UNCONTROLLED BURN by Nina Pierce

Hope grabbed a shovel stuck in a pile of dirt. Running at the two of them, she swung it like a bat, aiming for the attacker’s back, praying she didn’t harm Alex.
    The impact sang up Hope’s arms, but did nothing more than anger the man. He let go of Alex and turned to Hope with a menacing growl that brought every hair on the back of her neck to full attention. High on drugs or alcohol, the man’s movements were jerky and unbalanced. His eyes were unnaturally large in their sunken sockets. Washed in the yellow haze of light spilling from the barn, the skin pulled taut over bony features gave him an otherworldly appearance. The fear clogging Hope’s throat and holding in the scream had nothing to do with her own safety and everything to do with the man’s wild gaze assessing her as if she were his next meal.
    “Hope, this is John. He’s not going to hurt you.” Alex held her hand out to keep Hope from swinging the shovel again. “He met me here for a little chat and there’s been a slight misunderstanding.”
    He scented the air. “She’s human.” The words slurred out around teeth hanging unnaturally long from the man’s mouth. “She a friend of yours?”
    Human? What kind of hallucination was he having?
    “She is,” Alex replied. All three of them moved in some bizarre synchronized ballet that kept Alex positioned between Hope’s shovel and the crazed lunatic. “But she’s leaving. She thought you were going to hurt me. And since you didn’t mean to attack me, she’s just going to get back in her car and meet me at the tavern. Right, Hope?”
    “Only if you come with.” No way in hell was she going to leave Alex alone to become the bi-line of tomorrow’s obituary section.
    “John and I aren’t quite finished. He just needs a ride—”
    “I don’t need a fucking ride!” The man inhaled as if trying to find his sanity among the chaos flashing across his features. “I. Need. The. Stuff.” He laughed, a deep, barking sound that clawed its way up Hope’s spine. “You’re feeling it too, Alex. I know you are. We both need a fix. Just get me the stuff.”
    “Alex, what the hell’s he talking about?”
    “Hope, seriously, just leave. I’ve got this under control.”
    “Guess she’s hanging out in the dark, just like the rest of your friends. Obviously, she doesn’t know about you and the professor, does she?” Saliva dripped from the man’s mouth and insanity gleamed in his eyes. “Maybe we can do a little human education tonight.”
    He jumped in the air so quickly, Hope saw him only as a dark shadow headed in her direction. She held up the shovel, shielding herself from the impact that never came. Alex had mirrored his movement and they landed together in the dirt, a tangle of arms, legs and teeth. They moved much too fast for Hope to have any chance of swinging the shovel.
    She searched her yoga pants in vain for the cell phone she’d left in her car. Seconds dragged into excruciating minutes. The sounds emanating from their struggle were more animalistic than human, and Hope began to wonder what the hell Alex fought.
    “No!” The man’s cry split the darkness, reverberating through the barn. “I won’t let you do this.” The man broke free and, in two great leaps, was swallowed in the shadows of the forest.
    Alex turned to Hope, her hand held in the air. “Don’t ask. I don’t have time to explain.”
    The woman wasn’t even out of breath.
    “Go back to the tavern. Tell Glenn.” Alex turned to the forest then back to her, sadness contorting her features. Hope wasn’t sure which one of them Alex grieved for. “I have to find John. Hurry. Get Glenn.” In an astounding feat of athleticism, her best friend bounded into the night after the monster.
    Hope stood dumbfounded, her confusion making coherent thought impossible. Somewhere, she’d crossed the threshold into some alternate reality—or nightmare. The shovel slipped out of her hands, banging against a rock and