(Part 3)
It drew back its massive claw but never got the chance to swing. A flash of grey tore at the arm. The creature howled in pain as it turned to face its attacker only to have another flash of grey leave a vicious streak of claw marks down its side.
The creature had forgotten all about its helpless prey and was now more concerned with self-preservation. It spun to face its attacker and again was left with claw marks.
I crawled away from the fight and found my gun.
I turned back to find the worst thing I could imagine. The creature had gotten a hold of grandpa. He was slashing at every part of the creature’s face and body he could reach. But the creature was going for the killing stroke. It squeezed with every ounce of energy. I heard pops and cracks as bones gave way.
I aimed at the creature’s face, but it turned and all I had to shoot at was the lion.
I tried to get a better angle, but it shifted every time I did. Meanwhile, it kept squeezing the life out of my grandfather.
I was reaching the point of no return. If I transformed, I could save grandpa’s life, at the cost of breaking my vow which grandpa wanted me to keep.
It was really no choice.
I closed my eyes and thought of the beast lying dormant within me. I could feel the animal wake. I dropped the gun and prepared for the pain when suddenly I heard sirens.
The creature heard them too and dropped grandpa before disappearing into the woods.
I clamped control over the emerging beast and ran to grandpa. He had transformed back into his human form and I could see blood pouring from several wounds.
“Grandson,” he said weakly. “You must always remember your vow. Do not unleash the creature you cannot control.”
“Shicheii,” I said, with tears streaming down my cheeks. “We need to get you to a hospital.”
He tried to laugh but it came out as raspy coughs that spewed blood.
“It won’t matter,” he said grabbing my hand. “Leave this place. Don’t let this thing make a choice for you that you’ll regret.”
The fire trucks had pulled up and a fireman ran up to me.
“Are you ok?” he said.
“Yes, but my grandfather… “
He took one look and ran to get the EMTs.
By the time they got there, he was gone.
***
The next few days were a blur. I don’t remember much. I think I took a leave of absence. I know I didn’t go to work. I just sat in the cheap motel room that was now my home, drank a lot, and felt sorry for myself.
I don’t want to say I got over the death of my grandfather. I’ll never get over that until the creature who murdered him is dead, but I finally got myself together and went back to work.
Fortunately, my car was far enough away from the flames, so I still had transportation. I drove to the station and was greeted by Ken at the door.
“Welcome back,” he said, offering his hand. “Sorry about your house. Is there anything I can do for you?”
“I need some uniforms.”
“Yeah, I figured as much,” he said. “How are you doing otherwise?”
I’m not sure what he was expecting me to say or how much he knew about my grandfather. So, I went with the best answer.
“I’m good.”
“That’s great,” he said, smiling. “It’ll be good to have you back and everything can get back to normal after that missing hiker stuff got solved.”
“Solved?”
“Yeah, Glenn took the reins and found the other two hikers. Or, I guess I should say he found their bodies.”
“Glenn?”
“Yep.”
“Did someone call my name?” Glenn said walking out of the bathroom.
He walked up to me, all smiles, looked down at me and shook my hand.
“How’s it going, partner?”
“Pretty good, I guess,” I said. “You tracked down the other hikers?”
“It was mostly luck,” he said. “When I was out in that field I went the wrong way back to the station and literally stumbled across them.”
‘You mean when you pulled a gun on me because you were so distraught at not being the media’s number one ranger?’ I thought.
“Good for you,” I said.
Ken came over and handed me new uniforms.
“Thanks,” I said, stepping into the bathroom. I changed and took the rest of them to my car.
I closed my door and there was Glenn.
“Hey,” I said taking a step back. “You sneaking up on me?”
“Why would I do that?” he said, grinning.
“No idea.”
I stepped past him and went to my company truck.
“You want me to ride along?” he said.
“No, I think I’m good,” I said. “I need some alone time to get back in the swing of things.”
“Ok, well if you need anything, give me a call.”
“Thanks, I will,” I said, driving away.
I shook my head. ‘Glenn broke the case after all,’ I thought. ‘Good for him.’
As I drove off on a remote road through the park, my thoughts drifted from the events of the morning to the events of the last week, to the events of the last month. Eventually, they settled on my grandfather and how much I missed him. I remembered the times I visited his farm, I remembered when my mother passed away and I was sent to live with him. It’s no stretch of the imagination that he was the reason I developed a love of the outdoors and respect for nature. He was the one who showed me my inner beast and how to control it, until…
I was so focused on my thoughts that I almost drove off the road into a ravine.
I slammed on the brakes, and slid sideways on the dirt road, before thankfully coming to a stop.
I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding, then stepped out of the truck and did a slow lap around to make sure nothing was damaged. I was pleasantly surprised to find I had stopped with a few feet of clearance before sliding off the road to almost certain death.
I looked over the edge where my truck and I had nearly careened and counted my blessings. It was a sheer drop of easily three hundred feet. After that was a continuous downhill slope, ending at a ribbon of river far below.
I stepped back and looked up into the clear sky, without a cloud to mar the perfect blue.
A small group of dark spots caught my eye. I focused on them on saw it was a group of carrion birds. They were circling over a certain spot. Out of curiosity I went to the truck and pulled out a set of binoculars. I looked at the area where they were circling and spotted a dark object laying on the ground. I tried to make it out but couldn’t.
I hopped in the truck and drove closer to where I’d seen it and tried again to look through the binoculars. This time, I could see exactly what it was. It was a body.
I double-checked and saw claw marks and blood. I watched the body and saw the chest wasn’t rising and falling. I drove as close as I could get then jumped out and ran to it.
I checked the neck for a pulse and found none. I rolled it over to check the injuries and found myself face to face with impossibility.
Glenn’s dead eyes stared up at me.
“How is this possible?” I said, looking around as if the trees would somehow magically answer.
I looked at the level of decay and it was clear this body had been here for at least a day, possibly more. I touched his bloody cheek and it was cold. I lifted his arm and rigor mortis had already set in.
“Who was that at the station this morning?” I said to no one. “Am I going crazy?”
I looked over the body laying there in a park ranger uniform. It had been shredded and soaked in blood. I rolled him over and found his wallet. I opened it up and found his driver’s license. There was no doubt, it was Glenn.
As I pondered my sanity, I heard an animal cry. It wasn’t a call I’d ever heard before.
I dropped the wallet as chills ran up my spine. I jumped up and spun around, taking in my environment. I was certain someone or something was watching me.
The trees all stared back at me. My animal side was screaming that danger was close.
Panic gripped me as I raced back to the truck, convinced I was being hunted. That something was about to attack.
Again, I resisted the urge to transform.
I drove like a madman back to the station. I was almost there when Glenn stepped out on the road in front of me. I had to stand on the brakes to keep from running him over.
He stepped up to the driver’s side and knocked on the window. I rolled it down, trying not to make eye contact.
“Where are you off to in such a hurry?” he said with a grin plastered on his face.
“Just heading back to the station,” I said trying to act nonchalant.
“The way you were flying you’d think the devil himself was chasing you.”
“Nope, just heading back,” I said my hands still gripping the wheel tightly.
“You’re so white, you look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he said. “You sure you’re ok?”
“I’m fine,” I said not making eye contact.
“Well as long as you’re heading to the station, do you mind if I catch a ride with you?”
“Didn’t you drive your truck?”
“No, I was out walking the trail that started near the station.”
‘I’m sure you were,’ I thought. ‘Looking for some fresh victims.’
My mind ran through a quick list of reasons why I should say no. None of them seemed plausible.
“Sure, hop in,” I heard myself say.
When he got in the passenger’s side I was tempted to jump out of the driver’s side.
I started driving and he didn’t waste any time.
“Did you ever find that old man?” he said.
I gripped the wheel tighter.
“What old man?” I said.
“You know, the one on the trail that killed those hikers,” he said staring intently at me.
“No, I never found him.”
“Shame, that was the only part I didn’t figure out was where the killer went.”
It was unnerving how much this thing talked, moved, and acted exactly like Glenn, aside from the creepy grin.
“Who knows,” I said, gesturing around at the passing trees. “He could be around here somewhere hiding in some dark corner where no one ever goes.”
“I think we both know that isn’t true,” he said slowly.
“And how would we know that?”
He was silent for a long moment.
“Shame about your house,” he said. “How did it start?”
I gritted my teeth. He was toying with me.
“I don’t know,” I said turning toward him. “How did it?”
“Why would I know?” he said wearing his best innocent face.
“I thought maybe you had heard some rumor, you know, something in the air.”
“I think I was too busy finding hikers to worry about such things.”
“How’re the ribs?” I said as we took a hard left forcing him into the door. I saw him wince ever so slightly when his side hit the door.
“Doing better… “ he said, then instantly realized his mistake.
He turned toward me wearing one of his grins, but there was no mirth in it. It was pure malevolence. His mouth grew unnaturally wide. I could see teeth elongating. He was transforming.
I slammed on the brakes making us lurch forward.
“We’re here,” I said looking around the parking lot of the station. “Get out!”
His eyes bored into mine, brimming with fury. But he knew better than to try anything here. I watched as he stopped his transformation, then stepped out of the truck.
He paused as he held the door open.
“Say hi to your lion friend for me,” he said, then slammed the door and walked away.
I watched him go, breathing a little easier with every step he took. He walked away from the station, away from the parking lot, and disappeared into the woods.
I have no doubt he transformed as soon as he was out of sight.
I released my white knuckle grip from the steering wheel and got out of the truck, walked to the station, and found Ken.
“How was your first day back?” he said.
“Enlightening,” I said. “Have you noticed Glenn acting different lately?”
“Different how?”
“I don’t know, I haven’t been here. He just seems a little… off.”
Ken paused as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
“Come to think of it, he has been a little different. In a good way.”
“How’s that?”
“Well, he hasn’t been as over the top talking about cryptids all the time. And of course, he’s been super focused on finding those hikers.”
“The two others we didn’t find?”
“Two? Oh no, after you found those three, we had another two go missing on top of that.”
“Two more?”
“But, Glenn tracked them down,” he said. “Unfortunately, they were dead too. Mauled the same way as the others. We still have yet to find the animal that killed them so you be careful out there, ok?”
He patted me on the shoulder and walked away as I stood there soaking in the information.
‘Two more… ‘
It was then I realized that I had to stop this creature no matter what.
I drove to the motel that was my interim home and headed for my room. Tomorrow was going to be a big day and I needed to get some rest. As I walked up the outside stairs I glanced out toward the trees and saw a shadow disappear.
I smiled to myself.
‘Maybe I won’t have to wait that long.’
I went into my room and locked the door, making sure the deadbolt was latched as well.
‘I don’t want to make it too easy,’ I thought. ‘He might suspect something.’
I settled into bed and prepared. It was a little over an hour before I heard the barely audible click of the lock opening, followed by the faint scuff of the door on the worn carpet.
I waited until he shut the door and approached my bed.
“You know the problem with predators?” I said, hearing him freeze in his tracks. “After a while, they get this superiority complex and feel invulnerable, like nothing and no one can touch them.”
I turned to find the human version of Glenn staring down at me wearing that creepy grin.
“That’s usually when they make a fatal mistake,” I said.
“Oh really?” he said, his smile elongating to inhumanly wide. “And what mistake am I making with a little pissant wannabe ranger who couldn’t even sense the predator that was right beside him?”
I smiled back.
“You of all people should know that appearances can be deceiving.”
“I do,” he said. Then he transformed into the creature that had burned down my house and killed my grandfather. The strength and ferocity radiated off him in waves. He stood there, flexing his claws, his breath heaving in and out like a steam engine. He wanted to drink in my fear and relish it. He wanted to kill me slowly, I could feel it.
I took no small measure of satisfaction in seeing the claw marks that were healing on his sides. At least grandpa did some damage to it.
I got out of bed and stood in front of this creature that dwarfed me in size. It was easily brushing its head against the ceiling of the room. Its fur was so black it looked like even light was captured in it.
I allowed him to think I was cringing in fear as I looked into that nightmare face.
And then I darted for the door.
He swung his massive claw at me but missed by mere inches. I cleared the door, escaped into the night air, and vaulted the railing of the second-story walkway.
He was a heartbeat behind me. I could feel his breath as his pursuit grew closer. He grabbed my arm as I began to fall. I turned and saw the look of triumph on his face turn to doubt when he saw I wasn’t cringing anymore, I was smiling.
I grabbed his arm with my quickly growing hand. My eyes had grown large and bestial. My tiny five-foot-four form exploded into a creature twice the size of the one I now held in my death grip.
I saw the fear and recognition grow in his eyes as hunter became prey. I twisted his arm behind him, feeling a satisfying crack of bone as I turned our momentum in midair forcing him to hit the concrete on his back and me stomping on top of him.
The concrete shattered, just like several of his ribs.
His cry of pain was massive. I drank in his agony and hungered for more. I ripped the useless arm from his torso and began beating him to death with it. Blood flew everywhere as I landed blow after massive blow to his face, chest, groin, anywhere I could strike.
He tried to use his other arm to block the blows but it was only a matter of time.
He tried rolling away from me, but it was feeble at best. His energy was waning, his blood poured out of his shoulder by the bucket. I stomped on his chest to keep him from rolling, then grabbed one of the stone planters that lined the parking lot and doubled as ashtrays. I smashed it into his face. Over and over, the heavy stone came crashing down on his face until it was a bloody pancake.
But my rage was unquenched. I smashed it into his chest, collapsing his ribcage. And yet I wanted more. I had created a hole in the parking lot that the crushed body of the creature was falling deeper into.
In the middle of my carnage, I saw the desk clerk peek his head out and look at me. I ran at him, not seeing an innocent bystander but more blood to be spilled. He jumped into his truck and drove away as fast as possible, leaving me with the bloody corpse of the creature I’d sworn to stop.
My rage began to bleed away as I picked up the broken body and disappeared into the woods.
Luckily I didn’t run across anyone else before I had the body buried where no one could ever find it and my creature had calmed down enough that I was able to transform back into my human form.
Instead of hitching a ride to somewhere else, I walked back to the motel that was now surrounded by sheriff’s cars and answered questions about what had happened.
I told the story about how someone had broken into my room and attacked me, but I escaped and ran into the woods to hide.
The deputy eyed me doubtfully until I told him I was a park ranger and knew lots of places in the woods to hide.
No one could account for the sudden sinkhole appearing in the parking lot, and the clerk was found at a bar miles down the road, drunk as a skunk and blathering on about some huge creature that chased him.
The next day on my way to work, I stopped by grandpa’s grave. Under his name and dates, there was an inscription.
‘Even though this stone covers my body, yet shall my spirit soar free.’
I kneeled in front of the stone.
“I’m sorry, grandfather. I broke my vow. I unleashed the beast inside me and nearly lost control. It was only luck that kept me from going on a killing spree. Even though I destroyed the creature who killed you, it would’ve been a hollow victory if the beast had gone on a rampage and killed more innocents… like the last time.”
I wiped a tear from my cheek.
“I swear to you I will never again transform into the beast. Even at the risk of my life, I will not chance the beast running rampant. I will spend the rest of my life keeping it caged.”
I stepped away from the stone hoping there would never be another day like yesterday. Knowing that this beast inside me must never again be allowed to see the light of day.
No matter what.