The porch light flickered faintly, continuously casting the busted up front yard in light, then shadow. Sweat beads began to form on my temple as I stood in the open door way, baseball bat primed and ready to swing at the first thing that moved. The door started to swing back inwards to me due to my forceful entry, but I bumped it back with my right elbow.
"Y'all better get! Get out of here!" I shouted into the night, hoping to scare away the thing from earlier. Maybe it was like a bear; bears were afraid of loud sounds so this would be too right? For good measure I took the baseball bat and hit the metal wall of my trailer causing a loud ringing sound to echo off the other trailers. Nothing moved.
I took my first step down the stairs, my head on a swivel and all of my senses working in over time. As I descended to the second step and nothing had changed I quickly moved around the door to where the sound of the thing running into my trailer had come from. What I found made me stop short.
There wasn't a car, there wasn't anything other than a man, slumped over and leaning against my trailer. Could it have been him? I took one more glance around and slowly leaned down next to the unconscious man.
"Hey, if you're even alive, now would be a really great time to wake up." I spoke to him, but kept my eyes scanning the fence line for any changes. Behind me the man stirred as if to let me know he was indeed alive. For an instant I turned away to inspect the man further. In the darkness I could tell he was a big guy, with black hair and a weathered leather jacket.
Snap! I whipped my head around and my heart all together stopped. I stood up, my sweaty palms continuously re-gripping the baseball bat for better grip. Apparently this was not like a bear. Not in the least bit.
The creature stood just outside of the main light, preferring to stand in the shadow as if keeping itself secret from my eyes. But when the light would flicker off I could better see the outline of the monstrous being. It was a large as a Hummer and covered in a thick fur which swayed slightly as it moved forward and backward, calculating its next move. Red eyes were the only thing completely visible in both the darkness and the light; red eyes that were filled with hunger and anger as they looked into mine.
I could hear my heart pounding in my ears as I struggled to stand my ground. I am stronger than my fear. I took a deep breath and managed to hold onto my lunch.
"Go away!" I shouted raising the bat up in the air, threatening to swing, but the beast didn't move. Instead it cackled as if amused by my words, and let me tell you being laughed at by an animal is a serious demoralizer. Especially by something this big. The red eyes looked away from me and toward the body standing behind me as if to tell me that I wasn't what it was interested in. "No." I cut off its line of sight. "You're not having him tonight."
The amusement in its eyes all but vanished to annoyance, and it took a step forward.
"I said no." My voice became more stern. The thing flicked and ear as if something else had caught its attention, but raised its foot to take another step towards the light. "Go. Away." Now the beast seemed to by physically bothered by my words, as it began to snaps its massive jaws and growl.
"GO AWAY!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, making my own intents known to this beast and the rest of the neighborhood. A force seemed to knock the beast backwards, its claws digging into the green grass to slow its exit in vain. With a final shove the beast landed outside of were the picket fence once stood, but was back on its feet in seconds, roaring and thrashing its massive claws at the air.
Unsure at what had just happened, it decided now was a really great time to leave the front yard. I lowered my bat and moved back toward the man, always keeping an eye on the incredibly angry beast just outside my lot.
"We have to get you inside. Come on." I moved the bat to my left hand and snaked my right arms under the man's arm, firmly wrapping it around his waist. Remember what I said earlier about him being a big guy? I tried to take his body weight, but was foolishly reminded how weak I was. "Alright you want to get out of here, you're going to have to get up you ton of bricks!" I huffed, trying to stand again. Silence filled the area and I looked up to see the beast had stopped and was now just staring at me. Not the guy- me. "Now would be better than later!" I nudged him.
As if finally hearing me the man struggled to his feet, which was all the help I really needed. Tightening my grip around his muscular frame we moved around the open front door and up the stairs. With him inside I placed my bat by the door and walked the towering man over to the couch. Carelessly dropping him down I moved back toward the door, the beast still watching just beyond the fence.
"Now why don't you be a good monster and go bother someone else?" I sneered and shut the door, surprised by my own boldness. Outside the beast let out a final roar, then it became silent, not even a cricket could be heard. He's still out there. Groaning from behind me brought me back to the moment. I'd almost forgotten the bleeding man laying on my couch.
I walked back to the man, who drifted in between unconscious. Now in the light I could clearly see the ordeal the man had gone through. Five long cuts ran down the man's chest, only visibly due to his ripped, bloodied, what I assumed was once a blue shirt.
"Okay, okay, okay, uh, first aid kit!" I said aloud as I ran into the bathroom and searched frantically underneath the sink. "Where the hell- Ah! There you are you son of a bitch." I wrapped my fingers around the small box and moved back to the living room. I was genuinely surprised to find the man now standing, looking at his surroundings with a dumbfounded look plastered across his face. His eyes fell on me and as he opened his mouth to speak, his face turned white and slummed forward. "Shit!" I dropped the first aid kit onto the kitchen counter and rushed to catch the massive man.
My hands wrapped around his chest as I literally took on the majority of his weight and for a moment we just stood there. I was pretty sure he was unconscious, so I began moving he back to the couch.
After dropping him off I grabbed the first aid kit and placed it on the table next to the couch. "Warm water." I remembered as I move back into the kitchen and turned on the faucet. As I placed my hand under the water to monitor the temperature a shadow loomed behind me. Still recovering from my incident from that beast, I wasted no time whipping around and punching the shadow- only it was actually the man.
"Oh shit!" I cried, as the throbbing pain from my hand caused me to hold it tenderly. Remembering who'd I had just punched I looked up to find the man looking very dazed as he stared at my ceiling. "Oh my god. I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Well of course you're not okay, but, I mean, shit, shit, shit." I franitically looked him up and down, unsure what to do now.
"Ow." His reply came a few second later as his hand came up to his jaw and tenderly touched the now red area I had punched him in. He stroked his jaw for a moment, saying nothing. Finally he looked at me. "Nice punch."
I laughed nervously as I helped the man off the floor and once more back to the couch. "Try to stay here this time. I'm tired of picking you up." I moved back to the kitchen and filled up a bowl of the now hot water.
"What happened?" The man asked as I moved back into the living room.
"I should be asking you that. I was asleep when you rammed into my trailer. Rather violently might I add." I sat down next to the couch and opened the first aid kit. "I'd need you to take off your shirt."
"That's not necessary." His tone was distant and I looked him in the eye, suddenly very tired.
"Look, you were torn up pretty badly from what I can tell so here's what you're going to do for me. You're either going to take the damn shirt off or have a round two with that thing outside. Your choice."