Dr. Creepen's Dungeon - S5 Ep220: Episode 220: Campfire Horror Stories

Episode Date: February 22, 2025

All of tonight’s tales are original stories by the wonderful Caleb Sliger (AKA cesly1987), kindly shared with me for the purpose of having me exclusively narrate it here for you all, with the author’s express permission.  https://www.reddit.com/user/cesly1987/  1) The Good Die Badly  2) I’m a Deputy in a Rural County  3) I’m a Warden between Realities

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BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. Welcome to Dr. Creepin's Dungeon. Gathering around a crackling campfire under a star-studied sky taps into a primal part of our nature. We've been telling scary stories since our ancestors first huddled together for warmth and protection. The flickering flames create an atmosphere of suspense and vulnerability, while the shared experience of fear and awe builds an unspoken bond among listeners. In that moment, as eerie tales echo into the night, we find comfort in the community of our collective terror, reminding us that even in darkness, we're never truly

alone, as I hope we shall see in tonight's collection of stories. Now, as ever before we begin, a word of caution. Tonight's tales may contain strong language as well as descriptions of violence and horrific imagery. But that sounds like your kind of thing. Then let's begin. The good die badly. Oh, I hate this case. I hate it with every fibre of my being.

I thought it was done and bearing. Now I'm back here at the crime scene. Waiting in my car for the alcohol and vodka into kicking. Sending a goodbye text to my wife and grown chap. I look into the dark shadows of the abandoned building and I know. I know in my deepest heart of hearts, I'm going to die in there. Once I feel the joints stop hurting, my chest stop burning and my vision blurred at the edges. I step out into the streets.

The rusty doors on my old Buick squeal in protest. The old abandoned St. Emmylies. Been abandoned for ten years now. They built the new one on the exit to the freeway. Its glory and billboard offered quick caring service. Health with hospitality was the new hospital slogan. But not this one. No, this wretched building had witnessed the deaths of hundreds over the years.

The building had been home to the most vile scene of torture and madden. to hit the state within the last five years. As I walked up to the entrance, chain shut with a padlock, I wondered if the building was evil, or if it only attracted evil. One thing was for sure. Evil was here tonight.

I fished in my coat pocket for a key, hoping it was still with the same one from five years ago. It took a little bit of work, but finally the padlock popped open. I walked into the dark hallway next to the stairway. This entrance used to be an entrance for employees only, but I knew it well, and I knew I had to get to the eighth floor. As I climbed the stairs, my mind raced back to five years ago. I'd just studied my PI business back then.

It was my first big case after my early retirement. My old partner threw me in the lead. Four girls had gone missing in the city within the last four months. The last girl was 19-year-old Vivian Stroke. disappeared after taking a night class of the local community college. The case was closed when major crimes caught the suspected murderer. A human stain named Jeremy Whitmore. Jeremy was caught after he tried to abduct another woman.

This woman pepper sprayed him and stabbed him through the cheek with her car keys. Good for her. Jeremy was tracked down the next day and dog piled by SWAT. In his interrogation he admitted to the abductions of the girls. Oh, 20 of them. Yep, that's right. 20. There's no way he did all of that. He was literally borderline retired and three of the four girls were taken within walking distance of his apartment. He prayed off the college down the road, but not the college Vivian was taken from. She was taken from a college 40 minutes away. It wouldn't be the first time a serial killer

exaggerated their numbers. Once they realized the jig was up, they wanted chance. Mawley Manson fame. He claimed to have murdered a girl every night, would start ranting and preaching when pushed on the details and logistic of his killers. Not the mayor's office put a lot of pressure on the PD to close the case. Jeremy was slowly giving out details on where he hid the bodies. He'd eventually get to Vivian, right? My former partner Rob called bullshit on this. He said he was in the interrogation room with a dipset fed asking questions. Rob said the Fed led Jeremy in the questioning to connect him to Vivian. Of course Jeremy knew of the college Vivian was taken from.

He'd lived in the town all his life. But that's not the worst of it. There was a voicemail from the night Vivian disappeared. She'd caught her brother who was at home waiting on her. She said she was walking to her car and wanted him to stay on the phone with her until she made it. She'd said they were following her. She then screamed, Adam, David, Ed,

before the call cut out. You see, Vivian's uncle was a cop back in the day. Adam David Edward is police alphabet for A-D-E. Vivian was reading off a license plate, just like her cop uncle taught her before somebody grabbed her. Jeremy didn't have a car, didn't even have a license. He was an idiot that killed in his own backyard, so needless to say,

Vivian's family didn't believe Jeremy was her killer, and there was hope she was still alive. Vivian's uncle wanted to come out of retirement and start knocking down doors looking for her in my city. Of course, Rob caught wind of this and talked him down. He pointed the uncle in my direction, and I took the job at her deep discount. They could pay me in full if I found the girl in one piece. She'd been gone for four days, and I had to work fast. My first stop was the college she went missing from. The useless campus cocks were no help to rob in his investigation, so I talked with a

student's safety patrol that were the real eyes and it is. A nervous Indian student told me he and his co-workers had been getting more and more cause to escort girls through the parking lot at night. He told me they had called Campus PD on a beat-up suburban idling across the street at the Cloos McDonald's. He told me they called Campus PD on a beat-up suburban idling across the street at the close McDonald's. He even saw it.

two nights ago. Well, Campus PD told Safety Patrol it wasn't against the law to sit in the parking lot at a McDonald's. Technically, the McDonald's wasn't even in their jurisdiction. Useless. I had no further lead. I doubted the Mickey D's had cameras. So I did what all great PIs do.

I went on a stake out of the campus parking lots. My Indian friend agreed to keep it a secret when I showed him my credentials and slipped him 100 for two nights. As I sat in my darked-out car with the engine off and windows cracked, I fought boredom and the urge not to drink my soda. Too much would make me need to piss and blow my cover. Maybe another twenty in Avi would let me sneak into a building to handle my business. I'm not a dirty old man, but I can admire a gorgeous woman when I see one. Also, I was trying to think like the bad guy, so when a curvy redhead part of the parking lot nearest to the McDonald's across the streets, I perked up. I was parted a few rows in front of her, using my rearview mirror

to spy on her. I got a better look as she walked by me towards campus. She was on her phone and distracted, hands full of books, and a purse and keychain. She'd driven a little CRV with manual locks. Walking fast and not aware of her surroundings, she passed right by me and never saw me sitting low in my car. Jackpot, I thought. She was easy. crazy prey. I hoped her class wasn't too long. If anything, I could watch her and make sure she made it to her car safely when it was over. That's when I saw movement by her car. Someone was leaning against the passenger side door. I could barely see anything in the rearview mirror, so I quietly opened my door and ducked out between the vehicles. I got a few rows

closer to him. Now I was a big guy, so sneaking around was hard on my knees. I were a hoodie and fumbled with the door for a good amount of time, not a master criminal, I presume. Finally I heard the door click unlocked. He opened it to unlock the back door, I jumped in to lie down. I could have taken him right when he was at the door, but it would only have been criminal trespass or burglary of a vehicle at most, a lowly Class B. Now I wanted him dead to rights. I'd wait till the Redhead returned. Red's class was a little. an hour. The whole time my adrenaline was spiking. I knew what was coming was going to be bad. I could always tell. My arms would feel heavy and I'd get cold inside. My mind would focus to a sharp

point. I hadn't started drinking heavily then, but this case pushed me to it. I took a couple of swigs from my flask. Finally Red appeared, walking and talking on her phone. She looked and sounded tired. As she approached her vehicle, I walked up loudly behind her. I waited for her to unlock the doors with her remote. Ma'am, excuse me. I'm working with the police. Please hang up your phone and call them right now. I bought my army-issue Colt 45 from my jacket, a retirement gift, had my name on it and everything. I hoped it would only ever be used for show. The silver gleam of it caused her eyes to widen. What? She stammered. stand back

there is someone in your backseat I said as I leveled the pistol of the car she did and I announced loudly get out shithead let me see your hands there was a moment of silence

then the car started rocking and I could hear banging on the door red whimpered and ran to hide behind another car all I heard was oh Jesus oh Jesus as she fled

the back door kicked open and I heard a snort and a cough from within. A man sat up and started squirming out feet first. He was draped in the shadows, but I could see he was tall and lanky. He stood up to face me. Both his hands had bloody bandages wrapped around them. He pulled back his hood to show me a toothless grin and a pus-filled missing eye. I took a step back in horror. His face was covered with sores and cuts. He was missing a left ear, and he smelled like decay. Get on the ground now, I commanded. He snorted and spat at me.

Catch it. Pervert with purple eyes. I see you. I see you, Mr. Squiggles. I knew this was meth-speak, so I reiterated my position. I'm not a cop, brother. I will stack this clip in your face and claim self-defense. And he lunged at me.

He almost fell to the ground by tripping over himself. My shot rang out, and busted the window behind him. He shot back up and grabbed a hold of my weapon with both hands. We both wrestled over it. One of us must have hit the button to eject the mag, clattered across the floor. Damn, only one round in the chamber now, and he had crazy meth string. A Lord does not die tonight, squiggles! He screamed at me with his rancid hot breath.

He was going to kill my out-of-shaped ass with my own gun. I angered the gun towards the ground and fired the last shot to ricochet across the asphalt. The slide rocked back to show it was empty. I then released our fight over it. A idiot pointed the obviously empty gun in my face and tried to shoot me. And I slammed the meth head with a heavy right hook. He flew back to crack his head against the driver's side window. And I huffed over to him and flipped him on his stomach.

sat my fat ass on his ass. He was okay. He was screaming obscenities and made up Bible verses at me when Campus PD arrived. All rolling up like supercops, screaming and pointing guns at me. They even put me in cuffs. Finally, Rob showed up with the real PD.

Campus police asked for help when I mentioned it was connected to an ongoing city case. He had them tape me out with a cuff too. Rob, this guy knows where very very Vivian is. Get me a lead and I'll get to her. I can cut through all the red tape. I stammered him. Whoa, slow up. Do you think this guy has a coherent thought in his head? Rob asked as the campus cops threatened to tase him in the backseat of the patrol car if he didn't stop trying to kick out the windows. A mixture of slobber and blood smeared all over the glass from

headbutting the window. Give me a criminal history and background check. We for sure know he wasn't the brains of the operation. Maybe I'm. I can find an accomplice. I answered. Rob shook the idea around in his head. Sounds good. You always were a crap magnet on my ship. Let's hope it helps you find these turrets. Right, I said. Keep me in the loop. Gonna run home and wash his stink off me.

I turned to leave. Uh-h-h-h-h-hom, Rob coughed. You forgetting something? He said, pointing his finger at my gun. You discharged two rounds at the scene of an attempted kidnapping. I slept my shoulders and leaning close. Come on, Rob, it's not your case. These guys overlooked taking it from me.

Besides, I may need it soon if you get me that hot tip. Rob gave me a look like a disapproving parent to his child, even though I had four years on it. I don't know. I told Campus PD, I'll be in tomorrow to give him a witness statement. I'll return it then. All right, you better. Don't get one of these rookies in trouble by taking advantage of their lack of knowledge.

We were once there too, remember? Rob chastised. All right, boss man. I'll play nice. Just run his background quick. I said, give him a wave as I left. I'd gotten home and taken a shower. I tried to abstain from the drink, but my needs were barking and waiting around made me nervous.

Five Tramadol and a shot of the good vodka I kept in my freezer made me right Back in those days I used the excuse that I needed it to be on top of my game to keep me alive in the field So what if I was a little intoxicated being in pain was worse right? My phone rang around midnight It was Robb William Kinsmith age 28 used to be a janitor at the Orte St. Emmleys Been on the street since it closed But, it gets better.

He owns a 94 model suburban with license plate ADE 5076. This is our guy, or at least the driver of the vehicle used in the abduction. I sat back, already grabbing my keys and codes. Where do you need me? What's his address? We're executing a search warrant in the morning. I've already sent a uni by his house. No suburban.

I need you to check the hospital. We know he wasn't the brain, so he may be stashed off-sight. Rob paused. Oh, and he had keys. Tons of them on a big chain. Not enough for probable cause, but enough for reasonable freaking suspicion. I considered this carefully. It made sense.

He may still have old keys to the place he used to work. And it would be hard to get a search warrant for an entire hospital without further evidence. I needed to get in there fast. Vivian was on a ticking clock. It was almost like old times working homicide with Rob again. When I pulled up on St. Emily's, it was almost 1 a.m. The eight-story tall block building loom like a dark giant in the sky. It dominated the skyline over the short buildings around it.

Most were relocated private practice doctor's offices and unused parking garages, so it was quiet and empty. I poured up to the new chain link fence and padlock I snapped the padlock with some trusty bolt cutters an essential tool for PIs and I'd take the criminal trespass charge if it meant saving the girl all the entrances were chain shut

I found a low window already partially shattered I cleared the rest of the glass out with my giant maglite and in I went into the administrative wing I had no idea where to begin my search. Hopefully my bad luck would put me in the path of the bad guys. So I made my way to the stairwell. At least I could find a sign indicating what floor was what. Once I entered the dark stairwell, I did find a dusty map mounted on the wall.

I brushed off the dust and lit it up with my light. If I was a bad guy, I'd take the victims somewhere they couldn't be heard and couldn't escape. A basement maybe. The hospital had two of them. My heart almost gave out as I heard a banshee scream echoing down the stairway from far above. The yell bounced off the walls, making it seem like a choir of copycats. I couldn't make it out to be male or female. It was just loud, shrill and in a lot of pain.

I guess the bad guys chose the top floor. I looked at the map to see the top floor was the pediatric wing. Great. What's the deal with the floor? sickos and children. As I made my way up the stairs, I took care to pace myself. What good would I be if I had no energy to face whoever was up there? As I reached the sixth floor, I turned on my lights sporadically, not wanting to catch the attention of anybody that could be somewhere in the stairway with me. As my light revealed, I assent to the top, it also chronicled a descent into madness. The walls were now covered with your standard curse words, pentagrams,

and phallic imagery. But more and more, I was seeing a badly drawn stick man with two purple dots for eyes, over and over. Some of chalk, most drawn with runny spray paint by unsteady hands, but all had the telltale purple dots for eyes. By the time I was halfway between the seventh and eighth floor, the walls were covered with the wavy lines of the stickman. They stacked on top of each other like an army,

or a silent crowd watching my climb. Another set of words ran together underneath the stick man in an uneven hand. Mr. Squiggles, Mr. Squiggles, Mr. Squiggles, Mr. Squiggles, over and over. He wants pain, he wants sweets, he wants pain, he wants meat. It rambled on and on, all over the stairs, the tops and bottoms, hard to reach angles. I kept my light off as I reached the platform for the eighth floor. floor. Moonlight poured in from the windows and the orange flicker of propane lanterns dotted further down the hallway. I slowly made my way down the hallway to make my way past too many

open doors as I approached the nurse's station. I could imagine another meth-out freak charging from the dark open mouths of these rooms at any instance. Cartoon paintings of happy children, animals and airplanes decorated the walls. The creepy factor was off the charts and the The grip on my gun was getting sweaty from the strain I was putting on. The nurse's station had a glowing lamp atop it, and I made the corner to see a man sitting on the floor with his back slumped against the counter. I approached the man to see, I kid you not, a power drill sticking into his head. Fresh blood leaked out of the wood.

At least I'd solved the mystery of who was screaming earlier. He had blood-matted dreadlocks and dirty nurses' scrubs. both his ears were missing fingers too I'd seen this before with methhead will in the parking lot and he had a lanyard around his neck as I bent down to retrieve it

his eyes popped open and he grabbed my hand who are you he said in a sing-song voice I put my pistol in his face and was about to threaten him before his hand dropped and he went back to being dead quiet

my fear froze me I was sure he was dead before I got to him. He had that unnatural stillness of a corpse, something I've seen many times. How does a man look you right in the eye and question you with a sparkle in his own, and then just flipped back to being dead? My reverie was broken by a frantic male voice further down the hallway. I killed the nurse, and Will hasn't come back with anyone new for you. It's over. Just let me kill the girl and kill myself. She's had enough. I quickly ducked behind the nurse's desk.

I peaked over to see a tall, shirtless, pale man walking down the hallway, hands on his head and pacing back and forth. I don't want to keep the girl alive. Let me finish her. Enough with you, sick games. The man argued to no one. She's still alive. She has to be here.

I snuck out from behind the desk and quickly approached the man while his back was turned. He quickly turned to face me as I was upon him. I bashed him right in the forehead with the butt of my pistol. He dropped to his knees and I held him tight by the neck. Where's the girl? I screamed. Now facing me, I got a good look at his ugly mug. His eyes were bloodshot and infected from tiny cuts under his eyes. His cheek on the right side of his mouth was hanging off like a piece of ham,

showing a skeletal smile underneath. If they did this to themselves, then what did they do to the girl? pushed the barrel of the gun in his cheek wound. He screamed and I screamed back. Virian's drop, Where the hell is she? I'll pick you apart until you answer me. I fired off two shots above him and placed the hot barrel on his temple.

This made the tweaker mad. With an unnatural strength he stood up and picked me up by the throat with one arm. His offhand slapped my pistol out of my hand to crash somewhere behind me. My back was slammed against the corner of the high counter of the desk and the disfigured man leaned in to look at me. I struggled to push him off to no effect. He pulled a rusty scalpel out of his pocket and began inching it closer and closer to my heart, a half smile forming on the undamaged side of his face.

The scalpel was only an inch away from my eye before he blinked at me and stopped. He released my neck to grab the chain from around it, pulling out my shiny PI badge. Are you a cop? He asked in a small voice, holding the badge out like a pendulum before his eyes. Yes, for years. Backup is coming. You should run while you can, I persuaded. You look back at me.

I was a cop once, deputy, he said sadly, before letting out a growl and gritting his his teeth, like he was fighting something. He'd too far, he blurted out with me, before running the scalpel across his neck, blood gushing quickly. He released me and fell back to the wall, quickly sliding down and

dying. I stared at him for only a moment, glad for the mercy. Room 824 was urgent on my mind. I found the room quickly, knocking the door open and stepping inside. On the gurneys was a small female, handcuffed to the railing. Her face covered completely in bloody bandages.

Vivian, I shouted. She stirred and began screaming, believing me to be one of the psychos that had abducted her. I hurried to her and prayed that the coughs take a police-issue key. They did, and I picked her frail body up. She screamed and swatted at me.

I told her I'm with her family as I rush her down the stairs. Her hands are bandaged up to. and she's bleeding from somewhere. Got her outside, about to have her heart attack, as I fumbled to call 911. When the MS arrived, they had to give me oxygen too. Rob showed up with half a dozen Unis and ran straight back to the back of the ambulance,

where I was sat. Cut her back, you cut her back, you beautiful bastard, he cheered. After all, the dead girls he'd seen in the past few months, every victory was precious. I reached out weekly to give him a knuckle bump. Hours later, back at the real hospital, I sat in the waiting room. Ron came out to catch me up on the story he'd placed together so far. She's stable, but they did a number on her.

Cut up her face, pulled nails, cut off segments of her fingers. He let out a very world-weary sign. They cut off her tongue to keep her quiet. But it didn't. You know that. just kept her from begging. I wonder what kind of sadist doesn't like begging from their victim. Will she ever be the same?

I said, looking down at my lap. The guy you sat on at the campus fessed up to three of them grabbing her. He said he was looking for a new victim to keep Mr. Squiggles from Eden. Rob said with a question on his fate. I sat there thinking over the crazy nights, wanting to know more. I went to go back and poke around before CSI cleaned up. I had an idea. Damn, Rob.

I dropped my gun. He looked at me like, so what? I shut it off and put it in the suspect's mouth, I whispered. He'll raise questions on the ethics I used during my investigation when CSI finds it. Also, think of the poor campers cop who didn't take it from me when he should have. Oh, God, all right. Rob said as he fished out a key from his pocket. A company that owns the building gave me a key.

He held it out. Don't keep it. Early morning, around 5 a.m., I rolled up to the abandoned hospital. Another three Tramadol, a BC powder and a red ball. I hadn't graduated to Vicodin just yet, but you see the progression. This time I walked in the front door. A giant white display faced me. It used to be the welcome and information sign, but it's now blank.

When I got upstairs, CSI had already taped it off and removed the bodies. The new shift must have been coming in an hour. They had a patrol vehicle stationed outside. Robert told him to let me in to take pictures for my own report. I quickly located my shiny pistol. It had fallen right in a wastebasket. CSI for sure would have found it today. I snipped around a little more.

Only finding food wrappers and plastic sacks filled with human waste. They must have been living here for months. I walked into one room to see two electric lanterns still on, low and losing battery. On the wall a tapestry of cartoon animals and smiling doctors and nurses. In the middle was the biggest drawing of the squiggly stick figure with purple dots for eyes. About six feet tall. Bloody handprints smear around it to form a macabre a halo. lying on the floor around it were all sorts of bloody tools and knives

I saw a Bible with a bloody knife through it its pages stuck together with something awful as I bent down to look at it I saw a motion in the corner of my eye where the squiggle mans do it how do I describe it was like when a character in a video game glitches into an object or spider convulsions its legs before it dies more like a spider convulsions its legs before it dies like a spider convulses its legs before it dies. It was only for an instant, but the stigma spasmed and twitched violently. When my head jerked back up, it was still, back where it should have been. I swear the

two dots were further down on its head, looking down at me. This was enough for me. I'd been up for over twenty hours. I had all sorts of chemicals in my system, and I'd witnessed some traumatic crap that probably would give me nightmares for years I needed to go home I made the trek down the stairs and through the main lobby I came to the front door and stopped to fish the key out of my pocket and that's when I heard it the voice that's haunted my dreams for the past five years it was as if a professional voice actor was doing a Mickey Mouse impersonation but more shrill and more filled with malevolence. Or the voice of the clown from the new Stephen King movie,

but with more pitch in a teasing sing-song voice. Who are you? I spun with my gun out. The voice pulled at something deep in my monkey brain. It told me I was in the presence of a predator. I saw nobody anywhere in the dark, but one thing did immediately catch my eye. On a giant white display was a large drawing of a squiggly stick figure with two purple eyes. I was around five feet tall and had one hand up, as if waving could bump. Well, I got the hell out of there. I swore to myself I would never go back. Whatever was haunting this hospital was outside the all-seeing view of God.

It felt cold and evil. I just somehow knew. but now five years later almost of the day I'm back and I know what's up there

waving for me to come in like the wolf tempting red riding hood to put her head in its mouth it's waiting for me to finish what we started part two the events from five years ago

were life changing to me and especially young Vivian it took her weeks to recover physically and she never quite recovered mentally. Those creeps are cut off segments of four of her fingers, two on each hand. They stabbed her in a non-fatal spot in the belly and left it to get infected. They burned her body with cigarettes and used a blow torch on her left foot. Worst of all, they had cut out her tongue.

It was some sort of game for them. One of them, Julian Arnault, used his knowledge as a nurse. to keep her from dying. He also used drugs to keep her from passing from the pain, some sort of mixture of adrenaline and cocaine. Parking lot Will had indeed been on the lookout for a new victim when I caught him. Another sacrifice for Mr Squiggles, a thing they all worship vehemently.

And last of all was Carter Regals. He was the ringleader of the group. Through investigation I found out Carter used to work for the local PD back in the day. He started as a dispatcher before making the jump to patrol. Seems he was a deputy somewhere in East Texas before all of that. I found FTOs and officers that had worked with Carter. All reports say he was a good cop, but he was jumpy and refused to work night shift. He only made it two years before resigning for personal issues.

Somewhere in those two years he'd worked an extra job at St. Emily's when it was operational. Before that, Carter was a deputy. in East Texas. I tracked down an ex-girlfriend who said he quit after saving a girl from being killed in the woods one night. The woman was left in a vegetative state for a while, and Carter developed an unnatural fear of the dark. He'd complained of nightmares of monsters with purple eyes. Hmm, sounds familiar. So we got a nurse, a janitor and a cop who all worked at the same hospital at the same time. I'd love to know where and how they bonded in the their shared lunacy, or how Mr. Squiggles infected them all.

I could go ask old parking lot will, but he killed himself in his cell shortly after being arrested. He used to shift to hurry carry himself like a dishonoured samurai. Hell of a painful way to go. I'm glad he chose that method. Vivian went on to gain actually some semblance of life. Heavy sessions of physical therapy and mental therapy. be helped. She had a great support system with her parents, new kid's sister, friends and me. I visited Vivian three times a week at first. Now it's at least twice a month. I became a close friend of the family. You see, I changed two that night. My soul had been bonded with Vivians or fates intertwine. I made sure my presence wasn't detrimental to her frail psyche. I heard

a therapist if I'd only re-victimise her just by visiting but the therapist told me it was good for me to be by Vivian's side as long as I show great interest in her life before the incident I was a new friend made on the worst day of her life I pushed her to remember her life before the incident before she was shattered I learned sign language for her learned about indie rock and the fundamentals of drawing to learn with her I even sat down to watch full metal alchemist and even learned its difference from brotherhood. The truth is, I was closer to Vivian than my actual daughter. Me and my daughter were good now, but I was a bad father to her in her teenage years, and maybe this was my penance for being such a terrible dad. It took Viv

two years to open up to anyone, countless surgeries, therapy sessions, and skin grafts later, and when she did, I understood why she'd never wanted to speak of any of it. She spoke of the torture for five days. Being roughly put back together by the nurse, just to be cut open again. She spoke of their manic screaming and ranting, all three of them constantly talking to Mr. Squiggles. Even stranger, she spoke of the ex-deputy, Carter. He would show moments of kindness and lucidity, giving her water, giving her pain medicine, always to be punished by hurting himself and apologising to Mr Squiggles. Vivian said Carter refused to let the other two hurt her any more on the fourth day.

Instead, they began hurting each other, cutting off their fingers and ears of anything to appease Mr. Squiggles. Janitor Will said he'd had enough and was going to get a new victim for Mr. Squiggles to sate his wrath. Of course, you know I caught him in his attempt. After Will left, Carter killed the nurse, Julian. Carter's plan was to let Vivian die so she wouldn't have to suffer anymore. I liked to think when I showed up, he had a change of heart and sore she could be rescued. And that's why he fought Mr. Squiggles and killed himself. Yes, I fully believe in the monster.

Of course I don't tell that to Vivian. To her it was just shared psychosis brought on by drug abuse between her captains. Carter was like a mini-cult leader feeding their drug adolphus. brains, tales of the boogeyman. But I know what I heard and saw that night. Something evil occupied the shadows of St. Emily's. And I would have been fine with leaving the demon there, to never be thought of again, but Vivian started having nightmares. Nightmares of a dark figure with purple eyes. She said it spoke to her, told her to hurt herself and others. She believed it was a manifestation of her trauma, but I knew better.

And the voice was only getting stronger. Internet searches on paranormal figures are a crapshoots. With so many creepy pastors trying to come across as real, it's hard to separate fantasy from fiction. I had to track down an actual practitioner of black magic. Not some Zach Began's cable show, ghost expert. So, enter Madame Monroe of New Orleans. Make contract with her by email and fetid her with some of my Nola cop buddies.

She was legit. Scary, legit. Even the cops knew to show Madame Monroe respect in their neighbour. I had to drop a grand just to see her. But what she told me was worth every pen. I ducked into a voodoo tourist trap off a side road from Bourbon Street.

It was a store meant to trick the tourists into believing they'd found the legit voodoo shop. I gave a passcode to the clerk and he led me out the back, through turns in an alley and up the side stairs of a brick building. Inside the building was a spacious studio appellants, white marble floor, black leather furniture, a giant flat screen and entertainment system.

The air was a chilly 60 degrees in contrast to the high 90s outside. I was left alone for only a second when Madame Monreux walked in from a back room. She was a statuesque black woman with a soft red velvet dress, many necklaces and shiny bread pulled back into a long ponytail to hang to her lower back. She motioned to two tallback chairs facing one another for me to sit. Once we had, I thanked her for the meeting. She just stared at me with her piercing brown eyes,

just enough crow's feet to make her look slightly cruel. Finally, she barked out of love. You didn't expect digs like this, did you? Maybe you expected a shack by the bayou with chicken bones for wind chimes. No, ma'am, I didn't, I replied. Oh, hush, you can call me, Matilda. We are your partners in this here mystery? She said with a hint of Cajun accent flavoured in her purring voice.

To tell you the truth, I was thinking of scamming an out-of-town ex-cop like you, but then you mentioned purple eyes. She pulled out a swissor suite from a small handbag and litig. Now we must work together. A strong scent of marijuana hit me. Oh, the good stuff. I laughed and said, I'm glad I've earned your attention. Also, my cop days are long behind me.

I held out my hand to partake from her smoke. Matilda raised an eyebrow, amused. She had me the joint, spoke. Yes, I see a lot of darkness in you now. But I also see a light that refuses to give up. What's her name? Matilda snapped in the air as if trying to conjure her memory. Your honey child. Ah, Vivian, that's it. Silky lines of smoke ran circles between us as I handed the joint back. I never told her Vivian's name, but I still wasn't sure I wasn't being scammed. Ah, purple eye. she said, taking a deep drag and almost finishing it.

I know of this one, and it's not pretty. She dropped the butt on the white immaculate floor and gave me a solemn stay. The devil isn't in hell, you know. He roams to and fro, seeking who he may devour. He and his fallen angels will only be thrown to hell on the day of judgment. She tilted her head on a quizzical nature. So if the devil isn't down there punishing sinners with a bit of a bit of, And who is, Shea?

Purple ice? I stated as a half-question. Yes, it is a thing of hell, a torturer, a weapon. It has no conscience or reasoning on why it does what it does. Its base drive is to punish to inflict pain. It's as if a piece of hell itself exists on this material plane. Oh, great, an uber demon, I smirked. I thought I'd just throw some holy water at it and be done with it.

Matilda didn't share in my humour. Her stung cold stare only hardened. The weed was doing nothing to lighten her mood. It is a devourer of demons. It's a thing demons and angels fear. It's used as a warning to show angels what the price of disobedience will get them. Although creative at God, it's not a thing of God. It is a thing made separate.

a thing unseen by his all seeing eye. So, how do I stop it, or exercise, or whatever? It's still hurting Vivian. It's changing her. I spoke with exasperation. This was all too much. Somehow I knew what Matilda was saying was gospel. I'd felt as much when I was in the hospital that night.

Ah, my family tells me a story about purple eyes. A story even legend among beings of the higher and lower. The brash arrogant angel summoned Purpleines from the depths to take revenge on a traitorous demon. To take the demon to hell before the day of judgment. But Purple Eyes has no aster. It does not recognize the difference between angel and demon. It only knows to punish. So it absorbed the arrogant angel and went on to absorb many other spiritual entities.

So you can eat ghosts. I said, trying to keep my mind open. If she was making it up, then she was a great storyteller. It is a prison for all things spiritual. It takes on the traits and knowledge of those it absorbs, Matilda warned. It is most attracted to innocence and free will sacrifice. Those things are non-existent in the void of hell. While I left, Madame Rune Rose, another three grand lighter,

she swore to me she'd find a weakness or spell to use against the torturer of hell. I would have gladly dropped more money if it increased my chance of saving Vivian, by the smallest chance, when Vivian was fallen deeper into its thrall. On one of my frequent visits, I was sitting across from her drawing in my pad, while she drew in hers, while listening to Death Cab for Cutie. She tapped her pad with a pencil to get my attention to look up. She held up her picture, I let out a verbal groan. I told her not to dwell on her nightmares to a psychiatrist, but she only shared them with me.

It was another beautifully drawn picture of something terrible, depicted in her slightly anime-inspired caricature of a horrible event with purple eyes as the main focus. This one showed a small boy with a bald head, eyes closed and crying as a black shadow. loomed over him, its purple eyes blazing. Why do you show me these? I sighed to her. Her beautiful face was solid. The plastic surgeon had done wonders on her, but you could still see shallow veins of scarring. It won't stop bugging me till I show you, she sighed back. I think it wants you to know. You can't listen to it, Vivian, I said aloud, causing

birds feeding in the backyard to take flight. We were sitting on the back point. We were sitting on the back porch of her parents' house during a beautiful sunny day. Now all that was ruin. Vivian gave me a dour look and sighed indignantly. It's part of my process. Look, it's part of my recovery. But I knew it wasn't. She believed purple eyes is a figment of the angst and torment on her mind, but I knew the truth. Her first pictures were of a human figure of pure light with brilliant magenta-colored eyes being swallowed by a wave of darkness, the angel from the legend. The angel of light had an expression of pure agony on its face. Then she drew a follow-up picture of the shadow, now formed like a man with its signature

purple eyes. Then there were the pictures of her kidnappers, one of the cops standing in the rain across from a man as a woman hung from a tree between them. Another of a nurse with dreadlocks cutting his face as the shadow loomed over him. In the last of the three, a picture of a janitor praying in a maintenance conflict, two purple lights at a makeshift altar. I knew these were scenes of the torturer's life. It was showing them to Vivian who would then show them to me. It was taunting me. In this last picture, I knew what it was about. It was the torturer's first meeting with

Mr. Squiggles. I'd been thorough in my investigation after the incident all of the those years ago. I tracked down a retired nurse who used to work on the eighth floor, pediatrician. Kiki Rowland's worked 15 years at Old St. Emily's on the eighth floor. On the pretense of collecting ghost stories for a novel, she divulged to me the rumors around pediatric's resident-friendly ghost, Mr. Squiggles's. Kiki told me the Mr. Squiggle story had been around since before she'd worked there. Children would tell about dreams of a bald-headed kid standing beside their. bed at night. The boy would always show the patient a picture of a stick figure.

That's you and me, the boy would say, pointing to the stick man. I'm Mr Squiggles, and you are Mrs Squiggles. The boy would laugh. If he was talking to another boy, it would be Mr. Scribbles and Mr. Squiggles, respectively. Kiki said the children would always have this vision days before passing. It was always a colour. comforting dream. Things among the nurses would go missing or be misplaced. It was always blamed on the antics of Mr. Squiggles. He was just part of the job, another thing to accept during the nurse's day-to-day routine. But then Mr. Squiggles changed. Around the time Carter-Eagles began working extra jobs on the first floor. Children had nightmares of Mr. Squiggles. You were bull at them and tell them only hell awaited them. The mortality rate on the floor went up 40% in the four months before the hospital closed. Kiki said nurse didn't feel good walking into rooms with a lights off. It always felt like something was waiting to pounce out and hurt you.

So that's how I knew the pictures Vivian drew were messages from Purple Eyes, Mr Squiggles. And I could deal with the spooky totting if I didn't have to see the changes in Vivian. Her kid's sister, Victoria, born a year after the incident, was the sweetest four-year-old in the world. Vivian doted over her and hampered her with affection. She was an anchor to the innocent and good side of the world. But I had witnessed her lash out in anger and slap her sister just days before. But now I must bring everything back to the present. The reason why I'm back at this damned hospital. Two days ago, Vivian did. disappeared from her home. Victoria was gone with her. She'd left behind a single drawing on

Victoria's bed. It was a picture of me. I wore a face of confusion and surprise. Behind me stood the stick figure with purple eyes. A word blue and came from its mouth, he'd asked. I knew it was a call out for Mr. Squiggles. That's why I was on my way to the eighth floor again. Vivian would be there. and hopefully Victoria was still in one piece. Part three, I wasn't even halfway up the stairwell when I encountered the creepy stick drawings plastered all over the walls. They stretched further down the stairway than last time, like a cancer on the building.

But mixed in with a new drawing of purple eyes was a fat stick figure. It was drawn with a giant circle for a body with little heads and limbs sticking out, a yellow star in the middle of his chest. One picture had the fat man holding a tiny square with RX written on it Another had the man hanging from a noose Another was standing with a gun to his head

I seriously wondered who this stick figure was I wasn't that fat When I finally reached the eighth floor I was hit with a terrible smell It was like bad breath being blown in my face It was so thick I could taste it I gagged and had to get a hold of myself The doorway to the floor was pitch black, no moonlight like last time. As I got closer, I realised there was an unnatural wall of darkness blocking the doorway.

I stopped and considered my options. I didn't want to step into this fog, but I had to get to Vivian and Victoria. I remembered the picture of the angel of light being swallowed up by the darkness. Wouldn't I be essentially just feeding myself to this monster? As if sensing my doubt, a scream echoed from within the black curtain, a female scream. Victoria, Vivian, I shouted as I stepped closer to the threshold of the door. My mind was made up for me when a strong hand shot out of the gloom to grab my jacket. It pulled me into the thick darkness.

For a moment all I could see was nothing but the void. Then, in an instant, a fully lit clean hospital hospital hospital, hallway jumped to view around me. I could hear the phone ringing and muffled sounds coming from the PA. I listened harder to make out what was being said. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. It repeated over and over. I continued down the hallway and just like last time all the doors were open. Each door I passed, I could see pale children staring at me with sadness in their eyes, or curled up on the floor crying to themselves.

How oldren had he taken? I was approaching the nurse's station when my surroundings changed again. I was standing knee-deep in water, and there was a circle of trees around me, in front of me a one-eyed man hung from a tree sprouting out of the water. As I walked closer, he spoke to me. He lies. You can't deal with him.

He will take and take, he will burn your soul right out of you. The man croaked, swinging gently. I guess purple eyes wanted a scene transition because I was suddenly sucked deep into the water. Down I went into the endless depths. All the air escaped my chest as I saw with my bubbles racing away from me. A mouthful of water tastes sour and burned in my throat. I coughed it back out only to suck in more through my nose to scor. my brain I was going to die. I'd let purple eyes literally get into my body. But the worst

thought was I didn't think I'd die like a normal person. Instead, I knew my soul would be blocked away as the monster used my body as a puppet to hurt people. I thought of poor Vivian, a girl who was a veterinarian's assistant and wanted to make the jump to helping people as a nurse. She had kindness and healing in her heart, all torn out of her for the power. five years. Just as she was getting some semblance of hope back, a bastard took her again. Poor Victoria, just a child. Purple Eyes was going to have her loving older sister commit sororicide on her. A righteous anger filled me as I drowned in the burning water. My anger only grew as I choked. And with a thud, a wet splash, I fell to hit a start. I had a stone. I fell to hit a

floor with water splashing around me. I coughed and looked around frantically. All I saw was stone walls and a large metal door in front of me. The door was at least 40 feet high and 20 across, covered with strange ruins and symbols. I stood up and stared in wonder at it. I can help you escape, even with a symbol you have carved on your chest, came a booming voice. It was loud but somehow comforting, like the voice of James O. Jones or Michael Clark Duncan. I can give you enough power for you to run. I don't want to escape, I set back with fear in my voice. I have to find someone.

The girl, asked the deep voice. There was a measure of amusement in his tongue. In my head I saw a vision of a giant man sitting in shadows on the other side of the door. His head was down and millions of feathers drifted. it lazily around him to fall and cover the floor. I felt a deep sorrow coming from him and a deep embarrassment. No greater love, spoke the voice. The figure lifted his head and his eyes burned a brilliant magenta.

The whole room around me was blinding with the growing light coming through the door. One feeling passed through my bones. The world switched again. I was back in the hospital for real this time. It was still run down and dirty with moonlight coming through the windows. I knew this was real, like how you know the difference between a vivid dream and actually waking up. I have been freed, but there was no turning back. I was heading straight for the room with the collage on the walls and the giant Mr. Squiggles's picture.

I had a child screaming on the way. Sister, stop! Please stop! Victoria screamed. I turned the corner into the room to see a Victoria's little body taped to a metal folding chair, her feet dangling. Vivian stood over, cutting her cheek with a scalpel. Vivian, stop, I screamed. She turned to look at me and gave a big grin. She straightened and held the knife down by her sister's vulnerable neck. I had my gun in my holster under my jacket, but I didn't intend on shooting anybody.

I reached my back and pulled out a small tranquilizer pistol. It had cost me a pretty penny, but money wasn't an issue for me. I only had two shots. I'd have to draw fast and hit her in the neck for it to take effect quickly. In my pocket was a string necklace with a big charm bag on it. Madame Monroe had prepared it for me. She would cause an invading spirit to leave the body. I put it on her after I had.

had hit her with the trunk. I just hoped it was strong enough hoodoo for this creature. As I was pulling the trank gun from my back, I felt an explosion hit me from the side of my face. The trang gun clattered to the ground as I spun around dazed to see a man swing and hit me again. My vision went black for a second, and I returned after another punch hit me. I should have known Purple Eyes would recruit another junkie for muscle. I've been a boxer back in college and I knew the tell-tale signs my ass was about to be ca-oed. So I ducked under another punch to come up with a one-two combination of my own. He stumbled my attacker back enough to get a good look at him. It was Rob, my

old partner. My heart sank as I saw the circles under his bulging eyes and dirt caked face. How long had he been under his control? Why hadn't I kept better to be? touch with my old friend. He must have spent hours at this cursed crime scene and talking to parking lot well. Plenty of time for the torturer to get his hooks in him. I couldn't see him like this. I had to help. He stunned me again with another punch. It was taller than me and had a good reach. I took the next punch like a chap to get in close to him and grab him by the neck. He started hammering me in my stomach as I brought my spare trank dart out of my jacket pocket. I stabbed it into his neck and at first it had no effect on him.

The blows kept coming into my abdomen, making my knees begin to buckle. But finally he slowed and fell to his knees. I left him dazed and rocking as I went to retrieve my trank gun. Went to turn back round. I expected to see him on the ground, but he was still. stubbornly getting to his feet. He reached into his own dirty coat to produce a black glock pistol.

On instinct, I quickly pointed the pistol and shot Rob right in the solarplex with the dart. He grunted and continued to try to level the glock at me, but his arm shook like the gun weighed a hundred pounds. I just shuffled forward and pushed him

with both hands, and he went sprawling backwards to hit the wall and slide. down unconscious. I ran over to him and bent to check on him, first grabbing his gun and tossing it into the hallway. His eyes fluttered and he moaned like he was trying to wake up. Oh damn it, I said as I dug in my pocket to try and pull out the charm necklace. I was down both my darts and was about to use my trump card. I couldn't let this thing have my old friend. I slipped the necklace over his head and he let out a gasp of pain.

He began gritting his teeth as black smoke leaked out from beneath his teeth and nostrils. The dark smoke gathered in the air before shooting towards Vivian to go into her mouth and nose. Now, you watch, Vivian said in a terrible voice though I knew her speaking was impossible. The Mr Squiggles's drawing behind her began its twitching dance on the wall. She brought the blade back to Victoria's teeth. terrified faith. I tried to move forward, but my body wouldn't let me. I was frozen somehow.

My mind raced as I tried to come up with a plan. Well, I might be lying when I said the necklace was my trump card. I had another plan, a last ditch effort. Take me instead, I shouted. And just as I hoped, Vivian stopped and looked at me. You are fat and useless, filled with hate and mistakes. Oh, but she is sweet. We are both sweet, said the thing talking through, Vivian.

Then let one go and take me, I pleaded. I'd already figured even a tortured monster from hell still wouldn't want to be me, so I had to sweeten the bait for it to bite. What would it hurt Vivian more? me treading my life for her or her sister using me to kill one of them i screamed in desperation whoever spared will live with that pain all their life it'll punish them every day you wouldn't let me use you to kill one of the girls the thing asked through vivian yes i said my face in a mask of sadness at least one will survive i can't lose them both Vivian straightened and gave me a hungry look. Then say it. Say you want me.

I stand at the door and knock. Accept me into your heart. I gave a sigh of relief. Hopefully it thought it was a sigh of exasperation. I said the words. I welcome you into my heart. Take me instead. An ashen wave of black smoke shot out.

from her face into mine. I felt like I was drowning in burning water again. It continued to burn down my throat and in my lungs, reaching every part of it. Once it finally stopped, I felt pain screaming

in every part of my body. It was an onslaught of maddening sensations. I tossed back and forth like an animal caught in a snare. It only stops if you heard them, said a voice in my head.

It was like the voice of the angelic man, but it was twisted and sickly. Through a purple blur in my vision, I saw Vivian's face. She was terrified and confused. She looked down at her taped up sister and bent over to start ripping it off her. Oh, you better be worth all that money, Madame Monroe, I thought, as I took a menacing step towards Vivian. I'd wired another five grand to her before showing up tonight. she should be in a dark room at this moment, performing her own counter-spell. The powder, Cher, the powder!

Came her voice in my head. My hand went to the PI badge hanging around my neck. I brought it out before me. A small vial filled with white powder was next to my dangling badge. I felt a sense of confusion come from the monster as I popped the cork and held it to my nose. You see, I had five years. to plan for this showdown. I'd gone to great lengths to learn my enemy and protect the people I love. The powder I was about to snort was a special mixture of monoronez. It was supposed to give me control back

temporarily. I threw my head back and sniffed the whole vire. Oh boy, let's just say I found out cocaine was the main ingredient. It felt like fireworks were going off through my body and my mind felt like a red hot knife. Stay away Vivian, I told her as I marched away from her, but I couldn't help it. I turned to look at both of them. Forgive your sister, Victoria, and take care of Rob. I began to tear up as I looked into her scared, beautiful face. I love you, Vivian. And with that I turned and stormed off. I could hear Vivian crying after me. I was making it to all. I was making it to all. I was one of the rooms with a window. I pulled my gun out of my jacket,

and started to point it at my head. No! I felt the torturous voice yell in my mind. It sounded like it was far away, but still had the strength to make me throw my head away into the sun. Check me, you purple bastard. I said as I anger my arm to point to the window.

I shot the whole mag into the glass, shattering the window completely. I dropped the useless pistol and began marching toward the open window, taking big, heavy steps. Purple eyes fought me tooth and nail the whole way. When I got about five feet from the window, I felt the monster's panic. We started taking a different measure. I'll go back after the girl. All of you will still die tonight, it screamed in range.

There was a moment of calm as I felt Purple Eyes let go of me. Then his presence came back with a feeling of absolute confusion. Checkmate, I said as I ripped open my buttoned-up shirt. Carved on my chest was a bloody ceiling and binding room, especially designed by the friendly madame. The bastard wasn't going anywhere. He was staying in this hunk of sengean meat the whole way down. I will kill her.

I'll punish the whole family. I'll punish all of you. Only hell and tormentor wait you in the end. I stood at the window and looked down. Madame Monroe said he would be bound to my corpse until the body was ash. He'd be out of the game for a good number of decades. Enough time for the girls to heal and have a happy life.

So I stepped off the edge and felt the wind racing across my face. The monster screamed within me. Just a lowly burnt-out PI. against an angel killing horror of hell. I smiled and thought, let's go to hell together, you bastard. I'm a deputy in a rural county.

I met the devil on night shift. I worked for a sheriff's department in East Texas for the first two years I was at college. I currently work at another department in the same area. I'm going to have to change names so I don't get into any legal trouble or upset surviving family. Also, don't want to rustle any feathers with colleagues.

The law enforcement community is very tight-knit, and egos bruise like bananas. Some of you will probably deduce what county I'm talking about from the few clues I give you anyways. But I've got to change up the story enough for plausible deniability. You know the drill.

Standard, creepy pastista. My county was as big as Dallas or Austin County. but only has a population of 14,000 people in it. A lot of places you can only travel on foot. It's as bayou as you can get and still be in Texas. Creeks and rivers run through it like veins, proning the area to flash floods. The most common side is tightly packed forest

pushed up against black top roads. The most common way to die is falling asleep at the wheel or being ambushed by a suicidal deer. Since there's not a lot of people, and these people are poor, it means deputies are paid crap. Not that I was only in it for the pay. I love being a cop. I pledged to be one of the good ones

that stuck to his ideals and didn't become a cynical asshole. Well, I stuck to my ideals, but became more of an asshole each passing day. What's worse than the pay is the safety concerns. There are only two deputies out on a given night, one for the south end and one for north. This means your only backup is usually 20 to 40 minutes away from you. And if your partner is also handling an emergency, then you're out of luck. This made the area seem like one of the last remaining bits of the Wild West.

It really had to keep your wit sharp and watch your six when all alone in the woods. As romantic as the idea it was of being like Walker, Texas Ranger, and almost got me killed. It was the perfect storm of circumstances. My county had suffered severe flooding the week before this story happened. The water was going down in most parts, but some places were still flooded. Another great thing was our radios had been down all day. Someone coming to fix it in the morning, and the rain began pouring down.

The call came in around midnight about a man beating on a woman's door. The man was demanding to be let in out of the rain. The woman said she was alone with her baby and needed a cop fast. I was in the dispatch located in the jail side of the sheriff's department when the call came in. My dispatcher was like a mother hen, gave me a look. The, I've got a live one, look. Her eyebrows raised as she snapped at me to get my attention. Her phone tucked to her ear while the other hand typed furiously.

I listened to her repeat information out loud for me as I scribbled down the caller's address in my notepact. He was in the flash flood zone. It was passable, but the continued. The continuing storm was changing this quick. Another hour of hard rain would cut it off from the rest of the world. My dispatcher swiveled in her chair to look right at me, her face serious. Call on me when you get close. Radio's is still down, so I'll call you every ten minutes for a security check.

Got it, I said, as I spun around to hurry to my patrol car. I let the South End deputy know what you got in case he needs to get you. She quipped as the heavy door to the jail slam behind me. I appreciated the gesture from her, but having backup almost an hour away didn't mean much if things popped off. Backup could be coming from the moon for all the difference it would make. I squeezed myself into the crowded front seat of my patrol vehicle. I hadn't even entered the address into my onboard GPS when my phone started ringing. It was dispatch.

What did you got? There was an unusual pause before she spoke. I could hear the concern in her voice. Hey, I just learned this. Our caller said it might be Ezekiel Burrows out there. I paused before turning the key in the ignition. This was not good. I dealt with a physique before.

It was back when I was a rookie. I'll have to put this story on hold to fill you in with a flashback episode first. So I'd been working for about two weeks at the time. I was still riding shotgun with my effigy. An anonymous caller rang the sheriff's department complaining Zeke and his old brother were driving around pointing guns at people and firing into the air. My FTO was a stereotype of an old county cop who was about to retire. He was laid back and calmly gave instructions between drags of the cigarette. He wore a bushy white walrus mustache and cowboy hat that fitted him perfectly.

When the call came across the radio, his demeanor flipped like a switch. He sat forward and flicked his sick out of the window. His face darkened. Okay, deputy, this could get serious. Stay alert, stay close, and do everything I tell you. We were burning towards the call pretty fast when he offered his additional piece of information. On all these two brothers, they've been known to fight with, please. Don't be afraid to go hands-on if you need to.

He saddened his slow, Texas draw. My body dumped a ton of adrenaline for a fight or flight response, and I felt my stomach turn. I was glad my FTA was so calm for me. In those days I used to be ashamed of the butterflies in my stomach. I thought it meant I was weak or a camera. Now I realize it's my body's way of protecting itself, and I needed to embrace the feeling. We found the brothers slow rolling around in a hunter-green dargenyon. It was missing a driver's side mirror and had a giant hole where a red brake light should be.

It's great when they made our job easy. We initiated a felony takedown. That's pretty much when you point your weapon at the suspect vehicle while standing behind your open car door. You give loud verbal commands like, Driver, step out of the vehicle slowly. Anyway, we have both of them pulled out and detained in handcuffs. Nothing have not really happened except for there being too shocked. guns and three rifles in the back seats, ammo and shell casings everywhere. Not illegal in the state

of Texas, just highly suspicious. The original caller wanted to remain anonymous, so we had nothing to prove they were firing from the vehicle. My FDO dealt with Zieg's order brother, while I talk with Zeeke. Well, I can't remember the brother's name. We'll just call him Terd for now. My FTO had our dispatch from both of their names to see if they had any active. warrants. So we got some tense and awkward minutes with the brothers while they waited to see if they were going to jail or not. Tud ran at the mouth for the duration of the stop. Caught us every racist and log a thing in his extensive vocabulary of no-no words. Me, being a rookie, got a little flustered at some of the things he'd allegedly done to my mother, so I turned my attention to

Zeeke. Zeeq stood there downcast and drenched in sweat. It was only 80 degrees, but he looked like he was about to suffer a heat stroke. His whole body began to tremble slightly, swayed back and forth. You okay, Zeke? I asked as I stepped closer to him. I thought I might have to catch him if he passed out on me. You see, Zeke smelled like hot garbage.

It was pretty overpowering, a mixture of sweat and ass. I didn't want to touch him. He was cuffed behind his back. Couldn't let him tip over, with nothing but his head to break his form. Lucky for me, Zieg straightened up when I reached for him. His eyes bulged as he looked right at me.

His teeth bared in a grimace. Is this one going to kill me, Jesus? He whispered in a raspy voice. His vacant eyes locked with mine. No, Zeeke. You're just been detained while we check if it's good to let you and your brother go. I said, well, trying to hide how creeped out I was. as he paused and tilted his head to the side slightly.

A smirk touched the edge of his mouth as he nodded like he was in agreement with something. The next thing he said was something really strange. It's been a while since that day, so my memory is foggy, but I remember it being something like, I'm supposed to tell you to remember my face during the massacre. What? I said as I turned to face him squarely. This brother must have heard the change in my tone of voice. He leaned over to yell past my FDO. Ah, keep your mouth shut, Zeeke. Let me handle these pigs.

Zeke considered his brother calmly and replied, You'll be all alone when you die, brother. Tird's eyes widened and I saw pure fear flash across his face. He scoffed and tried to play it off by laughing, but I could see through his brother. Ravado. His brother scared him. Long story short, both brothers came back clear of warrants. The original 911 caller wanted to remain anonymous. This meant we had no witness to any alleged illegal activity. With nothing to hold them for, we let them lose. But I do remember one more creepy thing, Zeek said. When they were uncuffed, the two walked back to their car.

Tud went for the driver's seat and Zeek went to sit in the seat behind it I'm your chauffeur for now Bish Tud asked angrily Zeek was staring at something in the passenger seat while shaking his head slowly No

Zieg replied coolly He's already sitting there I'm not gonna make him mad He's been staring at you all day Tud sent something muffled to Zeeke And got into the driver's As they drove over the driver's As they drove away I could see Zeke sitting in the back, half turned and pointing at something beside his brother in the passenger seats.

Before they pull out of earshot, I could hear Tard begin to scream profanities at his brother. So that's the, uh, previously on the TV show of my life. That was my first running with Zeke. Now it seemed I was racing to him again years later. Zeke's little origin story always sat different with me. I never encountered him in person after that initial contact but word of his exploits would always reach me an elderly woman had her door kicked him by the two brothers

she was beaten and robbed didn't call the cops until a week later because her grandson made her she was too terrified to give a witness statement but the grandson told me the entire street knew it was zeke and turd an outdoor birthday party cancelled when zeke popped out of the woods and started firing a shotgun in the air. I spent the rest of the night trying to reel in a trick a happy relative looking for Zeke in the woods.

The caller we 90% knew was Zeke, kept calling dispatch and threatened to kill the sheriff on recorded lines. He was mad his brother had been arrested. The problem was. Turd was arrested by a neighbouring county, not us. It was evident Zeke was sliding further and further to the dark sides. He was the red letter to. my Batman. I could never catch up with him. He just left problems for me to deal with.

But now maybe, I had him. I could physically put cuffs on him. My GPS said I was 10 minutes out from the caller's house. It's going to be a little longer because of the downpour. Visibility was low and I could feel my ride trying to hydroplane a few times. When it was about two minutes out, the road before me just seemed to disappear. The white lines just vanished as water flooded the road. Turning on my takedown lights didn't reveal where the high water ended, so I stepped out of my car to take a better look, and the darkness all I could hear was the sporadic thumping of droplets hitting my raincoat, and the mechanical back and forth of my wipers in overdrive.

Before me was a flat plain of water rippling from millions of raindrops. Every few seconds the area would illuminate with lightning, showing me that deep water continued around the bend in the road. My mind went back to the PS1 days a silent hill. First thing I did as a terrified fifth grader was trying to leave the town, only to find an endless drop-off in the dense fog. I had the similar feeling of dread now. But this time it was an impromptu lake and not a cliff. And I was running towards the danger, not away from it. I was where my options and considered letting dispatch know it was impassable. I was in a charger, not a Tahoe. Maybe Zeke found somewhere else to stay dry, I mean, and I mean he hasn't broken any

launch yet. My phone began to ring. It was dispatch. Before I could even say hello, I was met with. You there yet, deputy? I'm around the corner. There's, he's back. My dispatcher half shouted. She said he's kicking the door and beating on the windows. I can hear him threatening to hurt her in the background. At this moment only one course of action was clear. I guess I'd be swimming if I had to. Slowly but steadily submerged my vehicle into the dark waters. I was praying it wouldn't drown out as the waters rose to about two feet high around me. Water began seeping in from the bottom to the doors as I made my way around the bend in the road. I could see land before me as I began to get more traction and pull up out of the water. I gasped my vehicle.

vehicle to give it one last lurch to exit the water and spin out into the muddy road. I hit the brakes to get a quick layout of my surroundings. The red stop sign of a four-way intersection reflected back at me. I was now in a small residential community. A GPS told me the caller's house was across the intersection and three houses down on the left. It was hard to see it through the downpull, but I could see the road disappear under the water again. I got out and began to walk. I wasn't going to risk getting my car stuck and trapped in the driveway.

As I sloshed forward, tension began to build in the back of my neck. Silent lightning would periodically illuminate me in a sea of ripples. Cold feeling surrounded my thoughts. A black hole opened in my stomach, sucking all the confidence from me. This was new. I'd been scared before, but a fight or flight always set in. with a burst of nervous energy. This was surreal. I felt like I was dreaming. I felt dread. I felt alone. I was in water up to my knees when I reached the yard. I finally got some higher ground

the closer I came to the front door. I squished around to my left and my right, checking the sides of the house. The house was a double-sized trailer elevated three feet off the ground on stilts. I had to walk up the steep stairs to knock on the door. Sheriff's department, I yelled over the rain. I jumped back down with a splash of the narrow steps and scanned the darkness. I had heard rumbling at the door as it opened a couple of inches. I could see a feminine face peeking out at me. Can I see a badge or something?

Came her fearful voice. I cocked my head at this before I realized I was completely covered in my yellow, wired, earth raincoat. I unbotted my trench coat and shot my flashlight on my badge and Judy bowled. He was here just now. She said nervously. Her eyes darted back and forth, scanning the darkness. I could hear the frantic cries of her child from deeper in the house. Lock the door, but stay by it for me.

I'll check around back, so don't worry if you hear me making noise back there. I waited till I heard her lock the door before pulling out my gun and circling around to the left. circled round the whole house slowly, making the corners with deliberate slowness. A small but powerful flashlight held at the center of my chest, and my gun at low, ready. The entire perimeter of the house checked clear. My head was on a swivel, checking the thick forest pushing in from the darkness. I even checked her small cut, pulled on the doors to see if they were left unlocked. There was nothing suspicious.

He was gone. But I felt eyes on me. The cold dread sat heavy in my stomach, making me slightly nauseous. I could feel a nervous tingle at the base of my skull, making me want to turn my head frequently. Then the obvious realization hit me, causing an extra punch to the gut. He was under the house. It was three feet off the ground.

My dumb ass had been walking around it. I was standing with my back a foot away from the house. I immediately dropped to one knee with a splash and twist to aim my weapon and light under the house. My mind half expecting the jump scare from Zeke. Again to the scene where they first showed the xenomorph in the vents on alien. My finger slowly loosened off the trigger as I saw nothing but interlocking planks of wood, cobwebs and more darkness. I couldn't see fully under the house because it had been used to store old junk like a lawnmower sandbags and all bicycles. I stared intently for a while, trying to make out a human form.

Every time I moved the blinding bea in light, it caused dark shadows to dance underneath, mimicking movements. I wasn't satisfied that he wasn't under there, but I couldn't see a damn thing. I backed away from the house and began to think. He was near, and he was probably watching me. I comforted myself with the realization he was scared of me, and I had a captive audience. He was either under the house or waiting in the forest trying not to make a sound by running. Zeke, I projected my voice with as much of authority as I could. This is the sheriff department. We know it's you out there.

I did a 360 scan around me with my flashlight as I slowly continued. You haven't broken any laws yet. Go home now and that's the end of it. If I have to come back, you are definitely going to jail. I promise that. As I finish my speech, I let the silence hang in the air for a dramatic fact. Thunder rolled in the distance to punctuate my seriousness. Feeling confident in my ultimatum, I sloshed my way back to my patrol car.

But don't get me twisted, dear listener. I'm not inept or cowardly. I had a plan and leaving was a ruse. When I got to my car I called dispatch to tell her the plan. I told her to let our caller know I was going to drive back to the stop sign down the road and dark out to wait for Zeek to return. Soon I was back in my car with all the lights out, staring down the dark road towards the house.

As I sudden the darkness listening to the chaotic storm enveloped me. I'd check my phone. Only ten minutes had passed, when I swear it had been an eternity. The strange dreamlike feeling flooded over me again. I had a quick thought telling me I never should have gone to the house in the first place. I'd been just sitting here imagining the whole series of events that had just passed. Unsure, I patted my ankles to see if they were still wet. They weren't.

I'd never trunched in the water to check on the scared mother. but I remember doing it I don't know things are so foggy I had the sudden urge to cry didn't know why I just felt scared so alone nothing made sense

I thought back a sob the harsh voice spoke to me cutting through my confusion like a poison knife through my brain said I should just end it I should just use the tool holster on my hip. I put my head against the coolness of my window.

Hot tears ran down my face as my hand fumbled with the retention locks on my holster. The coolness of the window was my only relief before the end. Good thing it was snowing. The snow always made me sad as it formed a white coat of ice on my windows. Wait, what? Snow in Texas.

I jorted with a gasp in my seat, as if waking from my window. a dream. Maybe I was. A microdream? I had had a couple of those in marine boot due to sleep deprivation. But why had it happened now? I shook my head vigorously to get my bearings back. The dark thoughts fled from me. I realized that power on the street must have gone out while I was in my reverie because no light was coming from any of the houses. Visibility was zero and the storm was a deafening cacophony by now. Alone with my thoughts in the darkness, I doubted my plan. I'd had enough of my mind playing tricks on me and wondered how long I should just sit here like a creeper until I had to go

back to regular patrol. My phone lit up and I jumped to answer it before it could even ring. I immediately recognized my dispatcher's voice, but it sounded too far away. He's back. Right now, her voice cut out and the call drop noise chimed in my ear yeah sometimes the cell towers were spotty out here especially during storms now i had a useless phone i couldn't call backup we only hope was that my dispatcher would get my partner rolling my way he was around 30 minutes to an hour away remember as i slammed my door behind me began slogging through the rain i thought to myself On nights like this, I knew the future. I could just imagine the darkest timeline of events and it would happen.

The thought of my cell phone crapping out had been a whisper in my mind since the night began. I didn't bring it to the forefront of my thoughts in hope it wouldn't manifest, but it came true along with all the other bad vibes of the night. I prayed no more latent fears would come to fruition, especially the deepest fear we all have suppressed every time we wear a badge. I was splashing through the mini ocean leading up to the front porch when I heard the screaming of the child's. Not the normal screaming of a fussy infant but a sharp raspy scream,

as if the child's throat was hurting from the exertion. Out came my gun again as I quickly ran towards the steep stairs. I did a quick duck to scan under the house with my light before I possessed. position myself beside the narrow stairs. I didn't go up them due to hearing about cops being shot off porches through closed doors as soon as they announced themselves. I banged on the lower part of the door with a fist and announced myself. I waited a beat for an answer or a gunshot. None came, so I weighed my options. They didn't have consent or research warrant, but what I did have was good old exigent circumstance.

Exigent circumstance is what firefighters used to kick your door in when they smell smoke. As long as I believe danger is on the other side of the door, I can ram it in. The baby screams became choking cops, and I heard something thumb loudly inside. I hopped up the stairs and prepared to launch my shoulder into the door. A tiny voice in my head urged me to see if the door was unlocked. It should still be locked from last time, but I tried it anyways. It opened a crack, and I was hit with an awful stench. The closest thing I can compare it to is someone with a severe sinus infection,

waking up with morning breath, having eaten rotten eggs, and they blew it in your face. I pulled my head back to see a bulging eye staring at me from the top corner of the door. But this eye reflected like a cat's or a raccoon. It stared down at me with a dotted purple. In the split second before I kicked that door open, I could see the eye glint with purple and then retreated. I could hear a growl of a dog as the door swung open to the darkness within. My flashlight and my weapons swung around frantically searching for a dog or tall intruder

with red eyes. I saw nothing but a living room. TV to my right, couch to my left. counter in front of me separating the living room from the kitchen. I could hear the child screaming and coughing from the hallway to my left. I took a couple of tentative steps towards the cries, and a figure rushed out of the hallway towards me. I let out a yell and level my glock to fire.

I thank God I froze for an instant instead of shooting reflexively. In that split second that followed, I saw the mother with her head tilted sideways in her eyes rolled. back. Her arms were trailing limply behind her as she fell. I sigh stepped out of her way and she crumpled to the floor beside me with a thought. In hindsight, maybe I should have caught her. But maybe part of me knew she'd been thrown, so I kept my weapon aim down the hallway. Or that's what I tell myself anyways. The hallway was only six feet long. The bedroom to the right and left with a bathroom in the middle. I had been in countless trailers with this layout. The bathroom door was

closed, so whoever threw her could be to the right or the left taking cover. I could see both of the doors were open. I spared a glance down at the woman. She was on her side facing me. Young and attractive, she was only in a light shirt and underwear. Her eyes were open and she was breathing in quick short bursts. Her eyes had a trance like. Her eyes had a trance like. stare and I could see her skin glissed with a layer of sweat. I couldn't see blood or any physical injuries on her, but she reminded me of a fish taken out of water, slowly dying. When I returned my gaze to the hallway, my brain couldn't make sense of what I was seeing. It appeared the hallway had gotten longer, where my flashlight had once illuminated the bathroom door. Now there was only

pitch blackness. I moved my flashlight. back and forth to reveal the darkness was a fixed object, like a cloud at the lip of the doorway. Even as I squinted and tried to grasp what I was seeing, the darkness seemed to grow closer. It leaked out like a fog into the living room. The doorframe faded to blackness, then the walls around it, then parts of the couch beside it. The best way I can explain it is it looked like the world in front of me was disappearing, being swallowed. by the void. The dark reached out across the room to flood after me. I looked down to see the world drop off into nothing else about a foot away from me. The bare legs of the woman

laying beside me had already been consumed by it. I tried in vain to wave the darkness away with my light but to no avail. I backed into the TV and knocked it over. Familiar panic began to boil over within me as the dark whispers tore through my mind. again. It was the same despair I'd felt back in the car. I wasn't afraid of dying on the job, but this was different. What was this darkness? What unimaginable terror waited for me in the approaching void? What did it take me to hell? If I died here, would God even see me? The darkness was just out of arm's reach, when the glow of my flashlight was snuffed out, I was plunged into absolute dark.

My last light of hope disappearing caused a primal scream to build up in my throat. One last terrified plea before the madness overtook me. Oh, Jesus! I blink rapidly as my flashlight sprung back to life, illuminating the room around me. The unnatural darkness had retreated. I blink repeatedly as the horrid thoughts flew through me, leaving me shaking and whimpering. I fought the urge to run out of the door and forget stupid ideas like honour and duty.

As I supported myself against the TV, leaning against the wall, I began to catch my breath. I did a couple of rounds of combat breathing to lower my racing hearts. I also let out a curse word every other exhale. I had a job to do, and I knew I had to replace paralyzing fear with something else. life had taught me anger could override fear and pushed you past exhaustion in a pinch I also steadied myself with a mental checklist I would finish this call I'd find the baby call an ambulance for mum and stop Zieg

or whatever it was out here then I could go 10-8 and drink coffee at the office everything would be like normal and now down to check on the mother She wouldn't respond to anything, I asked her. Her pupils were as big as sources and showed no reaction to my light. A brief pat-down revealed no apparent injuries. But then I heard it again.

A soft cry of an infant. But it wasn't coming from the hallway. It sounded closer. I shut up and immediately saw a figure to the right of my periphery. I twirled to highlight a dark figure of a person standing in the kitchen. The figure's back was turned to me with shoulders hunched. It wore a ratty black raincoat, torn and frayed. Let me see your hands.

I yelled. The figure didn't budge. I could hear him mumbling as he bobbed his shoulder. Hey, listen to me, asshole. I swear to God I will shoot you. Hands up, turn around slowly. I could hear him start softly cooing. But my hands are full.

deputy. He croaked as he slowly turned around. It was Zeke, he was cradling the baby in his arms. My whole body tensed up at this sight. The child couldn't have been more than a year old. I could see the child moving its arms and wiggling about. Thank God for that, but Zeke's grip was firmly around the base of his skull. His disgusting hand, palming its delicate head like he was holding a baseball. The dirty nail of his on pointer finger, gently tapping the child's nose. I mentally weighed my options. Seeing Zeke holding the child reminded me of how terrified I felt when I first held my newborn nephew. It was so fragile. I thought I could crush him on accident. I knew Zeke was playing upon that fear to keep me at bay. I could shoot him in the face.

It wouldn't be the hardest shot to make. He wasn't but seven feet from me, but he would drop the baby. As if sensing my thoughts, Zieg let go over the child's head and it dangled upside down by the leg. Now the child commenced the screaming as it swung back and forth like a pendulum.

Zeke outstretched his arm, presenting the baby to me, purposefully holding the baby directly in front of the muzzle of my gun. Take the shot, kill the back. That guy, save the family, Zeke hissed. It's what you trained all these years for.

He took a step towards me, shortening the distance to about four feet. I could see the tears pouring out of the child's chubby face, running down its forehead to sprinkle to the flock. I pulled my gun away from the child and held it close to my chest, terrified to have something so dangerous, so close to something so precious. I took a half step back when I realized. I was losing my one advantage. Zeke thought I had tunnel vision on shooting him.

He expected me to step back and keep my distance like cops were trained to do, but I always liked a good fight. I quickly came up with a plan to holster my weapon while rushing him. I grabbed the baby with my off hand while giving him a low kick right to the knee. I catch him off guard by springing my attack

in the middle of telling him something, something everybody knew. Zieg, listen to me. You have the right to remain silent. My gun started to lower to my holster, my offhand pointing the light in his eyes. Anything you say can be used against you. A grin began to widen on Zieg's face. If you cannot afford a... I tensed to attack. Zieg whipped the baby into the air. Time slowed around me as I saw the child arch upwards to almost almost hit the ceiling. I must have instinctly dropped my weapon and light as my arms reached to catch the baby as it descended. My hands searched the darkness where my brain predicted

the falling child should be. I've had its soft body and eagerly pulled the child to my chest. The instant my brain confirmed I'd secured the infant. My eyesight exploded with stars as my head rocked back. While reeling backwards another blow hit the inside of my right knee. I buckled and fell to my back, the gear on my duty belt jamming painfully into me. The entire time my arms desperately wrapped around the screaming child. I immediately began frantically searching the ground around me with my right hand. I could not let Zieg get my weapon. I began to sit up and roll to my side in a desperate attempt to shield the baby.

I received a crushing knee to the belly as Zieg landed on me with all his weight. I let out a grunt of pain and wrapped the child tighter to my chest. He straddled me and pulled himself closer by the collar of my overvest. I could tell his telltale stench cascading off of him, his enlarged eyes staring into mine. I realized with horror that Zeek had no intention of going for my gun. With a cray smile on his face, he embraced me in a hug and began to squeeze. He was going to use me to squeeze the life out of the baby. I had to recall my searching right hand to push back against Zeke.

And we struggled like that for what seemed like in eternity. He was mounted on top of me, giving me a bear hug, and I desperately tried pushing him away with my right hand while shielding the baby with my left. And I knew the amount of force he was putting on me was unnatural. He was wiring about six inches shorter than me. I had at least £40 on the guy, and I was in decent shape. But I felt my back crack and I gasped as my muscles were quickly pushed to the point of muscle failure. The poor child began to wheeze as our bodies sandwiched him. I was getting desperate and my mind brought up a memory I tucked away for a rainy day, hoping I'd never have to use it.

I remembered a salty former devil dog, SWAT instructor teaching us room-clearing tactics in the academy. It was the end of the day and he began to share war stories about his side. time in the core. Most people don't know the quickest way to kill someone is putting your thumb right through the bad guy's eye-suckings. He'd said with a wicked smile, mimicking the action by thrusting his gnarled thumb with a quick jab.

Straight into the brain. He finished as he twisted his thumb and made a squish sound with his mouth. Yeah, my body cringed just like yours did as you heard this. He must have seen the group of us cadets physically withdraw and continued. The trick is getting your brain to override your sense of basic

human decency. Kill another human in this horrific way. Your mind will fight you, it's not natural to want to do this to your fellow man. Even now that you know it, you won't be able to do it when the time comes. I was used to the mind games

and hazing from alpha military types, trying to scare us into quitting. I thought on what he'd said that day. I'm sure if I could kill a man or maim someone in such a horrible way, I would have to exhaust all other options. But now, as I lay on my back, my body failing, and a child being crushed between us, I had to dig deep to survive. Zeke blinked for the first time during this whole confrontation.

A look of realization passed over him. He grinned even wider as he began to chuckle. He released me from his hug and quickly grabbed my heart. my head with both hands. His thumbs moving from my eyes. I closed my eyes as I felt his dirty thumbnail scraped across my eyelids. Panic leapt inside me as I realized what he was doing. Even though my eyes were closed, I had a mental picture of where he was, and my right hand struck out and my thumb pierced through something soft and warm. A warm liquid immediately aggrulfed my hand and splashed across my face. I didn't realize I was screaming until the copper-tasting

liquid poured into my mouth. I could taste what it was, and I knew what I'd done. But I had to open my eyes to see. Zeke's grip had slacken enough for me to open my eyes to peek at the damage. Sure enough, my thumb was deeply embedded in Zeke's eye socket. He still grinned maniacly at me his blood oozed out of him. I pushed him up and away from me as I bucked and twisted frantically. He finally rolled off to my left and my thumb came free from him. I heard him kicking, thumping away from me as he retreated into the darkness. I set up with a child and quickly searched to my right for my gun.

I found it and snatched it up quickly and then scanned the room. I couldn't see-seek, so I scanned back and forth repeatedly. The child resumed its deafening scream, and I could feel my heart pounding through my entire body. After a couple of moments of pointing my weapon at the dark and cradling the child, my mind began to work again. I noticed how strange my weapon fell in my blood-covered hands. I noticed the screaming baby sounded loud and healthy, and I noticed we were both alone. Alone.

The child's mother was missing. I sat there, overwhelmed, but first things first, I had to deal with the infant in my arms. Retrieving my light, I slowly stood and searched the room for a safe place to lay my screaming bundle. I settled with placing the baby on the floor and building up a pillow fort around it with throw pillows. I could feel precious seconds being wasted. As much as I wanted to stay with a baby, the longer Zieg was alone with the mother.

with trepidation I stood to face the hallway. Zeke must have taken her back there. I stepped forward, deciding on the door to my right first. My kick blasted the door open as my light flooded the room. It revealed a woman's bedroom that had been completely trashed. It looked like an explosion had occurred from a large hole in the center of the room. Wood and torn carpet was scattered all across the area. The flooring was bent up and outwards like something had come up.

up through the bottom. I leaned over the hole to see down into the muddy ground beneath. Is this how Zieg got him? Look like the Hulk had smashed his way up through the floor. Any other time I wouldn't have believed it, but sanity had left the moment I was dispatched to this house. I knew he could still be down there with her. If I crawled down there, I'd be put myself in dangerously tight corridors with Zeeke again. I didn't want another wrestling match with his freakish strength. A bolt of lightning crashed somewhere close. The bright strobe outlining a tall figure outside the bedroom window. I looked up to catch only a glimpse of it before it vanished. But he was a tall, imposing humanoid figure of blackness with purple

reflecting eyes. It must have been ten feet tall, pressing its hands and face against the other side of the glass. As quickly as I saw it, it winked out of existence. only after the image of it in my mind. I shuffled around the hole to look out the window. Standing further out in the backyard, it was a group of shadows. I didn't have to wait long for another lightning strike to illuminate the night. What the light exposed hardly surprised me, but it made me shudder anyways. It was Zeke, soaking in the rain,

his outstretched arm holding the mother up by the back of her neck to face me. The unnatural ease in which she held her outwards was as effortless as he had held the baby was as if he was presenting her to me. A twisted grin dominated his bloodied, one-eyed face as she hung limply. He beckoned me with his free hand to come before turning curtly and strolling for the woods with her. Spat a curse at him as he faded into the trees. I had to get her back. I couldn't care less if he got away in the end. but I couldn't live with my final memory of her being taken by that grinning cyclops.

He'd sought her out this night. I had to stop whatever morbid plans he'd had for her. I ran back into the kitchen and located a back door. I flew out into the cold rain, jumping down the slick steps and sprinting towards the woods. I could see where the foliage parted to make a small pathway. This was around the place I'd last spotted Zeke, so he must have taken. taken it. Once I hit the tree line, my momentum almost came to a stop. The water sloshed up to my knees as I took heavy steps forward. After trudging a few yards into the woods, I spotted a glimpse of movement pulling away from me. Every time I thought I'd lost Zeeks Trail, I'd see him slipping further into the darkness, dragging the poor woman with him. My legs burned as I forced myself forward through the deep foliage. I tried to keep Zeke in my sights with blinding trees and vines. I don't know how long I chased after him.

Time did its weird thing again. I fell into a fugue state of desperation and exhaustion. All I knew was I had to keep moving forward. Though I was surrounded by a thick forest, I felt isolated, like I was floating in the void of space or standing at the edge of a great chasm. The darkness outside the reach of my life, was a void into nothing. It seemed only the immediate area where I stood were solid. The only things tangible around me were the figures my light discovered. As soon as I moved past the ground I stood on, or my light passed by the surroundings, the matter returned to nothing. I could fall into the abyss and never be heard from again. Another soul lost to the

forest. How long would it take before people noticed I was missing? Maybe it would be deemed important enough for a small local news report. My sheriff might call in reserves and troopers to have the woods search for me, but after a couple of weeks it would be called off. Too expensive to keep up. I know because I've seen it happen a couple of times. I would just be gone. No one would really know that I'd been swallowed up by despair,

that I had glitched out of this reality to be a forever falling in darkness. In my grim reverie of stalking after Zeke, I was vaguely aware of something shadowing me. From my peripherals I catch the dark figure with purple eyes keeping pace with me. I could smell the stink of Beo and bad breath wafting around me. I wanted to turn my head and face the creature directly, but was too afraid of losing the track of Zeke. He was pulling further and further away from me as my body screamed for rest. Zeek disappeared through some shrubbery, and I yelled in frustration as I urged myself to speed up. Corners of my vision faded, and I knew I was on the verge of passing out.

On the cusp of falling into the water in exhaustion, I broke through the shrubs and entered a clearing. I looked around in wonder, a perfect circle with a 30-yard diameter. In the middle of the clearing stood an old tree stump, jetting three feet out of the water. I could see a small sapling shooting out of the dead tree. His skinny branches reaching about 15 feet above the water. With a flash of lightning, I noticed Zeke standing next to the tree, holding the slumping woman by the column. He had his hand reached up playing with something swinging from the tree.

As I stumbled over, I could see it was a noose. Something old for something new, Zeke proclaimed loudly, still focused on the news. This is what my Jesus demands. The way he said, my Jesus, made it clear it wasn't the Jesus Joel Olstein was peddling. He finally turned to face me. With an effortless and fluid motion, he hoisted the limp woman atop the tree stump. Ah, it's got to be something sweet, he says.

Zieg groaned. His one eye throwing daggers at me. Maybe it can be you. Let's see what he says. But someone hangs from the tree. I want you. You and the baby are just a bonus. After the massacre, I'll return to stop the life out of that child.

I'd had about enough of this cryptic voodoo talk and threats. I knew I couldn't take him hand to hand, but now he couldn't use the woman as a shield. I levered my pistol and fired two quick bursts. My ears rang after the shots, the smell of gumpowder enveloping me. Two sporadic sounds of bloop, bloop, as the casings hit the water. I closed the gap between us to about five yards, an easy shot. So why didn't Zeke go down?

Not even a flinch. I figured excitement and heart rate had made me miss. So in anger, I squeezed off five more rounds while marching to one. He felt like I was shooting through a shadow. He just stared at me with his cyclops eye. And when I came to about seven feet, I stopped. We stared at each other for a while. Him glaring while I breathed raggedly.

The only movement was the downpour around us. I was out of options. Began to dawn on me I was going to die out here with a girl. We were both going to die, and I couldn't save her. save her. I'd chosen to chase this possessed man to the place from where I would never return, a willing sacrifice. A mental picture flashed through my head. I'd be laid out on the tree stump, like a tribute on an altar, while the woman hung lifeless from the branch above me. Zeke smiled at me gave a short laugh. He stretched his arms out wide, as if welcoming me for a hug.

And that's when I saw it. No more hiding in the corners of my vision. It revealed itself to me. A tall figure peaked out from the hangman tree behind Zeke, his purple eyes glinting. I saw it clearly as I ever could. The inky black profile of a humanoid standing three feet taller than Zeke. It's made out of the same unnatural blackness that had almost consumed me back in the house. My light was useless at dispersing it. It stretched out an unnaturally long hand to lay it atop Zeke's head. Zeke closed his remaining eye and began to quiver, shaking like a holy ghost televangelist. No, deputy, Zeke spoke in a throaty cackle.

He jerked his head from side to side, the entity never releasing its grit. Zeeke gave a terrible cough and heaved his chest like he was about to throw up. It was as if his body was trying to reject the monster leaching off of him. My Jesus has made a decision. He wants the woman. She has a sweetness most deserving defilement, a kindness to rip and tear. Her desecration will be in agony felt most by those who love her.

In return, I receive his gifts. Ah, the fruits of the spirit. Once again, I felt the world around me fall out of focus. Some dark magic was pulling me under a truce. The veil of reality thinned, and the cold darkness waited for my soul to fall in. I was so tired. Why fight it? I lazily put my gun back in its holster and nonchalantly drop my light into the water.

I felt the cold creep up my body, like terrible. claws. The unnatural cold took over, and I realized I couldn't move, or I didn't want to move. Either way, it didn't matter. I realized the rain had stopped, turned off like a switch. I moved my eyes around in my frozen head to see millions of droplets frozen in the air. It was as if time had stopped and the rain was suspended like little planets floating against a dark galaxy. As he looked up and marvelled at the sights. The dark entity moved out from behind the tree. My eyes were adjusted enough to the moonlight in the clearing to see the inky black mass getting closer. Panic rose within me. I didn't want that thing any closer. Not to touch me. I just knew if it touched me it would be

the most violating thing ever. But I still didn't move. It was useless to resist. The darkness was inevitable. It lowered itself in front of me, his glinting sorcery staring into mine. And of course, that overwhelming smell followed. It reached out a pitch black hand to lay on top of my head. When it touched, a jolt of energy shot through me. I could feel its hate, his disgust towards me. But it wasn't just me, it was everything, even Zeke. Zeke was just a means to an end.

A plaything used to spread wrath and to hurt others. But then the real event started. As I stood there, dumbstruck. It showed me things. I saw the woman standing. It told me her name was Elisa. She wore the same blank look that I had. And then realization flooded back into her face.

She blinked rapidly and began to whimper. She made eye contact with Zeke, with VIII. me, then the dark figure. Her eyes bulsh as if pleading for escape. What followed then, I am not sure of. Time was hard to measure, but it felt like an eternity. I don't know if it was real or I was in a trance. Maybe it was a little of both. Both of us locked away in cracks in reality. This crack that let the darkness in to infect and corrupt. I stood motionless. with tears streaming down my face as they tortured Elisa right in front of me. Zeke ravished her in countless ways with the entity hovering closely over his shoulder.

Knives and cutting instruments would be handed to him out of the dark mass of the thing. They committed acts of violence which I will never repeat, never describe. But I could see Elisa felt all of it. She would scream through gritted teeth. Her eyes bulging so much it seemed as, if they would pop out. At the end of the mutilation, Elisa always ended up hanging from the noose. In a malicious display of sadism, Elisa would be granted the use of her desecrated body. She would thrash around and weakly try to free herself from the rope around her neck.

But she never got free. But right before she stopped struggling, the scene would reset, jump back in time, and she would be completely healed and standing there in the world. water, trapped in her own body, waiting for the ritual to begin again. I don't know how long it went on. Maybe hours, maybe days, and time had no meaning. As the macabre show played out on repeat again and again, I began to lose hope just as assuredly as Alyssa must have. I had given up, I had failed. I was a fool and deserved this cruel fate.

and maybe even deserved worse. No, I deserved worse. It was a self-defeating statement that turned out to be my salvation. The lifeline to pull me out of the bottomless pit that I was sinking into, but at first it was just another arrow to my heart, another stone tied around my feet. I did deserve worse. It should be me up there.

I'd taken the job to help people like her. and how I had failed. Standing on the sidelines watching this mother be assaulted on repeat, I had no kids, I was just a single, useless man. Nobody would really miss me. I should take her place. This thought sparked through my mind like lightning.

It was my job to stand in front of the innocent when the wolf came. Zeke spoke of sacrifice. Yeah, I could take her place. Maybe find some semblance, of honour for my pathetic actions. My fetal warmth began to grow inside of me. Zeke had cut Elisa hundreds of times and now led her to step on the stump so he could

put the rope around her neck. I didn't know what was happening at the time. My brain was still caught in a feverish cycle of self-hate. Wanting to take her place, hating it was her instead of me. I began to regain control of my body, and I moved sluggishly towards Zeke. But he was too preoccupied with Elisa. I saw the entity spin around to face me. His eyes somehow bigger.

I let out a deep growl that reverberated in my brain, but he did not attack. Zeke had fastened the rope around Elisa's neck and stepped down to admire his work. Elisa let out an audible whimper as tears flooded her eyes. She knew what was coming. Maybe she prayed she'd be allowed to die this time. "'Zeeke said, grinning through his teeth. "'Alysa stepped off the stump and began to choke. "'Her legs kicking slightly as she swung back and forth.

"'I noticed she didn't even attempt to remove the noose. "'She had given up. "'No!' I screamed as I shouldered past Zeeke. "'He reeled back in surprise. "'I ran up and grabbed Elisa's legs and lifted, "'taking the strain off her neck. "'Let me do it. it needs to me me, not her, not her!

I screamed with insane father. He took Elisa a moment to realize I'd finally come to her age. I screamed for her to take off the noose. She began squirming and pulling at the rope around her neck. I lifted her up further and stabilized her enough to remove the rope and topple us both over into the water. The cold of the water completely knocked my body out of its sluggish stupor, but my mind was still all haywire. I pulled her Lisa out of the water and leaned her against the tree trunk.

She stared back at me and began screaming as she wrapped her arms around me. She hid her face in my chest and refused to even look up at the monsters. I could feel her body quivering against mine as she continued to let out muffled screams. I tried to turn to face-seek, but Elisa held me too tight, so I just looked over my shoulder. I noticed it was raining again. time was untrosen No Take me instead

I pleaded She's had enough She's done I'm a willing sacrifice Let her sins be mine I don't know where that last sentence came from Divine intervention

I just don't know My mind was still in her tail spin of misery All I know is the entity Didn't like it I had a loud unnatural yell a bark, a growl.

The closest thing I can compare it to is a mix between a boon and a jaguar. It was terrifying, and I knew it had come from the tall shadow. As if it was a command, Zeke started ruining blows down on my head, pounding hammer fists over and over. I squeezed Elisa closer to shield her from the blows. I could take the pain. I wanted the pain.

Zeke then tried to pull me off of her, but I held on. And that's when I realized Zika lost his strength. His blows hurt, but they were the blows of a normal man. He couldn't even pull me away from Elisa. A small beacon of hope bloomed in my soul. Zeke began cursing me. Hopefully he was reading my mind as I thought the most heinous things about him.

Then he reached my gun on my hip. I have a level three retention holster. meaning you have to press a button, hold it down and rock it forward to release the gun. It takes practice, but Zeke manipulated it so smoothly and immediately pulled it away from me. I half turned to face him, still shielding Elisa away from him. Zeke huffed and pointed my gun at me with a shaky hand. You would die for her, pig? He screamed at me.

Yes, you backwards inbred. I spout in defiance. I had already accepted my fate. If I was to die, at least it would mean a Lisa would survive. One honorable thing during a life of failing. I'll kill you, and I'll kill you girl anyways, Zieg shrieked. I closed my eyes and waited for the hot bullets to pierce my body. What does it feel like being shot? Will he make it quick or go for the head? a closed casket for sure but the shots never came ten seconds felt like ten hours before i opened my eyes zeke's face was one of confusion his body quivered as his eye twitched around in its socket that's when i finally noticed the entity had placed a hand back on zeke's head zeeke gritted his teeth and let out a huff of frustration it didn't take long

for me to realize Zeke was frozen like Elisa had been. Let me do it! Zeke begged. The muscles in his neck strained and his outstretched arm twitched. I could tell Zeke desperately wanted to put the required pressure on the trigger to blow my face off. He tried to look at the entity even though his head couldn't move. The creature was just inches from him, just outside of his field of vision, and began to whisper in his ear. Zeek's expression transformed from anger to fear.

No, we had an agreement, Zieg pleaded. His hand sprung open and dropped the gun with a splash, and now his expression turned to anger. You forsake me, you liar, I still have time, I still have power. He's just a damn idiot. I'll get you the girl. The entity shot another hand into Zeech's chest and led out a sharp hiss.

Zeek's face contorted in pain, and he began to cough. The shadow creature grew bigger, towering over him. Slowly it pulled him into its dark mats, enveloping him completely. Zeke began to crowd in high-pitched yelps as his body disintegrated into the blackness. It looked like he was bent over backwards, with the entity pushing him inwards by the top of the head. Before his head was consumed, he looked at me and begged. Just a little more power. Let me kill this cup.

And then Zeke's head was pushed in, and he was no more. Only the looming shadow creature with the purple glinting eyes. I cradled Elisa's drenched and shaking body tightly. I tried to meet the creature's piercing stare, but it was just too much. It projected so much anger into my heart. I knew this must be the end. At least Zeke wouldn't get the satisfaction. I didn't know what untold horrors the creature would perform on me.

Maybe I'd be taken away like Zeke, locked away within this unholy creature. Just leave her, I said. The entity just stared back silently, the rain wiping around it. And I heard a deep rumbling coming from within it. was it laughter it was a wicked sound it began to back away from me

as the deep chuckle continued the thing made it to the edge of the tree line and all I could see was its reflecting eyes floating in the storm and just like that it disappeared just like that

it was over took a minute for it to register with my rattled mind but I knew in my heart it had left The fog over my soul had lifted. I sat Elisa on the stump and stared up into the sky. The rain felt refreshing instead of drowning.

I won't bore you with the after-action report or the mountain of paperwork that followed, but I fished my gun out of the water, and I silently helped Elisa limp back to her house. Not a word said between us. What was there to say? Oh, and backup still wasn't there yet. The baby was fine, if not a little bruised, and EMTs took Elisa to the hospital. She'd returned to a semi-catatonic state. Not saying anything for about a week.

She finally did start talking again, but she claimed she didn't remember anything. I'd consider that to mercy. She and her child went to live with her parents. They told me she had extreme night terrors every night, but quickly forgot them upon waking. Well, hopefully she can have a normal life for her child, but she will never be the same. Oh, evil had left its stain on her. I kept my report short and sweet. I wisely chose to admit the shadow monster and the hell dimension of torture Elisa was in.

I left out the part about emptying seven rounds into an unkillable demon-powered man. I just told the narrative of chasing Zeke out of the house and into the woods where I rescued Elisa. Oh and Zeke may have an injury to his eye. It was too dark to tell how bad that hurt him. That same night, Zeke's brother died. He was in the papers the next day. He was locked up in the neighbouring county. He'd suffered a heart attack in his cell.

There was a whole investigation. The video showed him banging on the door and crying for help. But there was a big fight in another part of the jail and nobody heard or paid attention to him. his cries as he died alone. I stayed with the department for another month. They put out a warrant on Zeke for burglary and assaulting a police officer, but I never expected him to turn up.

Until one day, he did. My sergeant had come into the office with a big smile on his face. He let me know they'd found my guy. He said, Zieg had been found on some hunting lease in a neighbouring county. Saj slapped down a folder with pictures in it I opened it up to see a familiar sight A clearing with a tree stump in the middle Another younger tree growing out of the middle of it

And there hung the body of sea Dangling from the noose His body bloated and rotten I turned the page to see a picture with a close of view He wore the ratty black raincoat And his left eye was missing What happened? I asked, incredulously. Well, some hunter found old Zeke about a week ago.

I guess he got tired of running and laughed himself. My sergeant spoke, matter of factly. Strange thing is, the coroner said he'd been up there for months. Kind of messes up your timetable of events. Maybe the docks are quack. Some of heat does speed up decomb. He was at least up there long enough for the bird. to get at his eyes. I felt sick. I had a strange feeling that the Z-guide encountered had somehow

been hanging from that tree at the same time. Some sort of cruel trick played out by the power of the purple-eyed shadow. I don't know how I knew this. It was just like I'd always known. If my sergeant walked into his office, he turned to face me. Can you believe the bullets were found in him? No. Postmodern, they say, but People must have hated him enough to do some target practice instead of reporting him. I left the department shortly after that. You see, I'd been changed too, like a Lisa. Driving alone at night, I'd be terrified of the shadows moving in my peripherals,

hoping I wouldn't catch a glint of purple. I knew that thing was still out there, waiting for me on every call I went to. I could turn any corner to see it looming there, staring at me with his hate-filled eyes. I don't know what stopped him from taking me that night. Or why he stilled Zeke's hand from pulling the trigger? Maybe it was my willingness to sacrifice myself. Something pure in the midst of evil.

I hope it was. Rather it be Harry Potter logic or Sunday school logic. Well, no greater love, right? But then, well, Then there's the darker fault, the one that keeps me up at night. I volunteered, I made a deal. Maybe the thing decided to honour my deal over Zieg's. Maybe I owe a debt that hasn't been paid yet, and the entity is just waiting,

hoping I'll forget before he comes to me, pushing me into the void like you did, Zieg. I work at another police department now. I took a step back to work in dispatch. Call of the Wild still affects me. I want to get back in a black and white and be in the field. I know I can't live in fear. I have to reclaim my life. Tessera patrol position is coming up and I've already signed up.

But there is a part of me I suppress every day just to keep moving. It lingers in the recesses of my mind. I just know it for some reason. like I do other dark things now. Whether on my deathbed at 90 or answering another disturbance called tomorrow, I will see it again. It's inevitable. It knows me now. It marked me. Those purple eyes fill with hate. Zeke's Jesus, I'm a warden between realities and I'm hunting a killer a Sasquatch. Break the silence, I must let everyone know the dangers that exist in this world and others. To start, this world is not the only world. There's another world that lays on top of it,

sometimes under it. The intertwine around, like snakes in mating or snakes in battle. Some places are openings where worlds bleed through into each other. There is a world you are familiar with. Earth, the one dominated by Homo sapiens and war. The one with rudimentary space travel and complex machinery for the purpose of entertainment. The other one, well, the other one is vastly different. It's not called Earth. Its name is unable to be expressed in human language. It's a place where reality is a strange and tangible thing, more able to be manipulated. Thoughts and the physical define one another and play off one another. The concept intertwine like braided cords. The other world is overflowing with things extremely

limited on earth. It would be called magic, if that simplifies it for you. But of course it's much more. Some of it bleeds through the realities into Earth's realm to be used by humans. Sometimes entire entities from other realities bleed through either by accident or on purpose. And that's where I come in. I have different titles in different places, but the best way to describe my job would be a reality warden, a watcher between the worlds. I patrol the gap. I patrol the gap, between dimensions, a place where our worlds blend together and things that don't belong slip through. You see, there are a lot of reasons for creatures to sneak across the plains to enter Earth's realm. Just because Earth is low on magic doesn't mean it doesn't have tons of ingredients

that magic use as deeply desired. This is the reason I'm on my current assignment. It's why I'm high up in a tree in Washington State Park, scouting out the surrounding forest. Something has illegally cross to earth, to gather spell ingredients, and I have to catch this creature before a lot of people are killed. A leap from the tree to land with ease. One of the magical ruins embedded in my bandolier vibrate softly, letting me know something is amiss. I look down at my feet to see one black boot untieged. I sigh, I lean over to retight it. I could have easily slipped. It's always the small things I forget. The prey I am after is. a clever one, a fugitive from across the gap. He is a bane on any plane of existence he walks

upon. I've been on his trail for years. I'll be sure not to let him slip away tonight. Chisar the cruel or chis to his fellow low lives. He traffics in illegal goods between the realms, and he also traffics in people. I forgot to tell you he's a Sasquatch or a Bigfoot or whatever you want to call them. They're not native to earth. They come from large colonies across the gap. In Chisar's circles, humans are in high demand. Yes, Earth may not have a lot of magic, but humans contain it within them, almost literally. Their organs and parts can be used for a myriad of magical potions and spells.

Humans fetch a high price on the black market, dead or alive. Living humans can be bred for an infinite stock of magical ingredients. I may tell you about the whole world. horrors of the breeding camps, the human mills some other time. It's a good cautionary tale, but I have no bearing on this current case. I make my way towards the cabin a mile away. A crumpled flyer in my hand. Chisar has been spotted in the area, whether from sloppiness or intentional.

Now he has a group of bigfoot hunters after it. The fly is from a signpost back in town. It seems that the United Susquehatch Association, USA, they were throwing a big party at the cabin before taking off into the forest with cameras, guns and a lot of booze to finally capture the elusive sapien. I needed to get the Bigfoot hunters before they actually did find him. I pray they haven't yet. They really don't want to cross past with Chisar the Cruel.

A quick look at the United Susquehs Association's Facebook page showed me they were at least 15 members deep at the cabin. I was surprised that many people still took Bigfoot seriously. We'd done so well discrediting witnesses throughout the years. Of course it would be the USA members who were just looking for an excuse to run around in the goods with guns. I heard in town they were trying to film a pilot episode for the travel channel, whatever that meant. I was quickly dodging between the trees at a light jog when I heard the gunshots. It wasn't far away and it was followed by a screen.

I took a knee and tapped one of the runes on my bandalier. The magic within it activated, and my senses sharpened. It was already getting dark, but now I could see clearly. I could feel subtle vibrations of bugs moving in the dirt around me. I could smell the copper scent of gumpowder and blood, a lot of blood. I took off at a sprint now, my enhanced senses allowing me to bob and weave deftly between the trees and over the bushes. Fear and adrenaline pumped through my veins. I was afraid I was too far away.

and was too late to stop Chisar from killing again. As I got closer to the origin of the gunshots, the smell of blood and bullets was almost overwhelmed. I breathed in slightly from my nose, to gather the information telling the blood was from a man further to my left. The scent told me the man was bleeding profusely, had been drenched in sweat, and had soiled himself. I broke through the underbrush to find the body.

It was a bearded man decked out in Camel, laying on his back, staring glazed, into the... the sky. His face was now frozen forever in a scowl of pain and terror. His right hand had a white-knuckled death grip on a bent rifle. The rifle's barrel twisted up almost at a right hand. His stomach had been ripped open with his guts grotesquely thrown about him. I could see parts of his intestines running up from his body to loop over a branch a couple of feet away. Blood and viscera decorated the surrounding trees like a terrible art exhibit. It was like a whoever had ripped him open had thrown his insides about in a hurry, like a child digging for his

favourite toy at the bottom of a toy box. I knelt down next to the desecrated man. I bent over with my head angled, so I could look into the gaping wound that used to be the dead man's chest. I found or didn't find what I expected. The heart was missing. The guts had been cleared out so the killer could reach up under the ribcage to secure his prides.

human hearts fetched a hefty price across the gap and it could be used in a variety of potent spells of course there were more parts of the human body that could be used for spells but the heart was the most important Chisar must have been in a hurry he could have stripped the body clean but he only grabbed the most valuable part before running off I had no doubt Chisar would come back to harvest the corpse

but right now he was killing all the humans in the area before they got away from him he could take his time once they were all good and dead. I breathed in deeply, and my powerful senses differentiated between a litany of smells to find the one I was looking for. I picked out the foul stench of chisar. It was a mixture of unwashed fur, rancid sweat and decay. Stood and faced in the direction the scent led. I set a prayer to my ancestors to help me be able to save the survivors, if there were any. Three minutes later, I approached the giant two-story cabin.

Quickly counted seven vehicles out front, not counting multiple four-wheelers and buggies. All of the tires on the vehicles had been flattened, and one car was missing a driver's side door, revealing a seat filled with a red pool of blood and mangled meats. I crouched low and began sneaking towards the door. I rubbed a rock ruin on my belt to activate a noise-dampening aura around. one of my runes was already activated it worked by taking the scent of the surrounding area and having my body magically produced the scent instead of my own natural smell it was good camouflage but the spell could be easily broken if somebody was aware of me or was mentally

concentrating on me the heavy wooden double doors that were the entrance to the cabin had been bashed open one door now resembled kindling that had exploded violently inward and across the floor of the cabin. I stepped across the threshold carefully, trying not to crunch the wood and bits of glass underfoot. The giant common room was dark, but the scent of blood and bodily fluids was overpowering. Only the low fire in the fireplace threw dancing shadows across the horrific scene. I can make out destroyed furniture and bodies strewn all about. Balloons drifted lazily above, bumping up against the ceiling. To my right was a folding table set up to block access to the stands. Food and drinks were set up on the table

and a banner saying, congrats USA on the TV show with the travel channel logo and a comical bigfoot drawing. Well, I guess my intel is old. The hunters already got the TV show deal and they were all celebrating when Chisar rolled up and began his slaughter. There were more people here than expected. They looked like families. It was a celebration. I counted the dead and dismembered, guts torn open and hearts ripped out. It was terrible, and I felt the weight of guilt and anger pulled down on me. I looked down around at the frozen faces of terror and pain, a death mask on the murdered people. Twenty-one men and women, thankfully no children.

A new Chisar was ruthless, but how did he kill so many so quickly? A back door to the cabin had been left wide open. left wide open. My enhanced eyesight picked out two crumpled bodies laying out in the clearing behind the cabin. They'd made it further than the others. There were also more cars parked around the back, hiding their numbers. It must have been a surprise party. The USA's family members had interrupted a boy's hunting trip to celebrate the new TV show. But where were the children? All the dead were adults, with the youngest being a clean-shaven man who, broken over the torn couch.

I glanced back at the table to see a keg of alcohol. Maybe it was a party for adults only. Maybe no children were invited. My heart sank as I spotted evidence to refute my theory. On an end table that hadn't been overturned, they had spilled juice box and one of those spinner things the young played with. It began my search anew, breathing deep of the foul stench around me in a vain effort to detect the scent of

living children. I moved into the adjoining kitchen with its large L-shaped island and barstools. I immediately noticed a barstool propped against the door of the pantry. I rushed over to it and paused to sniff the air again. I could smell the vivid scent of children on the other side of the door. In a haste I tossed the bastal away and flung the door open. The ambient light from the kitchen revealed the huddled shapes of six children, and they all began to scream their high-pitched screams. Maybe it was foolish of me to rip the door open and scare the already traumatized children, but I didn't care. I was so thankful to see their terrified, tear-stained faces. There were six of them, three girls and three boys. The oldest girl was around 12 or 13,

hugging all of them close, shielding them with their body. One of the boys looked the youngest at around five, with the rest in between. They held up both my hands, but I held up both my hands, palms out, patting the air in a calming gesture. The screams continued for a little longer while I gently shushed them. Their wide eyes began to blink as they slowly realized I was a man, not a monster. I knelt down in the doorway and put a smile on my face. I'm here to help, don't worry, I'm here to take you away from this scary place. I explained in the calmest voice I could muster. The children just stared back at me and the oldest girl shot daggers at me with her eyes. Who are you? The oldest girl demanded from it. She was pretty, a face full of freckles,

jet black hair tied into pigtails and a red dress with white polka dots. She also wore white knee-high socks and shiny black shoes. Her attire seemed out of place to me, but I couldn't be called an expert on what children wore these days. I'm a good guy. I was called to come help all of you get back home, I said. The Chorden were unfazed and unconvinced. They just stared at me, huddled closer together, the oldest scanning me up and down with distrust. I'm here to stop the bad thing that scared all of you.

I'm going to... I paused, trying to think of something convincing and reassuring. I'm going to take it to master jail, where it can't hurt you. I finally said. Are you a cop? Asked the smallest boy, pulling his thumb out of his mouth for just... that instance. Yeah, I smiled. Something like that. I offered a hand for them to shake.

But first, I'll make sure all of you are somewhere safe. I could take them upstairs and set up magical walls to keep them safe. It would take time, but I needed to secure the survivors before I challenged Chisaw. We're not going anywhere, said pigtail poker.org, interrupting my train of those. We don't know you. We're going to wait. until her parents come for her she finished in a stern bullet I was impressed by her bravery the other kids seemed to be in shock but she just pushed through the fear to protect them and stand up for them she held herself like she was just standing up to a teacher at school and not in a life or death situation I'd have to handle her

differently please understand me my name is Locke like a door lock I said with another attempt at a calming smile. Mimicking the correct emotions had always been hard for me, but I had to try. But I know your parents, or at least I know the leader of USA. They hired me to come and rescue you if Bigford showed up. It was a lie, but I'd say anything to get them to listen. We will stay here, PigTales demanded. Her eyes intense.

What's your name, sweetie? I asked gently. The girl looked disarmed. She quickly looked down at one of the younger girls and said, I'm Kayla. The younger girl's face brightened up, and she announced, My name's Kayla too. She smiled up at pigtail polka dot Kayla with excitement. How cool was it to meet an older kid with the same name?

Well, Kayla's. I paused as I heard the approaching footsteps of something outside. Stay in here while I make sure everything's okay. I rushed, saying. I quickly closed the pantry door and place. a run stone in front of it. The stone would magically mask the scent of the children. I spun around quickly to stalk to the middle of the living room where I prepared for whatever was running towards the front door. I used my thumb on my right hand to rub the enchanted ring on my

index finger. This woke up its potent magic to be on standby for use. All I had to do was grunt the right syllable to activate it. My left hand pulled out a long knife coated in a paralyzing tox him. All I had to do was Nick Chisar to freeze him up for hours. I could take him in alive if he let me. As the footsteps drew near, I realized they were too quiet to be Chisar, and I caught the scent of a human. I quickly sheathed my knife behind me as the man crossed the doorway of the cabin. He was another bearded man in Camel. His bald head and face were bleeding from multiple tiny cuts, and his eyes bulged widely. He left, he left, and he levered. He left, he Heavelled his shotgun at me and racked the slide, ejecting a perfectly good shell.

He must have been running through the woods, and he was so scared he was double pumping his weapon. Who the hell are you? The man yelled, more in fear than confrontation. I work for the park. I said calmly. I'm here to get you and the children to safety. The children? He asked loudly.

Where is my son? Where is he? They're safe in the pantry. I'll help on. of you, I assured him. Now, will you please stop pointing that gun of me? I saw the man's eyes softened as he realized I wasn't a threat. He lowered the shotgun and let out a sigh mixed with the song. We have to hurry, partner. The squatch is close. The man spoke before he was interrupted, giving a sudden grunt. I saw a glimmer of movement behind him over his shoulders. The man's

arms whipped out to either side, outstretched like the godman Jesus looked in the paintings. His shotgun was flung into the corner of the room as he stared at me in pure confusion and terror. It only took me a moment to realise what was happening. It was Chisar, and he was equipped with an invisibility spell. As soon as I realized this, the magic of the spell was broken and I saw the monster with my own eyes. A gigantic Chassar stood behind the squirming man. towering over him. Chisar had a hold of both of the smaller man's arms in his own giant midst. The man's arms were being pulled to breaking point outwards. Chisar easily began to lift the crying man into the air.

The muscles in the monster's hairy arms flexed like corded steel. The poor man looked up to see the grinning face of Chisar, the cruel, looking back down at him. Does the little monkey see me now? Chisar asked in English. He waited to see the look of terror on the man's face before yanking both of the man's arms off in a fantastic explosion of blood and violence. The sickening snap of bone

followed by the ripping sound of flesh and tendons turned my stomach. Worst was the horrid guttural yelp of the dying man that he let out before he thudded face first to the decorative carpies. Blood raining around it. Chisar stood to his full height of eight and a half feet tall, a crooked smile across his wide face. His right eye glazed over and scarred from

our last fight, while the other was a sickly yellow. His brown fur was coarse and matted with dirt, with multiple pouches and belts decorating his body. A giant lumpy sack was hanging under his arm for easy reach. I could see the red liquid leaking from it and the bulging shapes of the organ stuffed inside. It was filled with the heart's Chisara ripped out of these pieces. I could see. I put on a terrified face and held my hands out defensively. I looked a lot different from the last time we'd fought, and I wanted him to think of me as a scared human prey. All I had to do was get him once with my poison dagger.

Chisar was still holding the dead man's dismembered arms, like some sort of bloody-ended clubs. He tossed them both to the ground with a wet thump. He looked right at me and gave a croaking laugh. You can drop the act, Lord. The grungy monster told me, I've had your set this whole time. I knew you'd go. The monster tapped his nose and then his good eye.

Let me see the real you, Clankin. Not this Humi suit you're wearing. I'm not your Clan King, Chisar. You are exiles. I spats. But it would give Chisar what he wanted. I stood straight and grabbed a hold of the illusion. fusion crystal I'd activate it. A simple word from me deactivated its magic, and the false

image of me disappeared to reveal my true self. Instead of a well-built black man in my mid-thirties with a black trench coat and combat boots, I grew in size and my shoulders widened. Where Chisar's fur was ratty and light round, mine was sleek and jet black. My clothes disappeared to show my bandolier in multiple pouches strapped upon me, much like Chisar. A silver circular disc hung from a chain on my neck. It was my clan's marking. It was a symbol of my station. Chisarra the cruel.

The council of clans is demanded an audience. I am thereby charged to perform the duty of my clan. Clan Bayot. I'm compelled to take you back to be held responsible for your atrocities and for your insult to the tranquility and honor of the realm. I recited with practice. Like I had a hundred times before with unrescernacles. other criminals.

Chisar just stared back flatly. I remember the speech from the last time, Chisar said as he pointed at his foggy eye. You gave me this. Now I want payback. I cracked my neck and rotated my shoulders. Glad to be in my true form again. Glad to be a Sarsquat.

I stood seven feet tall, short for our kind, while Chisar stood at eight and a half, tall for our kind. But I wasn't worried. I'd bested him in combat before. Only his magic tricks had helped him escape capture. Oh, chis, you're always the fool.

I taunted. The council also sanctioned you a killing if you resisted. I looked around at the mangled human bodies around me. Truth is, I continued. I'd made my mind up to kill you a while ago. At least I won't have to lie on my report about you fighting back. I'd forgot you were such a humanolns. lover. Chisar growled back. You're at a severe disadvantage this time. I heard the pantry door

open behind me. I half turned to see Polka-Doc Kayla approaching. You're bad, Kailer, I said, not taking my eye off, Chisar. Love in humeys is your weakness, Chisar said before busting out in an awful laughter. I turned to look fully at him, not understanding his sudden mirth. That's when I heard the faint swsh of my poison knife being pulled out of its sheep. An instant later I felt the knife poking against my neck. An evil laughter echoed Chisar's own laughter from over my shoulder. I suddenly got the scent of another Sasquatch, a female. That's when I fully realized my mistake. The little girl was a Sasquatch in disguise, sent to control the children, like the pied piper from your humans fairy tales.

Chisar was never alone. He had a mate, part two. It's half me to admit, but I'd made a grave mistake. I'd neglected to consider Chisar's on and off again mating partner. I'd allowed her to trick me as she posed as a human girl. I could have easily broken her illusion spell with only a second suspicious look. My relief at finding a group of living children was so great I never checked for deception spells, like I'd been trained. Only the protection of my ancestors, that terrifying night, keeps me breathing today. Leil of Clan Tongara.

She was in a prison camp the last time I'd run into Chisar, so I got used to him being alone. But the two had always been tight. They had a toxic relationship that turned deadly to anyone around them. Seems they only stopped fighting with each other when there were others to be hurt. It was like they craved the act of inflicting pain. They amplified each other's vile nature. They pushed each other to kill. Now I was stuck between the two of them.

Leilf was holding a poison knife to my throat and the massively muscled Chisar blocked the door in front of me. I needed to activate the spell on the ring on my middle finger. If I could rub the front of it with my thumb, The potent magic would activate and time would freeze for everything but me. The spell was a specialty of my clan. The time-free spell was only available to peacekeepers. It was powerful and extremely dangerous, if not used correctly.

Moving too fast without reciting the healing mantra in your head would cause all your muscles to tear. My heart would be stopped during the spell. If I inhaled too deeply, my lungs would rupture. Gravity didn't affect me during the spell, so I wouldn't have to lift you. my leg push it down left push the whole thing felt like swimming through a thick syrup and the most important thing was to count in your head count to three count to seven or maybe 10 before reciting the mantra to dismiss the spell things got more painful the longer you counted more confusing if you lost count or lost focus your mind could be caught in a tailspin of a time

displaced psychosis, TDP. Your mind would feel trapped for days or weeks within the spell. The effects of TDP have been described as a week-long intense migraine, while being suffocated while hallucinating your worst fears. When you finally come out at the other end of the spell, you'd be exhausted, completely confused and a bit insane. But the spell would give me the edge I needed to sidestep the blade to my throat and dart to slip around Chisar and get out of the cabin. Well, as if Leilf was reading my thoughts, she used my knife to nick my ear. The paralyzing agent coating the knife worked fast and my whole body tightened up. I let out a groan as my chest contracted and I stiffened up like a board.

My entire body buzzed like it was an electric current running through me. I would have toppled over like a toy soldier caught by a gust of wind, if not for Leeliff steadying me on my feet. She let out a cackling laugh, as she balanced me to stand on my own. My, my, cheers! I've always wanted to cup her back to play with. Want to take our time cutting up bit by bit. She spoke in her raspy, shrill voice.

She walked around into my field of view. She laughed again at my face, contorted into a toothy grimace from the poison. She was smaller than she saw about my height, but she was lankier and had long fur. She was also obviously a female by her prominent curves and hips. Her fur was brown and braided in certain spots. Many bone necklaces were looped around her neck. One large ivory bone pierced her nose. But her face was narrow, cheek sunken, an eyes too close together to be considered attractive by my kind. Maybe she'd been attractive when she was younger, before she partook of every vice from both worlds.

She walked over to Chisar and he bent down so he could rub her face against his. She looped her long arm around his neck and turned to look at me languidly. Chisar sniffed at her and said, Good to see you in your true form, baby. I can't stand the sight of Humis. Lelyf reached down and grabbed the inside of Chisar's leg and watched him jump in surprise. Maybe I can use the spell to look like a Humi later for you to punish. me, she cooed at Chisar, with a seductive smile. I felt like I was going to puke. But as long as they

were talking, the longer I had to come up with a plan, my mind raced and I felt like a rat in a cage. But this cage was sinking into quicksand. Finally, I thought of something. It was a truly bad idea. Really a stupid idea, but it was my only idea that might work. I slowed my breathing and focused on my finger that had the freezing time spell. The two killer lovers prattled on about something as I tried to move all my chi to my fingers. If I could activate my ring, time would freeze around me, but my body would still be functioning within the time bubble.

My consciousness would still be active, and so would my internal organs if I commanded them to work. I could intentionally lose myself in the spell and endure hours or even days of torture, long enough to work the toxin out of my system. I'd have to pump my heart and flush the toxin out of my body, so I would have to breathe and let hours pass while time was at a standstill. I said earlier this could rupture my lungs,

but it could maintain them if I used my chi and mantra to accomplish it. This was stupid and extremely dangerous, but I had no other option. If I messed up, my heart would explode. This was true in extreme cases, but mostly victims of TDP came out the other end, having a stroke or a heart attack. But there was a way to survive without my heart killing me on the other end of the spell. There was a healing mantra for the heart specifically that I could recite while stuck in my mind. The trick was not losing focus on the mantra while my mind went through hell. That would be three mantras, one for my heart, one for my lungs, and one to keep my mind from shattering completely.

they would be recited in my mind constantly. If I lost the rhythm, I would surely die today. Wait, Chis! Leiliff inquired, cocking her head as she looked at me. Why isn't the furrow on his back Coppa like all the other law-worshipping bastards of the Bay York clan? It was copper the last time we fought him, wasn't it? She asked, looking up lovingly, did she say? She saw her smirked and let out a derisive laugh.

That's because Holderlok isn't a blood member of the clan. He's a hang around that kissed their self-righteous asses so much they finally let him into the clan. That's why he's so little, and has that shitty dark fur. Layliff cackled, and Chisar joined in while groping her and pulling her close to his body. Chisar began marching towards me, bending over slightly to look me in the eye. He lowered his shoulder like he was coming in for a time. tackle, but I knew what he was doing. He was showing me the copper-colored fur on his back. He was mocking me. I must tear you up inside, a lorke. Chazar spoke, now only inches away from my

face, his rancid breath filling my nostrils. The fact that I am a true-blooded Bayo clan member, I've turned my back on my pious kin. Then there's you, a clanless mud that had to grovel to be accepted as a peacekeeper in my clan. Chisar was right about most of it, except he didn't willingly leave the clan. Chisar was disavowed and excommunicated by the clan when he was caught violating his peacekeeper duties. He was discovered helping criminal elements in the illegal trafficking of humans. His partner, a warden of great integrity, found out and Chisar killed him. He earned the cruel part of his moniker when he killed his partner's family as well he was trying to make it look like a criminal cartel a place to hit on his partner's entire family well this was a common tact it used by a

vicious criminal gang known as the shrouded star the only problem was a child survived it was his partner's young daughter chisar had left her beaten and in a coma two years i protected the comatose carved from Chisar's secret attempts to kill the helpless witness. He hired assassins to kill the defenseless girl, but I protected her. We were always on the run, trying to stay ahead of the assassins. But Chisar used his contacts in the clan to always find her. I'd had my suspicions. Chisar was dirty, but I was an outsider, and Chisar was an honoured blood member. So I kept the sleeping child alive until she awoke two years later. She quickly IDed Chisar as her family's killer. That was 30 years ago, and now me and Chisar faced one another

once again. I had to risk everything to stop his murderous rampage through the realms. The surviving children would either be killed or forced into a worse fate in the breeding mills if I failed. Chisar's ugly face was smiling at me when I activated the time spell with my finger. The hatred I felt as I looked upon his scarred countenance could be the man. mental anchor I needed to get through this spell with my mind intact. Well, I know I've introduced a lot of new concepts and information to you in only a short time, but please bear with me. I'll try my hardest to interpret what happened to me during the time freeze. Later I can break down the theoretical uses of magic and how it works, but for right

now, try to follow along as I give a crash course. I focus my chi on keeping my heart from rupturing. I pulled air in and out of my lungs by manually asserting myself, but the air around me was also frozen in time, so nothing fresh came in after two breaths. Thought and belief have a great effect on magic. Maybe you call it fay. So I had to believe I was breathing air in my lungs by reciting the healing mantra in my mind, even though it felt like I was suffocating. Like Schrodinger's cat, I was dying and being kept alive at the same time. My existence kept in balance by magic and my sheer force of will. It's hard to relate how long it felt while I was frozen.

It was terrible and seemed like an eternity. But as my mind began to hallucinate and my body screamed in panic, I focused on Chisar's ugly face. My hate would be my anchor. My mind began to dream, showing me that Charles Sasquatch waking out from a coma. I saw the tears in her eyes as she remembered the murder of her family. I'd been around the Cubs age when my family had been murdered. I was left an orphan without a clan just like her.

I'd pledge myself to the Bayoch clan to be a peacekeeper, and they put me through hell to earn my place, but eventually I became a warden so I could help broken children. My whole life played back to me, but distorted and cruel, even though it had been cruel enough already. Finally I came back to the point in my life where I opened the pantry in the cabin to find the human children hiding.

But this time all the children were dead. Their bodies ripped to pieces, their organs piled on top of their discreated bodies. Kaila, Lelif, stood atop the gau pile in human form. She was holding the head of the younger girl in her hands. The evil Kala laughed, the horrid laugh in Layliff's voice. The head of the younger girl,

also named Kayla, opened her dead eyes to look at me. She spoke in a raspy voice. Save us, look, like a door lock. Saver's lock like a door lock. As dark blood began spurting out of her mouth. The human child's bloody head

slowly transformed into Chisar's grinning face. I once again realized where I was, standing in the cabin surrounded by bodies. I stared at my hated enemy and realized my body no longer had the tingling sensation of the paralyzing poison in my veins. The healing mantra repeated in my mind like a record on repeat. I felt confusion spin back up like a mental tornado that would pull me back into hallucinations and nightmares. I had to end the spell. I had to attack Chisar. I focused my mind to a sharp

point and mentally commanded the mantra to end the time freeze. At the same time, I thrust my right hand forward with all my might. When the spell ended my fist, it moved faster than the speed of light to smash through Chisar's chest. It was as if my arm just phased through his massive chest to appear out the other end. An instant later, his blood and viscera exploded outwards, spattering laylift behind it. Coming back to reality for being suspended in time, for what seemed like a millennia, had immediate dire consequences on my body. I was no longer paralyzed, but my body might break down anyways from the shock. The clap of a sonic boom shattered all the windows in the cabin and threw both me and Chisar apart from each other. Chisar bowed

into Leyliff and they both tumbled out the doorway into the yard as I was launched back to smash into a dresser, exploding it into kindling. My head, I had pounded and heart-raced as I let out an animalistic scream of pure pain and frustration. My right arm hung limply by my side, broken in multiple places. Training had taught me to be completely still when ending the time spell, but in my confusion I lashed out, punching, with momentum at a supersonic speed, and this foolish move had shattered my arm. I fussed and screamed.

My mind was still thinking I was trapped in time. I fumbled with a shaky left hand to pull a small glass vial from my belt. I crushed it against my forehead and like the calming ointment run down my face. I breathed its crisp scent in, helping me focus my scattered minds. Even now that my head was back on straight, it didn't mean my body was going to hold her. I was partially embedded into the thick wall directly behind me. I was crumpled up in a sitting position, my back throbbing, my arms screaming with agony. I could hear Leilif freaking out, outside in the yard.

She was screaming and calling out to Chassar repeatedly. He must have looked like a gory mess. I couldn't have but smile in spite of my pain. The hearts, I heard her ask. I heard more growling and mumbling from Chisar. Before she replied, Yes, love, anything. Just stay with me while I prepare the spell.

Stay with me. This was not good. Layliff was going to use forbidden blood magic to heal Chisar. The human heart could be used for a very powerful healing spell. I focused on listening for sounds coming from the killers outside. I could hear Lelif pulling Chisar deeper into the forest, probably looking for a safe place to perform a healing spell ritual. I was already at a severe disadvantage before,

but if Lelif buffed Chisar with blood magic, me and the surviving children had no chance in escaping tonight. I had to think, fast. I had to do something to tip the odds in my favour. I thought of my infantry of spells and magical items I had on my person. Most were standard issue to members of the Bayeog clan. The most potent one was the time-freezing ring I'd already spent. The only thing left was my amulet of ancestors.

The amulet of ancestors was what it sounded like, an amulet. I received it upon being accepted into the clan once I became a warden. It was only to be used in severe instances where a clan member was on the brink of death or a defeat that could cause severe dishonour to the clan. When the amulet was activated, it sent a beacon of invitation to all Bayeuk clan ancestors who had already passed on to the afterlife. Any ancestor could choose to come to your aid, or they could refuse to help. But once an ancestor had lived.

lended you their strength, wisdom and skill, it took a very heavy toll on your body. You could be stricken with a chronic sickness, loss of a limb, or even blindness. Requesting help from the afterlife always came with a heavy price. It was a last ditch effort to keep yourself alive, but it still wouldn't be enough. I would still be outmatched. Gisar would be powered by blood magic, and Layliff was an expert with hexes and curses. I needed something else to give me an edge. That's when I saw it.

A human heart had fallen out of Chisar's bag when I'd hit him. It lay in a bloody pool on the cabin floor. The red organ tempted me like the fruit tempted your biblical Eve. It was against clan doctrine, and I would be punished severely, but it would work. I could defeat Chisar and save the human children. I had to eat the heart. I worked fast as fast as I could in crippling pain to set up the blood-magic spell. I'd been forced to learn forbidden magic as part of my job to recognize and fight it.

I'd never once performed an illegal ritual myself though. I'd used chalk to draw a circle and symbols of power around the hearts. I began my low chant of a tuning magic into the dead heart. I was using siphoning magic from my chi to activate the magic within the magic. heart and after a couple of minutes I felt it awakened and it began to pump on its own. I'd done a crappy job and the spell will be weak, but I had no time left. I hoped even a low-powered heart could help me survive this night. So I lifted the wet, pulsing heart to my mouth. If I ate this, it would put an end to my unblemished career. I'd worked harder than any other warden

to gain the respect of the Bayeok clan. I will be eating human flesh of a murdered victim to reform an illegal spell. Lark, lock of the Bayok clan, I am coming for you, came the loud animalistic scream from Chisar. His declaration was followed by Lelif's cackling laughter. She'd done it. She had healed him. I was about to die if I didn't eat the heart. I took a big bite from the gooey organ. I was surprised and how delicious it was. I shoved the rest into my mouth, eating greedily. I felt the magic pulsing within me immediately. A great heat spread from my stomach outwards. My shattered arm bones melded back together. The pains all in my body winked out of existence. I stood up and felt alive. I felt perfect. I raced outside to face Chisar under the night's

guy. I watched the tree line with heightened concentration, ready for him to emerge. I saw movement, too small, too fast. I sigh-stepped to an ATV being launched at me. It smashed into a parked car behind me. How would Chisar done that? Had he thrown it? My question was answered as Chisar came bounding out of the tree line, his frame even more massive than before. He stopped and looked at He looked at me with crazed eyes, drew all frothing from his mouth. His muscles rippled and pulsed like the heart I'd eaten. You're back on your feet. Good. It pleases me to know I made you compromise your integrity before I kill you. Chisar said in a deep voice, spit all flying everywhere.

"'Gisar, what have you done?' I asked in terror. I'd never seen anything like him before. My Lelif is quite the witch. In the time it took for you to enchant one heart, she enchanted five of mine. Five, I repeated in a weak voice. His muscles continued to grow and he now stood at around 13 feet high. Don't worry about me, Logue, Chisar mocked. I feel perfect.

Part three, I am facing one of my most dangerous enemies. Chisar the cruel. He's a much taller and stronger Sasquatch, and to make things worse, he has buffed up his body by eating five human hearts. As I stood 20 feet away from the grinning, hulking Chisar, I knew the one heart I'd eaten wouldn't be enough to defeat him. The silence between us was oppressing. The cloud blocking the moon moved enough for its light to illuminate us. All I could hear was Chisar's heavy breathing, the pounding of my own heart. Come on, Lorda. Chisar screamed.

Come, harass me. I remained as still as a statue, but this aggravated the rabid Chassar. After I kill you, I'll have my mate scoop out your brain. My Lelif knows enough spells to look into your memories. I'll find the girl. You know, the little coma girl. I'll finish what I started and kill her for sure this time.

I knew this wasn't a bluff. Chisar was vindictive enough and such magic spells were possible I'd seen the Bayo clan used it on murder victims to find their killers Fine If you don't want to make the first move I I...

Chisar interrupted himself by launching towards me like a freight train Pre-forming an attack in the middle of a sentence was one of his dirty tricks meant to catch me off guard But I'd seen this trick before I sidestepped him easily This time

his fist almost rocking my skull loose. As his momentum carried him by, I could feel a gust of air, generated by his swing, sweep across my fur. He pivoted quickly and sprung back at me. I avoided his attack by batting aside his fist with both forearms while leaning away from him. Even though it was a glancing blow, both my arms jolted in pain. He was much faster and much stronger than before. I'd bested him once in his normal state, and he always relied on his size and brute force to bash his way to victory. Many of my kind had fought this way. It was a source of pride

to match strength to strength, but I'd studied many of Earth's martial arts, something seen as dishonorable in my realm, and combined it with Bayotte fighting style. As advanced as Ashquash society was in every way compared to humans, humans were always far more advanced in killing. Most of my society lived in relative peace. War was rare and unnatural. All like on earth, where societies are built upon killing each other, and fighting styles are honed for centuries. Jazar launched a swinging backhand at me. I ducked and came up with a hard jab right to his throat. It felt like punching a wall made out of meat, and Jazar showed no effect. Inches Art continued swinging at me over and over, never losing steam.

I was barely dodging his lethal strikes by inches. If any connected, I'd be dead. Every time I saw an opening, I shot back with my own pinpoint attacks. My strikes were all to pressure points and weak spots on a Sasquatch's body, but none of them even slowed him or stunned him. His unnatural muscle mass was like a thick, spongy layer of body armor. The magic flowing through him could keep him at peak performance for days. I took a chance and slowed my dodging to get better footing to launch my own attack.

I needed to put more power to take him down. Chisar squared up with me and came in low with a tackle. I jumped right back at him instead of dodging. I took a flying leap and slammed both my fists down on top of his head with all my strength. Chisar's face was smacked down into the dirt. My fists throbbed numbly as I stepped back from him. But my gamble had worked, and redirected his forward momentum into the ground. If he were to grapple me up, I'd be dead.

I reached into my bandolier. I put a freezing spell on him while he was down. Faster than anything I'd ever seen before, Chisar launched upwards by pushing up with his arms to spin to face me. A massive kick hit me right in the chest and sent me crashing through bushes and branches. I felt my ribs crack and would have died if not for the blood magic reinforcing my body. Before I could even get up, Chisar was almost on top of me, steamrolling after me. I rolled backwards to nimbly get to my feet as his fists came down like a hammer where I once lay. I decided to completely turn my back on my vicious enemy and try to sprint further into the forest,

getting some much-needed space between us. I could hear him following, swatting trees out of his. way like they were nothing. Ranches and debris crashed all around him as he desperately tried to catch me. But the trees were growing closer and thicker together as we ran. I was deftly weaving between them and getting some distance away from the brutes. After a while, the tumultuous noise of Chisar's rampage stops. I scrambled up the nearest tree and turned to survey my surroundings. No sight or sound of it. I took the opportunity to enact another spell to heighten my sense. and another potion to make me lighter on my feet.

I would lose half of my weight but not compromise any of my strength. It was one of the few potions not destroyed when Chisar kicked me right in the chest, crushing my bandolier. My sharpened hearing picked out the voice of Chisar chanting and it was getting louder. I couldn't make out what spell he was trying to perform them. Well I got my answer when the large tree limb I was standing on became fluid and nimble like a snake. The tip of the branch closest to me curled backwards towards me and looped around my arm as I instinctively raised it to protect myself. The branch jerked my hand away, leaving my neck open for another snaking tree limb to loop around. I chopped the limb with my free hand to release my captured hand.

The branch round my neck pulled me off the footing I had as it tried to strangle me by hanging. I used all my strength to pull free of the branch's twisting grasp. I fell free from the tree, hitting every. branch on the way down. My fall was slow due to all the branches reaching and pulling on me. I landed on a larger branch ten feet from the ground and perched atop it to get my bearings. I looked up and slapped away any branches coming for me. Something hard whacked me on the back of my head. I turned to see a neighbouring tree reaching towards me, whipping its branches out to strike me. I was dazed, losing my footing as my tree swayed back and forth, trying to throw me off. So I

jumped to another thickly branch tree that wasn't attacking me. As soon as I touched the new tree, it reacted the same as the last and sent all of its branches to lash out. I jumped again and realized the spell was broken as soon as I got a couple of yards away. I landed on the ground with a loud thud. I thought I'd be safe from activating the killer trees as long as I didn't touch them, but even the twigs and bushes grabbed at me. I ran, tearing through them like thick spider webs. I keep running, trying my heart is not to navigate through the thickly packed trees, but my large frame was harassed by them, with branches whipping and jabbing into my thick fur. For some reason the trees and bushes stopped trying to tangle me up, and I paused to look

behind me. It seemed like the enchantment spell on the trees had ended. I kept a sharp eye out for Chassar. The trees were packed so close together it would have been impossible for him to steamroll towards me without me hearing him a mile away. I was slowly catching my breath, while picking twigs out of my fur. I scanned the woods around me by slowly turning in a 360. I grew angry with myself. What was I doing? Was I just running away? Just going to escape only to lick my wounds and sock. I was here to execute justice and stop the two killers. I wondered why the onslaught had stopped. What were Chisar and Layliff's next move? The silence was killing me, but maybe this gave me time to activate my amulet.

I lifted the amulet from around my neck to hold it at eyesight. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. I was an outsider to the clan, and I'd cause myself a great dishonor by eating the heart. I was afraid of the further shame of being turned down by my ancestors. If word of my plea for help was ignored, I'd lose all the credibility I'd. had worked decades to build. Copperback, you getting tired? Came Leilov's voice from behind.

I spun around to stare at the tree closest to me. It took me a second for my eyes to make out a face protruding from the tree. It was Leeliff's face. The tree barked forming to look like her. We knew you'd be coming. He knew you'd run towards the screams of dying humans without a second thought. The face in the tree said to me, I looked around to see her face on all the trees around me, all staring back at me.

Magic like this must have taken a while to set up. I won't let you hurt my chis again, Tree Layliff screamed. He may be mad I didn't let him kill you, but you're too tricky of a copperback, too unpredictable. Something you probably inherited from your dead clan's blood. The wooden face smiled. My magic has been spread all throughout these woods. You were hexed the moment you left the cabin. And so now you die, Lord.

The tree I was staring at began to smoke. Flickers of orange and red embers could be seen spreading from the smiling face outwards. Bits of sizzling bark fell off to reveal the glowing hot embers underneath. Layliff's burning face laughed at me as I took a few cautionary steps back. A ruin on my belt vibrated sharply, and that meant danger. a side stepped behind a nearby tree for cover. A split second later the burning tree exploded violently. Burning wood embedded itself into my shoulder that wasn't protected by cover.

I heard a thunderous rumble as the tree fell towards me to crash into the tree I was hiding behind. I jumped away from both trees as it cracked and both fell towards me. I quickly scrambled on all fours out of the impact zone of the falling trees. As I was still on all fours, I used the stability of another tree to stand myself up. This was a bad idea because it started glowing orange with smoke rising from the cracks between the bark. I began my sprint as tree after tree in my proximity began to glow and explode. I pushed my body to run faster as the heat waves from the explosion scorched all over me. I felt the burning hot debris pouting my back and I knew my fur was on fire because I could smell it.

I pushed and pushed through the exploding trees, but I was losing steam, and the trees were getting closer and closer as they fell. Even in my rush, I noticed the trees always fell in my direction. Finally, I saw what might be my salvation, two large boulders, one leaning on the other, jutting about five feet out of the ground. I leapt out of the treeline to perch upon the rocks with a balance unnatural to my sides. The explosion stopped, and I quickly patted out the small fires all over my body. I was grateful for my luck when the rock underfoot didn't start glowing. I felt I was safe for the time being. I deduced the explosion spell was triggered by being in close proximity to the trees.

I was in a small clearing within the woods, in a three-yard radius around me, so at least I knew the reach of the spell now. I stared at the wood-be bombs thickly packed around me. I was still at risk of one of them falling on me if they exploded. I knew I had to get out of these woods. I'd seen a decent-sized clearing about two miles east of here, but didn't know if I could sprint the whole way and not get caught up in an explosion. Think you're safe?

You think I can't see you? Bellow Lelilip's voice from the woodline surrounding me. And that's when my worst fear happened. All the trees began to glow around me. I felt like I'd activated another time-free spell because time slowed down as my mind raced to think of something. I quickly jumped down beside the rocks and couched facing them, making myself small. I hug myself tight and prayed for safety as the trees exploded with a moniore mental bang. The earth shook under me and the sound of falling timber rained down.

I've heard a stabbing jolt of pain as a branch slashed down my back. I screamed, but bored myself even tighter. When I opened my eyes, I was locked away in darkness. I was in a tomb of dead woods. Of course they all fell down towards me, but the boulders had propped them up enough to save me. So now I sat trapped and bleeding under a makeshift tepee of fallen trees. Barely any moonlight was visible through the limbs and branches,

and I had just barely enough room to lift my head. The position I was stuck in was hell on my broken ribs. I tried to uncurl myself only to feel the tree branch jab into my new wound. I grasped my amulet in both hands. My back throbbed with pain and the dust clogged my eyes and nose. I had to use the amulet. Chisar and Lelif will be coming to finish me off. I rubbed the amulet and placed it to my forehead.

I beseeched the help of my ancestors join the. these mortal trials, I repeated over and over. At first I thought no one would answer. I wasn't a clan blood member. Well, the oldest, more traditional ancestors even recognize me as one of them. But the amulet began to vibrate, and I heard a low hum in my ears, like a million tuning forks all at once. Suddenly my confined space disappeared, and I was in a spacious area of foggy grey.

The floor under me felt like water, but was solid enough to hold it. my ways. I looked around, trying to see anything but thick fog. I was in the grey, a purgatory plain between the living and the dead. But it seemed no one was here to answer my cry for hell. Who is this black-furred imposter that cries out to us? Came a deep voice in the old tongue. A blinding light had sailed me from a distance. It was so bright I couldn't look directly at it. I'd only see shadow outlines of figures standing together through squinted eyes. I rep my brain for the words to respond. We'd all had to learn the old tongue during training, but that was decades ago.

I am lork of the Bayoch clan, first of my name. My old clan is all but gone. I've written the clan's doctrine on my heart and have been granted membership. I seek help in defeating an ex-clan member who has committed sacrilege to our tenant. Yes, our blood children have granted you membership through your action and character, came another voice. But maybe it was in folly. You have within you the blood of a slain human. You have partaken of the forbidden magics to serve your selfish desires, with no thought of the dishonour you bring on all of us.

I did it for the cheer. Lastly, the stray asks us to help him kill a blood member. Another voice interrupted it. even if he is a fallen blood member he still has more favour than you and your tainted magic but this I said nothing I didn't even want to argue my case I was pissed

the old spirits were stuck in their ways and ancient prejudices I should have let the dead stay dead I calmly stood and tried to look into the blinding lights then sent me back I know of my own integrity. If I die and you don't accept me, I'll go into the void, know my honour is clean.

I proclaimed as I turned my back on the light, showing them I was done with their self-righteous judgment. Wait, lork was it? came a voice in English. I thought it was strange because only in the last five hundred years had English been taught once. I half turned to face the light. Yes, of the Bayo Klan, I said sharply. I could see the outline of another shame. I could see the outline of another shadow, closer than the rest. You protected the girl. You protected Isika, the voice asked. Yes, I sat confused, thinking of the girl I protected during her coma.

She's alive and frithing. She is a life-maid and a girl cub of her own now. The shadow began to approach me. As he got closer, the dim of the light shone behind it. As he got to within three yards from me, The light had vanished and I could make out the tall, gangly figure. It was a male susquatch with long brown fur. I was shaken by its bloodied throat dripping endlessly down its fur.

He looked at me with grey blue eyes, rare to my kind. Isaaca had grey blue eyes. This was her father. Now I remembered him. I'd only seen him dead in his home, with his throat slashed and his hands chopped off. Peacekeeper Viskin, I stated. The solemn Sasquatch nodded his head slightly in affirmation. It's Chisar, I told him.

He and his maid have killed dozens of humans and are going to keep the young for the breeding mills. Chis, the dead Sasquatch said with sadness, He is a creature of habit. He can't stop himself from hurting everyone around him. I stared at the dead peacekeeper, my kin and collie. I'd heard he was honorable, but was he tough enough to help me win the fights? Well, I hated to seem like a snob since nobody else would help me, but Chisar had killed him once already. His demeanour was downcast, blood from his throat and his arms, ending in bloody stumps, made him look pathetic.

But when he looked up at me, his eyes were filled with anger. He poisoned me, Viscan yelled. I realized I'd screwed up. He could read my thoughts somehow. He knew he couldn't beat me in combat. He poisoned me and killed my family with his bare hands. The enraged, Viscan yelled, spit all flying from his mouth. He could have poisoned them too, but he likes the violent thrill of it.

He enjoyed beating my wife and son to death. He enjoyed putting my daughter into a coma. When he cut off my hands, it held a double meaning. Biscan said, as he held up his bloody stumps. for me to see. It wasn't just to make it look like an assassination by the shrouded hand, but a personal insult towards me. He cut off my hands because of the techniques I'd mastered. Techniques that had scared him always, and made him doubt if he could take me on one-on-one. Well, what was it? I asked, Corsesda. Performed the mantra to accept my help, and I'll show you,

Clan Kin. Biscan demanded. He stepped up to me. He stepped up to me. me only inches away, his sadness turned into a blazing anger. Do you want to kill this bastard or no? Part four, I recited the entering mantra to leave the grey, the realm between the living and the dead. Now I was coming back to your earth, with back-up from a Sasquatch previously murdered by Chisat. I opened my eyes to be greeted by pitch darkness and pain shooting through my ribs and bats. I was still trapped under the fallen trees. I didn't know what I'd expected after using the amulet, but I didn't feel any different at all.

Maybe I expected to feel stronger or wiser, but I was still in pain and had no idea what to do. A muscular hand shot down from above, busting through the wooden prison, to grab me by the nape of the neck. I was yanked up through the hole violently. The branches scrapped and tore at me as I was lifted high into the moonlit sky, free from my wooden prison. Chisar helped me up with one hand high in the air. We were upon a canopy of fallen trees. Somehow all the branches had been flattened like corn stalks in a crop circle. It wasn't just the trees closest to me that had fallen,

but trees in a 50-yard radius. All of them fallen and pointing inward towards me at the centre. The tree limbs magically flattened by Chisar to find me. There he is, Chisar screamed. You'd better be glad he isn't dead from your tricks. Chisar spat at Lelif, who was sulking behind him. I didn't want him to hurt you any more, love. Lelif argued meekly behind him, looking like a scolded child.

She tried to come and hang from Chisar's arm, but he grabbed her roughly by the fur on the top of her head and tossed her away. She stumbled and tripped on the unsteady footing. Her leg broke through the canopy of flattened branches, and she fell partially through to catch painfully by her waist. she cried out in pain and sorrow from her mate's rebuke. You interfere again, bitch, and I will break your jaw. Chisar warned.

The insanity in his eyes was greater than I'd ever seen. I fully believed Chisar would viciously beat Lid if she did anything else. While dangling in the air like a child, I threw my hardest punch to Chishar's face. It had the same effect as punching a furry slab of iron. I've never eaten. eaten a fellow Sasquatch's heart before. Chisar sneered as he jabbed his finger into my chest, digging into my skin.

I think I've developed a taste for the thing. I screamed and grabbed at his hand with both of mine, trying to pull his hand away from digging deeper into my skin. I began to panic and wonder why the viscan wasn't helping. Nothing was helping. A bright flash of an image appeared in my mind. It was the palm of a Sasquatch's hand. where the fur didn't grow.

The hand on an ornake tattoo of a circular symbol, colored in a vibrant teal. Place your blood in the middle, a voice in my head urged. The next mental image was of a bloody symbol being drawn on a tattooed palm with a pointer finger of the off hand. Slap your palms together to activate the spell, Biscan's voice instructed. I'll perform the chant. You rip him apart. I did as commanded, dabbing my left hand near the wound where Chisar was digging his fingers into me.

I held at my right palm but didn't see the teal tattoo. I felt the mental urging to proceed from Viscan, so I drew the blood symbol anyways. Chisar's wicked smile faltered for a moment as he saw what I was doing. He had a look of surprise and concerned. He recognized the spell. I slapped my palms together and had no idea what to expect. Fiskin's spirit chanted an unfamiliar chant in my head as the tips of my fingers began to glow yellow, red, then blue. An immense heat radiated from the last digits of my fingers on both hands.

I could feel the intense heat everywhere but my glowing fingertips. I looked Chisar square in the eye and growled a hateful growl that wasn't entirely my own. I grabbed his hand sticking into my chest with my left. My fingers burnt through his muscled thorn. arms like a hot knife through butter. He screamed in pain. I made my right hand into a knife hand and intended to jab it into Chisar's eyes. He quickly flung me away from the grip he had on the back of my neck. I struck out, but he reacted too quickly. He tossed me so fast my outstretched strike was just barely out of reach when I threw it. I flew high to land on a fallen log

with the balance of a gymnast. My weight spell must have still been activated. I gritted my teeth that I prepared to launch back at him. Don't make a fist, Fisk and spirit yelled. I realized I was about to make two of them out of muscle memory. I surely would have burnt my hands off if I had. How is this? Chisar asked. He stepped back and broke through the weaker branches to stumble slightly. Chisar must have finally figured out what was happening

because a look of terror crossed his face. The amulet. "'Viskin!' he croaked in a harsh voice. "'He was the only one who knew how to weld the scolding touch. "'He still is,' I answered back coolly, "'as I laid my arms out wide, superheated fingers, plays. "'I ran at him again. "'He tried to backpedal, but his large frame kept causing him

"'to break the branches underneath and trip up. "'I slashed at him with my fingertips, "'I carved glowing orange chunks out of him. He would swing his mighty attacks, only for me to leap away and flank around him and burn him again. After about two minutes of me jumping around and using scolding touch, I courtrised his tendons in his arms and shoulders. Jissar was slumping, stuck waist high in the brambles.

He had deep raking burns all over his body. He breathed heavily, looking up at me in surrender. I stood on a fallen tree in front of him. I looked around to see no sign of lay them. Your mate has forsaken you. I said coldly to him. You are on your own. It's two against one now.

Please, Chassar panted. I surrender. Don't kill me. He was pathetic. The giant cocky killer had been reduced to a sad, burnt low life. I felt a twinge of sadness for him. Maybe I would take him to stand trial before the council.

You didn't show me mercy. My mouth spoke on its own. My son, even my daughter. I screamed at him in Viscan's voice. Before I knew it, I lunged forward to grab Chisar by the sides of his head. My fingers burning into him. He screamed, unable to lift his arms to defend himself, as I plunged both glowing thumbs into his eyes,

bursting them on contact. He screamed and screamed as his head smoked and I drove my fingers up into his brain. He went limp and I held him up burning, the top of his skull beginning to glow. It's over, Viscan. He's dead. I yelled out loud.

Only then did I release the body to slump backwards, smoke coming out of his eye hoops. Yes, it is done. Peacekeeper law. The vengeful spirit told. me. I thank you for giving me back my honour. You never lost it, Viscan, I replied to the ghost in my hands. Do you still require my assistance? Viscan asked.

No, I don't think so. Lelyf is probably already flared across the gap by now. It was an honour, lorke of Clan Bayhams. Too bad we didn't get to work together in my past line, the voice says. And with that Viscan fell silent. Never. to speak again. My fingers stopped glowing, and I stood there looking at Chisar's dead body. I felt the pain and fatigue creep back up on me. Now that the adrenaline was out of my system, my body was punishing me. I had some minor pain, dampening spell still him about them.

I had the time to perform them, and then go check on the kids. But this plan was discarded as soon as I heard the thrumming sound of two helicopters approaching. I looked up to see two black choppers buzz over the clearing, heading towards the house. I pushed myself to begin running after them. I didn't know who they were, but I wasn't taking any chances. There were humans on this side of the gap that helped in their interdimensional human trafficking. My body screamed at me as I pushed myself to run faster. When I got to the clearing around the cabin, I saw both the choppers hovering while dropping down zip lights.

I was almost to the busted front. doors when the first black-clad soldier hit the ground. He turned in time to see me back-hand him off his feet, and I darted inside. I skidded to the pantry and saw my runnstone were still there. Good. It means they didn't run away and they're still inside. I could hear the clamour of soldiers calling out orders to each other, and before I knew it, my fingertips began to glow blue again. I didn't know how many armed men were out there, but I'd kill them all if they made me. come too far to lose these kids now. I flashbang rolled in and I turned my head to the side.

I was thankful my sharpened senses spell had run out when a loud bang assaulted my eardrums. When I opened my eyes, eight people had entered the cabin and were pointing automatic rifles. Freeze, asshole, don't make a move. The soldier screamed in a distorted voice. His face was covered by a gas, just like all the others in his squad. You take one step toward these kids. I will rip your face off, I shouted back. It was only around five seconds, but it felt like an eternity as we stared at each other.

It was a standoff that would only end with more bloods. I was already planning the quickest way I would kill them. Hello, Lord. Do you think we can both do our jobs without killing each other? Said a gas mask-wearing soldier to my right. At first I didn't understand him, until I realized he was speaking in a language of the indigenous people, the ones that ruled here long ago. The soldier lowered his weapon and removed his master to reveal a familiar face.

His Rising Eagle, a friend from this side of the gap. My finger stopped glowing and I dropped my hands. Rising Eagle gestured for his men to do the same. That's new, he said, pointing at my hands. You walked forward and extended his hand for a handshake. Can you still shake an old friend's hand with that new trick? I smiled as the feeling of relief, I did it. Not all reality wardens were Sasquatches.

The humans did their part too. Sorry we didn't get here sooner, Rising Eagle said as he shook my giant hand. Some Mows were trying to open a portal to the damn kingdoms. Amid pitched a fit for us to help them. I informed Rising Eagle about killing Chisar and Lely fleeing. I told him the kids were hiding behind me. Rising Eagle informed me the kids would be given.

amnestics and taken care of. One of the medics treated my injuries while I performed mine and a healing spells before I left to return to my world. A report had to be made. It was a terrible night with too many close calls and dead civilians, but at least the kids were safe and Chisar was dead. I knew the humans on this side could handle the rest. As I walked back into the woods to find my gateway, I wondered what ailment I would suffer from using the ambulance. but even if it took all my senses, it would still have been worth it. So, that's the quick wrap-up of my case. But a word of warning humans, this is the reason I started writing this.

Stop looking for Bigfoot. You might be lucky and find me, but most likely you'll be killed or kidnapped by others who are not so friendly. And so once again, we'll reach the end of tonight's podcast. My thanks as always to the authors of those wonderful stories and to you for taking the time to listen. Now, I'd ask one small favor of you. Wherever you get your podcast wrong, please write a few nice words

and leave a five-star review as it really helps the podcast. That's it for this week, but I'll be back again, same time, same place, and I do so hope you'll join me once more. Until next time, sweet dreams and bye-bye.