The Lesson pt 2 by Diron Bates

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The junkyard was huge. Cars piled upon cars, trucks upon trucks, some so old that their make and models were undecipherable and long forgotten to all but a handful of the most dedicated vehicle enthusiasts. They were packed into random tottering piles that in some spots linked together creating a huge labyrinth that spread the length of the unpaved lot. Reds drew its sprinkled illumination from thousands of Christmas lights hung high above the piled metal carcasses in a careless manner. Jeremy sniffed the air and almost gagged, it held a sickeningly sweet odor that could turn even the steeliest of stomachs. This place was a graveyard, a home for things both dead and forgotten. He pressed his shirt firmly to his face and glanced at his mother, her shapely feminine form was crouched low like a stalking feline seemingly oblivious to the nauseating stench. Feeling childish Jeremy pulled the shirt free from his nose and sloppily mimicked his mother's balanced movements.
Stepping in clumsily behind his mother Jeremy again surveyed the junkyard. Something didn't feel right. Stealthy movement from the right caught his eye and he spun like an intoxicated gunslinger towards it.
There was nothing but shadows to confront.
The hair on his arms began to stand on end, he felt as if their every movement was being carefully watched.
"Mom?" He began but his voice slid away as the lights above them flickered. His mother continued to watch the area around them with a level of vigilance that scared the hell out of him. He felt something strong unexpectedly snag and pull his hand; he would have screamed had his voice not been imprisoned in his throat. He looked down and was comforted when he realized that it was only his mother's soft left hand guiding him behind her, she held the sword straight out in front of her with the other. Pulling him along behind her their pace quickened with each step. The lights flickered as something banged hard upon the ground from behind them; his mother stopped and crouched until her butt almost brushed the ground before turning towards the source of the noise. An old rusted hubcap was rolling confidently as if still attached to the wheel of a phantom vehicle. Mesmerized they watched as it made the impossibly long journey to where they were standing. When only feet away it started to lose momentum and wobble as gravity dropped its heavy hand upon it. After bumping against Jeremy's shoe it spun twice like a drunken ballerina then fell upon the ground creating a deafening racket. Time and time again it flopped upon the concrete like a grounded fish doing its last dance for death before coming to a halt. For several seconds silence overcame them as he and his mother held their breath. The recent racket of the thundering hubcap intensified the depth of the silence. Jeremy continued to hold his breath until his pulse hammered in his forehead. He inhaled sharply...maybe too sharply.
A bloodcurdling howl cut through the night like invisible shears.
The lights flickered, once, twice and then died altogether.