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 they are brothers.

"You new in town?" He asks us, closing the book and looking up.

I nod, take a quick glance at Carmen behind me, and am for once grateful for the darkness. It shielded her white eyes and slack face.

"Would you both like a room?" He asks. "My brother said we had reservations for some rooms, but the people never showed up."

So they are brothers, I think to myself. Outwardly, I say, "No, thank you. We are waiting for some of our friends. They should be here soon."

The man nods. "A drink then?" He offers.

"Yes, please," I say, sitting down and pulling Carmen on a stool. I could really do with a drink now after what I have experienced just tonight.

He reached underneath the counter, poured two glasses, and slid it to me. I drain it in one gulp. It was some kind of sweet brothy jelly.

"What is this?" I ask.

The man chuckles. "It's a secret recipe, but don't worry. It's safe."

I lick my lips.

"Is she alright?" He nods at Carmen.

I give a nervous laugh and then to cover up, I say, "Yeah yeah. She's just… uh, tired. It's been a long day." I lean over and push Carmen's head on the counter to make it seem like she's sleeping.

"Uh-Huh," The bartender said. "What are you kids doing out this late?" He asks. A suspicious tone crept into his tone.

"We are just passing by," I say and quickly want to change the topic. "What are you reading?" I point at the book.

That seems to interest him. He starts to talk about the book in detail but I tune him out and look out the window. My mind strays off and wonders if my friends are doing okay and if they have gotten any help.

I reach across, take the drink that was supposed to be for Carmen, and sip on it. The bartender kept on droning about the book he was reading.

Tristen's phone buzzes in my pocket. I bring it out and see that there is now a service bar.

"The service is back?" The bartender asks. I nod and ask,

"It goes out often?"

"Yeah. Sometimes for days on end. Make a phone call quickly, it will go off soon." He advises me.

I immediately called my mum. I have her number engraved in my brain. She picks up on the first ring. "Hello?" Her voice is scratchy. This service provider isn't the best.

"Mum? It's me, Henry," I say immediately.

I could tell that she had been very worried because she laughed in relief. "I have been trying to call you for ages. What happened? Why are you calling me with another number?"

I sigh. "My phone fell… it's busted," I say. "This is Tristen's."

"Where are you guys now?" She asks me.

"Uh… we're at… uh," I look at the bartender for help. He says the name of the village to me. "We are at Stockridge," I repeat to my mum.

"Hmm, That is not so far from where your grandfather grew up," she says thoughtfully.

"Really?"

"Oh yes. He fought some kind of war in that area. I hear he was the main man of the war," she says in a sad voice.

Her father, my grandfather died some years ago. From the little stories she used to tell us and the ones I heard from my uncle, my grandfather changed after the war. He became sullen and withdrawn but I figured that it was the normal reaction of every veteran soldier.

In a bright tone, she says, "Anyway, stay safe. You are close to your ancestral grounds, Henry. Find out about the place. Talk to the locals, okay?"

I nod even though she can't see me.

"Be safe, see you soon," and the call ends

"Your mom, right?" The bartender asks.

I nod again and watch the candlelight flicker lazily. "What do you know about Con-Hagen?" I blurt out of nowhere.

He shuts up and gives me a hard stare. "Nobody talks about that here…" He says slowly.

"Nobody also reads in this village," I say. "Except you… so I take it that you are not based here."

"I am on a holiday here," he mutters. "I school in Seattle."

"So you are more enlightened than everyone here," I urge.

"I really shouldn't say anything about it," He says.

The candle closest to us suddenly blows off. There was no gust of wind or anything. It went off just like that, throwing us into a semi-darkness.

"Tell me about it," I say.

"It's just a bunch of rumors that we heard while growing up here." He says so quietly that I strain to hear him.

I lean closer.

"It is said that they chained some kind of monster in the middle of the village," He says.

"The middle of the village?" I ask. The chains I saw were on the outskirts. In the woods, not the middle of the village.

He shrugged. "It was only stories that mothers used to scare us to keep quiet. Nobody knows if it's true."

"It's not true," I blurt out and immediately regret what I said because he Keansburg down and looks at me closely.

"You sound pretty sure of yourself…" He says, then his eyes flick past my shoulder. "Where did you say your friends went?"

I drain the last of Carmen's drink. "I didn't say." I stand up and pull Carmen up. "We will be leaving now. Thanks for, uh, the drinks and talk." I and Carmen head for the door.

It might have been my imagination but as soon as I stepped out, there was a flash of black whip into the shadows.

I might have just been the shadows, but I quietly stepped back into the bar.

"I thought you were leaving," the bartender called from the counter.

I nod and clear my throat.

As I open my mouth to tell him an excuse, a blood-curdling, high pitched scream fills the air. It is coming from down the street… and from beside me.

I and the bartender are disoriented by the screams, I let go of Carmen's hand and stumble away. She is still screaming at the top of her lungs.

"What the hell is wrong with her?" He asks me.

I have no answer to that so I just run outside and towards the direction of the scream. It is coming from the inside of a barn.

Before I get there, the night is silent again, but the village is rousing. Windows are opening and heads are poking out, some men step out of their houses warily.

I keep my head low and burst into the barn. There is a slit of moonlight coming in from a window, it falls directly across a lady.

Her eyes are open, but glazed over and unseeing. Her mouth is opened in a dead scream. Blood pooled underneath her, she had been gruesomely cut open from her chest to her abdomen.

I carefully sidestep her and stretch to see through the large window.

There is a large oak tree nearby, and I can see four slashing blood-streaked marks across the trunk.

The books were real… I finally admit to myself.

I had been in denial all this while. But finally, I am seeing it as it was.

I had released a mythical monster that feeds on women.

The door behind me creaks open slowly, and I turn to see some townspeople coming in. Their eyes land on the dead girl and they pull back in shock and fright, and then their eyes creep up and focus on me.

"He is the culprit! Seize him!"