He did not want to spend any more time than needed. Matt honked again. Hearing Emmy call out, he stuck his head out of the window and looked back towards the house. Jean came bounding out the door, swinging her rag doll and wearing a small, colorful backpack. Emmy was beside Gina, encumbered. Matt stepped out of the vehicle to help.
“There’s still a suitcase upstairs.” Emmy said when Matt held out his hands to take the bags from her.
“Where?”
“Just at the top of the stairs.”
Matt put the bags down and retrieved the suitcase. Gina and Emmy were barely out the door when he came down with the suitcase. When there was enough space for him to pass, Matt squeezed through and dumped the bags and suitcase in the back of the truck.
“Jean honey, why don’t you help your sister on the other side huh?”
“Mommy’s already helping.”
“Yeah, but she needs it.” Matt explained, smiling at the little girl. “Plus, she helps you when you need it.”
When Jean turned around to help her sister, Matt opened the door where his family would enter then climbed to the driver’s seat. While he waited on Gina’s slow approach, Matt thought about going back. He forgot to lock the doors.
If anyone comes to steal, hope they get terrorized too.
He decided against going back. Everything was smashed. There was nothing inside the house that was important to him at the moment. What mattered was that he got his family out. Matt realized that the girls have not even reached the pickup truck’s rear. He honked.
Emmy replied angrily, he did not catch the words. Matt looked out the window and watched their approach. Emmy’s focus was on Gina. Matt noticed that she was favoring her left leg. Every time the right leg was supposed to take the next step, the girl cringed. Matt was about to honk again when Emmy raised her gaze towards him.
He saw her face change. Emmy was frozen for a moment, then, as if she had no pains of her own, grabbed Gina by the waist, hoisted her up, grabbed Jean’s hand and dragged her towards the car.
Matt, confused, watched the curious approach. Then, it dawned on him.
He wheeled around and surveyed the area in front of their property. He caught something by the tree line to the right side of their property, but it wasn’t clear. Matt squinted. By the way Emmy reacted, the beginnings of a full-blown panic was already welling within him. He stepped on the gas, letting the engine roar, as if by reflex. The dark entity from the night before emerged from the trees, into full view.
Emmy was yelling for everyone to get in and buckle up. Matt closed his door. The creature was headed in the car’s direction. It kept changing its path, zigzagging, but always within the pathway out that lead towards the main road.
“Seatbelts!” Matt yelled.
Emmy closed the door behind her, jumping into the back to secure the children first. Matt looked back and forth, attention divided between the abnormally wide creature and his family in the back of the truck. When he was sure they’d be ok, Matt set the gear to drive and stepped on the gas.
The car’s engine sputtered and died. He tried the ignition and only got to sputter once. He kept at it but it would not come on. Matt lifted his gaze up when he heard Emmy scream. The dark figure was standing in front of the car.
Matt’s self-preservation instincts almost overwhelmed him when the front of the truck suddenly rose. He wanted to jump out and make a run for it. The truck’s frame groaned. Even the screams of his daughter’s and wife weren’t enough to drown it. The truck dropped heavily and bounced. It had not finished bouncing when it was lifted up again. This time, it was the rear.
Matt threw his arm to the back in an effort to catch anyone who might fall to the front. Emmy had her arms over her children. With the tilt, Matt was afraid the truck would topple, on its roof. It dropped suddenly and the family bounced violently inside again.
The back of the truck seemed to have suddenly caught a massively heavy weight as soon as the tires made contact with ground. The truck’s suspension had not even stabilized yet when Matt felt the back side suddenly dip. The front tires went up again. When the truck’s front tires came crashing down, Matt felt the vehicle leaning to the left when it stopped bouncing. The hood popped by itself. Cracks appeared on the windshield.
Matt looked back to find his family whimpering in each other’s arms. Unable to run with his family, anger welled up inside him. Matt grabbed the door handle and once it popped, he kicked it wide open and jumped outside. He sprinted a few paces then turned around to get a handle on where their attacker was.
The tall, black creature was gone.
“Emmy, snap out of it!” He yelled at his wife, who was still cowering inside the truck. “Get the kids inside!”
Emmy did not move from where she was. Matt approached the truck, eyes darting side to side. He yanked the door open. Emmy yelped and buried her head down. She jumped when Matt’s hand landed on her shoulder and buried her head down even more.
“Babe! You all need to move now!”
Matt went for the Gina’s seatbelt and extricated his daughter. Emmy was holding on to her. He slapped her. She finally lifted her gaze to him. She paused for a second, then, as if just realizing then, took of Jean’s seatbelt and took her in her arms.
They ran together, back to the house and huddled in the messy living room. Only Matt paced, snatching glances outside. Emmy and the children huddled together on the sofa. At the slightest sound, Emmy would jump from her seat. The children’s crying clouded Matt’s thinking, but he preferred that they cried to let it out than ask him questions he did not have answers to.
An hour of pacing passed before Matt finally gave up on trying to find other avenues. What the creature did was deliberate, obvious. With an injured child, he doubted they’d be able to even make it out of the dirt road and into the main road if they walked.
Without asking Emmy, Matt went outside, to the porch, to smoke. He whipped his phone out and searched for the number he saved from back when he was still researching online.
Please be real.