The Monster of Creasy's Hollow (Defenders of the Rift Book 1) (3 page)

The others weren’t happy with that, but everyone
had to admit Chuck had a point. It wasn’t like they were
experts in any sense of the word. Even calling them ‘hobby
occultists’ would be stretching it. Deciding to wait and see
what Chuck could find out, Belinda, Alvin, and Valina headed home,
leaving Chuck and Stacey in their yard alone.

“
Do you really think it was a summoning?”
Stacey asked, once it was just the two of them.

“
I’m almost certain of it,” Chuck
admitted grimly. “But what did they summon?”

Monusuol took in his surroundings with a jaundiced eye.
He had felt the pull of the summoning from deep within the other
plane. Unable to resist the summons, he had been swept along to this
realm against his will. To call him unhappy would have been an
understatement.

Seeing that his summoners were nowhere in evidence
simply added fuel to his already burning ire. Finding himself the
recipient of the body of a dead canine served only to enrage him
further.

Monusuol sniffed the air around him, testing it for
anything familiar. The smell of salt was almost overpowering to him,
and he could see the grains of the hated element on the ground all
around him. His rage was on the verge of boiling over when he
realized that the circle of salt trapping him was, in fact,
incomplete. Someone, or something, had broken the circle that was
meant to contain him.

A slow, predatory smile spread it’s way across the
creature’s face. While he didn’t know who it was that had
possessed the temerity to summon him from his home, they had, in
fact, done him a huge favor. With the containment of his trap broken,
Monusuol was free to walk the Earth once more, as he had been
millennia ago.

Free, and answerable to no one.

The creature laughed aloud at this discovery, though no
mortal human would have recognized the sound as one of humor. It more
closely resembled the combination of large gears grinding together
and the sound made by steam under pressure leaking from a ruptured
pipe.

Testing his freedom, Monusuol lifted one cloven hoof and
took a cautious step across the salty barrier. His foot landed safely
on the outside of the broken circle with no pain inflicted upon him
and no resistance. The horrible sound of his laughter rang louder
this time, and dogs across the Hollow began to bark and howl in
response.

Monusuol roared in return, the thrill of freedom giving
strength to his defiance. He was
free
! The feeling was heady,
almost intoxicating after so long in darkness and despair. With an
evil joy permeating his very being, the monster set off in search of
mischief and mayhem. There was so much he had missed in his time of
confinement.

It was time to make up for that.

*****

“
Did you hear that?” Donny asked his sister,
as the two of them were finishing their homework.

“
Hear what?” Donna asked, looking up.

“
That. . .noise,” Donny tried to think of a
good description. “It sounded like some kind of howl. Or
something,” he added, frowning.

“
Probably your stomach,” Donna rolled her
eyes. Her brother would be hungry a half hour after supper. And
desert.

“
No it wasn’t.”

“
Shut up and leave me alone,” Donna
grumbled. “I have to get this done.”

“
I’m telling you I heard something!”
Donny insisted.

“
You’re gonna be hearing bells if you don’t
leave me alone!” Donna shot back. “Shut up!”

Growling under his breath, Donny got to his feet. He
knew he had heard something strange. Going to the back door, he
slipped on his shoes.

“
You’ll get in trouble if you go out without
doing your homework, dork,” Donna warned.

“
Not unless you tell, snitch,” Donny shot
back. “You wanted me to leave you alone, I’m leaving you
alone.” With that he stepped outside, leaving a fuming sister
behind.

“
Jerk,” she muttered, returning to her
homework.

*****

Chip had been taking the trash out when he heard the
roaring. He wasn’t sure just what it was he was hearing, but he
knew that it made the hair on his arm stand up. That and sent shivers
down his spine.

“
What the. . . .?” he wondered, looking out
into the night. He couldn’t see anything, but he could hear
what had to be every dog in the neighborhood barking and growling.
The sound made him think of poor Waldo. Chip sighed, shaking his
head. He had been so sure that the book he’d found would give
Waldo back to them.

The roar, or whatever, sounded again, forcing all
thoughts of Waldo from Chip’s mind. Whatever was making that
noise sounded. . .angry. Angry and mean. And big.

Replacing the trash can lid, Chip decided to go back
inside. He didn’t know what was making that sound, but he was
pretty sure he didn’t want to meet it.

*****

Monusuol stalked the darkness of Creasy’s Hollow,
content for the moment to simply enjoy his new found freedom. Much
had changed in the time he had been banished from this realm. Strange
lights burned without flame, and large metal beasts with glowing eyes
roamed the land. Beasts the like of which he had never encountered.
He would need to be cautious, at least until he knew more about them.

The smells of this realm were almost overwhelming as
well. Some he could identify, others he could not. A few seemed
familiar, as if some ingredient within the smell was known to him,
but not in this state. Another mystery he would need to solve.

There were many strange new sounds as well, including
the roar of the beasts with the glowing eyes. Some were quiet, almost
as if trying to avoid detection. Others, however, were loud, roaring
their defiance to others of their kind he supposed. A few were huge,
and Monusuol was reluctant to draw their attention. He was not sure
that he could defeat these largest of the strange beasts, and thought
it better not to challenge one unless there was no choice.

Monusuol found himself walking along a hard surface that
blended almost perfectly with the darkness save for brightly colored
lines along it’s middle and sides. He had noted that most of
the strange beasts traveled these surfaces, and decided that doing so
himself might not be a good idea. With that thought, he moved off the
hardened area onto the bare ground.

There were structures all along the sides of this marked
surface, many showing the same strange lights that burned without any
sign of fire. These lights were a source of puzzlement to him. He had
seen stones glow in such a manner, but they were rare, and almost
always lay in the possession of strong sorcerers, or worse still,
knights who spent their lives dedicated to keeping Monusuol and his
brethren from roaming the world at will, as was their right.

These structures. Could they be dwelling places of the
humans? If so they were much changed from the last time he had walked
the Earth. Where were the castles, the rock walls, the trenches and
moats? Obstacles to his kind, placed there to protect the weak
skinned humans from Monusuol and his kindred. Had the humans advanced
to the point that they no longer needed such protection?

Were the strange beasts with the glowing eyes that
seemed to patrol this particular settlement some new form of human
wizardry meant to prevent attacks by beings such as he? Were they,
even now, seeking him out with their glowing eyes and growling
sounds?

The creature was confused. He needed time to think, to
study his surroundings. There was much to be learned here, and he
needed to be cautious. He was strong, of that there was no doubt. But
he had been gone from this realm for a very long time. Would his
strength still be superior in this new, unfamiliar surrounding?

He did not know, and what he didn’t know was
dangerous. Monusuol had learned that the hard way. With great caution
he eased his way back into the darkness, then made his way into the
woods around the strange human settlement. He needed a safe place
from which to watch, learn, and plan. The last time he had rushed
head-long into an altercation with humans, he had been banished from
the earth for a very long time.

He was determined not to make that mistake again.

*****

Chuck Douglas sat in his study, reviewing texts, trying
to decipher what might have happened earlier in the day. He had
already confirmed that the blue energy wave was indeed a sign of a
successful summoning. That didn’t tell him what, or who, had
been summoned, but it did confirm his worse fear. The spell had been
successful.

He hoped that whoever had worked the spell had taken the
proper precautions. Summoning was, as he’d told the others,
dangerous in the extreme. Only the most skilled, or insane,
practitioners used them. Binding a creature from another dimension to
your will was a way to get things done, to get information, to
accomplish any number of things.

Doing it wrong was an invitation to disaster. A disaster
that usually began with the death of the summoner, and went downhill
from there. Essentially, a summons that didn’t have all the
necessary precautions in place left the summoned beast a free entity,
able to roam at will and do as it pleased.

Just the thought of such a monster loosed on a small
town like Creasy’s Hollow made Chuck shiver. Creatures like
that wreaked havoc for fun. Destruction, death, and mayhem came
naturally to them as breathing. It was ingrained in their very
nature, and there was no changing that.

He set the book he’d been reading aside, rubbing
his eyes. He was tired, and his eyes burned from three hours of
almost continuous reading. And while he had confirmed his earlier
guess, he was no closer to finding out exactly what had happened. He
had leaned back in his chair when he heard Chip come inside. His son
came to the door of the study, and knocked lightly.

“
Dad, I think something is wrong,” Chip said
hesitantly.

“
What do you mean, son?” Chuck asked, not
really paying attention as he searched for another book.

“
I heard something really weird outside just now,”
Chip told him. Chuck stopped what he was doing, giving Chip his
undivided attention.

“
Weird how?” he asked, frowning.

“
It was like a howl, or something,” Chip
told him. “But it was wrong. It wasn’t a dog, I know that
for sure. It was too deep for that. It almost sounded like when
someone grinds gears on a straight shift transmission. It was loud,
too,” he added.

“
You just heard it? Just now, I mean?” Chuck
asked, suddenly very interested.

“
Yeah, when I was taking out the trash,”
Chip nodded. “I know monsters don’t exist, but. . .it
really sounded like some kind of monster howling. Or growling. Maybe
a combination of the two. I can’t really describe it.”

“
I’ll take a listen,” Chuck promised.
“Probably was someone grinding gears,” he tried to laugh
it off.

“
I don’t think so, but maybe,” Chip
looked dubious. “Anyway, I’m done with my chores, and
already got my homework. I’m gonna play for a bit, and then go
to bed. Okay?”

“
Sure son, go ahead,” Chuck nodded. “Have
fun.” He watched his son depart, then headed outside. Slipping
his shoes on at the door, he stepped out into the night, listening.
Dogs all over the neighborhood were howling and barking, causing
quite a ruckus. There could be any reason for that, of course, but it
was still unusual. A dog or two barking here and there was one thing.
This sounded like every dog in Creasy’s Hollow was up in arms
about something.

“
Not good,” Chuck shook his head. This was
another bad sign. It was possibly a sign that whatever had been
summoned was on the move. Possibly even here in town. Even a smaller
creature could wreak havoc in the small town. There were very few
defenses against them. Most of them were arcane in nature, and would
require experienced practitioners to execute.

Experienced and powerful.

Chuck wasn’t sure his small group was up to such a
task, either.

The gang met up at the front entrance of the high school
as usual the next morning. Donny and Donna were there first, and were
still arguing about whatever Donny had heard the night before when
the others arrived.

“
I know what I heard,” Donny said heatedly.

“
You already said you
didn’t
know
what it was,” Donna shot back, smirking.

“
You know what I mean!” Donny exclaimed.
“Stop using my words against me!”

“
How can I help that you’re too stupid to
know how to say anything?” Donna replied, her smirk growing
larger by the second. She lived for times like this. Donny was an
easy target.

“
What are you two arguing about now?” Angie
asked, eyes rolling. The twins were famous, or infamous, among the
group for their titanic arguments.

“
Donny thinks he heard a monster last night,”
Donna said derisively, laughing until she saw Chip stiffen.

“
What?” she demanded.