4. All a Dream…
Amy decides that she’s had just about enough of this crazy place. She likes Shannon fine, but not enough to stick her neck out any more than she already has. She takes a step back, then turns around.
Whip-ack!
Amy feels a sting on her bottom as the demon doorman gives her butt a little spank with his tongue.
“Just a little going away present from me to you, love.” The demon winks lasciviously.
Being sexually harassed by a door is the last straw for Amy. She starts trotting away, then jogging, then breaks into a run, all the time looking over her shoulder to see if something might be emerging from the mansion to give chase. As she approaches the gate-
WHUUUUP!
BONG!
Amy steps on a wayward garden rake. The handle flies up and cracks Amy straight in the face. She was running pretty hard, so the force of the blow leads Amy to stumble around, woozily. After a moment of this, she succumbs to the combination of fear, injury, and light-headedness and blacks out. She falls unconscious, face-first, to the ground.
Beams of light pry Amy’s eyes open. She blinks groggily, then sits up. This is a mistake. Her head pounds like nothing she’s ever felt before. She puts a hand to her head to steady her world, which is spinning in a way that’s inducing vertigo. Was she hung over? She really didn’t remember drinking.
She tries to make out her surroundings. She’s on a hard cement floor. Daylight streams through a small, high window. Bars obstruct her exit from the area. She can see through a door into the next room, where a Sheriff’s deputy sits at a desk. He notices her stirring, then stands up and walks over.
“Well, Sleeping Beauty awakens. Enjoy your rest?”
“Ugggh. Where- Where am I?”
“Ahem, ma’am?” The deputy clears his throat and gestures with his eyes down towards Amy’s body. Amy looks down.
“Eep!” Amy is naked except for a pair of heart-print panties, boots, and socks. She looks around and sees a blue blanket on the floor; she must have been sleeping under it, and it fell off when she woke up. She scrambles to cover herself with it.
“Anyhow, you’re in the drunk tank of the Tuskawanna County Sherriff’s Office. One of Ole’ Man Stephenson's people dropped you off in a wheelbarrow late last night, said you were up on his private property dancin’ around in your undies. We took a BAC test and you were pretty well stewed. So we kept you here overnight.”
“I.. I don’t remember getting drunk…”
“Word of advice, ma’am. If you’re drinking to the point of black out, it’s a good sign you have a drinking problem. If you’d like, I have some pamphlets for some groups that might be able to help you out…”
“No, no, I was looking for someone. Shannon. My friend Shannon. Have you seen her?”
“Not that I’m aware of. Now, look. Ole Man Stephenson left a note in that wheelbarrow with you. Said that next time you won’t be so lucky. If he sees that pretty butt of yours again, he’s gonna pepper it with buckshot. And I can’t say as I would blame him if he did so. Now, you got someone you can call?”
Amy gives the deputy the number of one of her friends back at college, who comes to pick her up. She decides to give the story she’d gotten from the deputy to her ride and anyone else who asks. She doesn’t believe it, but the evidence all points to it being true, and she doesn’t have the inclination to make another excursion out to that house, not after last time. Amy stares out the window of the car as it zips along the highway through the forest, back to home. Amy goes on to live a long and productive life, but occasionally she thinks back to that strange night in the woods. Amy never saw Shannon again.
Amy's adventure is at an end.