Eddie

Nancy had the gun up, and I held the flashlight steady, although I wasn't sure where the idiot was, exactly. The problem with a flashlight is that it's just a small circle of light, so you have to move it around if you're trying to find something in the dark.

Or someone.

"I'm armed," Nancy called out and slowly we watched as Billy Hargrove emerged from the undergrowth, looking pissed. He always looked pissed, but it was mostly because he was bleeding from branch scratches and slapping at moths as he stepped out.

"Jesus, you're blinding me," he complained so I lowered the beam a little as I moved towards him. I was twice as pissed as he was, thanks to adrenaline and worry.

"You fucking ASSHOLE!" I shouted in his face. "What the HELL are you doing out here in the dark? Thought you'd play monster and get everyone freaked out? Is that how you get your jollies these days, Billy-boy?" I shifted the flashlight and cocked my right arm, ready to leave impressions from my rings in his damned TEETH.

Billy sneered and I was about to ram my fist in his face when we heard a Godawful commotion coming from the direction of the house. It sounded like chicken Apocalypse, and I knew who was leading the charge.

Nancy glanced back, and Billy took advantage of the distraction, darting off past her and down the path to the creek. I was torn but only for a moment. I grabbed her shoulder. "Shit's going down; come on!"

We ran up to the farmhouse.

In the yard, the party lights were bright enough to show some sort of a fight going on between Charity and a few of the bigger hens with some weird-ass dog-thing. They circled around it, flinging themselves claws first at the thing and raking it.

Mannie was barking from the house while Robin and Steve were helpless, not able to use the fireworks at all for fear of killing the chickens. The thing kept turning in circles and the FACE! It was like some weird orchid, with flaps. A part of my brain kept thinking it was right out of one of the D&D modules while all I circled around them, wondering what to do.

Turns out I didn't have to do anything. The monster snapped, sucking in Charity with one gulp. I heard Just yell through the window, and everyone else watching flinched. I spotted Wayne and Jonathan hauling ass up the path in time to see it happen too.

"Shit!" Lib on the porch yelled. "Now it's PERSONAL!"

Wayne lifted the shotgun to his shoulder and was about to fire when the monster began to flail. It whined and writhed and as we watched it . . . vomited Charity up. She screeched, all covered in blood and some fluid that smelt like acid, but man, she was NOT taking shit. Bird launched herself again at it and slashed its mouth, gashing it even more.

It retched up more fluid and blood and Robin quickly lit one of the Roman candles. She threw it right down the monster's mouth and BOOM.

No more monster.

All of us got splattered. It burned, so we were all brushing off the wet crap and hissing about it. Just ran out and collected Charity, wrapping her in a towel.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he told her. "Please don't die!'

She didn't look like she was planning on it, but she didn't look great either with half her feathers singed off and acid burning her feet. Just took her to the bathtub while the rest of us crowded at the kitchen sink to wash off.

"Cold water, and then some aloe!" Misty was handing out washcloths. "Eddie, we need to check the rest of the flock."

After I wiped off, I followed her out to the tipped hutch. The three other hens were loose: one in the bushes, one in the barn and the last one limping in the yard. We rounded them up and put them in the bathroom with Just, along with aloe and dried mealworms to settle the hens down.

Wayne stepped out onto the porch. "Looks like Hopper found someone," he called to us.

Lib

I was trying to stay calm because things were getting a little wild, so I gave everyone a mug of cider and came out to the porch along with Eddie and Misty.

Billy Hargrove looked like complete shit. My guess is that he'd fallen in the creek at some point and must have passed through Mrs. Jones' paddock because he smelled like a cow pie too. Hopper had a hand on his shoulder that wasn't as much for support as it was to keep the kid from running. The Chief wasn't smiling.

"Found the Camaro's owner," he muttered. "If you want to press trespassing charges, Misty, I'll have the paperwork for you in a few days. May have to consider a few other charges, depending on what I find in the car."

Mom nodded, looking at Billy. "You're damned lucky."

He gave her a hard stare, but Mom just pointed to the remains in the clearing.

"The fuck?" Billy spluttered, staring.

"Could have bitten you. Could have eaten you," Hopper pointed out, his voice still mild. "I suggest you stay inside for a while, Hargrove. Unless you have your own killer chicken."

Billy didn't look too tough after that. He didn't say anything, but he kept looking back at the corpse as Hopped marched him to the police car and shoved him in before driving away.

Everyone else came out to the porch, leaning on the rail, watching.
"Man, you throw the craziest party," Erica mused. "Chicken battle to the death. No one's gonna be able to top THAT."

"Demodog," Will sighed. "How?"

"An escape," El told him. "Not a gate, but a crack somewhere. Only spawn-size."

"Great, something new to worry about," Steve sighed, but El shook her head.

"They know. They are watching it," she murmured.

I wasn't sure what she was talking about, but everyone else seemed to know. Wayne was already out loading the corpse into a wheelbarrow, with Steve and Eddie helping him.

"Take it to the quarry," Mom called to them. "Load it down and drop it in there."

Wayne nodded.

We got back to the party after that, and it was a lot more fun. It was a tie between Just and Robin for the apple bobbing since they both pulled up three, so we gave them both pies. On the pumpkin toss, Steve and Mike were excellent at heaving pumpkins, both of them flattening the scarecrow on the first throw. It took El a few tries but she did pretty well too.

And the Maze! Dustin Henderson was the fastest through the maze, with my sweetie and Will right behind him, laughing as they bumped into hay bales and stacked dishes and stepped on bubble wrap. Pies all around, right? Everyone was well-fed and enjoying themselves. I was pretty pleased with the way things turned out.

Gradually though, they started packing up, straggling out in groups and thanking Mom as they did so. I checked in with Just, who was keeping an eye on the chickens in the bathroom.

"She's gonna be bald for a while," Just sighed, "But I think she's okay. I got Bluekote on all their wounds, mostly."

"She's amazing," I assured my brother. "I'm glad she took on the monster."

Just nodded. "Being mean was useful, this time. But maybe we ought to change her name."

"Chaos," Mom offered, coming over to peer into the bathroom. "Mistress of Chaos."

"That could be the title of a GREAT tune," Eddie mused, grinning. "Mistress of Chaos, Goddess of Doom/Charity charges, under the moon . . . hang on," he took off to start writing lyrics while Just and I giggled.

"If he comes up with a heavy metal hit about a pissed-off chicken . . ." Mom snickered, and then sighed. "Wayne?"

"Yeah?" he came over to the doorway and she hugged him. "Thanks. You're a good man."

He dropped his gaze and shuffled a little, and I saw so much of Eddie in that move. "Pfft. Did what needed doin' same as you, Mist. Just followin' your lead."

She slowly shook her head. "I appreciate that but it's well past bedtime for all of us. Just, if you want to sleep down here and keep an eye on the ladies that's fine. Lib, you and Eddie ought to do a last check and lock up while I see about the leftovers."

I scooped up Eddie from his perch along the railing, making him leave his spiral binder as we held hands and walked out to the turnoff to blow out the candle in Big Orange.

As we got there, a pair of headlights went on, blinding us.