Jackalope (short story)

Jackalope was a 2011 short story written by Cody Schell.

Plot
In the Black Hills of South Dakota, Linda and Pete embrace each other as they skinny dip in a lake. A noise disturbs the pair and Linda retrieves the flashlight from her backpack on the shore. They are amused to realise that they have been watched by a rabbit, but that amusement soon turns to terror when the rabbit is joined by countless others with crystal horns who attack them. Pete is killed while still in the water and Linda runs through the woods to escape the onslaught.

Señor 105 and Sheila soon cross paths with Linda. They decide to head into the Black Hills with her to find Pete and stumble across his dead body which has been hung up like a scarecrow as an apparent warning. Scattered about the place are dead rabbits some with ebony horns and some with crystal ones. They find an injured ebony-horned rabbit and 105 decides to let nature take its course. Soon the Jackalopes return and blast Linda with an energy bolt that results in large crystal antlers growing from her head. 105 fights them off as Sheila and Linda run for cover inside a cave which turns out to be their lair. Linda is abducted into the lair by the Jackalopes, 105 and Sheila head into the lair in search of her.

Inside the lair they discover Linda - now in a possessed state - surrounded by Jackalopes who are worshiping an energy crystal. The Jackalope King reveals himself, he is different to the rest with a pheasant-like body, and announces their plan to destroy human life on Earth by summoning a similar celestial object and causing a cataclysmic impact like the one which wiped out the dinosaurs. The King fires an energy blast towards Sheila but 105 intercepts it and, like Linda, two antlers protrude from his head. Sheila believes that 105 is now under their spell too, however, it turns out that 105 had smuggled the injured ebony-horned rabbit under his hat and it had absorbed the impact of the energy blast, rejuvenating itself. The kit sacrifices itself to destroy the energy crystal by piercing it with its antlers, this causes the Jackalopes to lose their power and disintegrate.

Señor 105, Sheila and Linda manage to escape the lair with Linda no longer under the Jackalope's trance. They head off to find Linda some medical assistance for her newfound horns, while the kit - who has been resurrected now with wings - watches them leave.

Characters

 * Linda
 * Pete
 * Señor 105
 * Sheila
 * Kit
 * King Jackalope

Worldbuilding

 * The smell of garden soil reminded Señor 105 of his mentor Tierra, who had been laid to rest several years earlier.
 * Sheila suspects that the Jackalope is one of the Modulars but is corrected by Señor 105.

Continuity
to be added