Blood Rituals(4)

He moved back to the keypad and slowly pressed the numbers in. Five, eight, one, nine, six, nine. There was a satisfying click and the door slid open. John let out a sigh of relief. He could barely contain himself from letting out some kind of crazed laughter as he pushed the door open and stepped through.

The delivery station was barren, not a truck or box in sight. He was beginning to wonder if someone had looted the place during the storm. Either way, he strode through quickly and made his way to the shutter. He lifted the shutter up just enough for him to get through and then set it down quietly once he was on the other side.

Satisfied that he triumphed over the town’s numerous ways of impeding his progress, he moved down what was left of Canyon Street and turned on to Midway Avenue.

John stepped carefully, wary of any tricks the road might try to play on him. As he passed he noticed how all the stores were closed. Some of them even had signs posted in front displaying that they were closed because “inclement weather”. Yeah and an earthquake, John mused to himself as he continued onwards.

He turned passed the floral shop and jogged over to the General Store. Thankfully there was no sign out front and the lights were still on so he grabbed the handle and let himself in.

The place smelled like meat waiting to be cooked, one of John’s favorite smells. He walked up and down the aisles as fast as possible. He was afraid that somehow everything would disappear in front of him if he didn’t hurry. After all he’d seen already, he didn’t blame himself for overreacting. When he was done he headed over to the butcher counter where he could get the last of his list.

The counter was unmanned so John rang the bell. “Marcus! You back there?” He rang again. “Marcus!”

He heard the cranking of a steel door and felt a rush of cold air fly over him. “Hold on, hold on! I’m coming! Jesus Christ Almighty…” Marcus stepped out of the freezer, taking off his gloves as he approached the counter.

“John! It’s good to see you, how’ve you been?” he said with a toothy smile. Marcus was a plumb man with no neck and a mustache that looked like his kid drew it on with a pencil. He always looked like he got a little too carried away with his meat. His apron was always smothered in blood.

“I’ve been good, Marcus. You?”

Marcus waved in the air, “Ah, can’t complain. You know me! Same shit day in, day out, everyday. There is always plenty of meat to cut! You know what I mean?” he said with a hearty laugh.

John smiled uncomfortably. “Yeah, I do.” More than you know. “So how’s the wife?” he asked to steer the conversation in a more manageable direction.

Marcus eyed him. “You never ask about my wife.” John noticed Marcus’ fingers start twisting around his wedding ring. “Why the sudden interest?”

John raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about Marcus? I always ask about Deborah.”

“You haven’t asked about Deborah since she died,” Marcus spat at him.

Figuring out that he made an awful mistake, he just quickly asked for his order. Marcus took the list and grumbled all the way back to freezer and then out again with the packaged meat. John thanked him, paid, and left as fast as he could.

What’s wrong with me? He couldn’t believe he forgot that Marcus’ wife had passed away three years ago. He’d have to be more careful next time. That’s if Marcus ever let him back into the store again.

He went back the way he came and made his way to towards the bridge. He was so distracted by his mistake that he didn’t notice the rabbit in front of him until he almost stepped on it. It looked young and had grey fur.

“Oops.” He said bending down in front of it. “Hey there little guy. You’re a long way from home.” The only place in town where there were rabbits was the Elementary School and that was at the far end of the Residential Area. Perhaps it was a wild one?

He reached to pick it up. Instead of running away, or even coming towards him, the rabbit bit him. Recoiling, he realized there was something strange about the rabbit. Its eyes were black, he couldn’t find any color in them and its fur seemed to have a red tinge to it. It didn’t look anything like the cuddly creature he’d found a second ago.

John reached for it again, and this time the rabbit backed up and fell over. It squirmed, trying to right itself. John put his arm out to help it, but it tried to bite him again. After a moment more of struggling, it went stiff as a board. John poked it carefully, wondering if it was trying to put him in a false sense of security. But no matter what he did it wouldn’t budge.

So John stood up, brushed himself off, and went on his way. He tried his best not to ponder everything that had happened today and did what he could to look forward to going home, cuddling up with his best friend, and forgetting the weirdest day of his life.