Chapter 44

The door let out a unearthly squeal, as Mark pushed it open. He stepped inside. The first thing he noticed was how dark it was. There was an odd, earthy smell. “Hello?” He said, quietly. Fear still rumbled through his body. He was grateful for it meant that he was still in the fear stage, and he knew what would happen next.

He did give anything to make it stop so, stop being afraid, stop having the curse. His hands tightly gripped the rifle. He wished he could sniper the witch, from outside of the cabin. The inside was so dark he couldn’t see her.

And he was pretty sure his wife is already inside, but he didn’t hear her anywhere either. He fumbled on the wall, plying at it in nervous long swiping gropes. Finally his hand felt the familiar switch and he flipped on the light.

The room brightened, and his eyes took a moment to adjust. The witch was sitting in a rocking chair, her hair sticking out wildly. Just then, the bulb burst, and they were plunged back into darkness.

He raised the rifle and fired.

He was in a cold sweat, and he had never fired into the dark before. It was against all of the rules of gun safety. Never shoot a target you can’t fully see. Don’t shoot when scared. Don’t shoot at people.

He was breaking every single one of the safety rules, but he didn’t hear anything except for the ringing of the shot in the small cabin. His ears were throbbing from the achingly close bullet. He closed his eyes tightly and opened them again trying to adjust to the darkness.

Then he felt a soft breath in his ear. “I’ll take that.”

The witch grasped the rifle and gently pulled it from him. He was so afraid he didn’t even try to stop her. She set it outside on the back porch.

Mark found that he couldn’t move. He was frozen. He tried to turn his head and look at her, but he couldn’t. He tried desperately to say something, to lunge for the rifle, but he did nothing. Instead she shut the door and locked it. The rifle still sitting on the porch.