Wear Rabbit Kin Hide

WEAR RABBIT KIN HIDE

syrus crow

☽ ● ☾

The heat was worse outside.

Arley's face was slick with sweat the minute she transitioned from the muggy house to the muggier porch. Mud and trodden grass and sun-baked corn hung in the damp air like a reminder of nostalgia she'd lost. What sounded like thousands of cicadas screamed at her, brave from their hiding spot amongst the thick expanse of trees stretching for miles upon empty miles.

Her eyes fluttered shut with the sweet relief of survival mingling with the lingering stain of violence left behind. Her body felt bruised, too heavy for her bones to carry, but her mind and her heart were racing. She wasn't done yet.

Pushing her wet hands into the linty pockets of her jeans, Arley strode leisurely down the dilapidated stairs. She passed the flaking red GMC sinking into its bending rims wreathed in strips of rubber that were once tires, passed the forest watching her like a hungry beast waiting on its next meal, passed the obliterated gate that had once kept her caged. She squeezed her hands until she felt the ragged edges of her nails bite into the palm, and kept her eyes focused on the empty road she could see waiting for her at the bottom of the sloped driveway.

It was a quiet, infrequently used highway, so old it was now made up of more fissure than tar, with curb that was just a shallow ditch leaving just enough room to squeeze a small car between the road and the woods. She tried to remember which way she and her parents had come in from, but the memory was just a blurry smear compared to everything else now memorialized against the walls of her mind in high-stain paint. She hesitated, then shrugged and turned right.

She didn't bother keeping to the shoulder; it was a rural highway, after all, even for rural folks, and so poorly maintained that the people who knew about it avoided it.

So she startled when she felt the ground faintly tremble beneath her feet, then heard the soft engine of a car behind her.

Arley stepped into the shallow ditch and turned to face the oncoming vehicle as she did. It was a yellow Volkswagen Beetle, canting side-to-side thanks to both the road and the stack of camping equipment strapped unsteadily onto its roof. She jutted her arm out and stuck up her thumb without breaking stride, knowing that the chances they would actually stop were low, about as low as them being out here with her in the first place.

It slowed as it approached, and for a moment Arley thought she was about to be proven wrong before it suddenly picked up speed again to jet past. She dropped her arm, not really surprised as much as disappointed, and turned to watch the Washington license plate disappear into horizon. Only, then a red light washed over it, and with a start Arley realized they had stopped. She stopped too, watching the Beetle tremble, smoke pouring from its engine like it was puffing a cigar while contemplating its decision. Then, finally, it began to roll slowly backward.

She'd never seen hesitance in a car before, but it was projected in every sluggish inch it moved until the bumper stopped a few foot away from her. Arley's palms stung, and carefully uncurled her fingers.

She walked toward the passenger window which was already halfway down to reveal the woman behind it. She was pale, but so heavily freckled she appeared tan. Thin lines creased the corners of her uncertain smile.

Arley glanced over her head to the driver, an unhappy looking man about the same age. His crew-cut black hair, earth-brown skin, and thick brows now furrowed forward in consternation gave him a distinctly militaristic appearance. A couple, she guessed, having just come back from a quiet getaway.

“Howdy," Arley smiled with a wave. "Any chance ya’ll can drop me at the first bus stop headin' to Atlanta?”

They exchanged looks, and when the woman turned back, the wrinkle between her brows had deepened. “Are you okay?”

“How’d you get all that blood on you?” her partner asked bluntly.

Arley glanced down at the flannel clinging to her body because of the large crimson stain soaking it through. Thanks to the humid Georgia heat, only the very lightest of splatters had begun to oxidize brown, and she knew that made for less than pleasant viewing.

“Oh. That. Rabid dog. I... I had to fight it off.” She rolled up her wrist to show where Conri had bitten her, teeth marks deep enough they looked like little black puncture holes in her forearm. The skin around it was still puffed red and angry and oozing with thick blood. The woman's eyes shined with concern while her boyfriend’s complexion gained a distinctly grey pallor.

“Oh my God!” the woman gasped, reaching for her buckle before her boyfriend put a firm hand on her bicep.

“You have a weapon?”

Arley shook her head and spread her arms wide. “You can search me if you’d like.”

The man considered her for a moment and then nodded. Keeping the engine running, he got out of the car. Like a silent cue had been given, the woman followed suit. She gave him a peck on the cheek as they passed each other, and then replaced him behind the wheel. He approached hesitantly and stopped a few feet away. "Stand still," he ordered. "Arms out. Legs spread. Try anything and you'll regret it."

Ooh, scary. Arley grinned but did as she was told, holding his gaze as he gave her a none-too-gentle pat down her arms, her sides, and each leg of her pants. His lip curled in disgust, soft half-gags escaping him each time he accidentally brushed against the blood on her torso and chest. He muttered what sounded like a prayer as he stepped away, back of his hand to his mouth.

"Take your shoes off."

Arley couldn't help but giggle. The man tensed, pupils pinpricks, looking at her like she was one of those demons out of his Bible story books.

"Sorry," she said, bending to begin untying her shoes. "Just, ah. Seem awfully afraid of little ole' me, huh?"

He didn't say anything to that, just continued watching her with a hard-eyed stare until she finished. There was nothing, of course, and realizing he'd run out of anymore excuses to keep her from car, he pressed his lips together and glanced back at his waiting partner. She ducked to look up at him through the passenger window, widening her eyes, raising her shoulders and shaking her head like, well?

He clenched his fists. Then, begrudgingly, the man gestured to the car and Arley thanked him as she passed, letting her eyes linger on his just a moment too long to be polite. Then she slid into the back middle seat, leaving the seatbelt hanging from its loop.

"Thanks you so much," Arley impressed to the woman, watching her reflection in the rearview. "Ya'll are real blessings, God's design in action if I've ever seen it! I been walking for miles, and not a single soul has passed me. I, I'd completely understand if you changed your mind, of course, just..."

“No, honey, no!" the woman gasped, turning toward her. The reflection mirrored her analogue movement perfectly. "I'm glad you're okay! I can't imagine how exhausted you must be. I'm a nurse, and-"

The passenger side door clicked open, and the car sank with the weight of the man as he took his seat in it. His reflection obediently followed. "If you don’t have a weapon, how’d you get that dog off you?”

“Rock.” she replied shortly, looking away. The woman smacked him in the arm.

“Stop it,” she hissed. “She’s probably traumatized. And buckle your seatbelt!”

The man huffed, but muttered, "Sorry.” as he pulled the belt over himself.

“How’d you end up stranded, love?” she turned back. “You from here?”

“From Atlanta. My boyfriend and I went camping. He, ah. He ditched me. Took the car, the phone...”

“Oh. My. Goodness. How awful," the woman gasped. "Are you sure we can’t take you any further?”

The man whipped toward her, protest written loudly on his face.

“I couldn’t,” Arley demurred. “The bus stop’ll do fine. Thank you so much.”

The woman worried her lip. “Well, o-kay. I’m Vanessa, by the way, and this is Javi. I'm sorry about him, he isn’t usually such a dick.”

“It's okay," Arley said. "He's only worried 'bout you. Should be, too. Lots'a of strange folk in these parts."

Javi turned in his seat to stare at her like saying, yeah, no shit, and mirror-Javi followed suit. Arley began to relax.

Vanessa hummed. "It's awful rural," she said like that explained everything. She turned forward, finally buckling herself in too, and shifted the car into drive. It began its staccato fifty-five mile-per-hour drive, jolting the car over the steep cracks like they were Jeeping through the Mesa rather than driving down a highway.

"Ya'll married?"

"Yes," Vanessa replied proudly.

“Did we catch your name?” Javi interrupted.

“Theresa,” Arley smiled, meeting his eyes. He was still turned toward her like a watchdog. Only like one, though. “How long have you two been together?”

“Together twenty-two years, married ten.” Vanessa's voice was plastic-coated with adoration. A muscle twitched near Javi's mouth.

“God bless. Come all the way from Washington to celebrate?”

"How do you know we're from out of town?" Javi intercepted. Arley tilted her head, maintaining her polite smile through the are you stupid silence that followed.

"Babe, we have camping equipment on top of the car," Vanessa said, sounding embarrassed. "And we have a Washington plate."

Javi frowned. Then he crossed his arms turned toward the windshield to glare at the road like it was the one at fault. But Arley was still looking at his reflection. His reflection which hadn't moved an inch, still showed a quarter of his face and the back of his head.

Arley tensed as a mangled marriage of excitement and dread rushing through her like a honeymoon, and she clasped her hands together to hide the how they'd begun to tremble.

"My parents live out here,” Vanessa continued to elaborate. Her mouth moved in tandem with her rearview counterpart. “Plus I love camping - Georgia has lots of good forest ground, damp enough for a fire. Javi came along ‘cause he hates me traveling alone, isn’t that right, babe?”

“You make stupid decisions alone," he muttered. Vanessa’s face fell. Analogue Javi startled, like he couldn’t believe what he'd said, turning to his wife with apologies already tumbling from his mouth. But Mirror Javi began to turn toward her in a way that would be impossible for a human. Her heart felt like a bird smacking against her ribcage, trying to escape.

“Ya’ll visit family a lot?” she interrupted another round of apologies and clipped assurances. Real Javi turned toward her, almost briefly matching up with his reflection. He looked like he’d both forgotten Arley was there and was also greatly inconvenienced by the reminder. Vanessa's expression, meanwhile, brightened.

“No! No, we’re from Washington, which, you know, is super far away. And we both have full-time jobs so it’s kinda hard to like, make time, you know?”

“Any family in Washington?”

Vanessa shook her head. “M-mm. That’s how we like it, right, babe?”

Clearly trying to stay in her good graces, Javi nodded. Of course, Arley had to gather that by briefly glancing away from the mirror, because his reflection was busy in its impossible turn, neck tendons twisting, eyes slowly meeting hers.

She smiled. “Lord knows how difficult family can be. But we don't have to find family only in blood: the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb, right?"

Vanessa chuckled and glanced at her in the rearview. “Ah, yeah. For sure.”

Mirror Javi's eyes were even bigger than Analogue Javi. Rounder. Prey eyes.

Almost breathless, Arley asked, “Do ya’ll have a good community in Washington?”

“Oh, yeah, well, we have our jobs,” Vanessa said, a bit self-consciously. “And we have good online friends. DnD friends. We just finished an awesome session. Do you play?”

She shook her head. Mirror Javi's nose was visible. There was crinkle to it. Like a rabbit's nose. “Mm, no, can’t say I do. I used to have friends that loved it, though. No luck finding people in person?”

“I mean, kinda, yeah. People suck. Better to have a clean break, right?"

"I absolutely agree." Mirror Javi’s face was fully visible, now. There was a question on it. And recognition. It knew her, or at least could sense what Analogue Javi could not.

“Seeing if anyone'll miss us?” he asked, and anyone else might mistake it for an angry bark, the way he lowered the register and pushed it out like he was ready to bite. Arley, she knew the whimpering of a cornered rabbit when she heard it. She smiled, shrugged, what can you do?

“Well, of course I am. I want to kill a dog, after all.”

Javi’s face turned ashen, fingers clutched the center console. A high-pitched giggle spilled from Vanessa, and, "What?" and then died off as what she said caught up to her. She kept driving though, like she just wasn't sure how to take it.

"That's not funny," she finally settled on. Only, her reflection was changing now, too. Like paint thinner on a painting, it began to stretch, pull, fall. It revealed black sclera and waterline, flinty eyes, tear ducts twisting down, down, down, to the wrinkled snout of a snarling wolf. Arley knew the stink of dog, even one hidden under rabbit hide, but it was good to get confirmation. The joints in her fingers creaked, warning her that her grip on them was too tight. But she couldn't let them go either. Not yet, not yet.

"Do you want me to kill that dog for you?” she asked. The silence which followed stretched like old putty: unwilling, unrelenting, caught between breaking and maintaining. Vanessa slowed, like she was going to stop. Javi was frozen, eyes bulging, chest heaving, brows sweating. He was seeing her now, really seeing her, but it was too late, and she wasn't really asking him anyway, was looking at his reflection. His reflection impossibly staring at her through the rearview. His reflection warped into the features of her kin. His reflection nodding.

It was all she needed.

Arley lunged forward and the car swerved to the side as Vanessa screamed and tried to crowd herself into the car door but it was too late and her scream was cut off by a wet gasp as Arley’s teeth sunk into her flesh and dug in deep, one hand braced on the headrest, the other on the dashboard, crouched on the center console like a wild animal and feeling like one too as she tore in deeper, deeper, deeper, as deep as her rabbit teeth would allow, until copper was gushing down her throat and dripping off her chin and she could hear Vanessa’s gagging attempts at breathing as her own blood flooded her trachea, and Arley felt the muscle caught between her teeth twitch, twitch, twitch, and when the car careened into the shallow ditch of the shoulder it sent Arley's back into the leather seat and those muscles were torn out with the force, and there was no air in her lungs but in that moment of suspended time, where she was breathless and the screeching bumper was about to smash into the thicket and the blood gushing from Vanessa was splattering across everything like pretty red beads, or raindrops, or snow, against the windshield and Arley's face and Javi’s face and across the rearview where his reflection was looking so, so peaceful, she felt natural and she felt perfect.

☽ ● ☾

In the aftermath of the accident, the only things left were the twisted metal corpse of his wife’s car and Javi himself, having been supposedly thrown a good several feet away despite having been buckled. According to the police, the driver’s window had been shattered, his wife's body dragged out. Probably by animals, they'd said.

Javi knew that wasn't true. Had even tried to tell them about the bloody stranger, Theresa, whatever bullshit name she'd given, had begged and pleaded even when they exchanged looks and kept their faces extra neutral to avoid showing him how crazy they thought he was. There'd been zero evidence of a third person. No one else found, no unexplained hole in any window, no footprints, nothing. Like she'd been a ghost, or he'd really been crazy.

He wasn't, though. He knew that, even if no one else did.

Not that knowing helps his sleep. His restless nights of tossing an turning. Not because the now-permanent image of his wife's trachea being torn from her throat haunted his every waking minute, even if it did. Not because of the heartbreak over losing a two-decade long relationship, despite how it hurt. What really cinched it, made Javi so incapable of a restful night he couldn't trust himself to drive anymore, was the guilt that hooked its claws in his head the moment he relaxed and reminded him: You are so, so happy she's gone.

fin.