Free Mayan Afterglow by A. S. Fenichel Page A

thing. We’re getting pretty low on fuel,” Asher added.
    The sign at the end of the runway read, “Welcome to
Prayerland, TX” but the three werewolves standing in the middle of the runway
didn’t look at all welcoming.
    “Pull up,” Ian screamed. “Pull up, damn it.”
    “I’m trying.”
    She felt his evil before she saw him standing near the sign.
And then she heard his voice. “Aileen, you’ve gone far enough. You know what
you must do.”
    “Ian, do you hear him? Can you see him?”
    They were rolling forward. She could see him clearly against
the sign and the piney woods behind him. His face was beautiful and horrible.
He was thinner, almost skeletal. He sneered knowingly.
    “You are mine, Aileen,” he said, but his lips were not
moving.
    She felt Ian’s hand close around hers.
    “He’s not real, Aileen. He can’t come through without you.
Hold on.”
    She turned away from the specter and gazed into Ian’s clear
green eyes. Not real, she thought. “I love you, Ian,” she said before
there was time to stop the words.
    “What do I do?” Asher screamed pulling on the yoke.
    Ian looked at the pilot. “Test your theory, Kid.”
    The boy grinned and accelerated down the runway. The
werewolves snarled and growled at the oncoming plane. Mictlan’s face showed an
instant of realization just before the Cessna crushed all three wolves. Fur and
blood splattered the windshield to the point where it was difficult to see
outside.
    She looked toward the sign and saw only trees. The sign grew
larger and larger in the windshield.
    “Stop,” she yelled.
    “I’m trying,” Asher replied in a voice so high it sounded
more like a girl’s.
    The beasts had slowed them down but even with full flaps and
screeching brakes the nose of the craft hit the welcome sign with a resounding
thud.
    The seat belt yanked hard against her pelvis and she grunted
as she was thrown back against the seat.
    “Aileen, are you okay?” Ian was already out of his seat and
gently shaking her.
    “He’s getting stronger,” she said.
    “Look at me.”
    She opened her eyes and focused on his strong unshaven face.
“I’m all right, but he’s getting more powerful.”
    “He still can’t get through. He was only a vision, not
solid,” Ian said.
    “Look what they did to my plane,” Asher said with the
despair of a child.
    * * * * *
    Prayerland, Texas was barely a dot on the map, “Population
980” according to the sign. They drove into town in search of some tools to
repair the damaged plane.
    “Do you think Asher will be okay at the airport alone?”
Aileen asked from across the bench seat of the old pickup they’d found at the
airport.
    “I think his theory has merit. We should have some time
before the next attack,” Ian said.
    “His power is growing,” she said softly.
    “I know.” He drove the truck into a parking lot of the
sheriff’s office. The small building was little more than a trailer but they
made their way around it and found what they were searching for. A carport
filled with tools. Ian took what he thought they might need and threw it into
the back of the pickup.
    “Can I help you folks?”
    Aileen gasped at the sound of the thick Texas drawl. She
turned toward the building just as a light breeze came through. As soon as it
did her stomach convulsed. How did he get so close to them without being
noticed? The smell of rotting flesh filled the air.
    Ian grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to stand just
behind him.
    The sheriff was still in uniform. From the looks of it, it
was the same one he’d been wearing in December though now it hung loosely
around his withering body. His eyes were clouded over and the flesh of his face
had rotted away around his left cheekbone leaving a gaping hole.
    What was left of his right hand rested comfortably on the
gun strapped to his hip.
    “We just wanted to borrow a few tools to make some repairs,
Sheriff,” Ian said.
    The specter sniggered. It was a gritty sound and