Country people Page #3

• Horror
• Short story
• Fiction

								


 The Hare tilted its head; its voice boomed as it replied. “I will help you grow and prosper if you make me a promise.”
 The man laughed with tears in his eyes as he said to the hare, “Oh, thank you! Anything you need, just ask, and I will do it!”

 The hare replied, “When my blood needs help, your own will help in any way they can.” 

The woman touched her husband's shoulder saying, “Are you sure about this, Jose?”

The man looked at her, hurt as he said,  “Josefina, I know what I'm doing. Stay out of this.” She stayed silent.

The Hare, once Jose agreed to the promise, told them, “I know a place where you can grow and live an agreeable life.” Then the Hare didn't speak for few seconds. Then, it started throwing up. a horrible sound as it was trying to get rid of something inside of it, and what was inside was a map.

“That is your new home. Use it wisely.” As they took the map the Hare said, “But heed this: if your promise is broken, you will know the feeling of being hunted.” 

That's when Lunette felt cold water on her face. When she opened her eyes, she was back home, but not outside in the kitchen. Her mom, who was wiping off her face with a rag, told Lunette, “You had a heat stroke.”  But Lunette saw that out the window was the voice telling her to get out and help.

As Lady puts her head worriedly on Lunette’s lap and Lunette pets her dog, she knew this meant more than just a map. She was glad that her mom was sleeping the heat off. She was free of this labor. The hare was in full view. It was, admittedly, beautiful with its brown fur, but Lunette knew better. It had brown eyes that looked red, and she knew that it had power. Lady was growling at it. ‘She knows, too,’ Lunette thought. 

The Hare said, “You look just like him.” 

Lunette knew it was referring to her grandparents, the people she saw in the woods. “I know about the promise that my grandfather made to your ancestor.”

The Hare tilted it's head. “Do you? Can you tell me the words he said those many years ago?

 She took a deep breath and said, “It’s like she had known it her entire life. When my blood needs help, your own will help In any way they can.” 

The Hare said, “You are the firstborn, so you must help us.”

She asked, “And what is it that you need help with?”

He tilted his head, replying, “We would like some grass to eat.”

Grass? In this dust? She almost wanted to laugh but she knew it best not to, as she told It, “My family has been unable to grow anything for months. We are in a drought.”

The hare told her, “You underestimate my powers. We will do what we have done in the past. Make a promise.” Then it told her, “I will make your family swim in rain and grow if you let us take some of the grass for ourselves.” 

Lunette thought about it. She could tell it to go away and leave her family alone, but she thought of her mom trying to fall asleep in heat and exhaustion, her baby brother and her daddy forced to eat so little, and then she saw Lady, who needed more water from the heat, so what choice could she have made?

“I will help you,” she told It.

It tilted its head as it said, “So be it then,” it told her. “Say your promise and that you know the consequences.”

She did know. Then it told her, “Your grandfather didn't have to do this, but you do.” 

Lunette was confused. “What? Then it said, ‘Hold still,” and bit straight into her hand, 

Her scream could pierce glass as Lady howled as if she too was in pain. Her blood was like red paint on the dusty earth. Then just as she fell to the ground and was losing consciousness, the Hare, with her blood on its teeth told her, “It's sealed,” then disappeared into the dust.

The last thing she saw was Lady barking to her mom and Lunette saying, “Good girl before she closed her eyes. When she reopened them, she was at a dinner party. Her family looked beautiful and clean with tuxedos and dresses like they had money. They ate savagely, faces filled with food but their outfits clean. 

Her brother asked her, “Are you going to eat yours?”

 Her Ma replied with the food covering the whiteness of her teeth and replacing it with red as she said that of course she would. It's her favorite! That's when Lunette looked down at her plate and saw a Hare split open. She screamed and woke up in her bedroom screaming. 

Her entire family came in, her pa saying, “What the hell is going on?!” Her mom was caressing Lunette's face as she told her daddy that she had been feeling out of sorts and that she might be coming down with something.

She was talking sweetly to Lunette in Spanish like she was younger saying, your ok my love take a deep breath so Lunette did and that's when she finally spoke, I…I… had a dream, that's when her brother came with a bowl of hot soup, is Lunette ok? Her mama smiled and nodded at her son as she said, well she's back from the dead at least Pop added, but the sun got to her because she was talking about some dream Ricki looked at his sister, what dream? As she was being fed soup by her mama she explained, you were in it, and Mama was in it, and Daddy her pa interrupted her by saying, was lady? That made her ma tell him, Jack, let the girl be, he replied. Well, since she won't be able to get eggs in the morning, the dream better be a goddam motion picture! That made her mom stand up from Lunettes bed and look straight at their daddy, our daughter is sick and is not in her right mind and all you can think about is your breakfast for the next few days well, if it's so goddamn important to you then I will go out and get the eggs but don't you ever talk to my children like that again or I swear Jack!  I will do something you don't like! The room was still, the children looked at each other, they had seen their parents fight in the past but this felt more profound, finally, their Pa spoke, all right Nina I will just eat toast for the next few days that made their ma smile and say, good then as she grabbed the bowl from Lunette she told the children, y'all stay inside today, the clouds have been acting weird this made Lunette shiver,  her daddy saw it and told Ricki, if your sister starts coughing cover yourself,  don't need more sick children he said to himself as he closed the door to their room,  once he was gone, Lady went on Lunette's bed and licked her face lovingly Lunette told her, thank you for calling for help, your a good girl then Ricki rubbed the dog's stomach as he was saying in a baby voice, yes she is she is a good girl as he was talking Lady's tail wagged in Lunette's face, lady that's not the way a lady should act Lunette said between laughs as she remembered when Lady was a pup and her mom said, what pretty fur fit for a lady and the name stuck, she did help Ricki said to Lunette as he was scratching the dog's ears then said quietly, you lost a good amount of blood but ma patched you up nice and good Lunette saw that were the Hare had sunk into her were bandages then her brother looked at her in the same way her mama did when she was worried, Lunette what bit you? Ma thinks it was a rat but I know that that was no rat he had the look that he had when he was a baby like he wanted his big sister to have a comforting answer, when he was scared of thunder she told him that it was only temporary same with their hunger but this was more than just thunder and an empty stomach, he looked at her and she took a deep breath and grabbed hold of her brother's hands, Ricki don't tell Ma and Pa but… before she could say what she wanted to say a headache came over her,  it felt like her brain was being smashed into her skull as the voice softly told her, you can't tell anybody about the vow you made, if you do so you would become nothing, a surge of pain hit her as it said, because I will turn your mind into nothing now tell the boy that it was just what your dear mother thought, a little insignificant rat when she was released from the pain Ricki looked afraid of her as he said, are you okay? What was it that you were going to tell me?  Lunette looked at him dazed as she told him, huh? He explained,  what bit you? Was it a rat? She smiled at him, she suddenly felt very tired, like if she thought any more her brain would turn into nothing, so as she smiled sleepily she gave the answer to Ricki, yes I'm sorry it was just a rat just an insignificant little rat he looked worried, oh… ok he took lady off her bed, I should probably let you rest you look sleepy and Lunette quietly replied,  that would be best but before he left he looked  for something in his pants pocket, when he found what he was looking for he showed her a figure of a sheep, smiling as he told her, I got it from a man at daddy's work I thought you would like it, the sheep looked angelic and out of place in her brother's dirt-filled fingers, he smiled at her but all she told him was, how lovely he just looked at her and whistled to Lady saying, come on girl lets let Lunette rest the dog looked at her angrily but all she said was, what a nice dog,  Ricki whistled in surprise,  maybe you lost more blood than we thought, when they were gone Lunette heard a voice telling her almost in a whisper, go to sleep so that’s what she did she closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep. She was in her grandparents' home, she knew that as she saw her daddy's baby pictures she saw her godmother kiting a blanket that had hares running around a green valley then when her grandmother saw Lunette she said in her language, the hare had come to help us and Lunette saw her grandmother smile at a tremendous portrait of a Hare when Lunette turned to look, at her grandmother, she was gone and what was in her place was a Hare that tiled its head saying, hold still as it bit her neck. She woke up holding her neck in pain before she remembered that it was just a dream, she felt disoriented, not the kind form just waking up the kind that felt like she just remembered where she was the last thing she remembered was trying to tell Ricki about the Hare before it told her that she couldn't tell him anything everything after that was just blank, she saw that Ricki's side of the room was wet and his clothes were everywhere, she rolled her eyes at the mess then as she got up something fell at her feet, she saw that it was a sheep she smiled at it and said, hey little buddy where is the rest of your herd? She laughed to herself and that's when she noticed a big wet mark in the middle of the ceiling, now how do you suppose that happened? She asked the sheep as she was looking at the mark and at that moment she got her answer when completely drenched and in rain jackets and boots but smiling hugely her mama and brother came into the room saying, good morning morning glory,  her mama added,  get dressed your Daddy needs you to help get vegetable seeds and that's when Lunette knew that it kept its part of the promise.  As her Daddy put the bags of seeds on the table he told his family, we are going to make more money than ever Ricki said, I'm so glad we get to eat carrots again Lunette was just glad to feel relaxed, for now the gales prospered, they made money from their vegetable so that meant they could relieve tension,  her Ma painted more and her pa  and her brother fixed more cars and Lunette could look at her magazines and think about dancing for the first time in forever, she was always wanting for the voice again telling her to keep her end of the promise. The moment came when with a gleeful smile her daddy came inside the house telling his family,  look who I found in the grass and what it was was a dead Hare shot cleanly by her daddy,  she got up from the table saying, almost yelling at her daddy, why did you do that? Do you not realize what you done! Her mama touched her shoulder, what's wrong honey?  you know that people hunt animals, Ricki added  by saying, plus it would go good with our salad Lunette ignored their comments by saying, no! We need to bury it she thought, maybe if we show forgiveness for what we did they won't do anything but her family wanted to eat it, and even though Lunette begged them and her mom felt uneasy after seeing her daughter's reaction her Daddy told them, I know what I'm doing so you can eat or not your choice, so Lunette watched as her family ate the hare daring to not to look down at her palate. As she was going to sleep she petted lady wondering if she too knew what was going to happen, later in the middle of the night Ricki woke her saying, there are  million Hares outside our house and what she saw was  her mama and daddy looking at all the Hares,  once they saw Lunette the one Here in the front started speaking, you had  broken your promise not only that but you have killed a member of our family she tried to explain, I'm sorry it was a mistake it tilted its head, was eating someone so dear to us a mistake? Someone who was just as hungry as you were? Even now the son of the one who owes a great deal to us is willing to shoot as she looked at her daddy who was holding a gun she looked back at the hares, he's just scared. Please what can we do to make it up to you? The hare replied, an apology not from you but from the ones who gladly took the skin of our own then and only then will you not suffer from the consequences, Lunette looked at her brother, and he knew what to do as he said to the hare, I'm sorry for what I did and I hope you can accept my apology then her mom said, it was wrong what we did I'm sorry when it was her daddy's turn he said, no, I'm not going to apologize for anything that rabbit did it should have not eaten my grass, once he said that Lunette knew it was over, as the Hare tilted its head saying, very well you made your choice, the Hares started moving weirdly they started  throwing up and their eyes started moving in weird ways and Ricki asked Lunette, what's it doing? She answered, it's turning into something the children were in their mama's arms as the things that no longer were Hares but something  told her Daddy, Julio Gutierrez you can no longer hide what you are a human with no remorse and before he could say anything the Monster grabbed him and ripped his stomach open, his body landed with a bloody slam and the children with tears In their eyes vomited on the ground, once their Ma let out a pricing scream the Hares started biting her Lunette grabbed her brother and ran inside the house. As lady was barking and following the children, Lunette was packing clothes for the both of them, adding the figure of the sheep and Ricki was still at the door. We need to help mom, she's getting bitten out there! But Lunette knew that their ma was gone, she thought , as she was grabbing money from her parent's bedroom, they got the two people who ate the Hare she couldn't save them but she could  help the last one she couldn't let them take him, she promised to keep him safe since she held him as a baby, that's one promise she couldn't break so as she was holding their suitcases and she saw him still at the door she told him, Ma is gone we are the only ones left he asked her, Lunette what did you do? That's when she told him everything even about their grandfather,  when she was done he said, I'm the last one left I ate the Hare she grabbed his shoulders saying, yes but I'm getting us out of here before anything else can happen she could hear him say her name,  Lunette… but she continued to talk not wanting him to say anything, we can live on our own we would have to change our names but we have already been doing that anyway but once we get on the bus they can't find us Lady will even love it, Lunette stop! Once she did he said, we can't hide anymore,  not our names, not our skin, not our mistakes the one thing we can do is accept she started crying as she said, but if I do everyone that I tried so hard to protect is gone he smiled, you did all you could do for us she knew he was right she couldn't do what their daddy did and hide she would have to acknowledge the part of her that can't go away, she smiled and told him, I'm glad to have you as a sibling and he said, just don't lose the sheep or Lady then he walked outside and Lunette and her dog were the only ones home. An hour passed before the Haeres started coming in so she grabbed her daddy's gun and shot then all as they were trying to bite her it wasn't until she was in a pool of their blood that she noticed that their eyes resembled that of her mama and brother as she was crying in the pool of blood a single Hare came in, she was no longer willing to be formal with them as she said bitterly, where is the rest of your family? It told her, they had gone back to rest they no longer had anything to do with this that made Lunette have no feeling but anger as she grabbed hold of the Hares's neck, she desperately wanted it to feel the pain that she felt but it felt nothing as she squeezed it said to her almost with a hint of ridicule, humans are such sensitive things, and that made her let go of it and make her cry again like the child she was, and with the bark of lady the Hare disappeared, Lunette saw what Lady had  in her mouth and it was the sheep, she cried again as she held the dog and sheep close to her. It was a nice September day as the Addisons were going to look at the county for a week. Are you excited? Max Addison asked his daughters as he was driving,  whatever you say Dad was their response, everything felt good, until his wife, Isadora pointed at a barking dog on the road, he thought nothing of it until he saw that it had bits of blood on its fur so they stopped and got out the car, the girls were cooing to it saying, what's your name? Are you lost? His wife said as she was looking at the dried blood on its fur it was a beautiful dog Max thought, a sheepdog if she had an owner the person was a hard worker, I think it wants to show us something his oldest daughter, Doreen said,  so they followed the dog and what they saw was a run-down house, there was nothing on the land but there were blood and scratch marks around the entryway, what happened here? Max heard his wife say to herself, we are about to find out. He said to himself what they found were two suitcases, one had girl's clothes and the other boy's clothes, his wife said as she was looking through them, poor children… they kept looking eventually, the dog led them to a girl who looked around Doreen's age but his wife had to look away and cry because the girl who was clearly asleep was in a pool of blood and she was sleeping around two big dead Harers maybe too close as her blood-marked cheek was too close to the Hares for his comfort when the dog licked her face she opened her eyes and saw them, she was glad that they were not white folk because then she would possibly be labeled a murderer but they had beautiful black skin and kind smiles, especially the woman as she got closer to Lupita, Lupita said good girl to lady who licked her lovingly the woman asked Lupita, what's your name? She was going to automatically say what she had been told to say but out of respect for her mother and brother and herself, she no longer wanted to be called that, as she answered, my name is Lupita Rosetta Gutierrez. 
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