bed, rid themselves of clothes and assumed the delivery position.

Banks ached all over. His pain mixed with exhaustion made him woozy. But he was not woozy enough to either close his eyes or keep them open. He was emotionally numb. Anything might happen and he’d feel nothing. He had never felt this way before. Probably because he never sunk to his present depths of failure. It was a new feeling for Banks. It was the feeling of feeling nothing. He knew he needed to find strength to nurse his ailment. From the airport he had to decide whether to drive to the Compound or back to the Powers’ house. He opted for the latter since he had information that the households would want to know. Besides, he must face the music, Peyton was his responsibility.

As Banks drove, he heard sounds of helicopters. To the right of him was the sound of gunfire. To the left were the screams of mostly men. Right now in front of him were wounded men crawling in the streets. Luckily for Banks Blackhorse he was numb. Yes numbness had its rewards.

Police sirens joined the cacophony. This was a city in crisis with no solutions. But according to Chief Dan, Banks was the solution. What could he do? Banks was just one person amongst almost six thousand pregnant ladies. If they were zombies, vampires or werewolves there would be possible solutions. Banks simply didn’t understand the rules. The more Banks thought the more he hurt. He wanted the numbness back. Don’t think.

As Banks tried not to think, Chief Dan thought that he was going to die. Marilyn gave him a severe wallop. Chief Dan wanted to do one thing before he died, he wanted to forgive Banks. He crawled inch by inch to his bedroom where his cell phone was. But Marilyn took the cell.

The fact that Dassi Abrams once was a registered nurse proved to be helpful that evening. When Murray was doing his internship at the hospital, they met. Right now Dassi Abrams remembered how to stop Murray’s bleeding, stitch him up and bandage the wound.

Stan and Julie lay in bed. As the gunshots increased outside, Stan held Julie tighter. He got her back, but he had lost Tricia and Peyton during the process. He attempted to stay awake but the intensity of the night took its toll and his eyes closed as did Julie’s. It was probably for the best since both felt like terrible failures.

Banks Blackhorse entered the Powers’ house. At the entrance of his bedroom, he lifted the broken door which caused him great pain. To make it worse he thought of the pain that he caused to his uncle. He thought of the pain he caused to the Powers’ family by losing Peyton. He thought of his loss of Ann and all those stirrings that he labeled love. And the more he thought of these things, the more the numbness faded and the depression raged in. And from the depths of his lowest of lows, he came to a conclusion. Perhaps he was experiencing an epiphany. He looked out the window and did something strange. Banks Blackhorse ripped off Julie’s Catholic necklace.

PART III, THE HORROR

D-Day

Sunrise is a quiet thing. Juneau men speak little after a sleepless night. Juneau women do not speak at all. There is malevolence to the silence. Then the birds sounded their welcoming of the day. Perhaps later the birds will change their tunes. The Monarch Raven was not one of these welcoming birds as it remained perched atop the Powers’ house. ‘Never flitting, just there sitting.’

The pregnant women have found safe places to deliver. Tricia and Ann lay in the delivery position. Each young adult has her own bed. Not so for Peyton. His head rested on a pillow in the motel bathroom...unknown territory for the boy. He got up and felt his way to the sink and ran the cold water. He cupped his hand to drink. Outside his barricaded door, Tricia felt her stomach as did Ann. The delivery commenced as each teen grabbed the head of the newborn. The ‘baby’ glided out smoothly as Ann had notified all the women that it would. To make matters easier, the umbilical cord liquefied. The girls looked on to their newborns. Their eight pounders were identical. Each had a creamy white body with purple hair and each baby was a mystery in gender. Their hands seemed fully formed as well as their feet. The newborn’s eyes opened. Tricia picked up the newborn and it examined it with horror. She screamed as she noted a slit down its back. When she turned, the newborn opened its mouth. From the baby’s upper gum was a singular pointed tooth. Its jaws opened and closed. The creature lunged at Tricia. It attempted to bite her. Tricia panicked, “Ann, Ann what’s happening? I feel different. I can’t ‘send.’”

Ann’s creature gave out a loud roar similar to what one would expect from a lion. Peyton yelled from the bathroom after hearing the roars.
 

Tricia belted out, “We’ll be there soon, Peyton.” Tricia was battling with her baby. She threw the creature on the floor as did Ann. The newborns crawled, stood and then they jumped similar to a kangaroo. Ann realized that she could no longer telepath and found it necessary to speak.
 

Tricia yelled to Ann, “Let’s get Peyton and get out of here.” The creatures hopped to each other and held hands. They eyed Ann and displayed their singular tooth. In unison, they jumped on Ann’s bed and jumped to her neck. Tricia grabbed a pillow and prevented the aggressive attempt on Ann’s life. Tricia and Ann covered themselves with bedspreads to avoid impending bites. Ann grabbed a creature and threw it against the TV. The screen broke and its glass caught the creature by its neck. As it dangled to free itself from the screen, Ann grabbed the motel pen and stabbed the creature until it oozed green. It hobbled around in circles the fell to floor as a lifeless lump.
 

Tricia battled with her creature and wrapped it in a sheet and beat it against the wall over and over again until the white sheet turned green.

Meanwhile, a creature flung in the bathroom through the window. It roared and Peyton yelled for help. Tricia and Ann removed the chair and captured Peyton in time. Tricia grabbed a towel and wrapped it around the creature. She tossed the towel and creature in the toilet. She shut the top and flushed the toilet. Tricia sat on the toilet top and continued with flushes as she lamented, “Peyton, I’m sorry…so sorry. Do you have any gum?”

Peyton managed a smile, “The bitch is back!”

Ann wrapped Peyton with her quilt. She gathered her overnight case. For an instant she stared at the case with full realization that this was a weapon she used against her parents. The thought struck so hard that she gagged repeatedly from the nauseous swell that enveloped her. After several deep breaths she decided that she had to think about that later…definitely not now.
 

Tricia rose from the toilet in triumph. She topped off her victory with a final flush. She followed Peyton and Ann to the bathroom door and closed the door behind her. Tricia grabbed pillows and gathered her stuff. “Ann I haven’t used a phone since last Thanksgiving. Need to call home.” She tried the motel room landline but it was dead. As the threesome got prepared for the ride home, they slowly opened the bathroom door. The roars of the creatures that flung through the bathroom window resulted in a hasty exit for the trio. Tricia fumbled for her keys. And after finding her keys, she became aware of the outside turmoil.