Quills (Chapter Five)

Back in Los Angeles I am in my apartment relaxing, happy to be home watching t.v. on the couch. The 10 o'clock news is on. Nothing but the news of local current events and what not. I retire to my room, take a change of clothes and hop into my bed with Mojo. Not ten minutes later, I hear the sound, of the familiar voice, Malena is calling through reverberating the halls walls. "Listen to your spirit guides, Listen." she says, I sit up and walk over to the door. I hear more sounds of whimpering dogs. They are spirit dogs? I think to myself, turning putting my shoes on I am in my robe, taking it off. I walk over to the front door, leaving it unlocked, walk down the corridor and to the left out of my building. I see the Cul-DE-Sac with parked cars. The whimpering gets louder. I see the spirit dogs appear from the nothingness under the street light, prowling and pawing, sniffing the grass nearby. Disappearing and immediately reappearing in front of my apartment building. Their gaze watching my every move in waiting. The coyote dingo prancing his head up and down as if to call me out. I think the coast is clear so I move forward and still to where they are. The wolf sits and I bend to my knees to pet her, it is a she. Suddenly I hear a shout, a yell. The spirit dogs perk up their ears are in alert. I watch, but there is no one, no traffic. Something tells me there is danger and the dogs walk to the nearby stop sign. I do not know if I should follow, but I do. When I am at the stop sign I hear the scraping of skateboards and the holler of hoodlum's, the ska rats are roaming the neighborhood. The dogs licking my fingers catch my attention. I should go back, I say to them and walk over to my building, up the stair and back in. Once I am at the door I stop, turn back and call the dogs over to me to follow. They do not and disappear into the night.

I don't know what to do, I say under my breath and close my apartment door shut locking it. I'm not going to be able to rest at peace with all the happenings. I am in the bathroom. I stare into the mirror, my eyes are red, bloodshot. The bathroom light stars to flicker on and off. I need to change the light bulb. So I first run to the kitchen to get the foot stool and an extra light bulb. Jumping on the counter top of the sink I unscrew the decorated hard covering to the ceiling light, unscrewing it. It drops out of my hand and to the floor, shatters the bulb. I continue the process and put in place like it was before. Bending down I whisk my way to quickly missing the to step on to the foot stool and my foot hits the shattered bulb just to the corner of my pink toe. At first I notice nothing - when I walk over to get the broom to pick up Bleeds are on the bulb. Oh gosh! hand to foot I touch blood and see it pulse out more and more. Darn it! and move with clearing. The next thing is to bandage this up don't want to get an infection. Band - aids, Alcohol, Hydrogen Peroxide and Excedrin I need. There something wrong and the ground and bathroom light shuts off again, the whole apartment is rattling. I hear all door slam and I can not leave the bathroom. It won't open. I hear knocks and Knocks and glass break. Sliding of movement and meows, cupboards flowing out, clanging bangs. Pulse racing, I am heated up, temperature rises more and more. Itching burning sensations comes over my body. I can't stop itching the rash heat. I rip open my shirt and take off my close one by one. Still noises all a round. It's has to be the Apocalypse somehow. I sit on the closed toilet for a while and wait for the ground to shake, but instantly I feel the point of a sharp object and I rise from where I am, searching down. Nothing! Nothing!

Burst open wounds of light all over my skin and pushing through are see through needles, pins like the ends of knives. I'm bleeding all around.

(Meow - Meow)

I twist my head at attention, knowing it's a unfamiliar cat's call. M o j o !

mojo!

(M E O W !)

Turn to the mirror it is slashed and broken. My face left untouched my eyes are lighter. I've changed, even the color. Gaunt skinned and teeth ultra white with lips turning dark, like mars black. The inside of my mouth is the darkest of green, coughing up spewing out slime. The inside of my mouth is lighter, but not much of a difference, gums are dark brown. I can not recognise myself. I can't touch myself.

The swift fade in and out of voices. "Doña Marina", "Doña Marina", "La M a l i n c hé, La Malinché"

Stops everything stops, the noise, the clatter and I hear no meowing whatsoever. The door clicks open and slowly comes ajar. Instantly, the needles pull back from the surface of my skin, the whole still left open and swollen. I take a deep breath and sigh and move out of the bathroom to the hallway, through my bedroom. All is trashed around nothing in it's place. It's a catastrophic mess. Mojo! I yell out loud and scan the room for her, but she is no where to be found. Out the door she must have gone. I pick up my coat and run outside. I have forgotten I have no shoes on, so I jot to slip them on. I must find her!

In flux, dashing out through another neighborhood, until finally I see not realizing it it's dark out. and I feel the slow draft run throughout my long coat. My rational comes to after I notice my heart rate has got me hyperventilating. I realize it, she's gone. My eyes water and I look down crying. Just at the precise moment. The cool fly static sound free the Ska Rats out from the nooks of the surrounding area, like spawn kins.

Quills fly from my fingertips as I hear Malena whisper to me,
"Let them know the power of La M a l  i n c hé."
A Ska Rat hands extend to me and another rat comes from behind. Bit by bit grows the needles down my spine, down to my legs. I can feel my pours swelling open, tears the skin with a sting. Ska Rats grow closer, by and by the needles pinned my finger tips. Spreading my arm's I see the shadows of more rats racing out from the background. My screams lead what seems like hundreds of quills shoot from my skin, stalking after the skaters, most missing their mark. Heed my warning, I say loudly and nervously back my step away from their gathering. My eyes trace their step and on to their faces, but the mask they wear are impenetrable, no features of the skin, void of all likeness of humans, like creatures of the night. From the assent one Ska Rat vapors out from the crowd to pry and remarks his curiosity. "What's the matter, home fries you wanna smack!" he says and it's the same Rat that bothered me from before, the one who threw Eloy to the floor, nearly breaking his foot. He lifts his mask starring back at me, he's only a kid. Nervous I shake my head, letting him know what I will do if I catch him or his gang again. He strikes swiftly with a swipe of his hand at my long hair. Returning a stance of authority, saying "Why don't you be one of us, instead of prowling the night with your pretty boy Pete." lowering his hand back into file "You see I own the night and here are my soldiers. Where are you?" I try to answer to late, the sass of their pack closes in. The Rat behind me pulls both of my arms back and in a fit I solve his grip releasing with a back kick. No back talk I argue enraged swinging the unearthed tipped needle knives that are extending from the pours of my body. Cut by cut with deep slash marks incapacitate diffusing his weight. He falls to the ground.

They all run down the street and separate in different directions. The one I have rises up from the ground and runs away fast. I run and follow faster until I see him jaunt down an alleyway not far off from where I live. Catch him cold in the shadowy corner near the dumpster. I stop in front of him and look up in the heavenly night sky, yelling out. Is this what you want of me? Is this how I am meant to atone the sins of La Malinché? I voice a buzz in the alley bouncing back with the echo.

I am tranced and our stares frozen. His torn clothes are all I see and it gives him a chance to take up and get away. I am lost and I turn, but he is too fast at least I do not chase after. The wetness of kisses of the wolf-dog licking my hand summons my thoughts back and I close my eyes, when I open them I am in my Apartment. Head down, hand to the breakfast table to see my notepad left open with the words written in someone else's handwriting, La Malinché. At that precise moment I think I hear something, like a roar of an engine. An SUV cruises up to my Cul-De-Sac sidewalk and idles outside. It looks ominous. Pounds at the door like one by one repeating with furor. Heading straight for the door, I look out through the peep hole and open it up... it's Eloy. I let him in with out saying a word, no hello, nothing, but a guiding of my finger to hurry over to follow me to the window. He is trying to say Hello, but he gets it with no sound.

-Outside the black SUV is parked. Inside there is a woman holding a gun. Reveal a woman, brown curly haired who looks up at Luisa Sandoval's Apartment window, she smiles.-

The end... for now!

( Copyright  © 2013 April 'Espinola' Delgado. All rights reserved.)