This Curse

TWO



I hate it when I’m all smiles, ready to greet the unexpected visitor knocking at the door and then I open it and no one is there.

“Hey?” I shouted to the vacant spot on my porch. I looked around my front yard. My driveway was long and flanked by trees. I searched the area, but no one was near.

I looked down. An envelope lay on my welcome mat.

Great, I thought as I picked it up. It smelled like sulfur and wet dogs. This should be good.

I slid the shining silver blade of the letter opener along the seam of the fine linen envelope. I didn’t want a paper cut from this stuff it felt tainted somehow. The smell emanating from the letter was worse than the envelope and I opened it, frowning as I read:

Madea,

You can stop it. More innocents will die.

Come to Club Seachain an Madra.

Refuse and we will come to you.

-V

I stared at the letter for several seconds, thoughts tumbling and spinning in my mind. More innocents will die? I shook my head, baffled at the cryptic message. Guilt settled in my stomach like a lead weight. Obviously, these innocents were dying in order to get my attention.

I sat at my kitchen table and sighed, tossing the letter onto the table beside the morning paper. I glanced at the front page and my jaw dropped.

“Son of a bitch!” I yelled and snatched the paper off of the table.

“Third Fatal Animal Attack.” I stared at the headline and then read on. “A bizarre string of fatal animal attacks has the public demanding action.” I frowned. According to the paper, all of the victims were young women between the ages of twenty-four and thirty. The bite marks on the bodies resembled those of several large dogs but this couldn’t be confirmed due to the unusual size of the animal’s teeth.

I picked up the letter. Club Seachain an Madra? Somehow, I knew that those words meant Beware of the dog in Gaelic. It was strange how information like that was just sitting there ready for me to pull out of my brain. At times, it was as if I was holding not only power but another consciousness as well.

I tossed the paper onto the table. These freaking a*sholes had managed to slaughter three women before they’d found it necessary to let me know!

Shit!

I sat at the table feeling sick as hell. These attacks were not the natural order of things. They were the work of a freaking monster. My stomach swirled and I picked up the letter again. It was signed V. My hands had become clammy. I wiped them on my pants as a chill raced down my spine. I knew of only one V and the son of a bitch was as wicked as they came. If I was correct, then not only was this the work of a monster, it was the work of a demon. I smirked at the letter. At least I wasn’t walking in totally blind.

I stood, resolved. It was time to take a peek at Club Seachain an Madra.