You Better Run!

“Come on all you bonny boys!

Who love to bait the bonny bull.

You never saw the like, you'll say,

As you shall see at Stamford!”

The Checker’s Pub patrons sang the last line proudly, their drunken voices mixed with sloshing mugs and tabletop percussion. Leland Barker, the local loudmouth, led the song and made the most of each line.

“On Stamford's town bull-running day,

We'll show you such right gallant play;

You never saw the like, you'll say,

AS YOU SHALL SEE AT STAMFORD!”

The pub exploded with applause and everyone downed their drinks. Reid Choudhry, however, sipped the foam from the top of his pint and scanned the room from the bar, he still hadn’t gotten used to the warm beers in England.

"Something wrong with your lager, love?”

It was Tasha Hardy, the bartender, cleaning the inside of a glass with a rag. A red curl of hair fell in front of her eyes and she blew it away with a puff.

“Nothing wrong,” he felt butterflies wake up in his stomach, “Just… not thirsty.”

“You might be the only one,” she winked and the butterflies rushed around, then a hand slapped across his back.

“Is this out-of-towner bothering you, Ms. Hardy?”

It was his cousin, Dougie, who pulled up a stool beside him,

“—‘cause I’ll take him outside and show him the sights, if you know what I mean.” He held out his fists and admired them.

“Put those things away.” said Reid.

“What’ll it be Dougie?” said Tasha with an amused grin.

“Just a pint of the good stuff, thanks.”

Tasha pulled a fresh pint from the tap and slid it across the bar. Immediately, Dougie gulped half down and let out a refreshed breath as Tasha was called to the other end of the bar, then he leaned in close to Reid.

“What are you waiting for?” he whispered, “You have to make your move!”

Reid shrugged him off, “I’m working my way up to it.”

“It’s been two weeks! You can’t wait forever… She certainly won’t.”

“I know, I know.”

Just then, Leland Barker strolled up and drummed the bar top with his fingers.

“Another lager, Tash!” He hollered, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “Before ol’ Smithee comes a runnin’!”

“Are you on about that bull again?” said Dougie across the bar, “Every year with this!”

“Bull?” asked Reid.

“You’ve never heard of ol’ Smithee?” said Barker, feigning not to hear Dougie, “The Demon Bull of Stamford?”

“Oh, here we go,” said Dougie.

“…Demon bull?”

“Aye,” said Barker, “The Phantom Taurus! The Bovine Ghost!”

Reid laughed, looking awkwardly back at Dougie who shook his head disapprovingly.

“You heard of the running of the bulls, eh?” continued Barker.

“In Spain?”

“No lad, right here in Stamford! Centuries to the day!” He pointed a slender finger toward the Checker’s entrance, “Right on the very cobbles of St. Peter’s street!”

Tasha handed Barker his beer and he took a swig, the excess dripping from his beard.

“Yes, they’d run ‘em hard and they’d run ‘em long,” he continued, “Until they slaughtered the poor bugger down in the Meadows… Some say you can still find the bones scattered around the old Dead Oak… Some say those bones are cursed.”

“Come on! He’s pulling your leg, Reid,” said Dougie, “The only bull you need to worry about is the ‘bull comin’ out of his mouth!”

“Ah— Don’t listen to him, son… Trust me, when the bells of St. Mary’s chime and the demon shows himself – He’ll be the first to run!” He finished the rest of his drink, “Mark my words!”

Barker then slammed money down on the bar and bid them all farewell as he stumbled outside.

Dougie and Reid had a good laugh and let the tall tale slip their minds, and slowly the bar emptied around them. After a while, Tasha came over to where they sat.

“Last call gents, we’ll be closing short –.”

CRAAAANNNGGGG! CRAAAANNNGGGG!

The sound of a church bell could be heard in the distance. Silence fell over them.

“Oh, Barker!” said Tasha, “Every year he does this! Trying to scare us, he is!”

“How’d he get to St. Mary’s so quickly?” said Dougie, grabbing his coat from the stool, “Ah forget it, let’s get going.”

“Bye Reid,” said Tasha, lingering a moment before returning to the end of the bar. Reid wasn’t sure if he said goodbye, all he could hear were butterfly wings.

The Choudhry’s left the bar into the cold November night and by now the street was empty and the shops closed. A low mist clung to the narrow strip, grey veils lit only by street lamps and moonlight. Without any traffic, they walked easterly down the lane toward Dougie’s apartment.

They hadn’t walked two minutes before they came upon a strange sight in the middle of the road. It looked like a pile of wood, jagged-edged limbs pointing this way and that. As they got closer, the scene grew grimmer and the stench of death filled the air.

“Bloody hell!” said Dougie, “That’s Barker!”

They rushed to where Leland Barker now lay in the road, his body crumpled as if his rib cage had been smashed with a sledgehammer. Blood pooled around him, his face pale and lifeless.

“He must’ve been hit by a car!” said Dougie, looking around. “Damn it, Barker!”

He looked away, holding his hand up to his nose to shield the smell… or to hide his emotion. Reid followed the red pool beyond the body to see strange ‘C’ shapes marked in blood on the road.

“Look,” said Reid, “What are those?”

Dougie turned back, awash with confusion and anger,

“What the…”

Just then, the sound of heavy breathing and the hollow tapping of hooves came from behind them. A smell of sulphur and rotten wood became so thick they could barely breathe. Turning slowly, what they saw was an image they could only have seen in their nightmares.

A massive bull with sickly yellow eyes that seemed to glow through the steam of angry breaths forced through its flared nostrils. It scraped the road with it’s hooves, stained in dirt and blood. A strange aura surrounded the beast, as if it wasn’t fully in physical form, phasing from this world and the unknown. The bull eyed them for a moment that seemed to last a lifetime until finally, the tension was broken when Dougie took off running.

“Run!”

Reid did not need to be told twice.

The bull let out a horrible bellow and they both took off running after him. Dougie was only a few strides ahead but the distance felt insurmountable, yet the bull was gaining ground between them. The bull’s breath pulsed from behind, and other than his own heartbeat, it was all Reid could hear.

Dougie made it to the front entrance of his building with keys in hand. He shouldered the door open and pulled Reid inside. They were able to close the heavy wooden door just in time to feel the building shake from the impact of the bull. The bull bellowed once again and threw itself against the door.

“Oh my god, oh my god!” said Dougie, turning the feeble lock and letting his legs buckle beneath him.

Then all went silent.

The bull stopped slamming the door. Reid and Dougie looked at each other, both out of breath. Reid then brought his eye to the peephole and through its lens he saw the Bull standing outside staring back, almost as if he could see through the door.

“He’s still out there.”

Then at once, the bull took off running back towards The Checker’s Pub and into the mist.

“He’s gone!”

Dougie let out a long sigh, “Good riddance.”

Reid felt relief wash over him… then a realization dawned on him,

“The Checker’s!”

“What?”

“Tasha! She’ll be closing up by now! I have to warn her! That thing is still out there!”

“You could get killed!”

Reid considered the weight of his decision,

“Well, you told me to make a move… I guess this is it.”

 He opened the door and stepped outside.

“This is crazy, Reid!”

“I have to do this.”

“Just get her and come right back, I’ll wait for you.”

Reid started back toward Checker’s, the mist had grown thicker and the night colder. He kept at a steady pace, staying alert at each alleyway. The street was quiet. Barker’s body was just through the next veil of mist, that’s when he heard the familiar hollow tapping on the road. It grew closer.

Tap tap.

A dark figure grew closer in the mist.

Tap tap.

It was Tasha, she was holding her phone up in the air.

“Reid? Oh god!” she said, “Barker’s dead! I’m trying to call the police. I can’t get a signal.”

Reid looked around nervously,

“We need to get off the street. There’s no time to explain,” He grabbed her by the hand, “Come with me!”

“What’s going on?”

“Dougie’s apartment is close. We’ll be safe there.”

“No, we can’t leave Barker!”

They passed through another cloud of mist, and there it was… waiting for them. Tasha was still struggling against Reid when she saw the beast. She gasped and dropped her phone. The bull was glowing now, the strange shifting state had amplified.

“Run!” cried Reid, pulling Tasha down the alley to their right.

The bull followed.

Hand in hand they ran as fast as they could, jumping over fences the Bull simply crashed through behind them. The beast bellowed and snorted, gripping the road and gaining ground. They could see the River Welland up ahead and a small footbridge leading to the Meadows.

“The Meadows!” cried Reid, remembering Barker's story.

They crossed the bridge easily, whereas the Bull struggled to fit its massive body through the narrow passage. The field was empty, so they made toward the Dead Oak at its end. Its sprawling dead limbs protruded like tentacles from its massive trunk. They pulled themselves up the tree just before the bull smashed its horned head into the base. The whole tree shook. Tasha hugged the branch tightly as the bull smashed the trunk again and again.

CRACK!

Reid heard the trunk break open. It was hollow.

The bull backed up, preparing to run at full speed.

“Oi! Smithee!” came a voice from the distant footbridge.

It was Dougie and in his hand he held a red tablecloth.

“Come and get me, you tosser!” He screamed, holding the tablecloth like a matador, shaking it around.

The Bull acknowledged the taunt with a snort and looked back at Reid and Tasha in the tree, then let out an angry bellow and raced toward Dougie.

It was at that moment that Reid noticed the putrid sulphur smell again. He looked down to see the crack in the trunk was glowing. There was something inside. The Bull was now almost half way to Dougie, who stood his ground, tablecloth at his side. Reid jumped down and pulled open the trunk, inside was a glowing bovine skull.

Instantly, he knew what he had to do.

The Bull was almost upon Dougie.

Reid took the skull, threw it to the ground and with all his might smashed it with his foot. A burst of energy exploded from the skull, sending Reid off his feet. The Bull was only a few feet away from Dougie when all at once the beast ignited into a ball of smoke and yellow flame, scorching the earth around it.

After the moment passed, Dougie dropped the cloth, let out a laugh and fell unconscious onto the grass. Reid sighed in relief and helped Tasha down from the Oak, she looked at the pieces of skull at their feet.

“What… What just happened?”

“We survived.”

“So… what happens now?”

Reid no longer felt the butterflies, he cleared his throat,

“Can I buy you a beer?”

THE END