Here to Help
She thumped her thumb to the beat of the music on the radio, yes the radio. She didn’t care to listen on her phone or the computer when it came to music. She look out the window at how hard it was raining and thought how she was glad to be inside.
Her name was Sue, and she was about to turn 27, but look no more than 20. She jumped as the lights of the house flickered off and back on as lightning flashed outside. By the time the rumble reach her, she was laughing at being jumpy.
It was the first storm of spring and the first storm since she had moved into the old farmhouse. It was not a big house, but it was just right for her. It was old but was built to last. She had moved in just over a month ago and enjoyed doing the few things that needed to be fixed.
She had no real friends to speak of, and no living relatives that she knew of, so she was used to being alone, but now she was a few miles from town. She was able to keep her inner net business running fine from there as easily as in town. It only took a couple of hours a day.
All she did was take orders online, notify the distributors, and when the sale was made she received a percentage. It wasn’t as easy as it sounds, but she was a master at the keyboard. She could run 50 or 60 orders an hour.
She had no real need for a man in her life at this time, but sometimes she had thoughts about having a family. The radio crackled each time the lightning flashed. This irritated her, they were playing the soft rock that she liked so much.
She decided to get out some candles from the kitchen just in case the power went out. She was going to paint over the dull light green walls to a light blue in the next couple of days. She had many ideas of what she could do to make the farm more her own.
She had already ordered baby chicks and wanted a goat or two. She had the feeling that she would be there alone time if not the rest of her life. It took her a minute or two to find the candles.
As she returned to her office, which at one time she was sure was a sewing room the lights flashed again. The wind was picking up and the lighting was becoming more frequent, and now she could feel it.
She look at her computer, the net was down, so she checked her phone, it was still up, but only one bar showed. She was glad that the radio station was still working. That meant the power was still on in town. She had not checked the weather in a few days so had no idea that the storm could last a few days.
She looked out the window, that was on the side of the house. The side yard was not large before the woods started, maybe 20 yards. The trees were moving back and forth from the gusts of wind in an almost rhythmic fashion that changed with every flash of lighting.
This gives her a creepy feeling, one she had never had in town when it stormed out. She wondered about the couple of feral cats that lived there where. They would not come close to her yet, but she know that one day they would trust her.
On the radio the DJ’s low deep voice said, “Hope you are all snug and warm, temp to drop to the 50’s tonight as the rain contuses. Here is a little mood music for you.” it was one of her favorites by the Doors, Riders on the storm. He had said rain to continue, she wondered for how long, and if the river not too far would over flood the road.
She was not worried about that too much, she had plenty of can goods, and as long as the power stayed on her refrigerator freezer was full. She sat down on the small couch and took a sip of her ice tea, and almost dropped the glass as lightning flashed followed by a hard rumble. It had hit something near she thought.
She went to the kitchen, where the window overlooked the backyard. As she reach it the lights flicked and stayed out this time. She couldn’t see anything so went to the dining room window were when she looked out saw that one of the old oak trees had been hit.
A huge branch lay across the driveway and had pulled down the electric wire with it. There were sparks jumping from its end as the wind blow it around. It had missed her old truck but not by much. The sparks stopped so she figured the power to the line went dead.
She made her way back to the office and lit a candle, then she remembered that her phone had a flashlight app on it. She picked it up and noticed there were no bars showing now. The service was now down too, but she knew that would not be down long or hoped it wouldn’t. She sat back down not sure what to do, she was not ready for bed yet.
It was going to be a long night she thought and didn’t think she would be able to sleep as long as the storm was so intense. She looked at her phone again, it was at 50% power. She deiced to turn it off to save power so in the morning she could call the power comply.
She laid back and watch the shadows jump around the room from the flicker of the candle and the lighting flashes, which had moved farther away. Somewhere around midnight, she drifted asleep, but it was not restful.
She dreamed that she was running from room to room in the house, from some unknown or unseen evil. It was the raw fear in her mind that drove her. As she entered a room the door would slam shut behind her on their own.
Outside it was storming, and the wind was howling. She thought maybe she should run out of the house, but when she tried the backdoor it would not budge no matter how hard she pulled on the knob. She turned and run for the dining room, her foot hit the edge of the counter and she began to fall.
She jerked awake before she hit the floor in her dream. The candle was still lit but it was all most gone, and it was still raining out, but the wind had calmed down.
She deiced to go to bed and in no time was asleep, but this time it was dreamless. When she woke she could hear it was still raining. Before even getting out of bed she cheeked her phone. The service was back up, so she call the power company. They told her they would be out as soon as they could.
As she got dressed she thought she smelled bacon being cooked. This was strange because she had never cooked breakfast in the farmhouse. She only had coffee in the morning and would have an early lunch most days. When she reached the kitchen the smell was gone.
By the time she had drank her first cup, she had forgotten all about the smell. She went about her daily routine of swiping the old wood floors, and just as she got done a large truck pulled up. They were there to fix the power all ready, this made her happy. An hour later the power was back on.
The radio came to life with the song, I got you, babe, by Sonny and Cher, she had never shut it off when the power went down. She booted up the computer, but the net was still down. The rain was still coming down but was not as hard as last night. She was just glad that the wind had settled down.
A woman’s voice came on the radio and said, “There’s a full moon tonight and they are saying the rain may let up a little for a couple of hours so we may get to see it shine, but hope it’s not bad moon rising.” Then the song by CCR started.
As she ate her lunch, she again smell something that should not have been there, it was the smell that a lot of old ladies had for perfume, lilac. It didn’t last long, it was as if someone had walked behind her at the store wearing it. She even turned to look but didn’t see anyone.
After lunch, she went to work cleaning up the living room. She got the stuff that was to be put in the attic in a box. There were a lot of knick-knacks that came with the house, but she want to make the place more her own, but she keep a few of them. There was a ceramic farmer holding a rack with his wife holding a picnic basket that she loved.
She was ready for a glass of ice tea so grabbed the box and went to the kitchen when the attic access was. Killing two birds with one stone she thought. She had set the box down on the counter, reach up, and pulled the stairs down and old musty air hit her nose.
She had not been up there yet but was told there was a lot of junk there. She took out her phone, turned on the flashlight app before climbing up the stairs. Just at the top on a two-by-four was a switch for the lights.
She look at the junk that was all pushed to the sides, there were boxes that looked decades old, a couple of wooden Chester drawers, and an old chair or two. It was real clean she thought, not what you would think an attic would be.
She went back down, got the box went back up. Found a place to put it, and as she set it down noticed a piece of silver metal underneath a canvas tarp. She moved the tarp back and was surprised to find a weather-vane. This one didn’t look like any other one she had seen.
Most were just iron and had a rooster, horses, or maybe a farmhouse, but this one was iron and silver and had a dragon on the top. It was a work of art she thought and should not be up in the attic, so took it down to the kitchen.
When she set it down on the counter she caught the scent of pipe tobacco smoke. Again she looked around but didn’t see anyone, it didn’t make her feel uneasy, it was just out of place like the bacon and lilac smell.
She got out some Brasso and a clean rag began to polishing on the dragon. It was iron but the polish took off years of grim from the metal. The cross arrow was made of silver and cleaned up nicely. It didn’t take long to clean it up and when done she wondered why it had been put up in the attic.
Was it originally part of the house, and was there a spot on the roof where it went? If it belong there she had deiced to put it back up there. It really was a work of art and maybe even one of a kind. She took a few pictures with her phone to cheek on the web.
She looked at the clock, it was almost four and it was still raining out but it was now lighter. She left the weather-vane in the kitchen and headed back to the living room. When she was halfway down the hall she heard a loud popping sound, followed by tires screeching and a crash.
She ran to the front door and looked out. There was a light blue car in the ditch. She grabbed her coat and an umbrella. By the time she open the door and stepped out on the pouch a man got out of the car, waving his hand at her showing he was okay.
In the other hand, he had a cell phone and was trying to call someone. Seeing he was okay she didn’t go out into the rain. The man walked around trying to get a single, but she could tell he didn’t have any luck, he began to walk up the driveway.
He looked to be a middle-aged businessman, well keep with better than an average suit, that by now was very wet. He kind of smiled and said, “Sorry about your mailbox, blow out.”
“Are you okay?” She asked.
He kind of giggled and answered, “I’m fine but my car is not. Is there a garage with a tow truck nearby?” He held up his cell phone and added, “No bars on this.”
“Come up out of the rain. Service has been down since yesterday.”
He joined her up on the porch, “So do you have a landline?” He asked.
She shook her head no and added, “Most likely the bridge is closed off with all this rain.” She pointed in the way of town.
He looked disappointed, turned, and was about to go back out into the light rain when she for no reason she understood said, “Hold on you should come in, dry off, you’ll catch a cold.”
She could tell he didn’t want to be a burden to her but said a cup of hot coffee would be nice after she had offered him one. “Sorry about the mess, still moving in and remodeling.” She said as they entered the house.
She led him to her office and as he entered the song Devil Inside by Inxs began to play. She smiled and said, “Take your coat off and have a seat, I’ll get coffee going.” She was not sure why she was being this nice. Normally she would never let a stranger in her home.
There was something about him, animal magnetism of some kind she thought, as she put the water in the Mr. Coffee. She didn’t drink much of it after breakfast, but he didn’t look like the ice tea type and the coffee would warm him up after getting wet.
When she entered the office with a try he was sitting down on the couch, he took off his suit coat and it was draped over the arm to dry. “Hope you don’t mind kind of wet.” He smiled.
“Don’t at all.” She handed him a cup and said, “Sugar, milk?”
He shook his head, “Black is fine just needs to be hot.” he took the cup.
They talked for over an hour, and she learned his name was Chase, just like the bank he laughed. He was on his way to a meeting in Georgia and didn’t like flying so rented the car. He was an investment advisor and successful at that from what he told her.
The DJ on the radio said the bridge was closed down till the next day and the cell and inner net serves should be back up later that night. She noticed the time and told him to relax as she went to fix them something to eat. She was enjoying his company more than she thought she should.
She put the weather-vain on the floor and as she filled a pot with water to cook some spaghetti noodles she looked out the window. It was getting dark and as the radio said the sky was clearing up some. The moon should be rising in about 30 or 40 minutes she thought.
By the time she went to drain the spaghetti, she noticed the moon was beginning to show in the trees. She took the food to the dining room table, looked at the office door that was all most closed so she was unable to see Chase. She yelled to come and get it. After a moment she yelled again and still no reply, so she went to see if he fell asleep.
She pushed the door the rest of the way open and he was not there, but his suit coat was still there. Maybe he went outside to see if he could get his cell to work she thought. She went to the front door, opened it, and looked out. He was not on the porch, so she called his name.
She could see all the way to his car because the moon was now topping the trees, he was not out there. She was about to close the door when she heard a low howl that grow to a full-out howl of a wolf coming from the woods on the side of the farmhouse.
She slammed it shut, there were wolves in the area but seldom seen by anyone and she had never heard of someone getting attacked, she hoped Chase would be okay. She went to her office and took out the 38 she had in the drawer just in case. She walked through the house to make sure he was not there somewhere.
When she reached the living room, she heard something outside so looked out the window and thought she saw movement out at Chase’s car. It was just a shadow but she want to make sure he was okay, so went to the front door again. Opening it slowly a few inches she yells out, “Chase, Chase are you there?”
She started to pull the door open more when she again smelled pipe smoke, and when she pulled it would not move, almost as if someone was holding it. She heard a noise on the driveway side of the porch, then there was a low growl. She pushed the door shut, hard.
Fear filled her mind as she slid to the floor will her back against the door. She tried to listen but all she could hear was her own heartbeat. Why would a wolf be stalking the farm or her, was it rabbit. It had to be sick to risk coming around humans she thought.
She sat there for a few minutes and could not hear anything. Maybe it had moved on she thought, slowly she got to her feet, being as quiet as she could. She had never been as scared before, her hands were shaking, so bad if she had to use the gun she most likely would miss.
She went room to room turning off all the lights, hoping to make it hard for it to see into the house. She wondered what had happened to Chase, was he still alive hiding somewhere or hurt somewhere needing help? She checked her cell it was still down. She crouched down by the office window and pecked out. The moon was now full and lit up the yard.
She sat there for some time when suddenly there was the sound of the glass on the front door bursting inward, scattering down the hall. She jumped and let out a squeal of fear. She pulled the hammer back on the pistol, watching the door to the hall.
She heard the sound of sniffing as a shadow filled the doorway, but it was not the shape of a wolf, but somewhat the shape of a man. At first, she thought it was Chase. She had no clue how or did she have time to think about it, all the lights in the house came on at the same time.
What she saw shocked her, standing in the doorway was what one could only call a werewolf, with its teeth showing in an evil-looking smile, drool dripping from its mouth as it growls at her. She smelled lilac again and in her ear, an old women’s voice said “Run.”
She jumped up, dropped the gun, and run into the dining room, as soon as she went through the door it slammed on its own, and the beast let a howl of anger and shook. There was a thud on the door that made the whole thing shake, and in her ear, she heard an old man’s voice say “The kitchen, it's where you need to be.”
She did as was told and went into the kitchen, and again the door slammed behind her. She heard the beast hit the door a couple of times and heard the door give way. She went to the back door and tried to pull it open, but it would not move. She was stuck in the kitchen now and the door would only slow the thing down.
She went to the sink and grabbed a big knife, wishing she had never dropped the gun as the beast hit the door hard. It know she was in there and was hell-bent on getting to her. She had never believed in the paranormal or cryptic’s before but had no other way to enplane what was going on.
She held the knife up in front of her as the door was ripped from its hinges. The beast let out a howl seeing her standing there. Suddenly the room was full of the smell of pipe smoke that made the beast sneeze and shook its head. Out of the air formed a shape that became an old farmer holding a rake and next to him was an old woman smiling.
Sue was not sure what shocked her more the beast or the appearance of the two apparitions. The beast staring, looked just as shocked as she was. She back over to stand next to the old woman, still holding up the knife.
The best moved the rest of the way into the room never taking his eyes off the old farmer, who point down at the floor, where laid the weather vain. It began to rock back and forth, then raised off the floor, all on its own. The beast looked confused at the sight.
The old women reach over and touched Sue’s arm and whispered, “Don’t worry my dear, we’re here to help and all will be back to normal soon.” Nothing will ever be normal to her again she thought.
She heard the old farmer say something but was unable to make it out, then he pointed at the beast, and the weather-vain shoot across the room and impaled itself into its chest. The beast let out a howl so loud she dropped the knife and lost consciousness.
Epilogue
“Miss, Miss,” A voice called to her in the dark, her head was spinning and it hurt, “She’s coming around now.”
She open her eyes, there was a young paramedic leaning over her and she could see a couple of police officers standing there. One of them leaned down and said, “You are mighty lucky young women.”
“Can you sit up?” The paramedic asked her.
She slowly nodded her head and with help sat up. She looked over at where the beast had been but it was not there, instead laid Chase, the weather-vain stuck in his chest. The Officer that had spook before said, “We been after this guy for over a year now, he was wanted for over two dozen murders.”
Wow she thought, she was having a hard time dealing with all of this. Chase was the werewolf and they thought she had killed him. She would never tell them that it or he was killed by the ghosts of the former owners of the farmhouse, they would never believe her. She caught the smell of pipe smoke and lilac and know as long as she lived there she would be safe.
