The Nature Trail alongside the pueblo was well paved, and, when the dark clouds weren’t overhead, it was very pleasant. But as dusk was setting in, Doli was worried she might run out of two things. Daylight and time. It was a feeling that refused to escape her. She woke her phone and thought about Facetiming someone, but wasn’t sure who.
She looked up at the setting sun, relieved by the range of red, violet, orange, and yellow that created the stunning atmosphere that accented the red rock just beyond the pueblo boundary. Doli put her phone back in her pants pocket and reached into her other pocket. She found her small flask and smiled, digging it out and taking a quick drink. The sweet flavor of Schnaps gave her reprieve. She hummed to herself.
“Doli…”
She turned sharply, nearly dropping the flask. Doli quickly secured the screw-top lid and shoved it back in her pocket. She was certain she’d heard someone behind her, but didn’t see a soul.
It’s this cheap shit that does that, she thought. Only tequila from now on!
She felt the thick raindrop on her face, and Doli looked up, thunder booming as she cowered slightly. As if the Gods would be tossing lightning bolts her any moment. She heard rustling bushes from ahead, and she turned that direction, stopping dead in her tracks.
There were no bushes and nothing to rustle in them.
“What the hell is going on?” Doli began walking again, picking up the pace. She decided she’d stop by her friend’s house, which was very close. She wasn’t going to go all the way home, not with the rain that close. She’d be soaked.
“Shit,” more thick drops fell on her face and her back as the clouds opened up. The thunder ushered in a torrent. Doli began jogging, hoping to outrun whatever was pursuing her.
Images from recent news reports fell into her mind’s eye. “Bodies were mutilated,” Doli ran faster, looking up at the sky, “the wounds were blunt and brutal. The bodies were torn apart and broken in multiple places.”
“Doli!”
It wasn’t a voice, it was a demand. Doli had no idea where it was coming from. She felt the ground begin shaking as she looked back, watching a pair of yellow lights approaching from a half mile down the trail. They were getting closer together, heading straight for her.
Doli turned and began running, picking up the pace. Soon, she was nearly sprinting.
Call the police! Get your phone out and call them. But it would take a while before they responded. It would take all the time. There’s no way…
She saw an old house with all its lights on up ahead, blurry, the rain now pouring. Doli had a positive feeling that she’d find refuge there. Some kind old Shimásání would open the door, and she could hide from whatever this was chasing her. A lightning bolt streaked across the sky overhead, booming as the thunder pounded.
“DOLI!”
She felt the words as they knocked her to the ground, sheer terror sending her to the asphalt. Doli scrambled to pick herself up, looking behind her as the yellow lights were getting closer, clearly a set of eyes staring her down. She knew the monster was coming for her, tearing its way to get he soul.
There was a large opening leading to the drainage ditch, and Doli hurried toward it, feeling the water run over he ankles as she ran through the drainage torrent threatening to push her down. She could outpace the monster in there, and maybe it would fall and get washed away. Doli could feel the water pushing back on her as she attempted to run up the drain pipe, pushing against the concrete as the walls narrowed.
She heard a terrible growl coming from whatever was chasing her, the creature with the yellow eyes. Doli had to look away as the creature came barreling down on her.
She screamed.
