Southern Belle by Stuart Jaffe

he felt, and entered the house. Leed slammed the door shut, locked the deadbolt, and poured salt across the entranceway. When he faced Max, his sunken eyes and sweating cheeks shivered.
    "Thank you for coming," Leed said. "I knew I could trust you. You didn't tell Drummond, did you? Not a word, right?"
    "I didn't tell him anything."
    "Thank goodness." With trembling hands, Leed limped to the kitchen. He looked thinner than before, frail and unkempt. "I need your help."
    Max followed him. "Are you okay? You seem a bit —"
    "You'd look the same if you were being hunted down by the dead."
    "You mean the witch coven?"
    "After I met you and your wife, I set out to destroy the witches I had cursed. I went to each site and I did what I had to. Something went wrong, though. I was never as good as Dr. Ernest at all this stuff. I don't know what I screwed up but things have only gotten worse. One's after me. She won't stop, either. Not until we're all dead."
    "You didn't destroy both of them?"
    "I did. That's the problem. I did exactly as Dr. Ernest prescribed, but still they come." He tried to pour a cup of coffee but spilled it on the counter.
    "When was the last time you slept?"
    Leed shook his head. "I won't sleep again. Not until we finish this."
    "We?"
    "I can't do this alone. I'm too old now. Besides, you and your wife are the only ones around here that know, that understand, what's going on. You've got to find out where Drummond's witches are buried. You've got to do this, but you can't let on that you know anything. Drummond's a ghost and this is personal to him. That's a highly emotional combination — all the ingredients for an evil conversion. But you get that information from him and we'll put a stop to this coven. Then, maybe I'll sleep."
    Max sat at a little breakfast nook and scratched his head. "Look, I understand you're scared, and I believe that you and Dr. Ernest and Drummond all dealt with this witch coven way back when. But something doesn't quite fit. Drummond's behavior lately, for one. Something else, though. If you give me a little time to look into this more, then —"
    A loud pounding erupted on the walls as if giants threw each other around the house. Max could see the drywall vibrate with each thud and dust sprinkled from the ceiling. A hundred horror movies flashed through his mind.
    Leed cowered at the sound, gripping the edge of the sink to keep from falling over. He locked eyes with Max. With each successive thud against the walls, his face shifted to worse levels of terror.
    "They killed Dr. Ernest. They're coming for me next. Oh, it's all our fault, all of it. We didn't know, didn't understand. You think you're doing right, fighting evil forces, saving the world around you, but it's never so simple."
    Max put out his hand and noticed the tremor in his fingers. "Come. Let's get out of here."
    "My soul is damned. I've used the same magic that they used. I did so against them, to save us, but I used it nonetheless. I'm damned."
    Glass shattered upstairs and the pounding on the walls intensified. Max's heart pounded in time. He grabbed Leed's wrist but the frightened man found the strength to yank himself free.
    "Whatever's doing this," Max said, "it doesn't have to take you. Come with me. We can solve this. Trust me."
    Leed straightened and his face shifted from horror to acceptance. He shook his head slowly. "It's over for me. I'm too old, too tired."
    The pounding ceased.
    Max stood motionless, his skin still jangling with nerves. Leed opened a drawer and pulled out a photograph. He stared at it, and a tear fell down cheek. "I should've known all along that this was more than just a witch coven. Dr. Ernest always held back from telling me the truth. But I was young and foolish. And I wanted the adventure." He held out the photo to Max. "Here. Take this and —"
    A screech like an animal being slaughtered erupted around them. An unseen hand flung Leed up against the wall. Pots clattered to the floor.