Bestial

The beginning of the mayhem that was brought to this town goes back to an early age. It stretches vast reaches of time before the world became lit with lanterns, torches, gas lights, and to the more current televisions, smart phones, and cityscapes.

But to condense, we'll focus on its effect on the here and now, and to the story which took place in this small part of the world called Zephyrhills, Florida.

It began, so it's speculated, on a Friday night in June as the moon hung ominously red in the evening sky. A situation was unfolding at a small and cozy restaurant on Main Street. The usually bustling walkways and storefronts this evening were somewhat quiet. A couple were just finishing their dinner at a table which was situated in the outside dining area of the Main Street Bistro.

There was tension. Some harsh words were spoken. The man had thunder clouds on his brows, and the woman had tears welling in her hazel eyes. Apparently, this "date night" wasn't going to help in the start of making things better.

Poisonous words spewed from the man's mouth as he attempted to keep them at a low volume, as so only she would hear them. It was enough to cause the woman to rocket herself to her feet with force enough to almost topple the chair she was sitting in. The scalding tears were now slowly starting to cascade down her face. A look of shock and deep sorrow now masked her visage. She stood trembling.

Not wanting to perpetuate the scene amidst the other diners, she swiftly turned and stormed down the walkway, heels clicking the pavement. 👠 👠

The man was left at the table staring at a near empty plate as the other diners stared somewhat contemptuously at him, and then returned back to their own dinners and conversation.

The woman walked along the sidewalk going from the lit setting of the small downtown area gradually making her way toward a more dimly lit part of Main Street. Toward surroundings that were populated by pine trees, palmettos, and other greenery.

Furious footsteps in the foggy dark.

After walking for a while and allowing her temper to cool, she slowed her stride just a little.

But Something was waiting in the close by wooded area. Buried in the cover of the surrounding trees just feet from the sidewalk. It looked with a gaze of crazed hunger at the woman, as she continued her steps upon the cracked pavement. The swirling evening mist slithered around her, and she was suddenly touched by a feeling of unease. Alone.

Every sound intensified as her senses seemed to heighten.

It was then that she became aware of the feeling of being... stalked?

Her ideas were leaning toward the possibility of some sort of predator being nearby. Times were crazy, and it's completely conceivable that there could be a maniac somewhere.

Out there.

She slowly glanced over at the tree line just passed a clearing of grass.

She could feel it. There COULD be someone.

As her intuition had led her, she was right.

A massive assailant, shrouded in shadow, sprung from thick foliage of the nearby wooded area. Its attack was swift. She had no time to think of an escape much less try one. Her sudden, shocked, agonized screams and gargles went unnoticed by the patrons of downtown Main Street nearly a quarter of a mile back in the other direction.

The assailant's razor-sharp strikes repeated an assault on her throat.

They descended again. And again...

again.

The nocturnal wildlife continued its cacophony as the grisly feeding commenced.

The town's detective was alerted to a call several hours later.

He had been notified that there was a badly mutilated body discovered in a clearing near a wooded area and a stream near main Street in Zephyrhills. And when he arrived on scene there were already a bustling contingent of uniformed police officers, Crime scene investigators, and the M.E. Photographer.

The sheet which covered the corpse was drenched in blood. He could see this from yards away as he exited his car to approach the scene. Being a former cop from a hectic part of New York, he'd seen quite a number of horrible things. But here, in this town, it was low-key and quiet. And in the previous past couple of weeks, this was the third call like this.

What was this one going to look like? he thought.

He's been the detective in this town for over 15 years. And to date, he'd never been called to a scene where mutilated corpses whose blood drenched sheets had ever been discovered.

Furthermore, who had been causing this?

They had to be apprehended.

Even worse, now, once this poor soul who was laying on the ground now only a few feet in front him, was identified, the awful task of telling the family would have to be done.

He observed a single hand protruding from the cover sheet. The fingernail polish was as vibrant red as the random stripes of blood that pooled in the palm, splashing patterns like Chinese Ideograms.

The detective slowly knelt down and with a slightly shimmering hand, slowly pulled back the blood-drenched sheet.

What he saw first caused him to instantly grimace. But then gradually his expression became blank. His look was chilling in its vacuous emptiness. With a million thoughts running through his mind, none of them good, he slowly looked up and panned his view at the surroundings. And then fixed his gaze and continued to stare at nothing at all.

The early morning fog grew thicker still, as the soft lavender glow of the coming dawn emerged.

As the humid, and misty dawn broke, activity was already beginning to stir. The neighborhood was starting it's Saturday morning with birds twittering in the surrounding Oaks, dogs were barking at a passing taunting cat, and someone had already cranked a power mower into commotion. In one of the houses on the block, a very pretty girl was asleep on her stomach. She was in the comforting throes of her dream realm when suddenly the alarm on her phone which she had set the night before, started to sound off. She began to groggily swim upward toward the waking world as the vibration of her phone caused it to slowly travel toward the edge of her night table. She blew out a tuft of hair which was in her mouth. Just before the phone had made its descent to the floor, she grabbed it and turned the alarm off. Her opening eyes were puffy with sleep and her voice was agitated slightly.

It was time for her to start shifting and getting into motion as this was going to be an amazing day. She swung her legs off of the edge of the bed to land her feet into the waiting slippers on the floor. She brushed her hair which was decidedly tangled from sleep, (she hadn't bother putting it up), and brushed her teeth. After a nice facial scrub with one of the many artisans facial cleaners that decorated her vanity, she left the room and still sleepily, shuffled toward the kitchen. It was time for coffee. Her "High-Test" Stuff.

As she walked down the hall, a notification came thru on her phone. It was an MMS Message from her best friend, Neve. A "V-text" as they referred to this type of message. They've been communicating this way ever since they'd first learned how to send and receive voice memo messages back in the day. Just another way to communicate.

With an almost indifferent look, Raimi tapped play on the message to start listening to it. She then sat the phone on the breakfast bar in the kitchen as she started her task of making the coffee. Neve's soft voice chimed thru the phone's speaker with a sound of concern.

Raimi only listened to a few seconds of the message before impatiently and quickly tapping the stop button on the V-text. She didn't want to listen to Neve's complaining. "She seemed to be acting so damned jealous and insecure lately". Raimi thought. She continued the task of going about her coffee, and when she finally had her cup in hand with the fresh brew, she headed back to her room to finish getting dressed and ready.

Later, Raimi left her house with a joyous pep in her step. She was really excited to see him. He, being a really interesting and darkly attractive man, she had met just a little over a couple of weeks prior. He was new to town and was starting over. She was getting to know him and was very much attracted to him. Even as oddly dark and as preoccupied as he seemed to be some of the time. Always in thought.

She was going to meet him at the diner in town. He had texted her late last night to see if she'd be interested in possibly meeting him there in the morning. Even just to see each other briefly before going about the busy Saturday that each had to get to. And she had readily responded to him with an enthusiastic yes.

She got in her car, and with the start of the ignition along with one of her favorite songs on the stereo, she reversed, shifted into drive, and hummed down the street. It was going to be a fine day, as the wind rustled secretly thru the trees.

As Raimi drove toward the diner, her thoughts were as bright and sunny as the morning itself. She seemed to be swimming in sweet depths of bliss and things that normally went unnoticed, we're now amplified to her. Such as kids in the park, Birds on the wires, and the clouds in the sky. She was truly enjoying the fresh, new feelings she was having.

And the feelings she had for him.

As her drive continued though, she was completely unaware of the beige Chrysler that she had just passed, and that had made a right turn from a side street.

It accelerated onto the main road and hung back a few cars behind her. The driver kept her in view and followed her for the duration of the drive to the diner.

As Raimi pulled into one of the parking spaces just in front of the store, the Chrysler slowly turned into the driveway of the park that was adjacent to the strip plaza. The driver parked under the shade of an oak tree, turned his engine off, lit a cigarette, and with it pinched between two fingers, hung his arm out of the opened window. His long sleeve was rolled up a few Cuffs.

He watched her from behind dark sunglasses, as she swung her purse over her shoulder, and sauntered into the diner.

It was the detective who watched her.

He sat gazing at her as she entered the place and was still able to see her through the large diner windows. She was looking around momentarily, and then began approaching a man who was already sitting at the counter. The two looked happy to see each other. However, this didn't ease the detective's deep concern.

He continued to watch the two, and when he'd smoked his cigarette down to the filter, he flicked the butt into the dirt of the parking lot and lit another. He continued to watch the two of them.

What was his gut telling him?

The diner was its usual hive of activity with the morning breakfast rush. 🍳 Raimi stealthily stepped inside the entrance to the place and looked around briefly among the heads of the crowd. The clanging of dishes, the counter bell, the barking of breakfast orders, the humming of the crowd's conversation, and the chumming of the cash register filled the place with its concert of commerce. As Raimi surveyed the place, she spotted him. Just seeing him gave her a quick rush of excitement. In the brief time that she'd been talking to him, even the thought of him caused her emotions to erupt into a flaming fury; her heart burning six licks to the minute.

She thought to herself quite a bit that she'd hoped it would always be like this. A smile formed on her face, and she slouched into her best sneaky posture. She made sure that her presence was inconspicuous so she could strike with a "surprise attack" on her intended target. Her intended target was totally unaware that she stalked him.

She maneuvered quietly through the maze of busy tables to make her way toward the counter where he sat. He was sipping his coffee as he read a newspaper.

Once she got close to him, she knelt down even sneakier, and as she approached him, she lightly poked his side.

"Boo"! She spoke.

He jumped, slightly startled and an extremely pleased grin adorned his face. He quickly turned the newspaper he was reading over, facing the headlines down as he greeted her. The two gazed into each other's vivacious eyes as the pleasantries commenced.

The hive of activity surrounding them seemed to fade into silence as they interacted.

The exchange between the two was brief, but pleasant. and after about 15 minutes of quality interaction, Raimi decided that she'd better get going and on about her tasks for the day. She asked if he'd be interested in going for a nice stroll with her by Fox's Corner Later that evening. He agreed with an enthusiastic yes, and the two concluded their meeting.

She stepped outside and was met by a pleasant breeze. She shifted her purse to the opposite shoulder and with her fingers, cleared hair that had blown in front of her face. She strolled across the busy street toward her car, and before she got in, she looked back inside the diner to take another glance at him. He was slouched at the counter again, looking to be in deep concentration. She paused a little longer and formed a thin smile and got in her car. As she backed out, she looked at her phone and just slightly irritated, remembered her friends voice message.

The V-text came through once again for Raimi and she heard Neve's concerned voice.

"Hi, Raimi. I know its a bit early, sweetheart. I just wanted to give you a V-text. I've been thinking about what we'd been talking about the other day and I have a really bad feeling. I heard my dad talking to some of the other detectives in his unit, and he has a suspicion about your newcomer boyfriend. I know that you and Brock have been talking for a couple of weeks now. I'm not trying to say anything against that, other than the fact that I have a really bad feeling about him. You know what I've always said about my gut, right? I heard that they found another girl's body on Emerson and...."

Raimi ended the V-text.

The detective, who was still sitting in his car, as he had been watching the exchange between the two young people, watched as Raimi drove out of sight.

Once she was completely from view, he stepped out of his Chrysler and tossed even another spent cigarette on the ground.

He casually walked toward the diner as his look was anchored to the man sitting at the counter. The detective frequently ate at this place and was well known by the staff. As he entered, he was met by Shirley, the head server. She had a grin that was sunny and glad, albeit near toothless.

The detective slowly approached the counter and took the seat where Raimi, had previously been sitting.

With an air of pleasantness, he began to speak to the man, who looked as though he were trembling slightly.

After quite a few minutes of what seemed to the man sitting at the counter, to be some form of accusatory verbiage coming from the detective, the two concluded the uncomfortable exchange. The Detective learned that the man's name was Brock, and all but directly told him that he had been keeping an eye on him as well as the fact that he knew that he'd been seeing his daughter's best friend. He told him this mainly to see what sort of reaction he'd get from the man, (Brock was his name). After their conversation, The detective gave the head server a nod and a wink, looked back once more at Brock, and then left the busy diner.

The detective now had a feeling of even more unease. Talking to this man hadn't eased his mind in the slightest. In fact, speaking with him had almost sent a chill up his spine. And the way he smiled; the few times that he did, gave the detective even more of a sick feeling in his stomach.

That smile.

He'd seen it before in New York.

On the evil, or insane faces of some of the worst people that he'd either arrested or interrogated.

That smile.

A Nazi Foot Soldier might've smiled that way just before committing murder, The detective thought.

For now, he was going to leave and spend a bit of time alone.

To try to work things out in his mind. He'd be meeting with the Morgue Technician who will have examined the latest victim, later that afternoon.

Maybe there would be some answers to be had.

Maybe the Morgue Technician would be able to shed some light on something that could lead him in the right direction. Something to help him find the evil that was responsible for these killings.

He knew in his mind, that he'd be speaking with the man he met in diner again. Probably sooner than later.

He crossed the street and got in his Chrysler, the ground immediately outside of the driver's door was littered with spent butts. The engine roared to life, and he drove away.

As the day went on, Raimi went about the things she wanted to get done. She was at the grocery store gathering up her provisions for the week. She was trying to remember the last time she'd felt such a beam of happiness within her, in her long life of 22 years. She went about the aisles of the store barely paying attention to the things she was putting in her shopping cart. She was excited to go on her walk with him. It was going to be such an amazing evening.

Her shopping excursion continued a bit more, and after checking out, she was pushing her cart toward her vehicle. Her phone rang, and she saw that it was Neve.

She was stuck with a small lancet of irritation, as she started to answer. Neve was being so insufferable lately. Talking about gut feelings, talking about bad feelings, and her overall mild contempt for the guy that Raimi had been seeing. "Christ. She's really been showing a side of herself lately that's pissing me off." Raimi thought to herself as she answered the phone.

As she made her stride toward the car, the conversation briefly churned. Neve's concern, and Raimi's defensiveness. Neve wanted Raimi to come to her house as she had something she desperately needed to show her and to talk to her about.

Masking her boiling, and emerging rage, Raimi fought to keep the tongue civil. She thought to herself that she'd have to put a stop to this, and quickly.

She'd go home, put away her groceries, and go to see Neve. But she would also put her in her place and get her to knock this shit off. Jealousy and insecurity did not look good on Neve.

The man, who was named Brock, was leaving the diner. He was looking very flushed and a sheen of perspiration was glazing his forehead. Beads of spittle were forming at the corners of his mouth, and

He was struggling not to stumble as he made his way toward the exit.

Curious diners were looking with concern as he staggered out onto the sidewalk. He crossed the street, not paying attention to the cars that had brake lights flaring, and tires screeching as he walked into their paths.

He trembled more uncontrollably now, but successfully reached his car. He drunkenly fumbled for his keys, as he repeatedly missed the keyhole.

He eventually was able to unlock the door and as he opened it, he quickly slid into the seat. By this time, anyone who'd been watching him before went back about their business.

He was seizing uncontrollably now. The jerks and spasms were extremely violent as his eyes rolled backward into their wide sockets. He gripped the wheel with both hands that were fixed and livid. Every bit of his frame was reduced to a mass of violently quivering confusion.

This continued for what seemed to him, to be an eternity, and when it coasted to its finale, he sat slumped. His head hung limp between his forearms as his hands continued to grip the wheel vice-like at ten and two. His breathing was labored and scorched his lungs.

After a few minutes, he was able to gather a semblance of composure. And after even a few more minutes, he ran his fingers through his hair, located his keys which were still stuck in the driver door key slot, cranked the ignition, and drove away into the rest of the day.

It was later in the afternoon, and the detective arrived at the Town's Medical Examiner's Facility. A sterile, and harshly lit place that he'd made similar trips to before in recent weeks. And for the same reason.

By the time he'd arrived, the Morgue Technician who was in charge of the autopsy, had already completed the grim task of making the examination of the body. This information was according to the phone conversation between the Tech and the detective earlier. He had a somewhat reasonable, if not disturbing assessment for cause of death.

As the detective navigated thru a maze of hallways with highly polished Sheet Vinyl Floors, he finally arrived at the elevator which would carry him to the lower level of the facility. There, he would hopefully find something he could use in his case.

The stress on his mind was palpable, and it was his hope that the morgue tech would speak words to give him even a little bit more confidence in knowledge.

When the elevator reached the morgue level, the detective was met with the uncomfortable chill that pervaded the place. He was instantly overcome with a feeling of dread and wondered how or why anyone would voluntarily work in such a place.

This place wasn't as brightly lit as the upper levels of the building. Large industrial, stainless-steel sinks sounded with echoing drips, as the faucets leaked. And a vast row of gurneys in a line along one of the walls held the bodies of the dead that were covered with sheets.

The detective observed the morbid sight of their tagged toes protruding from their coverings. He grimaced slightly.

After a few minutes, a bearded and disheveled looking man in a stained, unzipped lab coat approached the detective with both a smile and a pleasant greeting. He was clearly having his lunch as he held a sizeable cheeseburger 🍔 in one hand, as he shook the detective's hand with the other. Ketchup and special sauce dribbled down his beard just under his mouth, and he lazily wiped at it with the heel of his palm.

After the salutations between his self and the detective, he ushered the detective into a small examination room where the latest victim was laying on a gurney and still covered with a blood-stained sheet.

His explanation and hypothesis were brief yet thorough. He continued to nibble away at his cheeseburger indifferently as he spoke.

"Definitely an animal attack of some sort. I wouldn't rule out a bear, although I'm not familiar with there ever having been aggressive bear attacks in this area before." The Morgue Technician said.

"As you can see. These lacerations to the throat to the upper thorax indicate that this was clearly not done with a weapon. These were done with claws."

"Bears?" The detective asked.

"I don't recall ever hearing of a bear attacking in this area before with this kind of brutality."

"It's not unheard of for a bear to act violently if they're protecting their young, or if they're extremely hungry. It's a rare occasion but it does happen." The Morgue Technician continued. "And of course, making a positive ID of the victim is going to be hard to do as. well..." He pointed to the victim's mangled facial remains.

"Yes. The violence is escalating." The detective said. "This is a cop's worst nightmare. There's nothing worse than trying to figure out why people get killed for fucked up reasons."

The chill in this place was persistent and unchanged.

Having tended to what she needed to; Raimi eventually arrived at Neve's house. As she pulled into her driveway, she saw that Neve was standing in the opened front doorway, as if she knew exactly when Raimi was going to arrive and anticipated it. She noticed that Neve had an expectant smile on her face, but also noticed that it looked like something was going on behind her eyes. Something dark and worrisome. This seemed to add to Raimi's irritation. She wondered if there had been something that had happened when she wasn't looking in the brief time that Brock had been introduced to Neve. Otherwise, why would she be acting so nervously and overly protective?

It was going to end today she'd be bound; but at the same time, she wanted to be an adult about it. Therefore, she'd try to soft handle the situation as much as possible. No sense getting Neve even more unreasonably upset than she already seemed to be. Raimi walked up to the door where Neve stood, still smiling, and the two embraced. They both went inside, and Neve made drinks for the both of them.

A short while went on, and the two discussed Neve's heavy-hearted concern. She handed Raimi a newspaper with the headline folded to be all that was visible. Raimi grabbed the folded newspaper with an agitated jerk and read it. Neve reinforced her concerns with the headline being the affirmation of her case.

"Do you ever remember anything like this happening before he got her?" Neve asked. She had a trembling voice.

"Ok, Neve! I get it. You don't like him. But I'm not going to sit here and accuse him of being the Son of Sam. He doesn't give me that impression at all. Where are all these bad vibes coming from with you?"

Neve sighed. "Look Raimi, I'm not trying to piss you off. I'm simply saying be careful. Some people might not be what they seem."

"It'll be ok, chick. Stop Worrying. Ok?" Raimi said.

The discussion was over. Or at least it seemed to be. And the two of them held their hands in one another's and gave each other assured and friendly smiles. It should be cleared up and ok now.

At about the time things were cooling off between the two of them, Neve's Dad, the detective, had walked out from the study where he'd been drinking his bourbon previously. He continued to look at the two of them as they watched him silently. Something had clearly been going on. He thought. Neve got up from the couch and started to make more drinks. Little did Raimi know that the feelings of concern weren't just confined to Neve. But that the Detective had them as well.

Brock and Raimi met at Fox's Corner as they had planned to do previously. They embraced, and then began to make their way toward the wooded area for their walk.

As the two walked further down the gravel path, it seemed that after talking quite a bit there was not much else to say. They seemed to enjoy the peaceful silence of the surrounding woods. The swaying of the trees, and the songs of the birds.

Brock was slowing his pace and was intermittently shooting glances back and forth between Raimi and the gravel path. His head, which had quelled itself out of the grip of a headache earlier, was now starting to throb again.

His eyes locked with Raimi's coincidentally, and his look caused her eyebrows to Firl. It startled her slightly and seeing her look of bewilderment, Brock stopped walking. She stopped just a few steps ahead of him and walked back to stand in right front of him. He was beginning to talk to her from the momentary silence from before. His tone was slow and quiet. He was explaining to her that as much as he liked her, and as much time as they've spent together, he felt as though he wanted to be completely honest with her about a few things regarding himself. Understanding and eager she stood listening. He explained to her that there was a lot to him that she didn't see on the surface, but that aside from a few personal physical issues that he struggled with, there were things she needed to know. One physical issue was just a slight case of hypoglycemia, which caused occasional seizures. There was indeed a darker corner

that he needed to tell her about though.

She assured that she could help.

"Well, that's ok." She said. "I mean, its not ok that you suffer from seizures and I can only imagine how painful that it has to be. But I can help you manage it."

With a growing, taunting tone in his voice he began to walk toward her, causing her to instinctively walk backwards and off of the gravel path. As he walked toward her slower still, a grin slowly formed on his face, and he gazed at her crazily.

This sent a chill down her spine and suddenly, for some weird reason, she could hear Neve's warning voice in her head. "Some people might not be what they seem." She thought.

Now she was thinking that this is what you call a fucking "O. Henry Ending" you stupid girl! Through the now, toothy grin, he said,

"I don't know why you're starting to run away little lady. Ain't gonna do you no good."

She was thunderstruck. And at the same time, was wondering why he was talking like that. Like some backwoods redneck thug. She started to move completely off of the gravel path now and into the innards of the woods.

"Come on now. Get on back here and let me give you the rest of the scoop." He called. "I ain't thru-a-showin' ya what I gots to show ya!"

After several minutes of this hide and seek routine in these woods, he was getting even more impatient, and his dialogue was growing even more insane. "Come on Little Red Riding Hood let's quit this."

"Leave me alone, Brock! This is not funny!" She said.

Raimi found herself in the grip of the worst panic attack she'd ever had, and rightly so. Brock had transformed from someone she had strong interests and aspirations of having something with romantically, to a raving psychotic who she was frantically, and desperately stomping thru twigs and mud to get away from. He was making absolutely no sense at all with his taunts, and was terrifying her to the core.

Every second that passed, his rationale faltered.

Completely winded, she squatted at the base of a cypress tree, feet and calves muddy, and with scrapes scattered on various parts of her body from multiple falls. She was trying to keep as still and as quiet as she could although her breath was coming and going in violent hitches and heaves.

From somewhere behind her, she heard the loud snap of a fallen limb, she sneakily peeked around the trunk of the tree to get a glimpse. Nothing was there.

She then heard Brock's voice getting closer with ever growing rage in it. And she darted away from the Cypress tree. Brock saw her and continued his vile verbal barrage.

"Oh to Hell with it! I'm through playing with you. Now it's time to feed so now it's going to fuckin' feed! He shouted.

He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled. "Go ahead boy! Gravy Train's-a-waitin'! Get 'er'!" Raimi's eyes grew wide in their sockets at what she saw next.

Chaotic confusion erupted! Raimi felt her grip on reality slipping as she was met with what she saw!

A gigantic, abhorrent creature! Tall, slumped, and mockingly doggish. Like something out of a Mike Ploog Painting, it stood with long, gaunt arms, and spindly fingers tipped with glossy, black claws. It stared at Raimi with intensely yellow and evil eyes; it's jaws snapped open and shut. Gator-like teeth that were razor sharp, we're dripping with foamy streams of saliva. It descended upon Raimi and with a swift swing, swatted her face, causing her to soar several feet from where she was standing. She whimpered as she crawled away dazed from the blow. She felt warm blood flowing in freshets from gashes on her face.

Brock approached the two of them and the beast slowed it's advance.

The monster seemed to be taking its commands from Brock! Was that possible? Was it his pet?

It looked back and forth from Raimi to Brock. Ardent determination seemed to overcome the thing as it seemed barely able to control its animalistic attack.

With a few more taunts hurled at her from Brock, the creature continued to advance toward Raimi. Now she tried to scurry away backwards on her hands and feet looking in horror at the beast. It grew closer and its snout was only inches away from her face

Suddenly, upsetting the entire attack, a voice yelled from the entrance of the woods. It was the detective! And he had a shotgun leveled off and pointed at the beast!

With lightning fast, unnatural speed and agility, the demonic creature charged at the detective who was only milliseconds away from squeezing off a blast from the shotgun. It swatted the weapon from the detective's grip and before he had a chance to flee, the monster began a ravenous assault. This continued a bit longer and it was apparent that the creature was only having some form of twisted pleasure from only brutalizing the detective. To make things worse, even Brock had gotten in on the action of the brutality and terror by having shot the detective once in the side. He lay helpless on the ground after the assault that was given to him by the beating. Raimi was gathering her senses once again amidst the horror. Brock was approaching the detective who was laying on his back. The creature standing hunched over him like someone over a vanquished enemy.

With a devastating, and thundering report that rolled away with an echo into the woods, the shotgun had been retrieved by a now recomposed Raimi. She had blown a shot into Brock's back, killing him instantly. He fell forward onto his front side just a foot in front of the detective. A look of shock and disbelief was frozen on his face.

The creature was even more enraged! It shot a glance skyward and emitted an ear shattering, gargled shriek!

The detective tried desperately to move to grab the pistol that had still been in Brock's grip, but it was futile. His gunshot wound made it impossible for him to move with any agility at all. The creature advanced toward Raimi with a slobbery smirk on its snout. It had the look of terrible concentration. It was going to enjoy making her pay for what she'd just done. It's stride was slow and certain, and its spindly fingers made clicking sounds as they writhed, making the claws tap together.

Raimi had one chance to end this, and her fear was palpable. With a body that trembled uncontrollably, she mustered everything within her and raised the calamitous barrel of the weapon to aim at the creature's face. She struggled to keep her aim steady as the horrible monster approached. Her finger rested upon the trigger, and as the creature raised both of it's gangly arms to bring down in its ruinous and final attack, the shot rang out! It sent both parties back in opposite directions. Raimi flailed back a few feet from the rifle's recoil, but the creature was sent back several feet, roughly half of its head now gone from the blast; Blood flowed in steady streams over and through its fingers that cradled its head. Stringy sinew, brain matter and gruesome torn flesh was visible as it convulsed on its feet. Its screams were gargled and its blood saturated its airways.

It fell to its knees and proceeded to whimper like a wounded puppy, momentarily jerking a feeling of sympathy from Raimi, who already had tears streaming down her face.

The feeling of sympathy was short-lived, however.

The Beast fell forward like a defeated tree. Landing on its front side the same as Brock, with a heavy thud that was almost sickening in its sound.

It's death twitches went on for a few moments. The detective struggled to crawl toward a tree to sit up against its trunk, as Raimi quickly came to his aid. She could see that his gunshot wound wasn't going to be life threatening, or at least it didn't look to be so. She would need to get him to a hospital immediately though. So, she began the task of standing him to his feet so that they could get to the car. It would probably be quicker for her to do it this way, rather than wait for an ambulance to get there. There would be a whole lot of explaining to do and that needed to be reserved for another time. Right now, she needed to get the detective help.

The two were on their feet and slowly but surely made their way toward the mouth of the woods. Having finally made it to the car, she secured the detective in the passenger side. And quickly rounded it to get in herself. She flared the car into life, and with a quick look at the detective, sped off down the road.

The trees rustled with the evening's final breeze. The two villains lay fallen in the bowels of the forest, as occasionally a woodland creature would approach the bodies inquisitively, and then turn to prod about their business elsewhere.

In the weeks that followed, the detective, who was recovering from his wounds, was prodded by reporters who were desperate for answers to the questions they had. Who. What. How. Why. None of which the detective had definitive explanations for.

Whenever his phone rang now, he let it go to voicemail. He would continue to convalesce until he was ready to return to work. And hopefully things in this small town would resume the way they had been for the past 15 years of his residence there.

Raimi's heart was broken 💔 but at the same time she was very thankful to be alive. She was the intended next victim in this spree of savage killings. And what in the hell was that thing and, well, she just had so many questions that she knew would never be answered so she just left it alone. Her apologies to Neve continued on and on in spite of Neve's assurance that she had no need to apologize. Neve, was reassuring Raimi that she loved her and was only looking out for her consistently.

The two resumed their deep friendship and had a mutual protective attitude toward one another especially during the times when either one of them expressed interest in someone romantically. It seemed like everything was going to be okay again.

This was just a bad patch; Raimi would think to herself. But it was over now.

She would think this to herself. Especially on the nights when she struggled to find sleep. Laying alone in the dark with the vision of those yellow, evil eyes staring at her.

-THE END-