Shifting

In Shine Howl, strange things happen. From serial killer Bunnymen and a decapitated woman roaming the graveyards scaring both the dead and the living, to beings from a totally different world. People call them folklore and scary stories. The residents call it hell. You can call it whatever you’d like—Hell, a curse, God’s wrath—it didn’t matter. Not to Lucy M. Hillwood.

Lucy grew up in Shine Howl, and she’s seen things others haven’t, she only kept quiet for her own sanity. She lived in Shine Howl up until she was twenty-three, then she moved, not just towns, but countries. Lucy couldn’t stand being anywhere near the place where her sister was murdered. Plus, with her mom always pushing her about school, being in Shine Howl was stressful.

Despite her mom saying she could stay with her, Lucy decided to stay with her brother, Mars. A fight with her mom is the last thing she wanted. Mars is ten years younger than Lucy; he was a crazy kid that now lived in a gorgeous cottage that sat atop a hill with his fiancée and two roommates. Lucy admired his low-key life. A life Lucy didn’t know if she wanted. She knows her mom would tell her that she’s ‘already 33 and has no husband’, and that she ‘needs to get her life together or she’ll end up alone’. All this coming from a woman that got married at eighteen. 

She was dropped off by her taxi. Mars’ house is nice, cozy, isolated. The house itself had a widow’s walk right above the front entrance, a long white fence stretched around the house. Lucy felt overwhelmed by the strong beige the house’s walls were. 

Truly the American dream, she thought. White picket fences and two roommates. 

Lucy couldn’t say anything, though. Mars is living, the life, his life (whatever that may be), it can be however he wants it to be. Whereas Lucy’s still trying to figure out what she is worth in this life, what her destiny holds, who she will spend the rest of her days with . . . she’s happy for Mars, happy that he has someone and something for himself. That someone being his fiancée, and that something being his garden. God, he loved his garden. Flowers, vegetables, exotic fruit, marijuana plants. He kept it to himself and his fiancée in the basement. 

Lucy could feel her knuckles tear at the skin because of the cold weather as she brought up her hand and placed it on the red door that was decorated with a cheap skeleton. 

The door opened revealing a woman with heart shaped glasses, a glass was in her hand. “Lucy?” 

Lucy nodded.

The woman put her hand out. “I’m Maribel,” Lucy took her hand, the two shook.

“Are you Mars’ fiancée?” It’s true. Lucy has not met Mars’ fiancée yet.

Maribel gave a look, then she laughed. “No, I’m his roommate! Sammy’s on the patio.” 

The two women looked at each other for a couple of seconds before she said:

“But come in! Come in!” Lucy was taken aback when Maribel grabbed her tote bag then moved out of the way so she could get by. 

“Oh, thanks . . . I didn’t know there were amenities.”

Maribel smiled. 

The house was neat, there was a small part at the entrance that reminded Lucy of a doctor’s office waiting room. The living room was huge—the first room you saw when you entered—-a giant TV was hung on the back wall between two doors. Above the TV was a patio on the second level looking down at a red circular couch was in the center of the room, a table in the middle; there were two ash trays on the table, dirty, used. 

“The door on the left of the TV is your room.” Maribel said, standing behind Lucy.

There were two halls going left and right, and stairs in the wall going to the second floor. 

“This place is insane,” Lucy said, awing at the massive space, which was way bigger than her studio apartment back in New York.

“Lucy!” A voice from the patio, she looked up. A young man looked down with a bright smile. He ran out of view; Lucy could hear his footsteps coming down the stairs. Then he was back in view. He was much taller than the last time she saw him.

Lucy smiled. Jesus Christ, she thought. It just occurred to her that she hadn’t seen him in seven years . . . he was only sixteen. 

Mars walked up to greet her. They had a look in both their eyes, that asked ‘should we hug?’ then answered, ‘hell yeah!’

They hugged, not awkwardly like she thought it would be, just happy to see each other again. She couldn’t believe that he was a couple inches taller than her, her little brother. 

Maribel went around them. 

Mars backed away and asked: “Do you want a tour?” 

“Sure.” Truth was, she was tired . . . but she was going to stay up until everyone else went to bed. 

The tour was nice, he showed the kitchen (which was down the left hall from the entrance), then the dining room (down a door in the kitchen), then they were back in the living room. Then the upstairs; his and Sammy’s room, Maribel’s and . . . someone named Ewan’s room. 

Then lastly, the widow’s walk, which she just noticed Maribel called it a patio earlier. The view was nice, the sun was setting. A woman was leaning against the railing, smoking a cigarette. She was tall, as tall as Mars, she had curly blond that set on her green shirt. 

When Sammy noticed the two, she put her cigarette out, she smiled. “Hey!” She greets. Mars walked up to her; he gave her a kiss which she returned. 

Lucy looked away at the hedges below. 

Sammy eyed Lucy. “You must be Lucy!” She pulled away and walked to her.

She didn’t know what, but Sammy gave Lucy an odd feeling. Her eyes were green, like her shirt, she had boots, the color of coal. 

Sammy noticed Lucy’s tension. “We should all have a drink!” She grabbed Mars’ hand, “Right babe?” 

He smiled at her, “yeah, okay!”

They were back in the living room, the damn living room. The four of them—Maribel, Lucy, Ewan, Mars—sat on the circular couch waiting for Sammy to bring the drinks (she insisted on being the one to get the drinks). A headache grew in Lucy’s skull, the bright lights didn’t help. Ewan and Mars talked; Maribel and Lucy sat quietly. 

Sammy came from the hallway, smiling, with a tray of empty cups in one hand and a bottle of some hard liquor in the other—it said Jormungandr. “Scoot over boys.” She told Ewan and Mars. Mars sat closer to Lucy so Sammy could sit between Ewan and Mars, the bottle and tray of cups now on the table, the cover magically gone. 

Lucy watched as Sammy poured the drinks. Ewan got up, he walked over by the TV where, beneath the TV, a record player sat on a stand. Sammy gave a drink to Mars. Ewan put on an album by a band called Twisted. 

“How much do you want Lucy?” The question hardly got to Lucy, who was now looking at Ewan walking back to the couch. Sammy asked again. 

Lucy turned her head, Sammy looked at her, Mars and Maribel too. “Um, I’m fine . . .”

Without batting an eye, Sammy poured Jormungandr into an empty glass.

The glass, once empty, full of Jormungandr, was now gripped tightly in Lucy’s hand. Something the others didn’t know (because she was embarrassed) is that she’s been in AA, and sober, for five years after she got a DUI. 

“You alright?” It was Maribel. 

She nodded. She lied. 

The two of them got caught up in conversation, turns out they have a lot in common. For starters, Maribel also grew up in Shine Howl with her mom, dad, and three brothers. She was also interested in psychology, not that it’s rare; Lucy noticed that, nowadays, people are keener on the mind and the reasons behind actions and insight for those reasons behind those actions. 

She also found out that Maribel works in the marijuana business, she has a medical dispensary that she co-owns with her partner, Celia, and all her friends get a discount from Maribel herself. 

Lucy didn’t know how she felt about marijuana. She thinks that Mars is too young to smoke, his brain not fully developed. However, she knows that she doesn’t know what went on in the seven years she was gone; knowing her parents, Mars definitely had traumas, traumas that make someone mature sooner. Doesn’t mean his brain is fully developed . . . it just isn’t her place.

“So, you’re a psychologist?” Maribel asks, sipping at her drink. She has her right leg over her left, she’s wearing pajamas, stripes like a zebra. 

Lucy hummed in response, she stared at the liquid in her glass, ripples formed from every small movement. 

Ewan took a joint from his pocket. He looked at Lucy. “Shit, sorry . . . you mind?”

Lucy looked up, shook her head, then looked back at her drink.

“Don’t like it?” Sammy asked, taking a swig of the liquid in her cup.

The headache within grew.

“I’m just, “She took a deep breath, tensed her shoulders, and smiled. “I’m just not that thirsty—”

Mars laughed, “you don’t drink cause you’re thirsty, silly!”

Sammy and Lucy locked their eyes. Sammy gave her a sly grin.

Lucy swallowed the contents, whole.

Maribel awed, “Had me thinking you weren’t a drinker.”

“We all have secrets Mari.” Sammy stole the spotlight. “Isn’t that right Lucy? Secrets? You have secrets? Anything locked away in your mind you’re just aching to get out?”

Lucy kept her eyes on the other woman. Tension was in the air, but no one knew why. Who is this woman? Lucy never feels this way about anyone she just met . . . she hated Sammy. Something in her soul told her this woman was evil. Pure, sifted of all good, evil.

“How about we play a game?” Ewan noticed the tension, he said:

“Apples to Apples, Monopoly, whatever?”

Sammy chimed in with a smile, “how about Bluffer?”

Maribel shook her head, “Seriously? I thought you hated that game?”

She shrugged, “Keyword: hated—past tense.”

“I’m down,” Mars took his hand back from Sammy’s shoulder, he scooted up in his seat on the couch, so he was at the table. “Ewan, can you grab it from my room?”

Ewan nodded.

“And Lucy,” he turned his attention to her. “Have you played Bluffer?”

She shook her head.

Sammy was about to talk, but Maribel spoke first. “Basically, everyone gets ten cards, each one labeled with either a truth or a lie—”

Ewan came back with a box labeled Bluffer.

Mars took the box, opened it, and began to shuffle.

“And when it is your turn,” Sammy took over. “You say it out loud and everyone has to guess lie or truth! Person with the most cards at the end wins.”

Mars dealt five hands, gave each person ten cards.

“Seems simple enough.” Lucy said. “Who goes first.”

Sammy raised her hand elegantly yet quickly; she sat with her elbows on the table, her cards fanned out in her hands. “I will.”

“Actually,” Mars started. “I was thinking Lucy should go first.”

Sammy looked taken aback, she sat back and crossed her arms, “okay, whatever.”

Damn this bitch loves attention. Lucy thought.

“It’s fine,” Lucy said. “I don’t have to go first—”

“He already said it!” Sammy snapped.

Lucy felt uneasy. She looked at her cards, all the statements were simple. She chose:

I BELIEVE IN GHOSTS

“Now,” Lucy said. “Before I start, the questions, are they—”

“The cards are made so only you know what the answer is—like ‘my favorite color is green’,” Maribel replied, already knowing what she would ask. “We technically don’t need the cards, but prompts are fun.”

Sammy rolled her eyes, “just go.”

Lucy bit her tongue, then said, “I believe in ghosts, true or false.”

Mars nodded in thought.

“I say no.” Maribel spoke.

Lucy smiled, “You guys?”

Sammy glared at her.

“Yes!” Mars shouted.

Lucy smiled.

“I say . . .” Ewan prolonged. “I’ll go with no.”

Lucy turned to Sammy. When she saw Sammy glaring, her smile faded.

“You do believe in ghosts.”

Lucy’s mouth went back to an upside-down arch. “Wrong!”

Maribel took the card.

“So,” Lucy took a sip from her cup. “The first one to guess right gets the card?”

Mars nodded, “yup.”

Sammy shook her head, “Obviously.”

“Come on, don’t be rude.” Maribel said.

The wind blew hard against the house. Next was Maribel’s turn, Lucy won. Then it was Ewan’s, Maribel won. After Ewan went, it was Mars’ turn, Lucy won. Sammy huffed every time she lost. But now it was finally her turn. She’s been waiting all night; of course, Lucy had to show up and fuck everything up! She took a card, it said:

I AM A KILLER

Very funny, Sammy thought.

“You going to read it?” Mars asked trying to look over her shoulder.

Sammy shooed him away. “I hate you.”

Mars looked stunned, “what?”

“I hate you!” She got up and ran up the stairs.

Everyone looked at each other, confused by the sudden outburst. Mars ran after her, Ewan went to the kitchen. Maribel and Lucy sat still.

“I don’t know why Sammy’s acting so weird,” Maribel spoke, lighting a joint she got from her pocket. “She usually is super nice.” Lucy gave her a weird face, Maribel says, “I’m serious. I don’t know if something happened, but she’s a huge people-lover, she loves people. The way she looked at you . . .” Maribel smoked, looking at the ceiling. “The way she glared at you. I’ve never seen her do that before.”

Lucy shrugged. People can be weird sometimes, people hide secrets. Whatever it is, Lucy didn’t care; she senses something off about Sammy, she just doesn’t know what.

A slam came from upstairs! Maribel and Lucy look up then to each other.

Ewan came from behind, “Did you hear that?”

The two women stood up. Maribel calls out, “Mars? Sammy?”

Nothing.

Lucy thought of nothing before bolting for the stairs, Maribel follows.

Ewan was going to follow but something else caught his attention. The door to their basement (in the hallway by the entrance of the living room from the kitchen) was open, just a smidge. In the basement was Mars and Sammy’s Garden. He was just going to close the door, but an awful stench could be smelt coming from somewhere in the basement. Ewan wasn’t one to snoop but if that smell is chemicals or some odd gases, he had to know.

The room was lit by grow lights; plants were in rows; beautiful plants that Ewan couldn’t help but admire. It was wet from humidity. There was a gray bin at the end of the hall. It was long.

Ewan was at the box. The awful smell, it was this. He unlatched the lid. He swears, if it’s some deadly chemical Ewan was going to kill Mars.

It was Sammy. He could tell by her curls but only the curls. Her skin was black, dried up, as if someone stuck a straw in her and sucked her dry.

Ewan fell back. He sloppily ran to the stairs.

While Ewan ran from the basement, Lucy and Maribel were trying to reach Sammy and Mars. Maribel knocked on the master room’s door.

“Sammy! Mars!”

Still nothing.

She tried opening it but it was locked.

Lucy knocked. “Mars! Open the door!”

“Here,” Maribel took a key from her pocket. “It’s a master key. We all have one.”

Lucy took it and stuck it in the doorknob.

When Lucy opened the door, she saw the frightening scene of

Sammy sucking life out of Mars, her lips on his. His eyes were blank as Sammy sucked his guts out; Lucy could see Mars’ throat bulge.

Lucy watched as she took her lips off Mars, a long gray arm retracted into Sammy mouth. It was Sammy’s tongue. She dropped Mars.

“What the fuck—-” Maribel said from behind.

Sammy turned to the two, smiled, her skin moved, hair came out of her arms; she turned into a humanoid creature with brown fur.

Ewan pushed his way around the women and ran at the monster with a bong. The monster grabbed his hand, then his throat. Its mouth retracted, showing a clump of teeth. It bit his face off. Then, it bolted to the window. They watched the monster jump out the window.

Lucy took a deep breath then ran to her brother. He was dead. His body was completely skinny, his skin against his bones, practically sticking out.

Ewan gasped for air.

Maribel and Lucy called the cops. They told them what happened, but they were not believed. The cops searched the house, the premises, but came across nothing. It was ruled as a break in.

Lucy didn’t know why it didn’t kill her or Maribel. Or why it killed Mars.

She didn’t know anything. 

Not anymore.