The Chase

Ron Koppelberger

The Chase

He was running and the blood pouring from beneath his left foot squished in rhythm to his tennis shoes pounding the pavement. The 300 pound demon ran after him with the intentions of a grim whisper, all blood and wrath. He had conjured the pot bellied behemoth from the darkest depths of hell, “All gone to the wind and chance, bring him forth and let him dance!” he had said in sibilant tones of expectation.
Now he was running from the grotesque figure of the winged demon, it was purplish red and covered in leaking leasions; it’s eyes he thought, those damn eyes, it had gold colored corneas and bright red accents surrounding the whites of it‘s eyes, it’s appearance was horrible, arcane and madness.
Hull Descry pulled the quick switchblade length from his breast pocket and turned to fight. It came, shaking and screaming in grunts and hums. Hull paused for a moment ducking the first swipe of it’s large glutinous arm. Jab then pull back, jab then pull back, he stabbed at the demons arm and mid section. The blade left red trails in the demons flesh otherwise it was undeterred by the slash of the blade. Blood sprayed in an uneven arc from beneath it’s arm spattering Hull with a thick viscous warmth.
Hull ran again wondering what he would do to deter the beast. The first rays of a morning sun lit the dense underbrush he was running through with spears of shadowy half-light. The woods were darkly thick nevertheless the edge of a giant orange sun filtered up against the gray horizon with the hope of a desperate man and the wont of a demon on the hunt.
Hull paused again as the underbrush crashed and broke with the sound of the approaching demon. Got to stop him he thought with an urgent passion, got to stop him. The thick mat of brush parted and the bleeding figure of the demon fell into the small space Hull was occupying. Picking up a large tree branch he swung in full tilt at the demons head. Crash and a slippery crunching sound issued from the monsters head as Hull made contact with the aberration. The monster blinked his eyes a few times and a thick yellow jell poured in around it’s eyes from the open wound on it’s head. “ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!” it screamed through clenched teeth. Hull stood his ground and began chanting as he hoped for a reprieve.
“All in all, by the gods of the underworld end this pursuit and slay this demon scourge……….by the gods of the underworld slay this demon scourge!” He yelled into the early dawn chill.
The demon roared and grabbed at Hull. Hull pulled the knife from his pocket and swung, and swung, and swung. The gouts of blood that sprayed from the demon covered the ground and the aged crumbling leaves scattered there. Hulls tennis shoes became thick with the substance and dried leaves clung to his feet in sticky clumps. Still he swung and screamed “Be gone demon, be gone demon!” The creature grabbed for the knife and lost most of it’s fingers, plop, plop, the third and index finger fell to the ground, plop the thumb fell and Hull kept swinging. The scene was an ancient taboo, beast vs. Man, demon vs. Conjuror, life vs. Death. Hull chopped and screamed and the demon raged and raged. Hull fell to the ground swinging at the naked creatures ankles as he hoped to stagger it. The flesh parted with ease as the creature sagged to the ground unable to stand with it’s tendons severed.
“Be gone demon, be gone demon!” Hull screamed again at the thrashing figure of the beast. It rolled amongst the leaves as it began to smolder with the fires of perdition, thick black smoke roiled up from the ground where it’s blood poured and it’s flesh smoked in the gray light of a newly approaching dawn. Hull fell to his knees as the creature began to dissolve into the woodland floor, defining the chase as over and won by the likes of a human. Hull sighed and coughed a few times over the acrid smoke pouring up from the remnants of the demon.
The sky bled orange and the first rays of warmth lit the space in the woods between the demon and Hull, it wore on till the sky was a bright ruddy apex of light and new promise. Hull knew he had barely escaped with his life and that knowledge gave him hope, hope for a new day and a new way to live. He knew the beast and it had gone south, gone way south with the phantasms of a dreadful nightmare. The ground shook for a moment and a giant crack appeared in the ground next to hull who was kneeling in supplication to the gods that had rescued him from the demon. The crack crumbled open swallowing the rest of the demons figure and then something strange. The spots where the demons blood had pooled became beaded with new moisture and the pools of vicious liquid ran in runnels to the soil, into the soil almost as if a magnet were drawing the blood inward to the depths of hell.
In the end the only thing left of the demon was it’s odor and a few drops of blood on Hulls switchblade, they even dissipated until gone. The blood on his knife evaporated and the noxious odor disappeared only to be replaced by the scent of lilacs in bloom, lilacs and dandelion greens. Hull smiled for a moment and rubbed his eyes, it was over and he had survived the transgression, his transgression against god maybe. Once again he thanked the heavens for his health and stood making his way back to the land of the living and the comforts of what was important to most. The chase forgotten he prepared for his next adventure, TV and a cold beer.