01 = Brand New Sin - Wyoming
Riverton, Wyoming
“I don’t think this is such a good
idea.” Emily looks up the side of the tallest building in town. “Why are we
doing this again?”
The freckled teen on the fire
escape ladder reaches down from the night sky, “Come on Em, don’t be a sissy.”
When she refuses his hand, he waves it to him, hoping to motivate her.
A level above the ground, a small
cluster of kids scramble across a grated platform, their giggling echoes
through the alley, until one of them yells, “Car!” Immediately, all bodies drop
and Emily jumps behind a large metal trash bin. Shadows run from the headlights
and breath is pinned to the stone wall in anticipation.
Once the alley falls into blackness
again, Emily digs herself from the refuse and points at the monkey above her,
“This is stupid! I’m going home.”
“Em!” The boy on the ladder cries
to her, “Come on, you can’t go. If you go home and I’m not with you, mom will
kick my ass. Just do this one thing? Please?”
The antagonizing voice of her
brother’s best friend drops from two stories above, “Come on you panty waists.
What’s the hold up?”
Between the siblings and the
irritating boy, Ashley, the other girl calls out, “Derek’s sister is too scared
to come up.”
“Dammit!” The rough boy calls out
again. “We’ve been planning this for weeks Derek! Don’t let your stupid sister
ruin it now!” He begins to climb the last flight of the fire escape, followed
eagerly by one of his scrawny lackeys.
Emily folds her arms at the mean
boy’s comment and Derek sighs pitifully, “Please Em, I promise I’ll help you
get out for that party you wanna go to this Friday.” She raises her eyebrow at
his offer and he sweetens the pot, “I’ll cover for you with mom and dad, and
I’ll see if I can’t get you a bottle of Fuzzy Navel.”
“Really?” She whines.
“Promise.” He extends his hand
again.
Emily finally breaks and climbs up
behind her brother. After mounting the first rung, she inquires, “Why do you
guys want to get on top of this building so bad anyways?”
“Are you kidding?” Derek makes it
to the first landing. “This is the Masonic Temple; people say these people
sacrifice babies and stuff. Kyle heard from a guy that there’s some kind of
altar on the roof.”
“Oh.” Emily mocks, grabbing the
landing. “Someone told Kyle. I guess that makes it legit.” Her foot slides from
the rung supporting her weight and her shoes drops to the alley. “Crud. I gotta
get my shoe, hold on.” She climbs back to the earth.
Three stories up, a commotion
erupts at the ledge of the building and someone shouts, “Get your hands off
him.” Followed directly with, “Let him go!”
The arguing is interrupted by a
slicing shriek and Emily looks to the cloudless sky for understanding. Her
answer comes at maximum velocity, blotting out the pinpoints of light above and
landing atop her abandoned shoe with a sickening thump.
Emily screams, her wide eyes
meeting the bloodshot gaze of her brother’s friend. His frozen mouth matches
her own horrified maw and only when her siren is silenced by a lack of air
power does she realize there are others screaming in the heavens. She looks to
the stars and a rush of wind scrapes her face as a second body crashes to the
earth, then a third.
“Emily, run!” Her brother wails
from above as he scrambles through and around the fire escape, dodging shadows.
She struggles to overcome her numb paralysis as she watches her sibling duck
and trip through a number of blurry shades.
On the ground, the rear entrance to
the ominous building opens and darkness spills out, startling her feet into
movement. She erupts out of the alley and onto the street, wailing in fright as
her brother’s own final screams fade into memory.
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