2023-11-13 02:50:02THE LOUD HOWL resounded in the night sky. Wings fluttered and birds flew away, leaving their nest.
There was another loud sound. But this was not the sound of a howl, this was a booming sound, closely followed by a crunch-crunch double mechanism. That sound could only be heard from a sawn off shotgun.More booms filled the air.Then a loud roar, screams of men, and the sound of rustling leaves and broken branches filled the air.More booms and the crunching sound of more cases filled into the gun's barrel.Gunsmoke and gunpowder hung heavy in the air as more guns blasted.Suddenly, everywhere turned quiet. The silence was heavy. There was a rough, guttural breathing in the darkness. It sounded like that of an animal.Two red dots blinked in the darkness, from the direction the breathing was coming from.The smoke cleared a bit to reveal a group of worn-out, tired men bunched together. Their eyes were wide with fear and adrenaline as they looked around.Some of them had round brass helmets on their heads, but all of them held ancient shotguns gripped in their hands."What is it?" One of the younger men whispered to his older companion beside him."Shhh!" The older one snapped. "It can hear you from 10 leagues away.""What?"The older man was their leader. He made a sign with his hand and the men moved forward cautiously.Even though they all knew that the creature could hear them from a mile out, they still tried to be quiet and walk on their toes. It made them feel like they had a higher chance of defeating this creature.The younger man crept forward to meet the leader, "But what is it?" He whispered again."It is a creature from the depth of hell," The old man muttered. Men around them made signs of the cross across their shoulders."It is the devil embodied," The old man continued."So why did God allow it to escape hell?" The younger man asked again."Constantine, shut it!" The old man snapped."I didn't mean to –""I said shhhh!" The old man whispered again and stopped. The man stopped too.The old man crouched and squinted his eyes. Then he pointed forward.The younger man, Constantine, peered intently at where the leader pointed to, but he didn't see anything."It's weakened!" The old man yelled. "Fire! Let's take that devil down!"There were booms and flared from shotguns. Leaves ripped as the bullet shells flew through them.There was another loud roar and then a heavy thump as a heavy body fell."We need to chain it down!" The leader yelled at his men. Some men stepped forward shakily, a thick silver mail chain was wrapped around their necks."I'll go," Constantine volunteered.The leader looked at the young man. "Are you sure? You have a wife and son at home. Do not die."Constantine chuckled. He dropped his shotgun on the floor and collected the heavy chains from the men."What are you doing?" The leader asked, eyeing the shotgun on the floor."I can't carry the gun and the chains at the same time," Constantine grunted, staggering under the weight of the chains. "Besides, I have my knife in my ankle and revolver at my waist.""Remember. Don't die." The old leader called as Constantine started a steady run into the dark.Leaves and branches slapped at Constantine's face as he ran forward. He stopped and listened for any sound.There was none.The forest was completely silent. No birds. No cricket. No buzzing from night insects. The woods were eerily silent.He turned and saw the faint flame torches held by his comrades. They were far behind.He took a deep breath and forged ahead, stepping over some fallen logs and whole trees.He knew he was getting close. From what the leader had told him and the rumor that was going about in the village, this creature could uproot and fall trees on its own.Constantine slowed down and walked carefully. He saw large slash marks on the trunks of trees.Suddenly he felt like he was being watched. He looked around but he could not see anything except the silhouette and shadows of trees that seemed to morph into different shapes.Constantine muttered some prayers as he moved ahead slowly. Then he heard it.Labored breathing. It was coming from just a few yards ahead.Constantine made the sign of the cross and crept forward.He climbed over the thick trunk to see the creature. The devil from the pit of hell slumped on the floor.This was a creature that on a good day, would look beautiful. It looked like a mixture of a wolf and a man. Stretching at over 8 feet long, thick black fur covered its whole body.The fur was matted down with flowing blood and flesh had been blasted open from some parts of its body, exposing bones and internal organs.Some part of Constantine immediately felt pity but then the creature raised its face and pinned its blood-red eyes on Constantine who shrieked and flung the mail chain with all his might.The chains fell on the creature who howled in pain and bucked around with renewed strength but for some reason could not throw off the silver chain mail.Constantine hurried to work. He picked up a heavy stone from the floor and went around the edges of the chain mail where some huge nail-like objects had been forged. He hammered each edge deep into the ground."I HAVE IT CHAINED!" He yelled into the night and a few moments later, his comrades flooded the place and surrounded the creature.His old leader placed a hand on his shoulder. "You did well Constantine," He said. He spat on the still-struggling creature in the chain. He raised his voice and said to all his surviving men, "Look! Look at the devil! The devil that had plagued our villages for centuries. The devil that hunted and stole away your wives and daughters. We have done what our ancestors could not!" He said. "We have conquered it!"The men cheered."Now, we will bury it on this remote island and leave its carcass to return to where it came from. Hell!"The men cheered again even louder.There was a flurry of activities as the men set about mixing sand, cement, and water to make a thick paste, which they heaped on the creature. Burying it alive.Constantine stood aside, looking as if the cement was being piled upon the chain mail. Just before the last surface was covered, he saw the red eyes turn in his direction and felt like it was staring into his soul.He shivered even though the night was warm.
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CHAPTER 14
"WHAT DO YOU mean by bond?" Lucas asked Grace. She went into a frantic read, skimming through all the scrolls. "Grace?" Lucas called again. "What's wrong? What do you mean by bond?" "That's what I am trying to find out," Grace snapped. Lucas kept quiet and sulked away. He walked to the window and looked out. "How long do you think we've been here?" He asked Grace who did not reply to him. "The rain is finally stopping," He said again. "And I think I see the beginning of sunrise." "You should expect to hear the waking sounds of animals," Grace muttered. "But not these woods, there is no animal sound here."Lucas cocked his head and listened. After a few seconds, he nodded and said, "You are right. There should be chirping of birds, right?" "Yeah.""What happened? Maybe the villagers killed all the animals for meat," Lucas suggested. Grace snorted. "That's dumb." She said. Lucas looked out the window again and his brows came together in a thick furrow. Grace noticed his changed
CHAPTER 13
I am running amidst the woods. I can feel the leaves slapping against my face and tiny thorns sticking into my flesh as I run. I am running at an insane speed, faster than any human should be able to move. I suddenly notice that I can see very bright even though it is night. I see it very clearly. Almost as clear as day. I feel anger. And pain. And the thirst for revenge. And insatiable hunger, the hunger that felt like it had persisted for hundreds of years. I do not know where I am going, but it feels like my legs are accustomed to the floor of the forest, because they are moving on their own accord, leaping over shrubs and turning corners I do not know. I vaguely register at the back of my head that I am running on both my hands and legs. Like an animal. Like a wolf. Different scents waft through my nose and spark my brain. It is coming from the direction where I was headed in the first place. With renewed agility, I launch in the direction where the scents are coming from. I
CHAPTER 12
"DO YOU THINK that Henry is right?" George asked Jeff. They had been walking without seeing anything suspicious or even a bit scary. But Jeff was not yet relaxed, he had been here before, and he remembered how he felt. He remembered the bone chill and goosebumps. He knew there was something "off" about this town.He shrugged at George's question. "Maybe. I don't know." George sighed androyght out his phone. "I should call my sister," He said. Jeff scoffed. "I doubt that there would be service," George looked at his phone's screen. "You are wrong. There's service," He trusted his phone to Jeff's face. There were two bars of service. He dialed Grace's number. "Come on," Jeff said and they continued walking ahead as the call rang. After a few rings, it went to voicemail. "The hell?" George muttered. "Why isn't she picking up?" "She's probably busy. You know… she and Jeff… alone… in the dark," He laughed. George snorted. "Yeah, very funny, Jeffery. You know, your Carmen and Henry a
CHAPTER 11
"I… I AM NOT the only one that can see that, right?" Sophie stammered, pointing at the child. Tristen and Emma shook their heads. "Yeah, I can see it too," Emma said. The child still stood near the large tree. One of his hands rested on the bark of the tree as he half-hid his face. He was small and thin. And he was white. Very white. Almost pale. Tristen shuffled forward. Emma gripped his arm. "What do you think you are doing?" She whispered fiercely. "Going to speak to the kid," He whispered back. "Are you crazy?" Sophie asked. She didn't bother to lower her voice. "That child is damn creepy. I suggest we turn back and head back to the meeting point." She looked at the screen of her phone. "Our time is up anyway.""I agree with Sophie this time," Emma said. Tristen snatched his arm from Emma's grip. "That might be the child that Henry saw… and the main reason that we are here." He said. " and that might be our only chance of getting help," He walked forward carefully. Emma and
CHAPTER 10
Tristen AND THE girls walked on quietly. The lights from their phone's torch light cast a dim glow that moved about in an arch in their front. Tristen turned to look at the road they had come from, it felt like the other group was lost. He sighed and moved on ahead, leading the way. "What is that?" Emma suddenly whispered in his ear. They both crept behind him, letting him walk in front. He was the one with the torch. "Where?" He asked. "Flash it on the right." She said. Tristen flashed the torch to the right. The light illuminated the washed wall of an old stone house with open windows. "I could have sworn I saw someone looking from that window," Emma said. "Like a child." "Go check it out, Tristen," Sophie said, poking him in the ribs. "What? Why me?" Tristen asked. "Because you're the man amongst us," Sophie said. "Now, Go. We'll be well clear behind you." Tristen scoffed and walked forward. "I have a bad feeling about this," He gulped and tiptoed forward slowly. "We shou
CHAPTER 9
I pull her for almost 5 minutes while running at full speed because I see the first houses of the village. There are lit lanterns along the street, casting the whole place in a soft warm glow, but creating a sharp contrast with the darkness. The shadows are deep and moving as the flame flitted around. As soon as we walk into the major street, the feeling of life and people surround me. I heave a sigh of relief and follow the street to the bar we had been in yesterday afternoon. I turn to look at Carmen. She is still in the weird trance. I push open the bar door and walk in, tugging on Carmen to follow me. The bar is empty and looks different than the afternoon. There is a lone candle fighting against the darkness in one corner. I make our way to the counter where a bartender is standing. He is different from the one we saw yesterday and he has another smaller candle in front of him, reading a thick-volume book. He has a kind of familiarity as the one we saw in the afternoon. Maybe