Chapter 7 ~ Salt In The Wound

  Otto hesitates when Lucy asks for his help getting a large amount of salt. As much as he's reluctant to get involved in whatever strange thing she's up to now, she is his only friend after all. He knows that if he doesn't help Lucy tonight, she'll probably walk to Hannaford's all on her own in the dark. He can't have that. Robin is a safe town but with everything going on lately, he couldn't live with himself if something were to happen to her.

  They hop in his seafoam green Honda Civic and Otto starts the fifteen-minute drive to the supermarket on the edge of town. He keeps quiet during most of the drive, noticing that Lucy seems lost in her own thoughts. She's not rambling about the imps for once, which is a relief. Otto suspects she knows she's pushing her luck and that he's doing her a favor by giving her a ride at all.

  When they pull up to the supermarket, Otto's stomach drops. There are two cop cars sitting out front of the store with their blue and red lights dancing in the night. After the rock incident, the last thing he needs is to be anywhere near police.

  "I'll sit in the car," Otto says firmly as he parks, gripping the steering wheel a little tighter.

  "What? Really? Come on, Otto. There's cops outside. What if something bad is going on inside?" Lucy protests, her eyes wide with concern.

  Otto shakes his head, feeling the familiar anxiety creeping up his spine. "Listen, Lucy. That is precisely the reason why I am not going in with you. I can't have another rock incident happen. I will lose my scholarship and I will have to go home and live in Berlin with my parents and my dad will make me work at the mill. I do not have any intention whatsoever in doing that. Do you understand me?" The thought of returning home in disgrace, forced to work alongside his father, makes his skin crawl.

  Lucy sighs and rolls her eyes in that way she always does when she thinks he's being overly cautious. "Yes, I understand."

  "Good." Otto relaxes slightly, then remembers something. "Now when you go in can you please get me a bag of Doritos too?" He tries for a smile, hoping to lighten the mood. As he watches Lucy gather her things to head inside, he can't help but wonder what exactly she needs all that salt for, and whether he should be more worried about whatever crazy scheme she's concocting this time.

  ~

  When Lucy walks into the grocery store, the hair on the back of her neck stands straight up. Something is very wrong. Grocery stores are always chilly, but Hanfords is a little too chilly that night. When she walks into the store, she sees a man who looks to be in his sixties standing on top of one of the long checkout conveyor belts, yelling at the top of his lungs.

  "I WANT A REFUND AND I WANT IT NOW!" He stomps both of his feet on the belt, causing the food on the belt to tremble with each step. He looks to be a normal man, like any other older man you'd find in Robin. He wears a plaid shirt, brown LL Bean boots, and workers jeans.

  As Lucy watches, a worker walks up to her with a name badge that reads JUDY. It is an older woman in her late sixties with a tight white perm and brown rimmed glasses.

  "Hi dearie, we are going to be closing the store soon because of the incident, why don't you quickly go get what you need and come meet me over at the separate register at customer service."

  "What is wrong with him?" Lucy asks.

  Judy sighs and shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know. I am very worried. That's Jim Johnson. I've known him for years."

  "Really?"

  "Yeah he lives in Swampton. He's a totally normal guy. But you know how it is nowadays. It seems like everyone is having problems. He's very active in the community. A great writer… but you know, sometimes people snap."

  Lucy scans the store hoping to find the culprit for Jim's problems. She knows an imp is somewhere. Or at least, she hopes there is one. The only thing worse than an imp causing this madness is a seemingly harmless old man throwing a fit like this all on his own volition.

  The salt is towards the back of the store down an aisle with a bunch of other ingredients and spices. Lucy has grabbed a small grocery basket and loaded it up with as many containers of salt that she could find. She figures twenty canisters should be enough and she makes her way towards the customer service desk where Judy is waiting for her.

  As she checks out, she keeps peering over her shoulder to watch the man continue his tantrum. The police are calm. They hold their batons ready to fight if need be, but most of them are just trying to reason with him.

  "What set all of this off?" Lucy asks.

  Judy sighs as she continues to bag Lucy's cans of salt. "He is upset because one of his eggs cracked that he bought yesterday and it leaked all over his car, I guess. But he lost the receipt. Not too much you can do about that." Judy looks down at the canisters of salt. Judy has filled three large grocery bags. "What is this for? A class project?"

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Lucy nods. "Yeah. It's a bit of a science experiment."

  When Judy finishes bagging the salt, Lucy quickly pays and walks towards the cops who are surrounding Mr. Johnson.

  "Mr. Johnson, it's time for the building to close. Can you please come down now." One of the police officers sighs. "We are going to have to take you down from there soon and I don't want to have to use force against you. We know you Jim, we know this isn't like you."

  "Fuck you!" Jim says as he kicks a can of pumpkin off the conveyor belt. It lands on the ground with a splat, cracking the can, sending pumpkins flying everywhere. "Is it so fucking hard to give me my $3.52 back?"

  Lucy reaches into her pocket. She has the exact change. She parses it out and taps one of the police officers on the shoulder. "I don't mind giving it to him."

  The officer shrugs and takes the money from Lucy. "See, Jim. We have your $3.52 back. Can you please come down."

  "Who gave that to you?" Jim yells. "Did that little girl?"

  "I'm not little, I'm eighteen," Lucy says, frowning. "But yes. You can have it."

  "I don't want your money! I want this greedy, shithole of a corporation to give me back my rightful MONEY!" He kicks the officer's hand away sending the change flying in the air and scattering across the floor.

  Lucy rolls her eyes and turns to leave, chalking it up to a lost cause, but when she turns to leave she notices something unsettling. Behind the cash register sits a little red man about the size of a boy. It is sitting with its gangly arms wrapped around its legs, tucking its knees to its chest. When it locks eyes with Lucy it lets out a low snicker, showing its sharp yellow teeth.

  Lucy shakes her head. These little demons are really like fleas aren't they? Spreading all around town, getting buried in the weeds, hiding in plain sight. Little gnats everywhere! She pushes through the police officers who are more occupied with Mr. Johnson and walks up to the creature who is just inches away from her giggling slowly.

  "Hey," Lucy says looking down at the creature.

  It doesn't move and only continues its slow laugh.

  "Stop doing this to this man."

  The creature shrugs its shoulders.

  Lucy turns to the police officers. "Do you guys see this? This thing right here? It's making the man do this. It's not his fault."

  The police officers look to where Lucy is pointing but see nothing but a little cubby hole designed for cashiers to stand at while they are checking out customers.

  "None of you see this?!"

  The police officers shake their heads and even Mr. Johnson takes a moment to pause his incessant ranting to look down at the ground. Lucy reaches into one of her bags and takes out the salt shaker. She opens the top off and throws the entire contents at the imp.

  The imp raises its arms to cover its face and it lets out a loud screech! Its skin begins to bubble and boil, crackling as the salt begins to burn its skin. As it screams, it growls as black spit bubbles up in its mouth as it begins to spit furiously.

  Lucy jumps back, narrowly avoiding the black spit. When she looks up at Mr. Johnson, he is frozen like a statue. The police begin to wave at him as they all get closer to the cashier.

  "Mr. Johnson?" the older police officer asks. He waves his hand in the old man's face.

  Lucy watches as the creature groans and pain, stepping back into the darkness of the cubbyhole, eventually fading fully away.

  When the creature is finally gone, Mr. Johnson collapses, falling onto the conveyor belt hitting his head with a loud SMACK! The police officers rush over to him, quickly trying to revive him. Lucy panics, picks up her bags of salt and runs quickly out the door of the supermarket.

  ~

  "I figured out how to kill them!" Lucy exclaims as she slides in the front seat of Otto's car. "I did it!" Lucy is so excited that her freckled cheeks are bright red. She pulls out a can of salt and shows Otto. "This is how. This is how we stop all of this!"

  "With salt?"

  "Yes!"

  "Where are my Doritos?"

  Shit. Lucy puts her palm up to her forehead. "I totally forgot. I'm sorry, Otto. Maybe the gas station is still open."

  "Damn it, Lucy!"

  "I'm sorry. There was an old man in there and an imp was controlling him and they had to shut down the grocery store. But I took a can of salt and threw it on the imp and it burned it! It burned it."

  "It burned it?" Otto says as his eyes widen.

  "Yeah, it burned it. Made its skin bubble and everything. Not that you believe in imps anyway."

  "And I don't!" Otto scoffs as he turns his car on. "I think this is a very cute Halloween trick that you're doing. But you're right, Lucy. I don't believe in imps. I believe in science. And science tells me that there are no imps. Just insane people experiencing psychotic breaks."

  ~

  Obituary of Jim Johnson

  November 3rd, 1934 to October 27th, 1998

  Robin Daily News

  Jim Johnson, 64 of Swampton, passed away suddenly on the evening of October 27th due to a brain aneurysm. Anyone who is aware of the events surrounding his death should know that this brain aneurysm caused the man that so many loved and cared for to act out of character on that tragic night.

  Jim was born on November 3rd, 1934 in Brooklyn, New York to Edna and James Johnson. In 1955, Jim married the love of his life, Tilda Johnson. They moved up from Brooklyn in 1959 to the quiet and family friendly community of Swampton, New Hampshire where they started their own family.

  Jim loved cooking and writing. He was a fantastic chef who was always in pursuit of the perfect steak and he loved cooking breakfast for his family. He made the perfect omelet that his wife often asked for every Sunday morning.

  Jim had many interests including local politics, activism, and history. He was an avid reader and frequently contributed to the Robin Daily News through his popular Letters to the Editor and opinion pieces.

  Jim was a kind man who was loved by all. He was a pacifist who believed deeply in peace more than anything. His biggest regret in life was that he could not be a vegan due to his love of meat. But Jim loved animals almost more than he loved his own children. He had a small cat rescue called Nine Lives of Swampton.

  In lieu of flowers, the family would ask for donations to the Nine Lives of Swampton foundation so the Johnson family can continue their rescue work.

  Jim is predeceased by his older sister, Janine Smith.

  Jim is survived by his lovely wife Tilda Johnson. He is also survived by his darling daughters Doreen Docko of Los Angeles, California, and Noreen Shift of Brighton, Massachusetts. Jim was the proud grandfather of Madison, Marlene, and Jimmy Jr.