Blood Red

“Get inside before you get yourself in serious trouble, Avery, and stay home for the rest of the night, okay?”

“Thanks, Kelli. You’re the best.” He probably would have yelled it to the world like he normally did, but it was dark out and he was supposed to be inside. Sometimes Kelli wanted to swat him, but mostly he was okay.

“Just be good, Avery. Good night.” She and Teddy stood there and waited until the boy had gone inside, carefully opening the front door and closing it silently. Then they turned around and headed back to Teddy’s house.

“So you’re not telling?” Teddy’s voice held a mild note of terror blended with hope.

“Nope.”

“Why not?” He let himself smile. Teddy was a cute kid, especially when he smiled. “I mean, thanks, but, why not?”

“Well, I could tell if you really want me to . . .”

“No! No, that’s okay.”

Kelli ran her fingers through her hair and readjusted her glasses. The night was getting cold fast and she wanted them back at the house before Teddy’s parents came home.

“I was your age once, Teddy.” A shiver ran down her neck and between her shoulder blades. Kelli looked around to see if she could figure out why. It wasn’t the cold night, there was something else. The road was well lit and she could see all of the houses along the Cliffside Drive with ease. There were no menacing figures lurking in the shadows that she could see, and even the dog that normally went into fits whenever they walked this part of the neighborhood was silent. But there was something, damn it, and it wouldn’t let her relax. She kept looking around, hoping her instincts were just confused.

“So, no punishment? I’m just making sure I have this right.”

She smiled and patted the top of his blond-haired head. “No punishment, this time.”

“This time?”

“Yeah. Next time I might take it out twice as hard on you, so you learn to behave and we can be friends.”

“We are friends, Kelli.” He frowned and looked up at her. “Aren’t we?”

“Of course we are, silly.” She stopped moving and looked up at a faint hint of movement.

And saw them looking back down. The telephone wires above them crossed the street at an angle, and as she looked up, Kelli saw dozens of black shapes resting on the thick cables.

Crows. They covered every inch of the telephone line, all of them silent and watching from above. Now and then one of them would shuffle a foot in one direction or the other, but aside from that motion, there was nothing.

“Whoa.” Kelli liked crows. She thought they were beautiful birds, but at the moment they were messing with her mind. Crows were noisy birds, always noisy as far as she could tell. There had seldom been a time when she saw them gathered together that they weren’t cawing away at each other or filling the air with that mocking laughter of theirs, but right now they were silent.

Kelli took two more steps, her eyes locked on the black shapes above her, and watched in turn as they tracked her, their heads lowered between their shoulders.

“Let’s get home, Teddy. I have to finish the dishes.”

Teddy looked up and saw where she was staring. “Yeah, Kelli. Okay.” He sounded almost as nervous as she felt.

The birds never moved from their perches. But she felt them staring at her the entire way back to the house. She could tell they were there, because even though the first group never moved, she saw the rest of them on her way home. Hundreds of them nestled on nearly every available branch and rooftop.

III

Brian Freemont watched the little red Tercel rip past his hiding spot and checked the speed. Half a second later he was pulling out onto the main road and hitting the flashers. Nailing the occasional college student in the act was what made his life good.

The car pulled over after only a few yards, and he pulled to the side of the road almost immediately behind it. The dashboard computer was active and he typed in the license plate numbers while he kept the driver waiting. Danielle Hopkins, twenty-two years of age and a college student.

He climbed out of his patrol car and walked over to the driver’s side door, one hand resting on the butt of his revolver. The girl in the driver’s seat looked his way, her pretty face a study in ruined nerves.

“Going a bit fast, weren’t you?” He kept his voice casual.

“I’m sorry. I was in a hurry. I have finals tomorrow.” She was chewing on her bottom lip. She had every reason to be worried. He had given her record a quick once-over and she was very, very close to losing her license. Like, one or two tickets away from having to take a cab instead of driving.

“Finals? Those are a few weeks off yet, aren’t they?” She looked around nervously. “Tell you what, why don’t you give me your license, registration, and proof of insurance?”