In Venom and in Vain

The dirt was dried up beneath my feet as I felt the sun's heat bake my skin. I lifted an arm to swipe the sweat along my forehead, looking up with squinted eyes at that damned ball of light in the sky. God, could sure use some rain about now.

“We have water.” I’d said those words out loud. The voice beside me was melodious in my ear, and I turned to see a warm smile greeting me that I then returned.

“Not quite enough.”

“You whine a lot for a married man.”

“Last I checked, you agreed to marry that man.”

“Silly me.” Georgia laughed, and I could only let my eyes linger on her golden face before they trailed down to her leg. I noticed a slight limp as she walked beside me and couldn’t help my increasing worry. 

“Are you sure you’re alright?” I asked. She was always a strong woman, I knew. Held her head high and her pain inside. Both a blessing and a curse, I found - What I both loved and berated her for.

“Oh, quit worryin’.” She brushed my words off as she lifted her leg, rolling her foot and flexing her ankle. My eyes were trained on the torn sweater sleeve wrapped around her dark skin, and my mind thought of only the swelling snake bite underneath it. “We’ll find someone to tend to it, then we can get outta this wasteland.” I looked ahead to see the growing silhouette of the town before us. Sand Springs, the large sign had read as we passed it. That was when Georgia wasn’t limping as much. 

The attack was fast - something neither of us saw coming. One bad thing happened after another - that being after we had to abandon our car on the highway. It had just become dawn, and I was only awakened by the loud yelp of my wife. When my eyes shot open, I’d turned to her to see her hand tightly clamped around her ankle, as well as the fading sight of a small slithering thing making its escape. It was black in the bright sand of the west, and it was quick; that was all I could remember. 

Clearly, the wound was getting worse, as well as my confidence. But I swallowed it down, the urge to panic, and did my best to remain calm like Georgia was. “Think we’ll find what we need here?”

“We better,” I could hear a faint huff beside me, most likely accompanied by a playful pout, if I knew that woman. “Otherwise, this would be a real lousy vacation.” I smiled and shook my head. It wasn’t long till we reached the edge of the modest town.

The place was relatively barren, just what you’d expect of a residence in the middle of nowhere. Only two rows of maybe ten buildings lined up on either side of the dusty road - with an inn, a dry goods store, you name it - a large church standing tall at the end, towering over the rest of the town. Its shadow hung over the dry dirt, the tip of it - a lean, pointed cross - stopping right at my feet. 

“Remind me again why I agreed to a road trip?” I asked, my voice flat as the land around us, only to earn a sudden bump to the shoulder.

“Enough complainin’,” Georgia walked ahead at a much faster pace, despite her leg. “Just be glad that wasn’t our best van.”

Our car had died in the middle of nowhere, leaving us a map, food and drink, but no signal. The best we could decide was to grab our bags and continue on foot. It involved dragging my suitcase through the dust and a heavy backpack over my shoulders, but I suppose it could’ve been worse. Neither Georgia nor I complained, only kept tight smiles and marched on towards the town. Even in the hot sun, when our bodies ached, with a snake bite, we stayed strong without worry. Georgia was a pro at it while I was getting fed up.

“Look at them,” Her voice interrupted my thoughts from ahead- more lulled me out of them. Though Georgia kept her back towards me, I could hear the smile in her words. I followed her gaze to see people across the small dirt road. A few feet away from a group of adults, children sat by the inn, playing some sort of game that involved dice. They didn’t laugh nor scream - only played quietly - but Georgia seemed mesmerized by it. “Think we’ll get to have those someday?”

“Maybe once we get out of here.” I joked and looked over at her to be met with an amused smile back at me. Her eyes seemed to light up along with it, but that was after they flickered beside my head.

“Doctor’s office!” She exclaimed and rushed past me before I could turn my head. I glanced at the group of adults, half expecting Georgia's boisterousness to draw their attention, but we strangers didn't seem to distract the townspeople. They kept in their tight group, seemingly in quiet conversation. I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of attention, but shrugged it off and turned to follow Georgia. Attention was the last thing we needed.

The doors to the office didn’t surprise me, being those typical swinging ones you’d find in an old western. This place really followed the cliche. My brows raised in amusement and what was almost interest - it would’ve been a lie to say the town didn’t lure me in. 

They swung after Georgia, and before I followed, something in the distance caught my attention in the corner of my eye. I glanced over to see a black form surrounded by the bright, dusty landscape. A man, covered in dark clothing, head turned as if he were staring directly at me. I couldn’t see details with the distance between us, and only stared back before stepping through the swinging doors. Great.

The room was empty, enveloped in silence. A dull, flickering lamp hanging from the ceiling and the yellow glow of the sun streaming through the windows were the only light sources in the place. I took in my surroundings - the bare counter, collecting dust across the room, the visible cobwebs clinging to corners of the ceiling - and couldn’t help but hesitate in my step.

“Hello?” Georgia called in front of me, placing a hand on her hip and looking around. I watched her scan the counter, most likely looking for a bell or something to call anyone to the front. As said, it was completely empty of anything but dirt and dust, as if it’d been abandoned. The hum that left her showed how unimpressed she was. “Well, you get bitten by a snake, and this is what life provides.”

“Maybe there’s no one here.” I said, the atmosphere of the rickety room worsening my unease.

She walked further in, right up to the counter. “Nonsense. We saw people outside, remember?” As Georgia moved around the place, continuing to call out, I couldn’t help but feel a slight chill in my spine, as if something yet lingered in the air. A creak sounded behind me, and I turned my head back to look at the doors. One of them swung slightly, as if pushed by some invisible force or the wind. But we'd spent enough time outside to know there wasn’t any breeze in the air. I furrowed my brow, staring intently at the swinging door. The first thing my mind could think of were children, perhaps some kids playing a trick to startle strangers from out of town. 

Then, I thought of that man in black, staring at me only a moment ago.

“Something wrong?” I blinked out of my unnerved trance, then looked back to see my wife staring at me, eyes tinged in puzzlement. I glanced back at the door, only to see it’d stopped its swinging motion, still as if it’d never moved in the first place.

“I’m fine.” I hesitated between those words, which most likely made my unease clear. “Just thirsty from the heat.” 

My wife’s confused look relaxed into an easygoing smile. She walked up to me, only a few inches shorter, and lifted a hand to rub my shoulder. “You’re a terrible liar.”

I felt a heat grow in my face, staring back into her mesmerizing brown eyes, glowing in the faint light of the sun's stream. “You’ve just learnt how to read me well.”

“Wasn’t hard to learn,” her snip burned, but in a way that made the heat grow. “C’mon. I’ll look in the back room for something.” When her hand left my arm, its lingering warmth stayed. I stood up straighter, pursing my lips.

“What? Georgia, I don’t think–”

“We’ll just grab something and leave money on the counter. You can scare up a ten-dollar bill, can’t you?” Her back was already facing me, the smoothness in her voice a contrast to the irregular twist in my stomach. I couldn’t muster up another protest before she’d entered an open archway behind the counter – and her sudden gasp made my heart skip a beat.

“Oh! I’m so sorry, sir, I thought no one was here!” I quickly followed her, floorboards creaking beneath my boots as I turned the corner.

Georgia was silent, still facing away from me. I saw an old man before her, sitting in a leather chair and staring straight back at her. Reflexively, I moved a hand to rest on her shoulder, prepared for an angry lecture to be directed at my wife. “Georgia–” But she wouldn’t move, and it took me only a few seconds to realize the unnatural silence around us.

I looked at the man and realized he was still. The eyes that stared back were dull and without life, accompanied by a pale face and a mouth agape. He was dead; He certainly had the qualities of a deceased man.

I looked back at the floor, open bottles and pills scattered by my feet. I’d crushed a few in my rush. That’s when I remembered Georgia’s condition. “I don't even know which medicine could–”

“Never mind that! We have to get help!” Georgia’s boots stomped along the wood before I could process her words. I looked up to see her gone, leaving only the sound of her panicked steps growing distant.

“Georgia!” I pushed myself up, exited the room to see the entrance doors swinging and my wife nowhere to be seen. When I chased after her and ran out into the sun’s heated eye, her disappearance only left me more panicked. “Georgia, wait!” But I couldn’t see nor hear her anymore.

As a matter of fact, any residents that previously filled the town were gone then as well.

That stubborn spark of hers – the very thing I fell in love with so many years ago – only made my blood boil. Tight smiles. Marching on. Damn all that. I looked across the small town, took in its abandonment. The place was silent, void of any trace of where Georgia could’ve been. Where anyone could’ve been. 

Then, movement as my eyes flittered about. They trained on the distant figure ahead of me. That man in black walking into the church. 

“Hey, you!” I called out without thinking, but he didn’t seem to hear me, the door closing behind him. “Stop! Wait!” My feet moved, racing through the dirt-dusted land as I chased after him, reached the church door in only a few seconds. When I opened it, it swung with a tired creak, and behind it was just as expected. Nothing. A dim room with aisles filled with pews, the air full of lingering dust particles. Empty.

“Hello?” I spoke into the large place, my voice an echo. Colored light filtered through the stained glass windows of the church walls, laying among the dark floorboards, reaching my feet. 

Then, behind me, the door slammed shut. I whipped my head around to the point it strained my neck, quickly enveloped in that dimness that consumed the room. Didn’t ya see the signs? An old, gravelly voice spoke close into my ear as if someone stood right beside me, but when I looked forward again, there was only that man in black standing on the other side of the church. When no one would look at ya? He said - I thought. The voice felt so close it crawled beneath my skin. When you saw the life faded from their eyes? When they went an’ disappeared?

“What . . .” “What the hell is going on?” I would’ve yelled, but what seeped out of me was a whimper. My fear was on display for the strange man. I couldn’t see much with the lowlight, but even from where I stood, I could see his face was covered by a dark bandana or mask that matched the rest of his black attire. A large cowboy hat atop his head cast a shadow over his eyes. Even with all the darkness, my eyes took note of the whip in his hand.

You should get outta here, boy. I watched as his heavy boot stepped forward, clumped against the wood floor and sent a ripple through my body. I remained still. You should see this town ain’t right. It’s lost. Sunken. A mere memory of what was before the venom. Clump, his hand with the whip lifted. And soon you’ll get poisoned just as well.

He took another heavy step towards me, and when he lashed the whip against the side of a pew - akin to the flick of a snake’s tongue - that was when my feet decided to work. I turned and ran towards the door I came in, but when I grabbed the doorknob and jiggled it desperately, it wouldn’t budge.

Stop. The voice said with another sharp crack of the whip. Turn back. Now. I didn’t know whether that was the man speaking or not - the voice definitely didn’t sound human. But whatever it was, it sounded close, and I could hear that man getting even closer. Leave Sand Springs. 

The whips behind me became louder, snapping into my ears as I rattled the door knob. It wouldn’t budge. The voice shouted to go, but I couldn’t even escape. Was this taunting? A fear tactic? Was any of this even goddamn real?

Run. The cracking sound once more, and it sure fucking felt real. And again. And faster than the heavy pounding of my heart in my chest. Before you end up like them. Like her.

“Come on, god damnit!” I cursed through gritted teeth, resorted to slamming my shoulder against the thing until I knew a bruise would develop.

Before you get bit.

But there was one other thing in my mind that overshadowed even the inhuman speech itself. Georgia. 

With another crack, I felt a burning sting erupt through my back, tearing past my shirt and skin, but my teeth only tightened with no sound. One final slam into the door made it fly open. A crack through the air as I fell forward, body slamming hard onto the dirt below. 

I felt the blistering heat of the sun on my skin, a heavy cough erupting out of my throat from the impact. But in my sputtering, I noticed the relieving sound of nothing at all. The whips had stopped, and the voice in my head had left along with them.

Opening squinted eyes, I lifted my head, looking forward through blurred vision brought on by pain. The wavering town was ahead of me; I was outside the church once more. There was nothing but an empty clearing dusted in sand. No residents. Nothing. Just buildings.

But when the vision cleared, when the puff of dust from my fall evaporated into the air, I saw her. That dark brown hair and dark brown skin.

Georgia.

My body moved before I could even command it too, pushing itself up and stumbling towards her. That sting in my back - from that whip - was completely gone. As if the burn was merely a dream or illusion. But it’d felt so real at the time.

“Georgia - oh god, I’m so glad you’re okay–” But when I reached her, my words stopped by themselves. My wife didn’t look at me, didn’t react when I called her name. I stopped before her, stared down at her, and recognized the behavior as matching the one of that old man in the Doctor’s office. 

After a beat, I sat next to her. The silence consumed us. The warmth of the sun scorched us. 

“How does it feel, Georgia?” I asked, a break in my voice. Just as I thought, she didn’t answer. I could see it in her blank face the second I got close. The lack of emotion. That warm smile gone from sight. Replaced by a face glazed over by lifelessness.

Just like the residents - that doctor in the office - Georgia seemed to be lost. Alive, but lost - carrying all the qualities of someone who was lifeless. I rested my hand on hers and garnered no response. What filled my mind was the words that man - that thing spoke to me in the church.

Before you get bit.

And in the corner of my eyes I noticed it. The small shape of something moving quick without hesitation.

The snake from before slithered up to me, at a speed greater than my ability to process it. But I knew what it was. Its black exterior the same that fled from Georgia after sinking its teeth into her ankle, filling her with that deadly venom that I was too late in stopping – the kind that did worse than kill, but only numbed the brain. 

I don’t move, and only wince as its fangs puncture my ankle, a sudden sting. Sand Springs seems to fade away, with us alongside it.