Taken By The Bull

For the first time, Steve sounded irritated; but not angry, not – to use his own phrasing, ‘riled up’. Not yet, at least. “Well, I sure don’t know! So how’s about you come on and tell me!”

“She – she said the guys she hired got attacked and scared off by a loose bull! But it wasn’t a loose bull, was it?” Seth’s hands waved frantically, in the manner of a survivor trying desperately to attract the attention of a passing rescue chopper. “You – you idiot!”

“Oh, come on! You’d have done the same!” Steve continued to rub his shoulder, staring at his brother. “At least, I hope you would.”

“So.” Seth was standing perfectly still, now. “She knows now, does she?”

“Yeah.” Steve lowered his hands to his sides, and became the same as his brother; just as still as a statue. “She does.”

“You let a news reporter know our business!” The anger in Seth’s voice was unmistakable, and Staci flinched in her concealment as though the words had been leveled directly at her.

Steve didn’t flinch, though. “I let a woman I’m falling for know my business! And it ain’t your job to tell me I can’t!”

Seth shook his head slowly, weaving back and forth unsteadily on his feet; and then he lurched forward with an unexpected speed and body slammed his brother, knocking him to the ground.

“Goddammit, Seth!” Steve shouted, scrambling back up to his feet. “Don’t you dare!”

Didn’t he… Kind of already ‘dare’? Staci thought, standing uncertain by the window, unsure whether she should be doing something – anything – to calm Seth down; but then she saw the strange shimmer – like darkness, iridescent and alien – that surrounded the younger brother like smoke, saw the fabric of his shirt tear and part as he grew in size, the sharp horns that came curving from his brow.

OH MY GOD! He’s DOING it! Even as panic and adrenaline flooded her system, Staci’s hands moved of their own accord, turning the screen of her phone towards her. With a practiced flick, her thumb pressed the button the unlocked the ‘camcorder’ function. She didn’t think about what she was doing – didn’t think to stop what she was doing – as her ingrained instinct to capture footage of anything with meaning took hold.

On the screen, an image came into focus – and the automatic light correction kicked in, revealing the sight of two men arguing in the moonlight; except that one of them wasn’t looking that much like a man anymore, but almost like a demon as his bull-nature began to take over.

No one would believe this unless they saw it, she thought, but once they did… And she imagined, clear as day, the moment that the Pulitzer prize was handed to her. Imagined her mother sat in the front row of the audience, tears of pride running down her careworn face.

“Knock it off, Seth!” Steve took several steps back and flung out his arms, palms up in a surrendering gesture. “Okay, you’re right! I’ve jumped in too fast and too hard, and I’m sorry. But what is done is done, and killin’ each other over it won’t solve nothin’!”

But Seth wasn’t listening, not anymore; and as he threw himself forward again he was already changing amidst that restless shimmer. And then he was running on four legs as he lowered his head and slammed into the fence posts where his brother had been standing, just an instant before.

“This ain’t funny anymore!” Steve shouted, glaring at the wrecked fence before moving quickly away and to his right, circling the animal that Seth had become. “Don’t make me get down there and fight you!”

The bull weaved back and forth for a moment, pawing at the ground; his hide was deep gold, the color of amber, feet, face and horns as black as night. He wheeled sharply around and loped away, ten feet from Steve, twenty, thirty; and just for a second, Staci thought, that was it. That it was all over, and she’d caught every perfect second of it.

Then Seth turned sharply, hooves tearing up the earth; put his head down, and charged again.

Steve didn’t even try to run. Instead he turned to face the oncoming beast; darkness obscured his form and it wasn’t a man that the golden bull met in head-on combat, but a great midnight-black beast.

The sound of pounding hooves filled the air as they locked horns; and Staci finally understood why this land was known as the Double Thunders ranch.