Feud

A shotgun blast broke the stillness of the dusty July morning. Echoes of the noise drifted back from across the valley while a brief puff of white smoke arose from a clump of saw greenbrier before disappearing.

Standing on the gravel road, Tilda Houser looked over in shock before she finally collapsed to the ground, holding her side. A moment before, she was jogging on an old road near her house. Now, her efforts to stop the bleeding were in vain since half of her side lay splattered across the road from the buckshot.

The vegetation parted as Noah Smith emerged with a cocky grin. As he ambled toward the road, he broke open his double-barreled shotgun, which flicked out the empty cartridges. The gloves he wore made sure his fingerprints remained undetected from the spent cartridges. When he reached his victim, he noticed one earbud she wore lay on the ground next to her. He crouched down next to her and picked up the earbud which he tossed over his shoulder. The chewing tobacco juice streamed from his lips as he spit over the groaning woman.

“Said I’d get you for what you did to Adam. You demons aren’t taking over this part of the world, no siree! Just like the old days, my grandad’s old shooter works just fine on filthy spawns.”

The man gave her a smirk with his thin lips while he stood and inserted one fresh cartridge after another into the shotgun. He closed the gun with a snap, then rested the weapon between his underarm and his forearm. The killer watch impassively as the woman in the road rolled over with a convulsive movement to stare up at him.

“That lesbo bitch of yours is next — I’ll finish it,” Noah spat another stream of juice, then continued. “My papa like to say the devil loves screams before he takes ’em to hell!”

Tilda grinned unexpectantly as she looked to her left. The dying woman’s smirk caused the man holding the shotgun to feel a cold sweat in spite of himself.

“She’s protected. I — I’ve made sure! Goddess and a Horned God watch over us. You’ll see him soon enough!”

Tilda looked over at the empty tree line in the distance. Noah glanced over, half expecting to see someone standing there. He spit over the woman again in disgust.

“Just like a devil’s spawn to blaspheme like that when I’m doing right.” Noah sneered as he patted his gun. “I don’t see your weirdo friends helping you now! I’ll get your Abbie the same way.”

“You’re fucked, you can’t touch her, you damned creep — you’ll die while she watches.” Tilda lashed out, then coughed.

“He promised!”

She slowly weakened as her blood bubbled from the open wounds in her chest. For the first time, Noah noticed the pentacle necklace worn by the woman as it creeped along her neck with each ragged breath. It confirmed her vile nature.

“I knew it. Foul bitch, you wear the sign of ol’ Nick himself.”

Tilda glanced down as she weakly tried to pick up the blood-stained medallion. Finally, she held it with her fingers, then a relieved look fell across her face.

“You think a Wiccan is a devil worshipper? Damn, you freaks are crazy.”

Her glassy eyes stared at him; a sneer came to her lips.

“Still, I put that scumbag Adam put in the pen. I’ll let you in on a secret. He never raped me!”

The woman gave a knowing smile. Noah scowled, then spit on her chest, his tobacco juice joining the blood. He immediately regretted it since his DNA was on her now. Noah silently reassured himself.

They’ll never find the body before she became nothing but a skeleton.

“Stupid bitch. Adam told me he never touched you. I heard your lies in court. Why’d you think I killed your ass? You were dead when you smiled coming out of the courthouse.”

“No, you’re screwed now, Noah Smith,” her eyes lit up as she looked back at the tree line. “Abbie’s protected. Come to me, my horned god!”

A second later, a sudden convulsive movement shook her body, then her eyes slowly opened again. They showed Noah the dead eyes of a corpse. With a grunt of satisfaction, the killer shouldered his gun.

“Satan’s got no power here. I’ll kill your abomination and it’s done. Our family always wins over evil!”

After dragging Tilda’s body through the ditch, Noah pulled out the phone from her pocket. Then, he dumped the corpse into a vine-filled depression a dozen paces off the road. Within a few weeks, the evidence of the murder would consist of nothing more than bones and lead. Once the animals picked the body clean, there was no fear of punishment for his crime. Noah read the book and Corinthians is clear. What those women did was against natural law, no matter what the state said. Besides, the bitch had it coming for what she did to his brother.

A family always sticks together in his small town. The newly elected sheriff’s last name was Smith, so Noah gave a satisfied nod to the corpse’s concealed placement. Then, the man started walking back to his place with a long effortless stride. The only thing to worry about was the dead woman’s relatives and friends. Noah doubted they knew her jogging route. The route changed daily after Tilda suspected Noah was watching them. Abbie wouldn’t figure out she’s missing until after dark.

Noah smiled to himself. They might look around some and talk with the sheriff. The sheriff’s deputies would drive around, but not along this road. There was only Smeet’s shack was at the end of this road and the locals hated going close to the old hermit’s place. Noah remained confident nothing would come of the search for Tilda. He already had an alibi lined up with the help of his cousins.

Yes, Noah reflected as his long strides carried him along the road, which had cedar trees covering much of the hillside. Halfway back to the main road where his hidden truck waited, the killer turned off the dead woman’s phone and pitched it into a water filled culvert.

“Good luck trying to trace her phone now!” A calloused chuckle followed.

As Noah walked out of sight, a tall, thin man stepped out of the nearby tree line. Puffing on a pipe, he walked closer to the body. He wore a pair of worn overalls, a plaid shirt and a shabby straw wide-brimmed hat. When the man reached the remains of Tilda Houser, he continued to puff on his pipe, which cast a foul-smelling black smoke around him.

“I’m here!” the man said. “Just not as you expected.”

As he stood there, he nodded occasionally while he listened. His dark eyes gradually gained an amused expression. He pulled the pipe from his lips.

“Now you know, don’t you?” he chuckled. “Well, a deal is a deal. She’ll live like I said!”

His gravelly voice echoed slightly amid the stillness filling the area. With a nod, the man trudge back to the line of trees.

~~~

A week later, Noah sat in the local bar owned by a cousin. As he expected, Tilda’s disappearance remained the talk of the town. Since it was a small community, nothing much kept the rumors from reaching everyone quickly. He overheard some of the bartender’s conversation at the other end of the bar. The contents went along with his plans. After all, Noah planted rumors about the two women fighting and Tilda leaving town. Now, he suppressed a grin when he overheard the others talking about it.

Also, his cousin kept spreading the word that Noah had nothing to do with the murder since he was with two other cousins fishing out at the lake. It was the same story they told the sheriff when the fat man came by with investigators from the state capital. Noah knew cell phones can’t track down the whereabouts of people if you leave them in your truck at the dock. Thinking of the rouse made him grin briefly.

This is kind of fun!

Noah enjoyed the thrill of the hunt since he was a young man. Now, his prey waited for him across the street. His gaze went to the window. Noah adjusted his angle to align perfectly his view to the coffee shop across the street. The business showed new paint on its exterior front unlike most of the other buildings on the street. Years of migration away from the farms left the town dried up and tired looking.

Inside the other building, Noah occasionally saw a familiar woman working behind the counter. Satisfaction filled him when he noticed Abbie Houser’s worn-out expression. The woman’s round face went with her overweight body. Her blue eyes looked tired, and she kept glancing at the customers inside. There was a look of despair hidden behind her smile when a customer came to the counter.

She thinks I did it, but everyone is a suspect!

He enjoyed watching her suffer. But he didn’t see the amount of despair he hoped for. The unexpected outpouring of support from many locals surprised him as they stopped by the shop. Several of the church leaders formed search parties. Outraged by the sympathy expressed in the community, Noah found himself furious at those who joined with the devil.

Abbie and Tilda established their coffee shop when they arrived a few years back. Tilda was from the community, born and raised. She dated Adam before she took off for college. When she arrived back married to another woman, most people said nothing about it. Small towns accept people trying to grow their dying communities. Many considered the ladies nothing more than a couple of city dwellers trying to get out of city problems. The women’s business turned into a hit. He shook his head while wondering if he should have burned out Abbie and Tilda’s business from the beginning.

Of course, when Adam Smith stopped by for donuts and coffee, he tried to rekindle their relationship. The trouble started at that point. Tilda rejected him multiple times, always saying she was married to Abbie. Still, his brother continued to stalk her. The escalation started on a bright sunny Sunday when Noah walked into the shop and warned the women to leave town. Quickly, the hostility grew when Adam heard about the incident. Due to his fixation on Tilda, Adam told Noah to stay out of it. His brother truly believed he would win the woman over to his side. Noah tried to get him to see the error. He pointed out the women were part of the devil’s plan. He tried to draw his brother away from the abyss only to have Adam reject Noah’s help.

“Brother, remember the Book of Leviticus,” Noah said one day. “Both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them! Together, we must put it right.”

However, Adam refused to consider Noah’s push to eliminate the women. Instead, his obsession eventually won out. Sure, his idiot brother got drunk with some of his friends and they stopped by the women’s house. Yeah, they shouldn’t have threatened the women. One of Adam’s friends raped Tilda. Adam had nothing to do with it. Noah learned afterward that Adam passed out on the floor before the rape.

Noah believed in retribution and consequences. The actions of his friends went against the book and the law. He saw that and knew they deserved punishment. However, those women lied about his brother’s involvement. Their injustice to his brother needed correction and penance as well.

I carry divine revenge for their sins!

When he glanced across the street again, he nodded his head toward his next victim. A grin came to his face’s face when he recalled shooting Tilda. Her shocked expression replayed nightly, and the image sent tingles through him. Noah knew he’d get the same intoxicating feeling once again.

The man took another drink from his mug when he thought about his brother in prison. In his mind, it wasn’t right for the two unnatural women to be free while Adam dealt with his problems inside a cement cellblock. Noah’s car repair business suffered from the backlash of Adam’s actions. Lawyers called it a hate crime. However, Noah knew where the blame really belonged. It was right across the street.

Noah gripped the handle of his mug tighter. The whole notion really burned deep inside the man when he saw how the lawyers acted with the judge. In his mind, the trial was a farce. The entire system made Noah burn with a raging fire. Nights of meditation and analysis while reflecting on the words of the wrathful god finally convinced him to take calculated action.

Maybe I should take care of the judge after this?

A person walking into Abbie’s business interrupted Noah’s thoughts. He was a familiar figure around the outskirts of the town, but it was highly unusual for John Smeet to enter the town. While Noah watched him, he chuckled to himself. Smeet certainly wasn’t scary looking in daylight. He looked like most of the poor farmers. But no one ever saw him drive into town. Apparently, he walked for miles to get his feed for the chickens, which filled the scrabble ground outside his shack.

However, the strange recluse who lived in a rundown shack scared most of the locals. The parents made sure the children never went around his place. Smeet had no friends, and his neighbors were afraid of him. He would show up at odd times around the area, usually when something bad occurred. Some in town called him Old Scratch because of rumors about the sounds and smells around his shack.

While the thin man continued to puff on his pipe inside the store, Noah watched with growing interest. The woman’s expression went through a range of emotions while they spoke. Then, his blood went cold as both of them turned to look through her front window. Noah felt their eyes staring at him. Defiantly, he calmly lifted his mug of beer while he nodded in their direction. An icy chill went down his spine and Noah turned away from their stare.

Did Smeet see me kill Tilda?

When he looked up again, Smeet was leaving the coffee shop.

~~~

Late in the afternoon, Noah sat on a deer stand near the top of an old walnut tree. The trip out to his observation point forced Noah to park a half mile away because of the rugged terrain. He remained frustrated at his inability to track down Smeet after the man left the coffee shop. Noah hurried out of the bar to catch the old hermit who turned between buildings on Main Street. When Noah got to the spot, Smeet was gone. With a sigh, the killer stood to view the house of his prey.

When he started planning his revenge, Noah put up a deer stand near the top of an old walnut tree about a quarter mile away from the house of Tilda and Abbie. From the stand, the man observed the house and the movements of the two women. His telescope gave him a look inside their lives and routines. That’s how he knew Tilda’s jogging schedule.

However, now Noah had his scope focused on the end of the road where Smeet’s shack sat. The chickens pecked around the front yard like normal, but he found no evidence of the strange man.

After letting out a frustrated breath, he turned his telescope. As Noah gazed upon the house, he paid attention to the movement inside the windows. After a while, he discovered the number of occupants were two older females and a younger male.

A quick look through the telescope revealed the out of county license on the car in the driveway. He noticed the pentagram wind catcher hanging from the rearview mirror.

More heathens in the house!

Noah scowled. The visitors forced him to reconsider his first idea. After seeing a potential witness to his crime, he considered burning down Abbie’s and Smeet’s houses overnight. His thoughts considered trying to frame her strange neighbor at the end of the road for the act. However, he realized it was too great of a risk. Smeet might talk and he couldn’t have that.

Abbie’s disappearance worked better in Noah’s plans. While he continued to observe the activities in the house, the man felt something was monitoring him. He scanned the surrounding ground several times but saw nothing. Finally, he went back to his thoughts. Pushing another wad of chewing tobacco inside his cheek, he forced himself to remain patient. Abbie lived in an isolated house a few miles from town. Eventually, she’d be alone.

As if the Almighty read his mind, the woman’s visitors left the house carrying their luggage. Noah watched as Abbie hugged them and they drove away. He smiled to himself as his opportunity arrived. Come morning, he’d finish his work. As the man descended from his perch, he started whistling a tune.

Early the next morning, Noah joined his cousins to go fishing. Like the last time, they arrived before sunrise and ate breakfast at the diner. Afterward, they made sure everyone at the bait shop saw them get in the small bass boat before heading out on the lake. About thirty minutes later, the boat went aground in an isolated alcove a mile from the road where Noah left his truck. He trudged across the rugged trail to his pickup and drove out to a well-hidden parking spot.

Noah swung his gun over his shoulder after he removed it from the locked storage behind his seat, then headed toward Abbie’s house. Sundays were the best time to get to the woman since her shop didn’t open until after nine. He scowled while thinking about how the two heretics wanted to catch the church crowd after leaving the first church services of the day.

When, an hour and a half later, he arrived at the small clearing near the road to Abbie’s place. Despite the long walk, he felt a nervous exhilaration of the manhunt filling him. The sensation made him edgy and hyperaware of things going on around him. Noah paused only a moment at the fringe of scrub oak that bordered the clearing. Looking for signs of people watching, he hurried across the open area to a dense patch of shrubs and vines climbing a trellis. His hidden location put him along the side of the house. From his vantage point, he could ambush Abbie from either the front or back of her home.

Noah leaned his gun against a supporting post, then parted the leaves carefully. The white and green rambler was small, with only a couple of bedrooms. It used to belong to a family, as he recalled. They had a daughter who left the town after high school. He heard the girl got a good-paying job and paid for her parents to move closer to her. It was a common theme around their part of the state.

He found no sign of movement, but a thin line of smoke lazily curled up from the chimney. The car in front told him that Abbie remained inside the house. With a sigh of contentment, Noah leaned back against the post. He looked over the backyard, where he noticed the small vegetable garden. As he waited, the man lazily listened to the chatter of birds in the forest. An occasional gust of wind moved the leaves above him.

The sound of a banging door suddenly aroused him from his semi-stupor. Startled into instant activity, Noah grabbed his shotgun and peered through the leaves. He glimpsed Abbie leaving the house from the back door. Wearing a long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans, she headed to the garden with a bucket.

The assassin scowled. The distance made it dicey for his shotgun to kill her. He needed to get closer. As he watched her work, the frown on his face changed. A full proof plan came to his mind.

Carefully, he pushed through the foliage in front of him. Quietly, he made his way to the side of the house, pushing his back up against the white siding. As he moved forward, the hint of excitement crept along as he made his way to the corner of the house. Noah peeked around the corner, then looked back at the county road. His focus turned to the woman crouched down by a row of tomato plants.

Stepping lightly, Noah moved into the open. Halfway across the level space, his hand moved yet closer to the knife. The ghost of a grin curved his lips while the unsuspecting Abbie Houser had her back to him. She whistled just loud enough to mask Noah’s guarded footsteps as he drew closer.

Step-by-step, Noah advanced. A terrible, evil smile crept to his lips as Noah tensed with excitement. He knew he was close enough, but he wanted to see her face. He ignored the sound of his footsteps while Abbie placed her hand inside the bucket.

“Isaiah says he will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked,” the killer said. “Turn around, wicked bitch!”

The woman’s body jerked with surprise. She turned around. However, Noah’s advantage suddenly stopped when a black nebulous cloud immediately filled the air around him. While shocked, the man still pulled the trigger of his shotgun. But it didn’t move. Instead, the shadowy cloud around him turned into the darkest night!

Inhuman screams filled with torment and angst filled his ears. Amid the din, Noah heard the familiar crack of a gunshot. Instantly, pain flooded his chest. He looked down in disbelief as blood spread in the middle of his shirt. When Noah looked up, the cloud was gone. Instead, he saw a trembling woman holding her pistol with shaking hands.

“Wha — can’t,” he stated before dropping to his knees.

Noah’s shocked expression remained until the last second before he fell face first into the tilled soil.

Abbie stood there with her weapon still pointed at the spot where Noah once stood. Her body shook from fear and adrenalin. Finally, she dropped her arms. Tears fell down her cheeks as nervous exhaustion combined with her anxiety made her stand like a statue for several minutes.

The footsteps stepping toward her garden finally caused Abbie to look over at the source of the sound.

“Well, it’s an obvious case of self-defense,” the thin man in the straw hat chuckled.

He pulled out his pipe and stuffed the bowl with tobacco like it was just another day to see a dead man on the ground. She wiped her eyes with her shirt sleeve, waving around her pistol as she spoke.

“You — how, I mean — thank you for the warning,” Abbie finally got out between sniffs. “I saw him coming like you told me he would come.”

The man nodded.

“Well, it’s finished, and a deal is a deal. You got the mortal law on your side.”

She looked at him oddly as the man looked at the body on the ground.

“Well, he deserved it. You said it yourself. It’s self-defense.”

“Certainly was! Mortal law is clear,” Smeet grinned. “You might have run when he could not fire his weapon, yet you shot him instead. I’m willing to testify for you.”

A knot twisted inside the woman’s stomach. Still, Abbie changed the subject.

“I never asked how you knew Noah would come after me like that. Still, I’m surprised at how my curse worked against him. My goddess helped me when I need her the most!”

A smirk came on the man’s face.

“That’s an amusing take,” he replied. “A blind, righteous soul cannot find the path to the Almighty. Noah enjoyed breaking the old man’s laws. Twisted and demented souls, I know well. I had my sights on him for years. But then you and your spouse arrived, the feud made it easy. I’ve been here for many years and it’s a part of the culture.”

“What do you mean by that?”

He looked over at her slowly, then shrugged at her ignorance.

“Mortals feud and lie all the time. Still, it doesn’t matter now. Funny thing, you Wiccans don’t believe in my realm. Yet Tilda made a deal with me, thinking I’m the horned man.”

He grinned at the woman.

“Yeah, I’m a trickster, and took on the form she expected. I even agreed to her deal to protect you from Noah,” he pushed back his hat. “But I didn’t promise to stop you from breaking one of the old man’s commandments. Where I’m from, spiritual law carries more weight than the mortal one.”

“I don’t understand,” Abbie panicked. “You said you didn’t know where Tilda was. Is she alive?”

The doubt in her voice brought tears to her face when he shook his head.

“Of course not,” he replied easily. “But I know exactly where she went.”

The man’s face elongated, and his lower jaw became more pronounced. At the same time, his eyes took on the look of a snake, while a pair of small horns pushed out of his forehead. He saw Abbie’s eyes widen and fear covered her face as she pointed the gun at him.

“You’re the Horned God!”

“Not hardly. My domain extends far beyond nature. You see, Tilda’s last-minute search to help you offered me a way to get three souls on the cheap and I just collected the second, thanks to you.” He bowed slightly and his eyes lit up fiercely. “Now, don’t you worry. Tilda and Noah are waiting in my place. You’ll see them soon enough.”

Smeet laughed while the tip of his finger suddenly erupted with a small flame. While the devil lit his pipe, the woman dropped to her knees. The gun fell out of her hands. She lifted the pentagram medallion of her religion and prayed to the mother goddess aloud.

“You can keep trying, but I doubt she’ll stop me from collecting what’s mine when you die. You didn’t abide by the Ardanes either, with your curse and killing a man. The goddess and the old man tried to make it easy on mortals. Even wrote it all out with the Decalogue. Revenge and retribution are the dominion of the gods, but humans just don’t pay attention to the rules.”

The echoing voice of the man in the battered straw hat carried through the wind. His words reached Abbie as he walked away.

“Free will is certainly interesting. It makes for fascinating damnation when mortals finally figure it out.” Scratch said as he exhaled the pipe’s black smoke that smelled like sulfur.

FINIS