The Witch of Monroe Street (Part 3 of 3)

It was somehow darker than dark in the woods. Andy was having a hard time seeing his friends in front of him. He was barely staying the small trail that they were walking on. His friends, however, seemed not to have the same problems.

“You guys hang out here?” Andy said. “Isn’t there supposed to be werewolves or something here?”

Brad broke out into hysterical laughter. A laughter that sent a chill up Andy’s spine. It was almost a shriek.

“Don’t worry,” Marvin said turning back to him. “werewolves aren’t going to hurt you.” He grinned before turning back to the path. Andy pondered whether his eyes were actually shining or that was just his imagination.

“Here,” Steve said as he jumped into a small clearing a foot below the rest of the woods. Andy didn’t see the drop and stumbled into the same clearing. The others laugh.

“Welcome, Andy,” Brad said. The other two were busy at work making a fire in the middle of the clearing out of some already burnt wood. It didn’t take them long.

With the area not visible, Andy could see a small, dark cave on the opposite side of the clearing. Steve reached into the cave and pulled out a bottle. It was half full of a dark liquid sloshing back and forth.

“Now you know where our hideout is,” Brad said. “You have to become one of us.”

“Honestly,” Andy said. His voice was weak. “I couldn’t find it again if I wanted to.”

“You will,” Brad said. He looked Andy in the eye. Steve handed him the bottle of mystery liquid. “You will.”

Brad took the bottle and shoved it into Andy’s chest.

“Drink,” he said.

 

 

“This is as far as I go,” Diggs said coming to a stop in the middle of the woods.

“Don’t be a pussy,” Rod said.

“Really? Taking candy and booze from underclassmen and I’m the pussy?”

“What?” Cass said. A large grin grew on his face. “You scared?”

“You know what they say about these woods, right?” Diggs said. “And it’s Halloween night on top of that. I got a gut feeling this is a bad idea and I usually listen to my gut.”

Cass walked up to him face to face.

“You know what happens to people who listen to their guts?” he said. “They get fat. I got no love for fat little bitches. If you’re scared, then see ya.”

“Whatever you say,” Diggs said. “Enjoy your sixth grade level bag snatching. I’ll be getting booze the old fashioned way — with my fake ID.”

Biggs turned around to leave the woods. He heard the cackling behind him with words like “pussy” and “chickenshit” thrown around. He didn’t care.

 

 
The entire time the bottle was on his lips, Andy’s mind was telling him this was a bad idea. Never take candy from strangers, he was taught when he was young. Where were the lessons about drinking mystery liquids that came from caves hidden by friends?

“Awesome,” Brad said. Andy gave him the bottle after he took his swig. He was feeling very lightheaded.

“Now hold out your finger,” Brad said.

Before Andy could even process what was being said, his finger was pointing out. Brad bent down and bit the finger hard enough to draw blood. Andy felt no pain.

“This is great,” Andy said. “This is awesome.”

“You’re feeling good?” Steve asked. Andy looked around, but his world was getting blurry.

Before he could answer, a rumbling came through the trees.
“Give us your shit and we won’t hurt you,” Cass said as the three older boys surrounded the underclassmen.

“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Brad said.

Andy’s blurry sight suddenly clicked into focus. He could see, but he could see better than ever. He could see in the dark. He looked down at his hands and saw that they were furry. Big patches of hair grew on the back of his hands. His body was changing. He could feel it.

A loud scream woke him from his daze.

It was one of the older boys. Marvin had hold of him and was biting him on the neck. At least, Andy thought it was Marvin. His skin color had turned into a shade of green. His ears had grown twice as big as normal with points on the end. He was hunched over as if a huncback, but his body was covered with muscles. Marvin yanked hard away from the older boy’s neck pulling a large chunk of meat with him. Blood coated the small clearing as more squirted from the neck of the older kid.

The older kid fell limp to the ground. Marvin sat down next to the body and chomped on the meat in his mouth with pointed fang hanging from his mouth. He didn’t look much like
Marvin anymore.

“What the fuck are you?’ Another of the older boys shouted from the other side of the clearing as Brad stalked him.

“The goblins’ll get ya, if you don’t watch out,” Brad said. His voice was more of a growl than a human voice. He raised his head and let out a roar before jumping onto the boy and tearing into his flesh.

Andy watched as the boy screamed, fought and eventually went limp. Brad bit into the boys shoulder pulling off a large chunk of meat like a lion biting into it’s prey. Andy could smell the blood. He licked his lips, noting that his own teeth were now much longer and sharper than he remembered.

He took in the scene of the three older boys all in bloody heaps being fed on by his friends. By his new brothers.

“Andy,” Steve cried out with the a price of flesh hanging from his mouth, blood pouring down his chin. “Pass the vodka. It goes great with teenage flesh.”

Andy grabbed the bottle of vodka from his coat. He could use a drink right about now. He screwed the cap off and put the bottle to his lips and took a swig. It was smooth and delicious. With swollen feet, Andy walked to Steve to give him the bottle. Steve toow a swig. Then Brad. Then Marvin.

All was right with the world. Andy had never felt better…until he became extremely lightheaded. The world began to spin. He heard one of the other boys yelp in pain. He tried to take a few steps. After two steps, however, he was on the ground.

The world went black.

 

 
Ethel Weiss stood above the small pit of the opening. Beside her, Diggs was smoking a cigarette.

“Out cold,” Ethel said. She reached into the old bag she had slung over her shoulder. She pulled out a meatcleaver. She handed it to Diggs.

“You’re younger and stronger,” she said. “It will be easier for you.”

Diggs nodded and stepped into the bloody clearing.

“Do what you want with the rest of them, I just need their feet,” Ethel said. “Goblin feet are hard to come by and I need some for the spell I got brewing back home.”

“As you say,” Diggs said with a grin.

He swung the meatcleaver into the unconscious body beneath him.