Hell Fire MC

An eerie silence fell over the darkened woods. Where there had been crickets chirping and owls hooting only a few moments earlier, now there was nothing, not even a breeze to rustle the leaves. With the silence came an ethereal mist, glowing white in the light of the full moon. Suddenly, the quiet was interrupted by the sound of a twig snapping. It seemed to echo, unnaturally, through the trees. In the shadows, something moved. It slowly crept, and as it came into the moonlight, it reflected off the creature’s hot breath. Nothing else moved in the forest, like all of the other living creatures knew there was something profane about this one. And it knew that they knew. It let out another steaming breath, along with a low snarl. Large, brown eyes scanned the surroundings. Its eyesight was strong in the dark, and its hearing even more so. It could sense the terrified heartbeats of hiding prey. It pounced and caught a fat, brown rabbit in its enormous claws almost before the animal knew it had moved. It ripped off the fur and began to devour its kill, but was suddenly distracted by an animal not as cautious as the others. Humans. It stopped its munching and crouched down to listen. Voices drifted through the dark. Two of them. “Daniel!” a female voice called out. It was followed by a male, hissing, “Don’t do that.” Both of them sounded young. “We have to find him,” the young woman pleaded. “Daniel!” “Please, Miriam, just come back to the house and pray with mother and father.” “What do you think praying will do, Jed?” Miriam said. “I can’t believe…” Jed started to say, and then fell quiet for a moment. “Don’t let mother and father hear you say that.” The creature dropped the rabbit and crept closer to the voice. There was light coming from the same direction. “Who was supposed to be watching him?” Miriam demanded. “Who was supposed to make sure everything was safe?” “It was safe!” Jed insisted. “Well, apparently not safe enough. Daniel’s gone, isn’t he?” The creature was close enough to see them in the dim glow of their flashlights now. A young woman in an apron dress was arguing with a boy in overalls and a straw hat. The creature continued to watch for a moment, and then reared up from the underbrush, snarling. The young woman gasped and stumbled backwards, and the boy cried out in fear. Though Miriam was shaking with fear herself, she shushed the boy and tried to regain her composure. She held out her hands to the creature, trying to placate it. “Daniel,” she whispered. Then she cleared her throat and said the name a little louder. The creature showed no sign of recognition, but it didn’t threaten them either. It simply stood and watched, almost curious about these people who weren’t running away. Miriam took a shaky breath and stepped forward. “Don’t,” Jed whispered and reached for her arm, but he snatched his hand away when the creature turned and growled at him. “It’s okay,” Miriam assured him. She was having trouble convincing herself, though. She reached up toward the creature’s snout. “Daniel?” she repeated, her eyes full of tears. The creature sniffed her hand and snorted. “That’s it,” she whispered. “It’s us. We’re not here to hurt you.” Just as she was about to touch its snout, though, the creature pulled its head away. It snarled again, as it looked from Miriam to Jed. “No, Daniel. It’s us. It’s your brother and sister,” Miriam said, her voice full of panic now. “I know you remember us.” “Come on, Miriam,” Jed said, trying to take her hand. Their mother and father could hear Miriam’s screams from inside the cabin. They stopped their praying, and their father jumped up to grab his rifle. “I thought they’d gone to bed,” their mother frantically blurted out. “They went out the cellar,” their father growled as he headed for the front door. “Just like Daniel did.” Miriam and Jed’s mother waited at the kitchen table, tears leaking from her eyes and shaking in fear. For a few moments, it was quiet, and somehow that only made it worse. Then she heard Miriam screaming again. Gunshots rang out, and her husband yelled. Suddenly, she heard footsteps running toward the door, and her hopes lifted. They were going to make it home safely. She got up from the table and quickly opened the door, only to let out a scream. “Dammit, Axel! Does everything have to be a joke with you?” Murphy yelled as he stood up from beside his Harley and threw his wrench to the ground. Across the garage, Axel laughed as Murphy tried to push his oil-drenched hair out of his face. When his friend growled at him, it only made him laugh harder. “You said we needed a tune-up,” Axel said. “The bikes, asshole. The bikes needed a tune-up!” The door to the house opened, and a third man walked out, a bit more composed than the other two. He stopped, looked from Murphy to Axel, and then shook his head. “This is why I’m President, you know,” he quipped. “No, Linc, you’re President because you’re clean cut and look like a pharmacist,” Murphy barked at him. Linc’s eyebrows crept up. “I look like a pharmacist?” Axel hooted. “I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it,” he teased. “Look, are we doing this road trip or not?” Murphy griped. “Just…hold your horses,” Linc growled back, and then turned to Axel. “Why’d you have to get him all bad-tempered?” he quietly said, through gritted teeth. “Ah, come on, man,” Axel said with a shrug. “It was just a prank.” “Well, go apologize, and help him clean up or something. Otherwise, he’s gonna be like this the whole trip.” Axel shrugged and then grabbed a clean rag. He walked over to Murphy, who refused to look up at him. “Hey, man, I didn’t mean anything by it,” he said and offered the rag to his friend. “Yeah, you never do,” Murphy mumbled. “I’m sorry, okay. Here, let me help you,” Axel said with a smile, and then tried to clean up Murphy’s oily hair with the rag. “Just give me that thing,” Murphy said and grabbed the rag away while Axel chuckled. “You know, someday, you’re gonna push things too far.” Axel’s smile faded. “Hey, I really am sorry, Murph. I’m just excited about the trip! It’s been a while since we got together, you know?” “Yeah, I know,” his friend agreed, and threw the now dirty rag back at him. A hint of a smile touched Murphy’s face, and then he got back to work on the bike. “Are you two about ready to go? Or do I need to call the other guys?” Linc asked. Murphy snorted. “What, you mean like Maurice?” “I’ll have you know that Maurice is a very reliable riding partner,” Linc replied and picked up his helmet from a shelf. For a moment, Murphy only stared at him in disbelief and a touch of horror. Then he shook his head and said, “I think you’re getting too old for this s**t, man.” Linc grinned and then put the helmet on. “Okay, we’ve got some food and water, some clothes, anything else?” He got on his Harley and the other two followed suit, Axel tying his hair back and putting his own helmet on, and Murphy riding without one. “Egg in your beer?” Axel joked. “Chocolate on your pillow?” Murphy added. All three of them laughed and then hit the road, having completely forgotten to pack their cellphone chargers.