Killer Koala Bears From Another Dimension Part 2

"What... Don't act like you aren't thinking it..." Joana stopped the car at the same four-way once more, this time going the opposite direction toward Pete's house.

The car idled. The only sound in the street was that of the humming motor.

She waited, her head c.o.c.ked to one side, eyes locked on Tim.

Tim just shook his head. Joana put the car in park and crossed her arms. The mix on her CD changed from the new song by Korn to one of her all-time favorites: Acid Bath's Scream of the b.u.t.terfly.

"f.u.c.k..." Tim slung his arms up as if in defeat. "What the h.e.l.l am I supposed to do with you, huh? All you ever do is b.i.t.c.h."

"Where the h.e.l.l is that coming from?"

"The stones are heavy, this... it's late that..." Tim said, his voice a mocking nasally pitch. "I'm hungry, this... You lie to your parents, that... s.h.i.+t, girl... if you ain't running that d.a.m.n trap at me its only because your busy stuffing it."

"Excuse me?" She winced, trying like h.e.l.l to keep the tears from flooding.

Joana's bottom lip quivered.

"Oh, now you gonna start tearing up on me, too?"

"What the h.e.l.l is your problem, Tim?" Joana began to cry. "I didn't do anything. I don't deserve to be treated like this." Her thick eyeliner and mascara started to run down her rounded cheeks. She wiped at it with one hand, only smearing it more. "I don't know why I put up with you, you know that? There are plenty of guys out there that would treat me a whole h.e.l.l of a lot better than your sorry a.s.s. Grown men... that... that don't throw stupid stones in the middle of the night because... because of some fantasy game!" She breathed deep, finding her voice among the sobs. "You need to grow up, get a job, get a car... and get a life!"

There, she finally said it. It had been eating away at her for months now and finally it was out. As those closing words danced across her lips into the air, she felt lifted. Lighter. She had needed to, wanted to, say that for a long time. It was out. How she really felt was on the table. She took a deep breath and paused, hoping that what she had just said was sinking into her boyfriend's thick skull.

What Tim did next was unexpected.

He began to laugh.

The sound felt like a sharp jab to Joana's gut. He couldn't be serious.

"You? Get better guys than... or sorry... 'men', than me?" He used quotation fingers. "Give me a break. You and me are the only two people in this stupid town with the same interests. And besides... let's face it. You're fat."

"Ohhh!" Joana huffed, balling a fist in the air. Her chubby cheeks seemed to boil, her eyebrows squis.h.i.+ng into her face. "That's it! It's over. Get out! Just get out! You can walk to Pete's, or where ever the h.e.l.l it is you plan on staying tonight."

"Awe, come on." Tim's demeanor became soothing. "Pete's house is like a twenty minute walk from here. Besides, he is probably already asleep."

"Well, you should a thought about that before becoming such an a.s.shole." Joana locked stares with him and then glared at the pa.s.senger side door.

Tim got the hint and reached for the handle. "Look, Joana. I'm sorry. You know how I feel about-"

Tim stopped in mid-sentence, his attention drawn to the middle of the street less than a block up ahead.

"What the h.e.l.l is that?" Joana saw it, too.

"What are they doing?" Tim asked, the argument seemingly forgotten.

"I don't know." She whispered with a sniffle.

Up the street ahead two lone figures wearing strange clothing dragged something into the street. Whatever it was, it was a good size.

"Are they wearing Mickey Mouse Club hats?"

"I don't know. It's hard to see."

Even with her headlights on, the events unfolding before them were cast in shadows. Whatever it was they were doing, it was odd. Wrong. With their windows down, even from that far up, they could hear the sc.r.a.ping sounds as the two figures pulled the large object across the pavement. Tim and Joana didn't speak. They just looked on, dumbfounded.

The two creepy figures stopped in the middle of the street and leaned over whatever it was they were carrying. They were doing something to it. A faint yelp from that direction eased its way into the car. Joana heard it clear as day over the hum of her idling car.

"That sounded like a dog. What the h.e.l.l are they doing to that poor thing?" She said, leaning into the steering wheel as if that would help get a better look.

"I don't think that's a dog. Honk the horn at them. Maybe that'll scare'em off."

Just as Joana was about to protest the idea, Tim reached between her chest and arms, pressing the horn for her. He hit it with three quick taps. The horn sounded ominous as it blared across the darkness in the unlit street.

"What the h.e.l.l did you do that..." Joana gasped. "Oh, G.o.d."

"What?" Tim looked up.

The two figures were up and walking toward the car. It was then that, without them over the object they were carrying, Joana realized what it was. It wasn't a dog at all. It was a child. Left for dead, the two tall aggressors strode toward the car leaving the little boy in the street. The kid wasn't moving. He was just lying there...dead.

"Oh my, G.o.d... What do we do?" Joana panicked, watching the two attackers close the distance between them.

They started running toward the car. One of them was holding something. A spear. Tim and Joana watched, while in mid-run, the figure raised the weapon up, lobbing it at the car.

"Drive!" Tim insisted.

The long slender object collided with the hood, sc.r.a.ping against it. The teeth grinding sound of metal sc.r.a.ping against stone reverberated in the street. The spear fell to the gravel beside the car, only the car's paint job damaged.

Joana screamed.

"f.u.c.kin' drive!" Tim shouted, reaching over and shoving her leg down on the gas.

The engine revved, but didn't move. The car was in park.

The two figures running down on them grew closer. Their bare feet slapped across the asphalt with each das.h.i.+ng stride. Close enough now that the cars headlights illuminated them, both Joana and Tim's eyes went wide with disbelief. Those weren't Disney Channel fan-club hats. Those were their ears. They were bears or something like it. But that wasn't possible. They were upright. Walking like humans. Aside from the hair that covered their bodies and face, they were human. Dressed like something Joana would have seen on the Discovery Channel, they were wearing primitive clothing. Rags around their waists, bone necklaces and bracelets. It just didn't make any sense. At least not to- "Stupid fat b.i.t.c.h! You trying to get us killed? Drive the f.u.c.kin' car!" Tim shoved her.

Jarred from her paralyzed state, Joana winced. Who was he calling b.i.t.c.h? She slammed the s.h.i.+fter into drive. The lead attacker lunged on top of the hood, scratching it with his talon-like fingernails. They were long and black... and sharp. Clawing at the car made screeching noises like fingernails to a chalkboard. Only she wasn't in school and that wasn't a chalkboard. It was her car, and she was being attacked from all sides. Tim pushed on her and yelled. With her focus drawn to the figure on the hood, for a split second she forgot all about the second a.s.sailant. But she was quickly reminded when it reached the driver's side door and grabbed at her.

Joana kept screaming.

The figured pulled at her with its sharp claws. The sleeve of her s.h.i.+rt ripped. Her shoulder felt warm and wet. The pain was instant.

Fear engrossed, Joana closed her eyes, gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands, and slammed on the gas. Her lungs bellowed out a loud cry the entire time. While the car raced forward in the street, she screamed. She was even screaming when she felt the arm let go of her from outside. She screamed over Tim's shouting protests. She continued to scream when she felt the car run something over in the street. First it was the front tires. Then the rear. Even with her eyes closed she could see it. She envisioned the little boy, dead in the street, each tire rolling over his dead corpse.

Her screams grew louder. Joana was out of breath, yet the noise still came forth from her empty lungs.

"Slow down!" She thought she heard Tim shout. "Watch out!"

Joana opened her eyes, but it was too late. She yanked the wheel hard to the right just as the front end collided with the side of a parked truck. It all happened so fast. The creature that she thought was a man flew across the hood into the truck, and then disappeared on the other side. The front end of her car pressed in like an accordion. The winds.h.i.+eld shattered. The sharp pain in her chest as the air bag engulfed her vision, pressed the back of her head against the seat. The shattered winds.h.i.+eld.

Everything stopped and for a moment things went black.

When Joana looked up, still in shock, the airbag was deflated. Steam rose from the crushed front end of her mom's car. The side of the truck she had collided with was even worse off. Her stomach tensed as the thought of explaining all of this to her parents rushed to the surface. Her ears rang. She rubbed her throbbing head and looked to the pa.s.senger seat.

Tim was gone.

The first thing she thought of was his seatbelt. He never wore the d.a.m.n seatbelt. Her mind instantly switched to a different, more terrifying thought. Those things in the street. She craned her neck, looking in the rearview mirror. There was no sign of life. Nothing moved. Her eyes did catch a quick glimpse of the small body still lying in the road. The one that she was sure she ran over. Her heart sank and the emotions raced. Confusion. Dizziness. Fear. Regret. Adrenaline surged through her body. The thick mixture of feelings coursed through her, forcing her stomach to churn. She unlatched her safety belt, leaned out the window, and vomited. The warm, wet splash resonated in her ear as the puke plopped across the pavement.

She stopped to catch her breath and wiped her lips. Her throat felt sore.

Something s.h.i.+fted outside the car.

Hearing it, Joana froze, gripped with fear.

"Jooa..."

There it was again. Faint, yet not all that far away. It sounded like Tim. He was hur- "Joooanna..."

It was Tim!

Oh, G.o.d. Tim got thrown from the car. He's probably paralyzed, she thought, opening the door and climbing out. Stepping in the still warm vomit, she almost slipped. Not even paying it any mind, her thoughts raced as she rounded the front of her car to investigate. Oh, please be okay... I should have had my eyes opened. I should have- There was Tim lying in the gra.s.s on the other side of the truck collision. He was sitting up, thank G.o.d. But he looked like he was in a lot of pain. His face was scrunched up and he was holding his side. It looked like he had a pretty good gash on his head. Blood and thick strands of his long black hair lined the left side of his face.

"Are you okay?" Joana gulped, leaning in to aid him.

He reached out to her. She nodded, helping him to his feet. He groaned out loud as she heaved him up. For a stick, he sure was heavy.

"Oh, G.o.d. Please tell me you're okay. I'm so sorry..."

Still gritting his teeth and holding his side with one hand, he was clearly in a lot of pain. He didn't reply. He just pointed. Joana's eyes followed the direction of his shaking hand. When her eyes met the stop he was intending for her to see, she couldn't believe it. What had happened really had happened. The bear of a man that was attacking the hood of her mom's car when they crashed was lying on the sidewalk between the parked truck and the closed shops.

It was dead. A large pool of red liquid pooled around its skull.

"Thing..." Tim winced. "Thing cracked its skull wide open when it hit... the sidewalk."

Joana looked closer, confirming her boyfriend's statement to be true.

"What the h.e.l.l do you... think that is?" Tim continued with a raspy voice. Stepping away from Joana toward the corpse, his eyes went wide. He grimaced while struggling to stand. Falling to his knees, he leaned against the truck that Joana had hit, and said, "I've never seen anything like it. What if we actually... did it, man? Opened up the multi-verse. I can't believe it. We weren't there to see it. This is it. This is proof. The stones worked. We need to find the rift... and get the h.e.l.l out of here. It's a door to another world, Joana. We did it. These things... they came from that world. I can feel it."

Tim was full of s.h.i.+t. There was no telling where these things could have come from. Sure as h.e.l.l wasn't any rift. They had done his stupid little Geomancy trick back at old man Terry's house. And that was nearly a ten minute drive away in the other direction. No way could these things have made it that far on foot. Let alone beat them there with her driving. They could have been living in the mountainside for all they knew. This was all just some big coincidence. What she wanted to say was that they needed to call someone. Get him to the doctor. He was in no shape to be walking around. For Christ's sake, his head was bleeding. She started to speak, but couldn't find the words she was looking for. Instead her hand reached her open mouth, the corpse before them an oddity of nature. What she was seeing couldn't be real.

"What the h.e.l.l...," Tim stretched his chest out, trying to stand on his own, "were you thinking? Nearly killed me."

Had her mind not jumped to the fact that there had been two of those creatures, she would have snapped at Tim for giving her s.h.i.+t. Even with the chaos and disaster he was too worried about himself to even bother asking if she was all right. Freaking p.r.i.c.k.

"Will you help me up?" Tim put a hand up for her, while still leaning against the truck.

"The other one." Joana looked out into the street.

"What?"

"The other one. There was two of them... remember?"

"Oh s.h.i.+t, you're right."

They both looked on.

The street was silent. Still.

After a moment, Joana spoke up, whispering, "We need to call someone. You got your cellphone?"

Tim patted his black jeans down. "Must a fell out of my pocket when I got flung from the car."

Joana noticed how Tim made sure to emphasize the getting thrown from the car part. As if all of this was her fault.

"Hey, I was wearing my seatbelt."

He rolled his eyes, and then started scanning the ground for his phone. "Couldn't have gone far."

Suddenly the wind picked up. A few parking spots away flickering light caught Joana's attention.

"Look over there." She tapped Tim on the shoulder.

He winced with great agony. Just when he was probably about to jump her s.h.i.+t about grabbing his arm like that, he looked up and saw it too. The light was growing. Pulsing. The purple and blue hues penetrated the darkness, growing larger.

"I'm scared." Joana said.

"That's it..." Tim grinned, forcing himself upright. "One of the rifts. I can't explain how there's one here, opening up miles away from where we did the ritual. But still. That's it. That's what we wanted. Let's go!" He started hobbling toward it.

"Are you out of your mind?" Joana barked, holding him back. "Look. Something's happening."

She was right. Something was happening. Figures much like the ones they had already encountered made their way through the beam of light.

"Let me go." Tim said, trying to pry his way free from her.

She was stronger than him and she knew it. The countless times they had spent wrestling naked in the bed was proof of that. She outweighed him by nearly half.

"You're going to get us killed," she whispered, yanking him away from the truck and toward a narrow alley between two of the small shops.

"No... this is our chance." He protested, trying to wiggle his way free from her arms. "This is what it was all about."

Joana and her boyfriend were quickly out of sight. Tim's words resonated in Joana's mind as they collided into the dark covering the alley provided. Just as the first creature penetrated the rift, This is what it was all about... Killer koala bears from another dimension was nowhere near what it was all about. That stupid Geomancy c.r.a.p was just her way of trying to get Tim out of the house and off that stupid computer. She just wanted them to have more of an active life together. Not this. As it was all happening, she suddenly felt like maybe he was right. The ritual had worked.

Tripping in the darkness, Joana fell backward, the weight of Tim on top of her keeping her from catching her balance. Colliding with what she could only a.s.sume was a tin garbage can, it echoed out in the alley like a thundering boom, its contents cascading across the ground.

With her back against the ground and Tim on top of her, she froze silent. Her heart raced and her breathing was heavy. She could tell that Tim really was in a lot of pain, because he was no longer fighting her. Instead he was gripping at his side with both hands just doing his best to breathe. She felt sorry for him and until now had forgotten about her own injuries. Her head throbbed anew, the shoulder where her s.h.i.+rt was torn still bleeding.

"But we can finally escape this place." Tim rasped, out of breath.

"Shh..." Joana shoved a hand over his mouth and listened. "I don't think they heard us come down this-"