I poked him in the side and gestured at Bird and Maximus and tried to walk in that direction. His arm held me in place, then relented and off we went. We didn’t say anything to each other and as we neared the horse barn, he took his arm off me. I felt both vulnerable and free.
We followed the tall frames of Bird and Maximus into the barn. The happy smell of horses and hay contrasted with the musty darkness. We walked down a row of empty stalls, the doors covered with heavy cobwebs, the interiors looking strangely damp.
One stall had a lone, lit bulb that was swinging subtly back and forth, casting an eerie moving glow on the cruddy walls. I poked my head through the stall, expecting to see an impatient horse inside. There was nothing.
But something in the shadows caught my eye. It was like the shadows were moving. Was it a trick of the light? My eyes? I tried to focus until I picked out a shape.
I saw a pair of yellow eyes, low to the ground. I would have screamed at the sight, or moved, or something, but all I could do was stand there and stare. I felt like I couldn’t look away even if I wanted.
Then they slowly faded into the blackness. It was like they were never there to begin with. With them gone, I felt the weird trance-like sensation leaving my body. I took my head out of the stall and looked down the dark corridor at the three guys. I saw Dex looking in my direction but I couldn’t see his expression.
“Shan?!” Bird called out, his voice echoing against the wood walls. No response. Bird walked further on and said it again.
“Hello,” a raspy voice whispered beside me. I jumped at the sound and jumped again when I saw a man standing in the stall where I was just looking. I almost screamed, in fact I thought I had screamed, but it was caught in my throat and expanded there silently.
The man was only a foot away from me, but again I had trouble focusing on him, as if he was buried in the shadows. His face was blank, devoid of expression, and at times seemed featureless.
But that was ridiculous. He had features. He had a flat nose, a pointy chin, scraggly hairs that made up a beard, black, low brows and high cheekbones. He was maybe 50 years old. He was also native, Navajo I was guessing, with dark reddish skin. I could see these things clearly, when I made myself. But it took effort. When I relaxed my eyes, it was like his features went back to mask-like putty. It was the strangest thing ever.
No stranger though, than his eyes. They weren’t mean like Miguel’s had been but they were hypnotizing. Shades of green, amber and streaks of vibrant yellow made their way to a pinpoint pupil. Maybe these were the eyes I had just seen in the stall. Even though that was impossible.
“Shan,” Bird boomed out. I jumped again. Bird, Maximus and Dex were right beside me. Bird was smiling at Shan pleasantly, but Dex and Maximus were staring at me, wild-eyed.
“Are you OK?” Maximus asked me skeptically.
I nodded with some effort. Then realized why they were staring at me so strangely. I looked down. My hands were up around my throat, as if I was choking myself. I delicately removed them, each finger coming off the grooves on my cold neck, my heart pounding in my chest. I was scared shitless. What the fuck was I just doing?
Bird smiled uneasily at me. “Have you got a sore throat?”
I cleared my throat, afraid I was unable to speak, but a meek, “That must be it” came out from my lips. I looked at Dex. He didn’t look as concerned as the others did, he just looked full on mistrustful of me, as if I had the plague or something.
“Well, we’ve got a lot of teas that will fix you up in a second. Isn’t that right, Shan?” Bird asked.
Shan slid the door open and stepped out into the hall. He nodded and smiled at me. In the light (and reality) he looked like your normal rancher. Lean, relaxed, weather-beaten. His eyes were still peculiar and vivid enough though, that I found myself avoiding them.
“We sure do,” Shan spoke with a gregarious, lightly accented voice. “The Navajo have the real medicine. Don’t trust any of that cheap garbage that Will might give you. He’s lost the way.”
“Yeah, he got married.” Bird laughed and Shan joined him. I didn’t feel like laughing yet. In fact, I just wanted to get out of that barn and into the light. I smiled quickly at them. “I’m sure I’ll be fine. It was nice to meet you Shan. I need some fresh air. I think I’m…allergic to hay.”
I coughed a little for effect, turned on my heel and quickly walked out of the barn. I heard Dex mutter something and Shan and Bird laughing along with him. I didn’t care.
Outside, the air was filled with swirling dust and wasn’t exactly fresh but it was dry and the intense sunlight and overexposed landscape immediately made me feel better.
I heard footsteps shuffling towards me from behind. I turned around thinking I’d see Dex but it was Maximus kicking up the dust. He looked down at me, squinting in the light, and put one meaty hand on my shoulder.
“What happened in there?” he drawled.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I really am allergic to hay.”
He squeezed my shoulder. It felt nice. “No. I mean, why were you choking yourself? You picked the wrong place to try and get high.”
I may have smiled. He had the same humor as Dex. And apparently way more concern.
“I don’t know. I didn’t know I was doing that. I was just looking in the stall, I thought I saw something in there-”
“Something?”
I wasn’t about to tell him, then I realized he of all people might understand.
“I thought I saw a pair of eyes. Like, low to the ground.”
He took his hand off of my shoulder and ran it through his shlock of fiery hair and gazed off into the distance.
“What color were they?”
“Yellow,” I said hesitantly. “Then they disappeared, then this Shan guy popped up and then apparently I was choking myself. You know as much as I do.”
He mulled that over. He seemed to be holding something back from me and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to find out what it was.
“Well,” he said slowly. “Strange things happen here, you can bet your mother.”
“And that’s why we’re here,” I said.
He smiled warily. He really was quite a handsome guy.