The Monster of Creasy's Hollow (Defenders of the Rift Book 1) (7 page)

The spell was fairly straightforward. Chip would do the
chant, while the others repeated after him. The only problem was the
distance between the children. Since the signs would be large, each
teen would have to stand apart from the others. They would
communicate with small two way radios and earphones. Their candles
could be masked inside blackened holders to keep their light from
being seen if night fell before they could work the spell.

To say that everyone in the group was terrified was a
huge understatement. Yet, there was nothing else to be done. Monusuol
could not be allowed to roam free. It was as simple as that.

But no one told Monusuol that.

*****

Monusuol had watched the human settlement from the woods
near the small lake. As day dawned he could get a better look at the
beasts that had concerned him last night. The largest of them
concerned him greatly. Great black plumes of smoke roiled from behind
their massive heads, spreading into the air around them. He noted
that their growling was punctuated with the smoke plumes, and assumed
that the beasts could, if they desired, breathe fire.

That was an unwelcome surprise. Monusuol had known
creatures that breathed fire in the past. All were of nasty
dispositions, and much more powerful than he was. He decided that
these beasts must be avoided at all costs.

He had spent the day observing the settlement, watching
the comings and goings of the humans and their great beasts. It
seemed that the beasts actually allowed humans to ride within them.
He had known knights to ride horses in past times, so this was not so
strange, but the fact that they rode inside these new beasts was
puzzling. Not puzzling enough to force him from cover, however.

There were many humans in this settlement, and they
walked to and fro, or rode in their great beasts, with no sign of
fear whatsoever. They had either never been attacked by a being such
as himself, or knew that any such attack was doomed to failure, and
didn’t worry about it over much.

The day drifted into late afternoon, and Monusuol had
decided that once darkness fell, he would venture back into the
settlement. He was hungry, both for food and for violence. He knew he
could find both in this human settlement, so long as he was properly
careful around their massive guardians.

He was preparing to move when a slight breeze brought a
long familiar smell to his nostrils. His head lifted without
conscious thought as he tasted the wind, savoring the scent.

The blood of a goat! Freshly killed, too! Monusuol
drooled at the thought of fresh goat, a delicacy which he had not
enjoyed in an age or more. The thought of visiting the town left his
mind completely as he began to seek out the source of this wonderful
scent.

He would feast on his favorite tonight.

*****

“
Everyone in place?” Chuck asked quietly
over the radio.

“
We’re ready,” Chip replied, his
mother beside him.

“
Good to go,” Donna called, her own mother
by her side.

“
Same here,” Alvin called, his own parents
behind him.

“
Ready Mister Douglas,” Angie called for
herself and Kat.

“
Now we wait, then,” he ordered, placing a
steadying hand on Donny’s shoulder. Chuck would much preferred
to be with his own son, but Belinda couldn’t be two places at
once, and Chip had his mother. Alvin and Valina had refused to be
separated. Chuck shook his head mentally at the pair, and the rest of
the group in general. What had once seemed like a tight knit group of
people had turned into a seething mass of back stabbers at the first
sign of trouble.

He and Stacey would be well rid of them once this was
over.

“
Steady, Donny,” he said softly. “We’re
ready for him.” The teen nodded in reply, watching the woods
around them. Everyone was covered in the scent of other, smaller
animals that should go unnoticed by the demon, hiding their presence.
It wouldn’t do for Monusuol to get a scent of human when he
went for the goat.

*****

Across the way, Chip had turned to his mother about to
say something, but froze at what he saw. Just beyond where they were
standing was the most hideous thing he had ever seen in his life, and
that included the stupid horror movies that he watched with Angie.

Seeing the look on her son’s face, Stacey turned
slowly until she could see the beast. Her own eyes widened at the
sight of the monstrous creature.

Standing nearly eight feet tall, with cloven hooves for
feet and a short tail that swished back and forth behind him almost
cat like, the monster was a vision of horror. Ugly didn’t
begin
to cover the leathery skin with it’s numerous boils and ulcers,
the wide set eyes atop a face that resembled a cross between a rhino
and a crocodile, right down to a small horn on the tip of his wide
snout.

A snout he was currently using to sniff the air around
him. Stacey froze, afraid any movement would draw the beast’s
attention. She also averted her eyes slightly, not staring directly
at the creature. Chuck had told them all that staring directly at the
beast might well attract his attention, almost as if he could feel
their eyes on him. That might be an old wives tale, but Stacey wasn’t
willing to take that chance.

She heard two clicks in her ear, and realized that Chip,
despite his fear, had remained level headed enough to remember the
signal that would alert the others. Each party had a specific number
of clicks, and theirs was two. She felt immensely proud of her
teenage son at that moment.

Of course once this was over he was still grounded for
the rest of his natural life, she reminded herself sternly.

Answering clicks came through her ear as the others
signaled they had heard them. She listened until everyone else had
checked in. There was nothing else to be done now, except wait, and
hope the monster took the bait.

*****

Monusuol was suspicious to say the least. Hanging there
in the forest was a freshly slaughtered goat, a delicacy he loved
above all others. It was all he could do not to charge forward and
grab the fresh kill and gobble it down. But something was nagging at
his mind.

He had found blood along the way, some of it off the
trail he had followed, but some off it as well. He was well aware
that this could be a trap. He had been trapped before by humans. They
were nothing if not sneaky.

He studied the surrounding area, testing the air for any
hint of a human scent. He found none, but knew that humans would try
to cover their scent if they were hunting him, usually with something
vile. He could smell none of the concoctions that he had encountered
before, however. It appeared that a hungry human had simply left his
kill here to attend to something else. Likely intending to return
once the animal had bled completely out and finish the slaughter.

Well, he would save the human from that labor, Monusuol
decided with a snort. And if the human returned before he was
finished? Well, Monusuol didn’t really mind the taste of human.
It tasted like chicken, mostly.

Tasting the air once more and finding no hint of a
threat, Monusuol gave in to his base urge to plunge into the small
clearing and seize the goat.

*****

Chip watched from his place, amazed at the speed of such
a large creature despite his own fear. He had to fight to keep his
fear from taking control and sending him running through the woods
for his life. His father had made it clear that there was no
outrunning Monusuol. They would have to defeat the creature here, or.
. .well, there was no ‘or’ that anyone wanted to discuss.

Stacey placed a reassuring hand on Chip’s
shoulder, steadying them both. She was just as afraid as her son was,
and even more fearful for the life of her son. Had there been any
other way to end this, Chip would have participated in this venture
only over her dead body.

Of course, that might happen anyway she reflected,
watching the monstrous Monusuol move toward the invitation the group
had left for him.

*****

Alerted by the signal from Chip, everyone knew roughly
where to look for signs of the approaching beast. Chuck stood with
Donny, hand firmly planted on the boy’s shoulder, watching for
the first sign of Monusuol’s approach. Knowing that the monster
was mere feet from his wife and son was not helping his calm in any
way.

A snort was the first sign that Monusuol was near.
Despite the monster's size, his footfalls were surprisingly light.
That would have been a problem for anyone not prepared for the
creature's approach.

Chuck barely contained a snort at that thought. Were
they prepared? He hoped so. He had worked through the night to make
sure that everything was done exactly as it should be. And to make
sure that Chip was able to lead the others through the ritual. The
trap was set, and the beast was already inside in. All that remained
was to spring it closed.

And then pray it worked.

This was never supposed to happen
,
Chuck thought to himself, reflecting on how the small group had
gotten
started. Natural arcane rituals practiced for thousands of years to
increase strength, health, ensure success in business, even fertility
rites. All of them done in positive ways, all of them passive and in
no way harmful to anyone else. The small group had stuck to those
rules no matter what.

He should have been more careful, Chuck decided. He
should have never left any of his texts were Chip could see them. For
that matter, they never should have dabbled in these arcane arts to
begin with. There was a reason that information on them was so hard
to find. Some of the rituals were dangerous.

Like the one their children had enacted two days ago
trying to bring a stray dog back to life. Chuck almost shook his head
before catching himself. He didn't want to attract Monusuol's
attention any more than his wife had.

Had Chip asked him before hand, Chuck could have told
him that bringing dead creatures back to life simply wasn't possible.
It was beyond what natural, or 'earthen' magic was capable of.
Technically what they did wasn't even magic. It was just harnessing
the power of the Earth itself, taking that power and lending it to
themselves in positive ways.

But everything positive had a negative side, as they
were witnessing now. He swore to himself that once this was over,
there would be no more dallying in powers that were simply beyond
man's ability to control. He was looking at one possible outcome with
his own eyes.

The creature before them was horrifying. Like something
from a deranged imagination brought to life right before them. The
fact that such a thing could be summoned to this plane by a book he
possessed was equally frightening. Chuck found himself wondering how
he could ever have been so naive. How any of them could have been.

He gently squeezed Donny's shoulder once more, steadying
the teenager. The humor wasn't lost on Chuck. He was trying to infuse
courage that he didn't have himself into the young man before him.

It had been that kind of day.

*****

Angie could feel her mom's breath on her neck, and it
itched a little. Yet she didn't dare move enough to scratch it, nor
to get away from it. The dying light was just enough to let her see
exactly what it was she and her friends had 'summoned' when trying to
bring their dog back to life.

The beast was hideous. A fan of every creature feature
ever made, Angie had never seen anything that frightened her until
today. Perhaps, she decided, because she'd always known they weren't
real.

Well, Monusuol was real
enough, and standing right in front of them all, in the flesh. And
Angie was scared silly. The shrouded candle in her hands felt as if
it weighed a ton, and her hands were sweaty with fear, making it hard
to hold. She tightened her grip, knowing that attracting the
attention of this
monster
would be the last mistake she would ever make.

All we wanted to do was bring Waldo back to us,
she thought. That reasoning had been their justification for what
they had done, and she had held to it like a ship anchor until now.
The excuse
rang
hollow in her mind as she saw the horrible beast they had summoned
from another plane of existence standing before them.

We shouldn't have done it,
she
told herself.
But now that we have, we
have to fix it.

That thought steeled her determination. But she was
still scared out of her mind.

*****

Alvin watched in silent horror as the monster moved to
take the goat hanging from the tree. He had almost cried at the idea
of killing another living thing to make up for their mistake, but
looking at the hideous Monusuol now, he admitted that it was far
better to kill one goat than to let this thing run loose in Creasy's
Hollow for another second.

At first he had simply been relieved that Waldo hadn't
been turned into a monster by their attempt to revive him. Alvin was
as soft hearted as any teenager ever when it came to inflicting pain
and suffering on any other living thing. He always had been. He had
taken a lot of ribbing about it from others, though not from his
friends, who seemed to understand and even agree with his feelings.