Chapter 11

“What do you think Pastor?” Jacob seemed keen to hear the Reverend’s take on these strange happenings.

“Honestly, this wasn’t covered in any of my Seminary classes,” Paul attempted some lame ass humour but failed miserably so he pressed on, ignoring the silence. “But I have to wonder if these circles in the grass ... these indentations ... I wonder if they’re a warning of some kind. Perhaps they’re a mark of the devil if you will.”

“Holy shit,” Frankie was the first to react. “Makes perfect sense Pastor. Maybe they’re not circles at all but rather sixes. You know 666, the number of Lucifer. And God is probably using them to warn us to get the hell out of here.”

“Maybe,” Paul nodded as he thought more on it.

I looked around the campfire and realized that most of the goddamned men were buying into this bullshit. But I was having none of it. I wanted to laugh it off but knew that was unwise. Something strange was definitely happening, we all felt it, but I really had my doubts it was supernatural or anything like that.

The one thing I did know however, was allowing this devil talk to continue would jeopardize the success of our cattle drive. If enough men took Frankie’s side and became convinced Satan himself was stocking us then it would be mighty hard to keep them on task and motivated to finish the fucking job at hand.

I couldn’t let that happen.

“Hold on, hold on!” I said while standing to my feet. “We can’t go blaming the devil every time something weird happens. We need more information. Those circles could’ve been made by the fucking wind or perhaps they’re just some savage Indian ritual or burial ground. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and get all worked up like pussies over nothing.”

“Come on!” Frankie pleaded. “You can’t deny the fucking facts! Even your brother thinks it’s a demon. How much more fucking proof do you need?”

“I didn’t say that,” Jimmy countered. “But whatever is going on, it’s not normal ... Something weird is happening, that’s for goddamned sure, and I’m beginning to think that maybe Frankie and the Pastor are right.”

“What do you mean?” I asked while looking hard at him.

“Maybe we should get the hell out of here while the getting out is good,” Jimmy replied carefully, not looking me in the eyes until he was finished saying it.

And that’s when I saw it, for the first time in a very long time; Jimmy looked scared shitless ... pure fear spread across his normally stoic face. At first I didn’t recognize it as it looked so foreign and unbecoming but I quickly took his meaning, and for some reason it pissed me off.

Jimmy is supposed to be the one guy I can fully count on and here he is, stabbing me in the back with this mutinous, cowardly talk. I’d already had this argument with Frankie and the others. I’d clearly spelled out how bad an idea it was to retreat, how it really wasn’t an option, so why was Jimmy bringing it up so cavalierly?

“What kind of yellow bellied plan is that?” I asked as more rage began to rise. “We can’t run away like sissies, with our tails tucked between our legs! That’s not our way.”

“Are you calling me chicken?” Jimmy asked as he sprung to his feet.

“No, but you fucking plan sure is,” I replied quickly, giving him my best stink eye.

“Sure sounds like you’re calling me a goddamned coward,” Jimmy shot me a nasty glare of his own.

“Well fine,” I wiped my mouth. “I guess if the shitty boot fits...”

“You fucking asshole,” Jimmy stormed towards me with clenched fists. “Nobody calls me yellow! You know that!”

“Boys!” Paul yelled out, hoping to stop yet another fight. He quickly blocked the path between us, as he had with me and Frankie. “This is not the time or place! The enemy is out there, remember?”

“Tell Jimmy that Pastor,” I said in disgust still staring my brother hard in the eyes. “I’m trying to save us all from a massive mistake. I’m trying to keep this team together and he’s trying to tear us apart.”

“How do you figure that?” Jimmy shot me a deadly stare as the Pastor held him back.

“Your brother is just offering his opinion Buck,” Paul said defensively before letting go of his grip. “No need for name calling.”

“Fuck you Pastor!” I said harshly to the man of God. “Who the hell asked you to intervene?”

“I guess you did Buck,” Paul replied firmly. “When you started acting all irrationally. This is the second time today I had to stop you from fighting one of your own men.”

“Yeah,” a few of the men agreed.

“Maybe we should get out of here,” Clyde echoed his agreement. “Jimmy and Frankie might be onto something. Keep an open mind Buck!”

“Finally, y’all are listening to goddamned reason,” Frankie said as he too stood up. “I’ve been saying this for hours now! What is fucking wrong with you Buck?”

I took a second to look around at my cowering men. They all stared back at me with cold, nervous expressions. Nobody had signed up for this kind of shit and feeling scared was understandable. We’d never faced anything like this before and as such there were no rules or guidelines to follow.

Everyone just wanted to protect their own sorry asses. And I got that. But if they thought running away was a viable option ... well holy fuck, they’re more stupid than I ever dreamed possible.

“You guys really think we should just ditch the cattle and take off running like a bunch of worthless cowards?” I began with an insulting question.

At this point most of them looked away from me and stared at the ground or their boots.

“Yes,” Frankie was the only one to say it. “That’s exactly what we’re saying.”

“Why is that such a bad idea Boss?” Carlos asked carefully. “Seems safer than staying here.”

“Because Dolan won’t believe any of this demonic bullshit,” I replied in earnest. “He’ll think us thieves or cowards and skin us alive as an example to everyone else.”

“Come on Boss,” Carlos shrugged. “You’re being a little dramatic don’t you think?”

“Really?” I couldn’t believe this. “You think I’m exaggerating? What do you think Jacob? Do you think I’m making this shit up?”

Dolan’s nephew shook his head adamantly. “No Buck ain’t lying. Uncle Dolan is the meanest son of a bitch out here and he’ll punish us good for disappointing him.”

“You see Carlos!” I took a few steps closer to drive home my point. “Dolan will punish us harshly for our disobedience. Does that sound like fun? Do you want to be the one who explains to him how we happened to leave his cattle in the middle of the wilderness? How we abandoned one thousand head of cattle because we found some circles in the grass and Frankie saw something in the trees at night ... in the dark! You think he’s going to believe a story like that? You think he’s just going to say, ‘Ah shucks fellas. Ain’t no hard feelings. Y’all just did what ya had to do. Don’t worry about the thirty thousand dollars I would’ve made selling em.‘ You think he’ll say that?”

Carlos didn’t reply, nor did he look me in the eyes any longer. He simply sighed while shaking his head no.

“I think you’re being a little extreme Buck,” Paul began. “I wonder if...”

“No I’m not Pastor,” I looked him hard in the face, not letting him finish his thought. “You know how I know that? Huh? Do you know how I know Dolan will beat the shit out of us? How he won’t grant us fucking mercy or even give us the benefit of the doubt?”

“No,” Paul said defensively.

“Because, you’re future in-law burned my fucking farm to the ground ... with me and my wife sleeping in our bed! And do you know why? Huh? What do you think our big transgression was? I bet you’re thinking I pissed him off somehow or fucking betrayed him deeply. I bet that’s what you’re thinking. Or maybe I stole from him or abandoned his cattle in the middle of the goddamned wilderness. That had to be it right? That’s why he nearly killed me.”

Nobody relied to my rhetorical question even though I gave them a few uncomfortable moments to do so.

“No I didn’t do any of that,” I finally answered for them. “My crime is simply that I didn’t need his job or money any longer. I just wanted to stand on my own two feet but that was too much for him. He nearly killed and bankrupted me simply because he wanted me to work this little shit job of his,” I paused to let that sink in for a bit. “So I don’t want to find out what he fucking does to me AND you if we don’t finish this goddamned task! Is that clear enough for yas?”

I didn’t get a response, but knew I’d made my point as several of the boys nodded their heads in understanding. They knew, perfectly well, the type of man Dolan was and had seen or heard of his gruesome acts long before this. I wasn’t telling them anything new, only reminding them of what they had seemingly forgotten.

“Dolan is a selfish asshole and he owns each and every one of us. This is our true and harsh reality.”

“Fine,” Jimmy said in disgust. “We get it Buck. We all get it! We’re fucked either way so we might as well press on.”

“Good!” I turned away thinking the conversation was over, but Jimmy wasn’t done.

“However, I want you to swear on Paul’s Bible here,” Jimmy grabbed the pastor’s book and walked over to me. “I want you to look me in the eye and swear that you’re doing this for our good and not just your own fucking pride. Or, Heaven forbid, for Dolan’s well being.”

I wasn’t sure if he was being serious or not, but the look in his eyes told me he needed this. “Fine, I can do that.”

“And I want you to tell me, along with all the boys here, that you don’t believe we’re in any demonic danger,” Jimmy was now standing but a few inches from me. “I want you to swear to God that you think this is just a normal trail ride and we’ll all be fine.”

“If that makes you happy.”

“It will,” Jimmy shook his head as he searched my eyes for conviction. “And if you can’t or if you’re wrong...” he paused. “If you’re wrong and any of us get hurt, especially Benny ... Holy fuck, if anything happens to Benny out here, well ... I’ll never speak to you again. Know that before you swear it. If you’re wrong, you’re dead to me and I’ll disown you as family.”

I stared hard at Jimmy, wondering if he really meant that. I’d never heard him speak like this before. Guess fear does strange things to a man and Jimmy had to be scared shitless to act like this.

“I can do that,” I replied confidently while placing my hand on the Bible. “I swear to God that nothing demonic or evil is happening out here and may I be struck dead if I’m putting us on a needlessly dangerous path that could lead to Satan himself.”

Jimmy nodded, seemingly satisfied.

The rest of the men looked content as well. Even Frankie nodded his approval for the first time in hours.

“Fine,” Jimmy said. “But I won’t forget this and if anything else happens ... well all bets are off.”

“I get that,” I said as I looked around. “And we’ll pick up the pace for the next couple of days. Will cut the breaks down and rush the cattle a lot more to put some distance between us and this godforsaken spot.”

“Won’t Dolan be pissed if they come in skinny,” Benny asked.

“Fuck that shit,” I said trying to regain some solidarity with the men. “We have to bring the cattle in, that much is true, but I didn’t say anything about how healthy they had to be, now did I?”

A couple of the men chuckled politely, but most didn’t respond at all and simply went back to work as if nothing had even happened.

It’s funny how we can instinctively compartmentalizing our thoughts and feelings into separate spaces allowing us to act even when we don’t want to. Without this ability we’d likely have frozen up more times than we’d care to count.

Must be a long learned survival mechanism, one gleaned through our history of fighting wars, surviving trauma and working life threatening jobs like this cattle drive here.

The women don’t seem to appreciate this skill and accuse us of being cold or shut off. But as men, we know Hell is always pressing against the gates, trying to worm its way in. We can sense it, hovering around us at all times, threatening our livelihood and our loved ones. It can break through without warning so we have to be on guard always, else our families will suffer for our fucking lackadaisical attitudes.

Sadly, in the near future, I’m going to need this goddamned skill more than ever. Without it I’m not sure any of us will survive the biggest threat ever to be thrown our way.

“We need another volunteer,” Proximia announces after a few moments of awkward silence. The green she-devil is still standing on top of the platform, looking out amongst us. “Would anyone be so brave as to step forth?”

Again, to nobody’s surprise, there isn’t a single volunteer.

“You there!” The demon points to another young fella. “Come forth and please your Queen.”

“No fucking way!” the skinny kid yells back. He can’t be anymore than eighteen years old.

“You’ve been chosen,” Proximia continues. “Now step forth and fulfill your duty!”

“There is no fucking way I’m getting up on that stage or touching that hellish whore!” the kid screams out.

“Get up there!” a man next to him shouts.

Several others push him forward, not due to any royal loyalty, but rather because they don’t want to risk getting chosen if he doesn’t go. They push him all the more now as he fights back, wanting none of this.

“Fuck off!’ he shouts angrily while pushing back.

The scramble continues for several minutes until it finally seems the young man has won. For the lad bursts free of the skirmish and darts triumphantly down the same corridor that Julius had just run.

But unfortunately this second dude is captured by the guards and his life ends much the same as did our first volunteer. They explode him into tiny pieces of flesh, causing us to gasp in horror yet again.

Proximia rubs her temples in frustration before addressing us once more. “This is your last chance. If none of you can satisfy the Queen then you’ll be marked poorly in this regard and will face the repercussions of a failing grade. Do you understand?” She practically pleads with us at this point. “The remaining areas hold little hope for those placed there. You would be wise to do well right here and right now!”

We all watch and listen carefully, yet nobody moves or indicates any intention to volunteer.

“Fine,” the green devil sighs in defeat. “You there! Step forth. You have been chosen.”

I have to move a little to my right to see who’s been chosen this time. I crane my next before finally spotting the unlucky son of a bitch. The men, in that section, push him forward, not giving the asshole any chance to escape.

“Who is it?” I ask aloud to nobody in particular, but then, when he’s pushed farther forward, I realize who it is and dread immediately fills me to my core. I can’t catch my breath and my chest is beating out of control. “It can’t be! There is no fucking way!”

“Come forth young man!” Proximia declares again as she points to Benny, my beloved brother. He’s just been chosen to service our demonic overlord. But this is impossible for so many reasons. First, there is no way in Hell Benny can perform a task such as this. He doesn’t have the mental capacity to get it done. He gets all worked up when asked to speak in public so how will he fare when told to strip naked and make love to a beast while the rest of us assholes look on.

And second, perhaps more importantly, my brother shouldn’t even be standing right now, much less breathing or walking. It’s a miracle he’s even alive. Under normal circumstances I’d be thanking the Lord for granting him this second chance, but right now, well ... it almost feels cruel.

“I’ll go!” I shout out instinctively, surprising even myself while doing so. “I will please the Queen. Allow me the honour! Please.” I work my way to the front of the crowd with hand held high for all to see.

“Do you volunteer for this enviable moment?” the green whore asks me.

“Yes,” I say again, even louder this time. “Pick me!”

I’m nearly at the base of the stage and can see Benny much better now. He looks over at me with scared, worried eyes. He nods apologetically but then forces a smile when he realizes what I’ve just done. He can’t say it, but I read it clearly through his demeanour. He’s grateful beyond words and thanking me adamantly with that bashful smile of his.

I nod back in his direction knowing he owes me nothing. I’ve already let him down in the worse possible way and I won’t make that mistake again. In fact, it’s me who should be thanking him for the opportunity to make things up to him.

Seeing him alive and well is all the thanks I’ll ever need.

“Thank you Buck,” he mouths.

“Be safe,” I shout back before tearing my eyes away from his.

I don’t know how he’s here or why he’s not fucking dead, but I can’t worry about that right now. Thinking about Benny will not help me please a spawn of Satan and that’s my only shot at survival. If I prove successful I might actually live long enough to speak with Benny once more and discover his goddamned secret.

Until then, I just have to survive.

“One step at a time,” I tell myself before taking a moment to look up at the journey which lies ahead of me. Anxiety fills me as I spot the bed and the overlords waiting up there. I’m just beginning to realize how horribly fucked I truly am.

What the hell did I get myself into?

“Come forward!” The green beast is growing impatient.

As I begin my ascent to the top of this short platform I pass by several hideous beasts including a couple of demon guards, who’s void faces erupt with tiny streaks of blue and yellow flashes as I pass them by.

Then, as I climb a little higher, I make eye contact with a blue demon and then a shorter green one. They each smile smugly as I ascend beyond their seated perches. Both look even more grotesque up close. I can see veins and bones running up and down the green one’s arm due to her near transparent skin. The blue one is solid, but still odd in her own way. Her blue skin has a stark sheen to it and her eyes are so red they seem to be on fire.