Scraps & Chum (23 page)

Paul hefted the limb.

The beast leapt.

With all his might, Paul swung the branch and caught the monster in mid air. The limb broke in two and the beast landed on top of him, snapping at his neck. Without hesitation, Paul rammed the remaining piece of limb in
to
its mouth, driving it straight down its throat until there was a sickening crunch.

The beast leapt back with the limb sticking out of its mouth, frantically shook its head to dislodge it, finally trying to yank it out with its claws. But it was stuck fast and the beast rolled on the ground in pain and discomfort, choking and gagging.

“
What the hell are you?
”

Paul didn
’
t wait for an answer. He grabbed his side and ran through the woods, back toward the house in the field. As he ran, the creature
’
s coughs and growls rang through the woods, a pained howling unlike anything from this earth.

It took several minutes to get back to the house where dead Regulars lay in various states of mutilation on the brown grass. Paul found his gun, along with the Regulars
’
weapons, snatched them up and pounded on the door of the house. Still nobody answered, so he kicked it open

No sooner did he shut it than the beast was charging at the door, the limb free of its mouth. Blood streaked its cheek like war paint. It slammed against the door, knocking dirt loose from the ceiling. Paul threw his back to it to keep it shut and the impact nearly knocked him to the ground. The house was mostly bare, full of dust and cobwebs. Each wall contained a window through which the morning sun shined, dust motes dancing in the rays.  It could come through any of the windows, Paul thought.

“
What do you want with me!
”

It continued to crash against the door, shaking the house, but then as quickly as
it
came, it stopped.

There was so much adrenaline coursing through Paul he could not breathe slow enough to move without coughing. Where was the damned creature? He spun frantically from window to window but could not see it, though he heard birds taking flight outside.

The momentary silence that followed was elongated by the thumping sounds of his own heart. Secret weapon, he thought, remembering the words the Regular had used. Is this their secret weapon?

It crashed through the window next to the door, glass shards shooting through the air. Paul swung the gun in his right hand and fired. It was empty! The beast landed awkwardly and stumbled, was on its side on the floor, attempting to right itself, slipping on the shards.

He fired the gun in his left, his own gun, but the beast was already in the air and the bullet struck the far wall.
He only had a moment to take in the salamander-like head before both
beast and man rolled on the floor, into the open fireplace. An old vase, cracked and gray with dust, fell off the mantle and shattered. Paul grabbed the nearest shard, drove it into the beast
’
s eye and screamed. Razor teeth tore at his arm, sank in near the elbow as he punched the beast in the other eye, momentarily blinding it.

Scrambling out from under it, Paul found the gun and stabbed the bayonet into the creature
’
s back. The creature shook to dislodge the knife and the glass shard, lashed out with its claw, missed Paul and tore a chunk out of the wall.

Paul fell back, landed on his rear with a thud. Blood ran freely from his arm and his side, and his adrenaline was wearing off. Moving pained every part of his body.
“
All right then, have at me. I
’
ve done my job, I am prepared!
”

The creature moved forward, a bit slower than before. Its wounds were obvious, but it was still strong. A smell like wet
leaves emanated from it
, a gooey yellow mucus ran down from its eyes. Its throat was swollen, its chest was torn. It radiated heat, and it was determined to have its meal. With a final roar, it charged at Paul.

“
Our father, who art
—
”

A shot rang out; a bullet shattered the far window. Slick blood sprayed into Paul
’
s face as the beast slammed into him, dragging him across the floor underneath its body, before coming to rest against the wall. Its face lay on Paul
’
s
own
, its red eyes staring through him, the bullet hole in its head gushing blood. Slowly, its tongue fell out and flopped on Paul
’
s neck, dribbled saliva down his shoulder.

On the verge of tears, Paul fought to control his mind. Whatever it was, it had meant to kill him, and only him, as if he were the choicest cut of meat in the land. There was recognition in its eyes even now. He couldn
’
t speak, and his heart began to ache from beating so fast. How does it know me, he wondered. What have I done?

As he watched, the creature
’
s eyes drained of color, moving from red to pink to gray. And he saw they were not demon eyes, they were human eyes.
“
What are you?
”
Paul asked again.

Then slowly, the eyes glazed over and all was still, except the sound of someone running toward the house.

“
Paul! Paul are you all right?
”

Tired, sapped of all energy, and in blistering pain, Paul rolled the beast off of him. The door opened, and a man entered, a rifle in his hand.
“
Paul. Thank goodness I found you. I
’
m not such a good shot but I think the Lord saw fit to extend a hand this time.
”

Paul smiled as his friend the sexton entered the home, his head covered in sweat and his face lacerated.
“
How did you know?
”
Paul asked.

Pointing to his own face, the man said,
“
You don
’
t think I did this myself, do you?
”

The old man helped Paul to his feet, and together they stared at the creature.
“
It tried to kill me,
”
the old man said,
“
but then it left. I followed it to warn people, found a dead man in Medford, some dead chickens, I knew it was heading north. It didn
’
t make much sense at first, until I remembered what you said, that the Regulars would have us afraid.
”

“
You think this…thing…belongs to them?
”
Secret Weapon, thought Paul.

“
I
’
m not sure, but it
’
s odd that it should appear on this night and head north after you did. Some of the Regulars who fell at Lexington talked about secret weapons, dark magic, before they died.
”

“
The Regulars? They fell?
”

“
They did.
”
The old man smiled.
“
They retreated. It was your ride that prepared our militias. Others have already headed north, to await further battle. Paul, you have saved us. You were right, victory will be ours.
”

“
Look!
’
Paul shouted, and pointed at the beast.

The creature was melting away before their eyes. Its hair dried up and became dust, its bones shrank into tiny tree branches, its blood ran across the wooden floor and evaporated, fat and viscera bubbled and burned away, its eyes popped and smoked. When it was done, only a black spot remained on the floor.

“
Look at that.
No one will believe us,
”
Paul said.

“
But we know. And we must be alert for more. The Regulars have something evil in their possession. And it knows who we are.
”

Paul nodded.
“
Time to go.
”

“
We can get another horse in Lexington. I
’
ll follow you back.
”

Together, the two men, both cut and bruised, rode back to Boston, keeping a lookout for strange shapes, listening to make sure the forest creatures were still stirring. From somewhere far away, the cries of battle filled the air. It was the cry of freedom.

***

“
I can summon more,
”
the old man said as he coughed and rubbed his head.
“
But I am old and the possession is harder to control. It wants to eat whatever it sees.
”

The
Sommerset
was crammed with British troops awaiting orders and crates full of weapons and food. It was hot and smelled of stale skin despite the cool breezes blowing across the water outside. The elderly man lay in a small bed, a candle beside him, sweat glistening on his face.

At the bedside, William Hearthmill, General of the king
’
s second infantry regiment, turned away in disgust, looked at his aide.
“
Reports?
”

“
We were turned back at Lexington. This Revere awakened the countryside and they amassed before we could surprise them. Hancock and Adams slipped away.
”

The general drew his sword.
“
Pity you are the last of your kind
, old man, we might have
still use
d
your services were you younger. But your monster failed. And you failed. And now we have a war to deal with.
Pity.
It would have been a formidable ally for us.
”

The old man wheezed.
“
You should have let me do it earlier.
”

“
And alert the town? You old fool.
”

“
We had him in New Hampshire.
”

“
You swiped at him when he was surrounded by twenty men. You were a fool to e
ven try it then. You told me your conjured beast
could follow him to the leaders. And then kill them in secret. It did neither.
”

“
I can try again. I can summon another.
”

“
I think not. This time we will fight man to man. It is a small collection of provinces, the people are inept and have no proper military of their own. We will crush them. When you see your monster in hell, say hello to it for me.
”