A Horrific Fantasy

Chapter 37

The bridge seemed different this time around. The way across it pitch black, so dark that you couldn't even see the other side. In fact it looked less like a bridge and more like some tunnel descending deep into some forbidden darkness that one may not return from ever. Charlie was frightened. She could already feel the urge to just turn away and go home. Just to stay where it was safe and let the police handle it. But in her heart, she knew she couldn't do that. She knew the police would never figure out what kind of evil lived in this town, at least not until it was too late. And she also knew that she'd never be able to live with herself or face Stolas again if she didn't do this.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" Charlie asked Angel.

"No." He replied, as he loaded the pistol he had swiped. "I don't want to do this at all. I wanna go home and pretend this never happened."

"You can, if you want to."

"No I can't. Not if Vaggie and Molly really are over there. Face it toots, I can't just ignore this anymore than you can."

She watched him load in another bullet.

"Do you know how to use a gun?"

"Yeah."

"But I thought your grandmother didn't allow weapons in the house."

"She doesn't, but my old man did. And when you have an abusive prick for a father, you need to be prepared for when he snaps. Late at night, I used to take his old revolver and sneak outside to do a little target practice. Unfortunately I never had the gutts to actually use it on him."

He put in the last bullet, put the safety on, and concealed the weapon into his bag. Then he moved to stand next to Charlie, at the front of the bridge. He was just as scared as she was. All his life his grandmother had told him stories about this bridge and the evil connected to it. Bad enough that her stories turned out to be true, but now he was actually going to face it.

Charlie lit one of the candlesticks she had brought with a match, watching the flame sputter and light on the fuse. Then she stared at black abyss ahead and slowly took a step forward. Then another, then another, and another. Angel moved at the same place and he was right behind her, neither one of them could speak at the moment. They just kept walking, as the candle cast huge, flickering shadows all around.

"My children certainly are more courageous than most adults give them credit for." Came a voice.

"Who said that?!" Angel gasped, reaching for the pistol.

But Charlie knew exactly who it was. Louis flew out from a dark corner and landed carefully on her shoulder.

"Don't be afraid." Charlie said to Angel. "He's a friend."

"What do you mean?" Angel asked. "You're not gonna tell me that it was the owl who spoke."

"What if she did?" Said owl replied.

Angel jumped suddenly and just stared at Louis for what seemed like the longest amount of time, but in truth it was actually quite short.

"That bird just talked to me."

"Yes Angel, he can talk." Charlie said.

"But that doesn't make sense. Birds can't talk, unless they're parrots. Are you half parrot or something?"

"No. I am an owl and I can speak. And technically all birds can speak, you humans just can't understand our language. Well that is, in your world you can't understand our language."

"So how is it that we can understand you in this one?" Charlie asked.

"Because this world was designed specifically to cater to dreams, desires, and imaginations of all children. It's meant to be a place where the impossible is possible because that is what a child wants."