After the Devil Beats His Wife (?)
"Come on, the water's not that high!" called Clyde, launching himself out the door. "We can go for a swim!"
"I don't know," I hedged, catching the screen door with my foot. "It's just flooded!"
"C'mon, James! Aren't you man enough to take a little floodwater?"
I rolled my eyes. "Real manly, drowning. That's why little girls can do it."
"We deserve a rest. I'm not going to wait much longer," he warned, standing out in the yard. "Are you game or aren't you?"
Casting one glance behind me at the empty house, I set my glass of lemonade down and headed out after him, the fresh grass rubbing pleasantly against my bare feet. "It'll be on your head if we both die."
"We ain't gonna die. Geez, you're such an old lady."
"Look who's talking," I retorted, smacking the back of his head. "Who wouldn't dare go outside in the rain because you were afraid you'd catch cold?"
"Hey, it was storming!" protested Clyde, trading fake blows with me.
"Yeah, yeah, sure it was."
"Ouch! That was my sore shoulder, you idiot!"
I prodded the injury a little harder. "That's why we shouldn't go swimming! You got a sore shoulder."
"It's not that bad, but if you keep on poking it--"
He broke into a run and I chased after him. I was a good four and half inches taller than Clyde, and had a couple more pounds of muscle than him, too. When we wrestled he almost never got the upper hand, which really got on his nerves. "Come here, and I'll work that sore spot for you!" I hollered, narrowly missing a large hole in the ground, catching the other side with my toes.
"Don't touch me!" yelled back Clyde, darting ahead of me.
"Darn it, why are you so fast?!"
"It's called self-preservation! It comes from hangin' around with you!"
Clyde had been my best friend since I could remember having friends, after my family had moved in from the city. Every summer we had met to go fishing and had actually gotten into loads of trouble. Once, we had egged an old man's house, wasting all my mother's good chicken eggs. Then another time we'd been caught smoking behind Clyde's house-- we both still had faint scars from the whipping Clyde's father had given both of us.
Truth be told, Clyde's old man didn't like me much, and I didn't like him, either. I hardly ever went to Clyde's house; he came over to my property instead. My family had more land, anyway, with a river running through it. Swimming was one thing we couldn't resist, and we often went down to take an afternoon plunge after working hard on Mr. O'Brian's farm. Mr. O'Brian was a decent sort of farmer, and let us off around two or three in the afternoon, which gave us plenty of time to go swim before dinner.
As of late, we'd been unable to swim because of the fierce storms that had been raging around the county. Now Clyde was taking the first opportunity possible to go back to the river.
"If you jump in first, I'll kill you!" I called, nearly catching up to him.
Tossing his shaggy dark hair out of his eyes, Clyde threw me a scornful look. "I'll jump in whenever I please."
"Oh, yeah? Well, just know I'll be coming in after you a minute later. Then we'll see."
We were at the river, and I halted mid-run.
"What?" asked Clyde.
"You don't see how swollen it is?"
It was awfully swollen-- the normal banks were swallowed up in streaming water. The river was twice as fast-flowing as usual, with numerous eddies and undertows. Pieces of logs and leaves floated quickly by. I shook my head. "That thing is huge. I'm not diving in, and you're not, either."
"Aw, you're all bark, James. You got no bite." Flinging his cotton shirt off, Clyde stepped out of his shoes and tested the water. "It's just right. Come on, man, let's go!" And without another word, he plunged in. His head went under, and I lost sight of him.
"Hey! Clyde!" I came to the edge of the river, tamping down panic. "Clyde!"
Two hands shot out of the water, grasped my ankles, and yanked, sending me flat on my rear. Then I was pulled roughly into the icy, swirling water. I tried not to gasp in surprise as the cold river closed over me and punched out at my friend.
We both came up for air, chugging in breaths. "You--" I spluttered, lunging for him.
"I knew you wouldn't get in, otherwise," grinned Clyde, doding my swipes.
"You dimwit! What are you, retarded!" I peeled my shirt off and shoved it onto the bank, along with my shoes. "Mother will kill me!"
"She'll forgive you, I'll take the blame for it."
"Right," I said, seizing his hair in my hands.
"Ow! James!" We struggled, fists flying. "Watch out, we'll lose our footing," warned Clyde, slipping.
"So? This was your idea." Trust Clyde to do something foolhardy. Between the two of us, everyone said I was the most sensible, and that was obvious when it came to stupid things like swimming in a flooded river. "Okay, we swam. Now can we get out?"
"What's your hurry?"
"This is just stupid, Clyde. You heard about those three kids last summer, just as I did."
"They didn't drown, they were killed by some animal."
I socked him. "Some animal near a flooded river, genius."
"We're older than them. We're almost old enough for college, now. Those kids weren't even fourteen."
"I don't think we can beat some kind of animal."
"That was a freak accident, the papers said. So it won't--" Clyde froze, his mouth hanging open. He seemed to be staring at something over my shoulder.
"What?" I twisted in the rushing water; my breath caught in my throat.
On the bank of the river, watching us, was an amazingly beautiful woman. It was plain she was not from around our town. No man could ever forget that kind of face. All the women in our town were brown from the sun, but this woman was alabaster pale, white as a lily and as graceful, too. Even though she was standing still, I could tell her movements would be smooth and feline. She had untamed, wild auburn hair that touched the small of her back. I couldn't see the color of her eyes from my position in the river, but they were as inscrutable as the rest of her.
"Holy crow," I whispered.
"Hello," said Clyde, as politely as he could.
"Good afternoon, boys," she said, smiling magnificently, in a voice like summer rain.
For some reason, her voice triggered several questions in my head. Who was she, and why was she on our land? Did anybody know she was here? Did she have a husband, and if she did, why wasn't he with her? Deep in me, even though my senses were still in shock, suspicion started to grow. "Hello, miss," I said, nodding. "May I ask your name?"
"You may," said the stunning woman. She smiled and came slowly forward, her body capturing our attention. I shook myself and followed my instinct, which ordered me to back away from the lovely vision in front of me. "Clyde, move back," I muttered, jerking his arm.
He ignored me.
The woman was to the water's edge now, her eyes trained on my best friend. "Do you mind if I join you?" she asked, her alluring tone fairly melting our bones.
"Uhhh--" I kept fighting backwards, making my way through the muck. "We were just finishing up, really, right Clyde?" Clyde didn't answer.
"Oh," she purred, in sweet disappointment, "what a shame. You can't stay for another minute?"
"No," I breathed, desperate to keep my head.
"Sure," said Clyde, grinning back at her.
"Clyde!" I protested, irrationally afraid. After all, what could one woman do to two strong young men? I didn't know, but I had the feeling that this woman wasn't ordinary.
The story of the three dead teens from last summer rose to haunt me. They'd said an animal killed them, but now I wondered...
"Clyde, move!" I said, seizing his shoulder and hauling for all I was worth.
"Now, now, darling," said the woman, as her feet hit the water, "don't be that way."
If she got any closer, we were both dead. I just knew it. "Stay back!" I snarled, forgetting all the lessons on being cordial to ladies.
"Hmmm, I was wrong about you, boy." The woman dipped like a snake into the river. "You may do just fine, rather than your little friend, here." Suddenly, her face was transformed from breathtaking to terrifying, her lips pulled back to reveal her teeth and growls issuing from her throat.
"James!" Clyde snapped to life with a vengeance, clinging to me and pushing toward the opposite back. "Let's run, James!"
"Stay," the woman urged. "A moment is all I need."
"Let's go!" I ducked into the water and jetted towards land. With the water to slow her down, maybe we could escape from whatever creature was hiding inside that woman. My hand found an overhanging branch and I held on for dear life, feeling the water washing around me.
The river turned out to be our downfall.
With a smothered cry, Clyde was snagged in a current and sank, his hands reaching out for rescue. "Clyde!" I screamed, watching his dark head vainsh in the torrent. The woman was right on top of us, her fingers stretched toward us. Torn between my life and my friend, I hesitated for one second. One second was too long to wait.
Clyde resurfaced, coughing. "Run, James!" He was whipped several more feet downriver, going under again.
"Someone, help me," I said, my voice ragged.
Then I made the most fatal decision of my life.
I let go of my branch and reached out to save my friend, even as he floated away from me, never to rise from the river again. "Clyde," I said weakly. "Please--"
There was a snarl from behind me, and my head was forced into the water by eerily strong hands. I had no time to fight. There was no second chance. I felt I sharp pain on my neck--
Then there was no more.