Hedgerow

Rage.

William opened his eyes. He was staring at the ceiling for a good while. It was 4am, so he didn't need to worry about time. He didn't remember anything from yesterday. Did it even happen? Was it real, or just a lucid dream? Will stood up and went to Weylyn's room. He slightly moved the handle of his door and slowly opened it. His son was sleeping peacefully. Will closed the door even so quietly, after which went down in the kitchen and started making coffee. He was accommodated to sleeping five to six hours. The widower went outside with his coffee mug. He sat down on the stairs of the porch. He took a sip. Then another. And another. Another. After taking ten large sips, William noticed that the mug was not getting empty. In fact, the coffee had remained at the same level. He chugged down the coffee and looked at the mug. Still the same. He felt sick, something was trying to crawl out of his throat. He fell down and started choking.

- Will? - said a female voice.

- What? - he snapped out of his dying phase instantaneously and arose.

- Will. It's me. - gently whispered in his ear the same voice.

- J? - William looked behind him.

- Why did you stop looking for me?

- I...I thought you were dead!

- But, I'm here. Look at me.

- I cannot. Show yourself!

- I'm standing in front of you.

- I can't see you. Please, J. Come to me.

- Tell me to come inside and I will.

- What? J? What do you mean?

- Tell me! - the voice changed to a higher pitched one for a second.

- Come home, J. Please. - he broke down and fell on his knees.

- Invite me inside your soul, Will. That's my home.

- You always were there. I never let you leave my soul. - William suddenly looked at the ground seriously.

Silence. The voice did not reply for some time.

- J? Honey? - he finally brought his eyes up from the ground.

A disturbing, decaying creature rushed at him from the street. It sprinted at inhuman speeds towards him. It looked like his wife, but slowly withering away. Will quickly stood up and punched the thing in the face, bringing it down on the ground. He ran inside and barricaded the door, after which he went to his room, still running, and grabbed his gun. The thing was already in. It had moved through the barricade without moving it at all. William took aim and squeezed the trigger tightly.

- Stand back! I will shoot! - he warned the thing, but it did not care.

Will moved his finger twice and the scrawny humanoid fell down, this time for good. The ringing in his ears hit him immediately. Weylyn busted out of his room and went to check on his dad. He was shaking, with the gun still pointed at the doorway.

- Woah! Dad, it's me! - the boy yelled.

He did not answer.

- Dad? Dad can you hear me! - Weylyn was shaking his arms around.

- Son! Get back! It may be still alive! - William screamed back after the ringing finally started subsiding.

- Dad...What can be still alive!?

- The thing on the ground! Don't you see it?

- No? Are you okay?

- Where is it!? Where the f**k did it go!?

- Dad! Put the goddamn gun down! You're scaring me!

- I...I...I'm sorry... .-William put on the safety and placed the gun on the nightstand.

- Can I come in now? - Weylyn poked his head around the door frame.

- Yes... .

- What happened?

- I...I don't know. I heard something. And then, something jumped me. I barricaded the door, but it went in. I think it was a thief. Maybe a junky. I don't know. He or She ran up the stair incredibly quickly and I had no other choice.

- Okay, okay. Relax. - Weylyn hugged his still shaking father.

Sirens started echoing. After a brief interrogation, the conclusion was self-defense during burglary.

Since he was a cop, nothing major happened and he resumed working on the same day. His colleagues insisted on him taking a break, but he was too stubborn.

- Hey, Will...Did you hear what had happened this morning? - asked the dispatcher, Leon.

- No? - William answered neutrally.

- Someone shot a burglar. He claimed that he heard his mother luring him outside and something jumped on him. He apparently shot the burglar and didn't find his body. He is still in custody. Might be good to go ask him a few questions? - said Leon, taking a big sip from his coffee.

- Thanks, Leo. I'll check him up right away. - Will stood up and went to the man.

When he neared the room in which the man was kept, he felt something weird. A deja vu of sorts. William saw the man through the small window. He was scared. The cop opened the door and went in the room.

- Sam, right? - Will asked the obviously panicked guy.

- Y-yes, s-sir. - he nodded strangely.

- I just want to talk. Okay? - he ensured the poor man.

- O...Okay, sir.

- I had the same happen to me this morning too. It mimicked the voice of my wife.

- Really? - Sam started collecting himself.

- Yes. I too, shot it. It disappeared. I barricaded the door, but it moved past it without a problem.

- I'm scared, sir.

- Don't be. Everything will be alright.

The lad nodded. William stood up and shook hands with him, after which he went to the door.

- Sir, can I ask you something? Will I go to prison?

- I...I can't tell nothing, private. But, I can assure you that you'll be judged fairly.

He then went out and walked slowly to his office.

- This...actually happened? - he threw himself on the office chair and continued talking to himself. - It made this soldier scared for his life. It made him draw a weapon and fire. What the hell is happening?

The phone in his office rang. Will quickly answered.

- William? I heard what happened. Wanna go to the bar after work? - a familiar deep voice asked.

- Ed? Gosh, yeah. Of course. See you there later. - Will answered, his mood brightened a bit.

- Okay, see you there big man. Hang in there!

He put down the handset and continued looking through the files of the soldier.

* * *

Weylyn was in the school yard. He was thinking about this morning. Cassie sat next to him.

- Sup? - she asked and bumped his shoulder.

- Something happened. - he mumbled under his nose.

- Why the frown? - she smiled, unaware of what was happening. - Did you kill somebody?

- My dad claims he did. This morning.

- What? Tell me more!

- Sure, but. You should probably go somewhere else for now. I will talk to you after school.

- Oh, am I bothering you?

- No! It's just that...the chicken brains will see us together and cause problems.

- Screw them. Tell me now, what happened this morning.

- I woke up from two gunshots at around 4:30am. I then ran out and asked dad what's going on. He was pointing a gun at me, claiming "the thing may be still alive".

- Woah. And?

- There was no thing. The disturbing part is, there were no bullet holes. But I saw the bullet casings. - Weylyn looked dead-seriously at Cassie.

- That sent chills down my spine.

- Yeah. I cannot stop but think what might've scared a grown man so much...no, a policeman, that he'd draw his weapon and fire.

- That's some f****d up s**t.

- Yeah...

- And if it isn't for the nerd and the w***e! - Robbie jumped in between them, hugging them both.

His goons surrounded the three.

- Now, let's walk to the forest. - the rich boy said and forcefully made them stand up.

- Robbie, give up. I don't want anything from you. And Wey...I mean, this boy. I was just asking him about help for algebra. I' m pretty ba... - she was forced to shut up by Rob's slap.

- You close your mouth. I've taken enough s**t from both of you. And now, it's the time of Reakoning.

- Reckoning. Do you even know what this word means? - Weylyn asked confidently.

- Alright, the nerd gets it first. Beat him up. Good. - Robbie pushed him on the ground and kicked him in the head, causing him to almost immediately black out. - And after that...

Cassie kicked him in the crotch and grabbed Weylyn by the arm. She ran, while dragging him to the school.

- Catch the rats! - he screamed.

Sean, being the nimblest of them all, caught up to the two and threw himself at them, bringing them both on the ground. The other two came in and started beating them both. Rob came in last and started kicking Cassie in the guts.

- Hey! What's happening there? - asked a random pedestrian.

- Mind your business, grandpa! Or you'll get it too. - Robbie yelled.

- Young man, that is not a proper way to threat a girl. And...a boy. I will call the police. - said the old man.

- Beat the pa up, too!

Xander looked at the old guy and grinned. Suddenly, he snapped and started screaming in pain. He fell on the ground and started beating his head.

- What the f**k is going on? - Sean stopped and looked at the big boy. - You okay, man?

He continued hitting himself until he passed out. The old man looked at the other three and smiled.

- Oh, you're gonna pay old man! - the skinny boy said and started running towards the unknown man.

Sean continued running even after moving past the old man, heading towards a tree.

- No,no,no! - his last words before knocking himself out in the tree.

The other two stopped beating Weylyn and Cassie and looked at each other. The old man continued moving forward, smile to his ears. The two bullies ran away deep in the forest, leaving their buddies behind. The old man helped the two teens.

- Thanks, but... - the girl grabbed her abdomen and squirmed in pain. - We had it.

- Well. I had to thank you somehow. - the old man's smile widening even more.

- What do you mean? - said Weylyn, cleaning the blood from his nose.

- You set me free. - his smile, now tearing the skin on his cheeks.