A Monster Escapes Read online

  The girl called out to the two horses out in the field but they did not approach her. Did not respond to her luring sounds and seemed disinterested in the strangers approaching the mansion. When Caleb came closer still he noticed the dead stare in their eyes. As if the joy for life had recently been sucked out of their delicate souls.

  Disappointed, the girl turned around and now Caleb noticed her bright blue eyes. They were captivating. Then he had inappropriate adult thoughts and forced himself to check them immediately. He knew that a man’s body sometimes had desires that the mind could not in good conscience allow.

  The main door to the mansion opened and an older man stepped outside. He raised his hand in a careful greeting and started down the stone stairs in front of the door.

  “I was told I would meet a Jane Elring?”

  Jane carefully raised her hand and said, “That would be me.”

  Caleb registered the old man’s genuine surprise. It sparkled in his eyes and made its way to his thin, arched eyebrows. He was easy to read, which made Caleb feel more secure.

  “You are Jane Elring? Forgive me, but you are only a child!”

  Jane held up her index finger and, with her other hand, reached inside her pocket. Out came the wallet Caleb had first seen during his job interview. Jane’s small fingers dug inside and soon revealed the same ID card she had shown to him. Carefully she handed it to the old man in front of them.

  “What is this now?” he asked as he took the ID from her. Then he proceeded to study it carefully until he reached a satisfactory conclusion. “You are really twenty-three years old?”

  Jane nodded. “Just stopped growing at some point.”

  “Indeed,” the old man said as he gave back the ID.

  The ID card went back into the wallet, and the wallet back into her pocket, all with the careful and deliberate movements of Jane’s small fingers.

  The old man’s eyes went from Jane to Caleb and he asked, “And your companion?”

  Jane answered, “This is Caleb. He is my bodyguard.”

  This time mild shock ran rampant across the old man’s face. Caleb watched as it ran from the downward curl of his aged lips all the way to his wrinkled forehead.

  “My dear! You are not in any danger here in Brettville, certainly?”

  Jane shrugged. “It’s just a precaution.”

  The old man’s eyes bounced from Jane to Caleb and back again. “Yes, well! If there is anything you need, anything at all, you must certainly come to see me!”

  It was now that the old man extended his hand in greeting as he said, “I am Arthur Toaves. I was the one that asked our government for help in this very strange case.”

  “A strange case indeed,” Jane said as she shook Arthur’s hand.

  Caleb was next and he noticed there was no reserve in the old man’s handshake. It was warm and kind and he didn’t know why but he immediately felt welcome.

  Arthur said, “Please come inside. I fear there is quite a bit we have to discuss.”

  Then the old man turned to the girl that had been watching them and said, “Homework, young lady!”

  “I want to ride!” The protest came sounding back.

  Arthur paused briefly to consider his course of action. “You will do your homework tonight, then?”

  “I will!” she agreed.

  Arthur nodded and gestured for his guests to come inside. “We can discuss things in my office.”

  Caleb was last through the front door and closed it behind him. He found himself in a poorly lit hallway that stretched off into a right curve. There were dark wooden doors left and right, leading to rooms and ever more impressive hallways. Unknown destinations inside a cold building that did not match the vibe of its owner at all.

  Caleb followed Jane and Arthur through the labyrinthine mansion, constructing a mental map of the place as well as he could. He did not want to lose his client in here.

  Arthur spoke. “You must think me a weakling, giving in to Ellie like that.”

  Jane asked, “Ellie is the girl outside? Is she a runaway?”

  “Yes. I picked her up hitchhiking back in February this year,” Arthur answered.

  “Then you did the only thing you could do.”

  Arthur stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face Jane. “Is that so?”

  Jane nodded. “You squeeze a runaway too tight, she’ll just run again.”

  Caleb noticed that the old man looked pained as Jane’s words registered with him. Suddenly he seemed tired and the remaining white hairs on his head dominated his appearance.

  Arthur said, “That is my greatest fear. That she will run again, off toward this uncertain future.”

  Jane did not mince words. “If she runs again she will run toward certain death.”

  Her words gave Arthur pause. Eventually he nodded and turned around to lead them through the mansion in silence.

  Finally the claustrophobic hallway drew out into a larger room. Caleb couldn’t be sure, but they were probably in the center of the mansion now. The room was circular, with two large sets of stairs curling up toward the second floor. Rising above them like vipers ready to strike at their prey.

  They started up the left staircase and Caleb watched Arthur greet one of his maids dusting the banister. It struck him how genuine the old man’s words sounded when he thanked her for the hard work, and how warmly those words seemed to flow from his thin lips.

  It wasn’t a trick, or a hoax, a way to make him look better in front of his guests. Caleb was sure of it because the maid’s smile, her only response to her employer’s praise, was as genuine as the compliment he had paid her.

  When they reached the second floor Caleb noticed that the old man was out of breath.

  Arthur said, “This mansion is so darn big. I know I shouldn’t complain but we’ve been thinking about installing an elevator for me.”

  Jane answered, “They have stair lifts now. Those are really convenient.”

  Seeing the old man’s weak physical state drew Caleb back into the memory of the mother he had lost. Her coughing and wheezing as she lay in bed, suffering through the painkillers that didn’t help anymore.

  In the end she hadn’t even recognized him through the delirium of her ever-increasing temperature but she had held his hand all the same. Squeezed it with a tenacity that ultimately wavered underneath the pressure of the cancer eating her up from inside.

  Caleb wanted to escape his memories but he couldn’t. The mansion had swallowed him whole and the claustrophobic hallways were slowly choking the life out of him. The terror in the pit of his stomach roared and clawed at his throat.

  Caleb could feel his pulse rise and the sweat drip from his forehead, and then he heard a voice he thought he knew echo inside his skull. It’s okay now, Caleb. Please come back to us.

  They stood in front of one of the wooden doors and nobody had said anything to Caleb. The terror subsided and he could focus on his surroundings again.

  Arthur opened the door and said, “This is my office. We can talk here.”

  5

  Ethan Walker suffered in silence. He had no say in the matter, as he found himself strapped to a hospital bed and his senses were blurred by the medicine. This medical confinement had doomed him, Ethan thought, because it left him defenseless against the horror that intruded on his life.

  He couldn’t scream and he couldn’t fight back whenever Billy returned. He couldn’t kick; he couldn’t punch or claw. He was even too weak to plead or beg for his life.

  With no way to defend himself Ethan lay on the hospital bed, watching as Billy sat on his chest and ate away at his face. Ethan could tell that Billy’s zombie teeth tore his skin to shreds but he didn’t feel the pain anymore. He wasn’t sure if that was a blessing or not.

  His dissociated state felt so dreamlike that he thought he existed in a permanent nightmare. One of those nightmares you could sometimes wake yourself up from when they got too bad. Not this one. His zombified old fri
end visited him dutifully and whenever he did, Ethan felt himself moving one step closer to hell.

  Maybe it was hell he deserved. Ethan couldn’t abandon that thought anymore. Why else would his dead friend return from beyond the grave to torment him so? Drive him ever closer to death with each and every bite?

  It had been Ethan’s idea to run from the cops when they got caught. Billy only followed his lead. Billy always followed his lead. But it hadn’t been Ethan’s chest that exploded from the cop’s bullet. It had been Billy’s.

  A couple of inches to the left and it would have been Ethan who sank to the cold, hard ground with his heart torn to shreds. Billy would have kept running, his adrenaline much more powerful than the concern for his friend, and he would have been safe.

  If Ethan could only force his lips to move through the heavy sedative coursing through his veins. Then he could have apologized to the shadow sitting on his chest. Could have begged him to make his death a little quicker. But it wasn’t so and thus Ethan waited in quiet despair for the flames of hell to take him. He hoped that when it finally happened the devil would relieve him of the shadow on his chest.

  Ethan could tell that the door to his hospital room opened. It was probably a nurse, he thought, and paid no attention to the footsteps. The shadow on his chest was never bothered by the presence of others in the room. It always remained seated, simply tearing away at Ethan’s face as was its diligent fashion.

  “Ethan?”

  Ethan couldn’t recognize the voice but he noticed that it drew the shadow’s attention.

  “Ethan? Can you hear me? Blink twice for ‘yes.’”

  The voice had come closer and the shadow on Ethan’s chest hissed at whatever source it came from, to no avail.

  Ethan didn’t understand why but he felt that the shadow feared this new presence in his room. It jumped from his chest and withdrew into the corner of the room where it waited with a low growl.

  “Ethan? Can you blink for me?”

  Now that the shadow was gone from his chest, Ethan could finally see what had relieved him from his personal horror show. It was a young girl that leaned over him and gave him the kindest smile he had ever seen. Her features were delicate and soft and she wore her blonde hair like a golden crown. Ethan was convinced there and then that she was an angel sent to save him.

  He blinked furiously.

  “That’s good, Ethan. Blink twice for ‘yes’ and once for ‘no.’ Do you understand?”

  Ethan blinked twice.

  “Are you in pain, Ethan?”

  He blinked once. He couldn’t feel a damn thing.

  “Are you afraid, Ethan?”

  He blinked twice. He didn’t care that he was admitting his weakness to this angelic creature. She would understand, he thought, and he had no more strength to hide his weakness anyway.

  “Afraid of Billy, Ethan?”

  Again he blinked twice.

  “Is Billy in the room right now, Ethan?”

  He blinked twice. Then watched as the young girl looked around the room. Her presence felt so pure to him and the pale skin on her neck was almost blinding. She was going to save him. He knew it.

  “Is Billy in the corner, Ethan?”

  He blinked twice and saw her delicate features turn into a look of contemplation.

  She closed her eyes and remained silently like that for a few minutes.

  Ethan wondered if he should join her in what was sure to be some kind of prayer. A call to whatever power she adhered to, pleading to relieve him from his terror.

  Eventually she opened her eyes again and her dark gaze met his own. Ethan saw that she could sense his desperation.

  She leaned in closer to his ear and whispered to him, “I can’t make him go away, Ethan. I can only keep him in the corner for a little while. I— I am sorry.”

  Ethan forgave her instantly. She had been so kind and understanding and even now that he knew she could only delay the inevitable, her presence felt like a warm bath. He never wanted to get out of that bath ever again. Never wanted to be out of this angel’s dark sight. He would take from her whatever she could give him and be forever grateful.

  She walked away from him and Ethan followed her footsteps back to the door. There she stayed and said, “Doctor. You need to get him out of Brettville right now. He is going to die here.”

  “What the hell are you talking about? He is in no—”

  “He has to go. The others too. Where can you send them?”

  “Well… we were going to send them to Bryce, but Arthur—”

  “Send them, doctor. Send them right now. I will talk to Arthur Toaves.”

  Ethan knew she was right. He was going to die here. The growl coming from the shadow in the corner of his room served as an intrusive reminder of that fact.

  6

  When nighttime fell on the town of Brettville it never did so subtly. The red light of the setting sun and the twilight that surrounded it were rudely torn to shreds by the deep blackness of the latest hours. Eventually the moon and the stars would appear in the night sky and twinkle their solemn lullabies.

  Shielded underneath the night’s black cloak the people of Brettville retreated to the worlds where others could not follow them. During these late hours the town belonged to the dreams, the nightmares, and the illusions that existed in between.

  The mansion of Arthur Toaves stood as if on a lone island slightly beyond the western border of Brettville. In its detachment it did not always obey the same laws as the town that it clung to almost desperately.

  Ellie couldn’t sleep. She had tried but to no avail so now she lay on her back staring at the dark ceiling above her. From time to time the ceiling seemed to blur into a wide circle and twist around like a harmless tornado. Ellie tried to hypnotize herself this way, hoping that it would lead her along the path toward a peaceful sleep. Inevitably, though, her eyes would refocus and bring the twisting to an abrupt halt.

  “Useless,” Ellie sighed as she turned onto her left side to face the window.

  She had a room in the back of the mansion and with it a view of the endless sea of pines surrounding the enormous building. On windy nights the rustling of the trees would reach her room and sometimes sing her to sleep, but tonight the air was calm and carried not even so much as a gentle breeze. A strange sensation in October.

  Ellie turned and tossed a little longer but eventually she gave up. Frustrated, she pounded the mattress with her fists and said, “Fine then! Be that way….”

  She got up from her bed and walked toward the window. Her first home in Cleveland had been poorly insulated and whenever autumn swung by, her bedroom would be cold. The Toaves mansion was much warmer and she could get away with just wearing a long shirt and her panties. Ellie would have never dared to walk around in her underwear in her last home but here she felt safe from prying eyes. For all his involvement, and nosiness, Arthur had never looked at her in that way. That way that Ellie had gotten to know at much too early an age.

  She didn’t want to think about Cleveland anymore.

  Ellie stood by the window and watched the sea of pines stretch out as far as her eyes allowed her to see. She sometimes wondered about the worlds within her world.

  What creatures ran through the trees now? What lurked underneath, stalking its victims with its night vision, feeding its ever-growing desire for bloodshed?

  Predators and prey, a story as old as nature itself. Ellie was sure it was happening all around her. She saw it through the smiles of people she barely knew and in the eyes of perfect strangers. And she felt it now, looking at the pines from her window, this simple truth of nature realized.

  Ellie shook her head as she told herself, “I should get back to bed. Even if I don’t sleep, at least I’ll rest?”

  She knew she was lying to herself. That she would lie tossing and turning, forcing her mind to refrain from revisiting memories she kept locked away in her own private safe.

  She turned around anyway and
started toward her bed when a now familiar but still bone-chilling sound echoed through the hallway outside her bedroom.

  Arthur was screaming again.

  Whenever Ellie heard him in the middle of the night tears welled up in her eyes and her heart pounded in her throat. There was such a horrible torment in the poor man’s voice that she could only guess at the horror he was screaming out against.

  Ellie wanted to jump into bed and hide underneath the covers, the same as she always did, but something stopped her. She was so tired of running all the damn time.

  Instead of going back to bed she walked into the hallway. It was dark and she could barely see a thing. The only source of light came from the fickle moon that shined through the arched window in the back of the long hallway.

  Draped in this dark blue haze Ellie started walking. Her body was tense and her bare feet scraped the warm wooden floor. Every step she took brought her closer to Arthur’s frantic screams that came from beyond the hallway’s curve to the left.

  Every move she made felt like it took her minutes, with Ellie’s only sense of time coming from the rhythm of her rapid heartbeat. She couldn’t escape the dryness of her throat, nor the tears of fear that ran quietly down her cheeks.

  Finally she turned around the corner and saw that the door to Arthur’s bedroom was open. Through it came a warm light casting arched shadows on the wall across the room. The play of shadows showed people moving around, left to right, back and forth. A macabre dance accompanied by the tune of an old man’s agony.

  A voice in the back of Ellie’s head told her to just go back to her room. To forget what she saw here. She could run again. She could just say she’d go to school tomorrow and hitchhike the hell out of here.

  But the bigger part of Ellie wanted to know what was going on. What were they doing to the one man who had ever shown her kindness? Maybe she could help him.

  You can’t even help yourself, a vile voice in the back of her head sneered at her.

  Ellie ignored it and with determined steps she walked toward Arthur’s bedroom.

  The moment she touched the door Arthur’s screaming stopped and Mary’s voice rose above the man’s frantic noise. “Good God, it was a bad one! He hasn’t been like this in a good long while!”