Tic-tac-tic-tac ... the macabre dog

Rick's Confessions

-I'm not even going to hand over the keys! - Kate raged in the closet room and the looks were critical and accusing.

Even with all the frustration, I knew the reason for the girl's dislike.

The most eligible bachelor in town?

What a joke. I, Richard Walker, had a lot more serious problems than that. Except that my outburst of bad mood the day before while arguing with Jack had become a small-town feel. I wanted to shout to her and everyone that my life was not of interest to anyone there. Much less Jack's going. Any damn couple had their disagreements and confusions.

-Damn it, Kate. Jack is ...

Kate was not willing to make my life easier.

The cell phone rang in my pocket and I grabbed it sharply, taking a deep breath.

-Jack! - I said very fast.

Of course, it wasn't Jack. It was the most absurd hope. The signal beyond the hills no longer worked very well on a sunny day. What could I expect than with the hellish storm that fell outside those walls?

-Good afternoon. I could hear Mrs. Jaqueline Handall.

Handall?

I rolled my eyes more annoyed. The formal tone of the voice was the first sign that caught my attention. It wouldn't be good news, would it? The past twenty-four hours had made me burn at the stake of hell.

-I'm the husband of Jaqueline Handall.- I managed to answer dryly with defiant eyes so that Kate could question that.- Can I know who ...

-I am a female medical group conception. - The woman's voice seemed boring. - It's about the mandatory counselling session. The counsellor informed that the consent forms are already filled out. We managed to get a contribution from the clinic itself, reducing costs to $400. Can we schedule the appointment?

Mandatory counselling session?

Shit.

Suddenly the air did not enter my lungs.

-She is not.- I answer anaesthetized, looking around the lost area. - I'll pass the message.

And everything that came to mind was just one thing.

She had lied to me. Lied about the unfortunate result of the pregnancy test. And I can't even blame her, can I? I didn't get out of the mess I made. Not after Mr Walker's grumpy little help on the issue.

Pregnant?

Was Jack pregnant?

What if the child is not yours? I thought.

Foolish idea.

I'm sure the son is mine.

-Ultrasound identified the pregnancy of twins at the age of six weeks and ...

The floor disappeared under my feet and I needed to lean against the wall with my ears ringing.

It is not every day that you receive the news that you are going to be a father.

I didn't hear anything now.

This is the first serious fight that Jack and I have had between us as far as I can remember. A discussion like that was capable of ending any relationship. Just like my old man would want. The divergence between our points of view until then had managed to trim the edges.

Kate looked at me with the typical look she said; I told you, Jack. I told you you were going to get along with Rick.

"You already got what you wanted, didn't you?" Kate was very satisfied stomping on my wounds. - Leave jack alone. It wasn't enough ...

I furrowed and betrayed my brow.

It's all right. I had fought. It did not justify her to hide such an impotent thing.

- It's a call from an abortion clinic, Kate. - I spoke possessed. -I did not know...

Kate didn't blink.

It was like someone who had been waiting a long time to make unpleasant comments.

-Waiting what?

-As?

She laughed bitterly, her eyes glittering with satisfaction.

-Jack already has enough difficulties in maintaining the old house alone. What do you think would happen to two more children to support?

Today is not my day, I thought darkly.

Why the hell hadn't Jack told me that?

Suddenly the idea of ​​her doubling her shift with the damn overtime bothered me a lot. It was enough for her to have commented to me, dammit. Shit of pride. What else hadn't she told me, sir?

-And that justifies her deciding ...- I tried to understand her desperation in that situation alone and without the courage to tell me.

An unplanned child was already complicated. Two more ... Of course I had noticed her fear and anxiety but ... I believed it was because of the death of her parents.

Kate crossed her arms against her sceptical chest. At this point, the guilty verdict was stamped on his face.

-Are you going to try to convince me that you didn't even suspect? You are a bloody doctor. Didn't you even suspect that Jack was pregnant? she shouted throwing the keys at me.

Holy shit.

Of course, I noticed the signs, especially when her period did not come. The unreal vision of Jack in place of my dead patient came back to me with a feeling of foreboding.

It was too much for my rational mind to accept that the supernatural could exist. Death was very real and existed. One thing he had learned in college: Was death was always the relentless enemy they fought. And in war, there were inevitably losses.

This was not real.

God. It can't be real. She was dead, wasn't she?

My stomach was upset again and I was sweating cold with my coat stuck to my back. Jack.

Jack was there somewhere beyond the damn hill. Just where they had found the body of the deceased teenager with cruelties.

She is alone and pregnant and with no one to help her.

The beautiful vein folded. There was no sense of joy in knowing I was going to be a father. The feeling of guilt arose intensely, imagining that if something happened to the children it would be my fault.

Just as it had happened earlier in that ward ...

Do you want to stop thinking about it, Rick?

- Shit, Jack. - I shouted, venting the fear that consumed me. - Why didn't she tell me that the crown found out about us?

I could imagine real scenes and disgusted terror with my father offering money for Jack to disappear from my life. Anger made me see everything red, leaving me blind with pain from the betrayal.

She hadn't trusted me enough.

Curse!

How did I not suspect?

I should have known. Her way after that dinner ...

What the fuck!

It was just a meeting between colleagues and the crowded, festive restaurant was noisy and cheerful. I from afar had thought saw my father with some politicians and then dismissed the thought. Jack was stunning in the simple black dress that provocatively shaped the insinuating curves.

I could hardly wait to get home and delight in removing the fabric and sometimes the cheeky hand made the girl very uncomfortable when she climbed up the hem of her skirt, smoothing the soft skin of her thigh and going higher, under the table.

The night had been glorious.

Fifteen days apart because of the evidence left Rick going mad to enjoy the pleasures of his future wife and worried when he noticed that she was not in those days of the month, complaining of headaches and colic. I could have sworn that Jack had still recovered the pounds she had lost after her parents' death with relief. The girl in general ate very poorly with a lack of appetite.

God!

She is pregnant?

All the joy in thinking about an unexpected pregnancy was engulfed by fear when imagining Jack alone with a murderer loose in the hills as the police began to make rounds of the place. And the rain fell more furiously than before, lighting the sky with strange electricity with its lightning and thunder.

The loud noise of lightning made Rick hit the brake with both feet and the adrenaline rushing through his veins. The seat belt buckled against his body with a sudden brake. The energy pole fell to the floor with a deafening noise, illuminated by the headlights and sparking. Gritting his teeth, he backed the vehicle up, imagining that another path would quickly access the city's cemetery.

And the cold and unreal sensation of before came back redoubled making him feel the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

Something was wrong. He hated those feelings.

The inhabitants of Rew Mountain did not even know what lived on those hills.

There was a lot of history. And in general, who tells a story, increases two points. They talked about everything.

There was an incredible variety about the creature's shape and even more accentuated by the detail that it could change shape. Ah, they weren't werewolves, and they weren't vampires either.

But they could still change, taking the form of a dog, a cat, and even a bat.

It was an old story.

Better an Aswang living close than a thief. Will sighed with distaste. Everything was complicated by the daylight. Under the sun they were normal people. Except that the legend that they didn't hurt their neighbours, going to look for their victims far away was another lie.

You could easily identify one.

It was enough for his reflection to appear in the person's eyes upside down or to look through the legs upside down for the suspect. And ready. There it was. The image was different.

The alburlayos used to know when one was around. A special type of oil boiled.

They could be hurt by holy water or other objects like that or even salt. And they never set foot in a sacred place.

As for killing one ... Either you were lucky enough to decapitate the unfortunate one or it was good to keep a whip from a stingray tail. The sound of that whip always scared them.

There were certain beliefs.

You should choose a coconut and watch it grow. Then you would catch one during the twilight when the full moon made it dark and wet. After grating, the juice was extracted and boiled until it became an oil. It was essential to throw garbage in the ocean so that an aswang did not know that you decided to do that. it was then enough to hang a glass of oil on the door and it would boil when one of those creatures was nearby.

-Come on, I want everyone ready. We are a team, you know what to do. The remains that were separated from this subject must be buried in distant places so we don't have these things regenerating around.

That was always the old speech Will Storm made when the kind of trouble that the government wanted to avoid came up. It was already too bad a train had been warned because of the body found. Only someone had to clean the dirt. A single oversight and the entire operation was in danger.

Anyone there knew that aswangas were vampire creatures.

Will just in case had ordered his wife to have the oil extracted from cooked meat and decanted coconut mixed with certain plant stems to be boiled. There were some advantages to being married to a witch. His wife hadn't even argued. The oil should be boiled and continue to boil all night when the day dawn brings again the blessed unreal feeling of reality.

Will never let go of the red gingerbread bag and coins. Ginger always kept something like that at bay and the coins kept him from getting up.

-Hey, Will, run here!

The urgency in his voice made the policeman shiver with fear he refused to admit, his hand firmly gripping the bag in his coat.

-What?

-Is there someone here! Beloved God, My God ...

Will did not speak. The sound of shouting echoed in the silence of the night above the storm.

From a distance, the sound of the tic-tic was almost imperceptible. It was so easy to convince humans to believe what they wanted ...