Unleashed! Chapter Six

SIX

“What the fuck can stop that thing?” the sheriff wondered, trapped against the patrol car as the creature came closer.

“No idea, for now I think the best we can do is get out of here for now,” the boy said and crawled behind the wheel.

“I guess you’re right, kid,” the sheriff agreed and opened the door of his car, sliding in quickly while firing once more at the creature for good measure.

The boy stepped on the gas as The Otherworldly thing clawed at the car, catching air as the car sped off. The sheriff was pushed back against his seat.

“Whoa! Be careful! I don’t want you to run us off the road with that kind of speed!”

“Don’t worry, sheriff. I’ve driven faster cars than this one on way more dangerous roads,” the boy said, thinking back about the time he thought maybe ice road racing would scare him.

“You’ve got some explaining to do, kiddo!” the sheriff said as he glanced in the rearview mirror, watching the monster disappear in the distance. “Just what the hell was that thing back there?”

“I guess there are several options. It can be that creature was the inspiration for one of horror writer Kingsbury’s stories or that thing somehow sprung to life from Kingsbury’s imagination.”

“The fucking hell what?”

“Yeah, I know it sounds crazy.”

“Crazy? Insane! I must me dreaming or something. Shit, maybe my wife is right and I am working too much.”

“You’re not dreaming, sheriff. Or we both are.”

“So why were you in that house? It’s been empty for years!”

“I sorta snuck in, hoping a night there might scare me,” the boy explained.

“Snuck in? That’s illegal, kid. I should arrest you for that.”

“I think you’ve got other things to worry about right now. Like a monster from another dimension in your town.”

The sheriff ran a hand through his hair, letting out a big breath. “I just don’t believe this…”

“You’d better,” the boy said.

“And what is that stuff about hoping you would get scared in there? And why the hell do you seem so calm about this shit? I almost wet my bloody pants and I did a tour in Afghanistan.”

“I don’t get scared. But I want to learn how to.”

The sheriff shook his head. “You’re a weird kid, aren’t you?”

The boy shrugged. “Guess so.”

The sheriff laughed and extended a hand. “Sheriff Joe Baxter, not sure it’s nice to meet you.”

“Hey, I got you away from that monster, didn’t I?”

“You are one piece of work. So what do we do now?”

“You’re the law and order of this town. I’m just a seventeen year old kid. I suggest you tell us what to do.”

“That’s funny, real funny… Well, guess I should just get some more firepower, get back over there and send that thing back to whatever hell it came from.”

“Firepower didn’t really seem to do much against that thing,” the boy pointed out.

“If you have any fucking better idea I would be happy to know about it,” Baxter growled.

“Sorry. Don’t know, it’s my first demonic caterpillar too,” the boy said.

“Maybe I should just call for backup. Or the damned National Guard or something,” Baxter suggested.

“I’m not sure the National Guard is going to believe you. By the time you’ve convinced them that creature might have done God knows what.”

“Wiseass. But I guess you’re right. So yeah, I call my deputies to help out.”

“What are they armed with?”

“Shotguns and pistols. Just like me,” Baxter said.

The boy gave the sheriff a look.

“Fuck you. Yeah, that’s not going to work either. I’ve got some stuff from my days as a Marine at home that might do the trick though. Let me take the wheel and I’ll drive us there. We’re far away enough from that thing by now.”

The boy hit the brakes, almost launching Baxter through the front window. The sheriff was barely able to keep himself in his seat, thanks to his seatbelt.

“Crazy kid,” Baxter muttered and switched places with the boy. He hit the gas and they were on their way.

“Whatever you’ve got at home I hope it’s enough to stop that thing,” the boy said.

“If it ain’t I don’t know what is. And we’re royally screwed,” Baxter said, tightening his hold on the steering wheel.

Unleashed! Chapter Five

FIVE

The door to the library splintered to the boy’s amazement. Raptorial forelegs poked through the wooden door, tearing it apart like cloth. Full of anticipation the boy waited for what was moving those legs to appear into the room. When it did he wasn’t disappointed. It looked amazing, uncanny and… Otherworldly.

The creature skittered into the library, mandibles snapping, it’s many eyes scanning the room for prey like crazy. Yes, this was exactly the caterpillar-creature from the book. Something to fear, surely. But still, the boy registered nothing of the sort.

The creature hissed at the boy as it neared him as soon as the six pair of pro-legs could. The boy stepped back. While he wasn’t afraid, he had the feeling this wouldn’t end well as soon as those mandibles or raptorial forelegs came to close. Looking for some kind of weapon to defend himself the only thing he could find was a chair. He hurled it at the creature, that just swatted it away like a bothersome insect. With a louder hiss the creature suddenly speeded up, perhaps annoyed by the projectile. Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick the pro-legs sounded.

The boy ran to the window, trying to open it before the creature reached him. The window was either locked or stuck though. With all his strength the boy kicked at the window. Once, twice, the third time being the charm and breaking it. He crawled through it, body first. Something tugged at his jeans. He looked behind him and saw the creature had caught hold of his jeans with one of his forelegs. With his other leg he started to kick at the creature. It felt like kicking a leather couch. The horror didn’t seem to be discouraged much by his kicks. He needed something else to get out of it’s grip. He grabbed hold of a shard of broken window and stabbed behind him with it. He felt it dug into something, ripping through it. There was a hiss, higher this time, always like a wail that satisfied him he had hurt the Otherwordly thing. He felt the grip on his jeans go and launched himself through the window.

As he hit the ground the rolled with the impact like he’d learned from skydiving and quickly got up again. He looked at the broken window where the raptorial forelegs were widening the hole, eager to get through. The boy understood he had to be fast. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, away from the house. He managed to reach the road, his lungs burning, his side aching. A loud screech, something barreling into him as he got up in the air and landed again on the concrete. So much pain.

Legs standing next to him as he lay there on the road. A voice, “Why the hell didn’t you look where you were going? I could have killed you?”

The boy rolled around so he was on his back, able to look the source of the voice in the eyes. It was a muscular looking man in his forties wearing a sheriff’s uniform. He had a three-day beard and cool blue eyes. So he’d managed to get run over by a sheriff’s patrol car?

The boy pointed at the house. “There’s a monster in that place. And it’s coming after me. We need to get away from here, fast.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” the sheriff said. “Are you on drugs or something?”

“No, just look! Look! It’s coming through the window!”

The sheriff turned around, his jaw going slack. “What the actual bloody hell…”

They saw the creature slither through the broken window, down the wall of the Kingsbury house. The sheriff looked at the boy, wide-eyed, back to the creature and back to the boy again.

“What is that thing?”

The boy got back on his feet, leaning on the hood of the patrol car that had hit him, body bruised and bleeding from several cuts and scratches. “I think it is something from another dimension,” the boy said.

“Another what?”

“It’s complicated. But I think we’d better get away from here.”

“I can’t let that thing loose on my town,” the sheriff said. He drew his gun and aimed it at the creature that was skittering across the grass towards the road.

The thing hissed again. The sheriff fired at it, bullets digging through the dolphin-like skin. Green blood oozed from the wounds, but although it seemed to be slowed down by the bullets it didn’t stop it. To the boy’s amazement the wounds just closed again.

“Those bullets are not stopping it,” the boy said.

“Fuck that! I’ll just need bigger bullets,” the sheriff said and got a shotgun from the patrol car’s gunrack. He racked the shotgun and fired at the creature again. Shards of flesh flew off where the shotgun hit. Unfortunately, the flesh just grew back again.

“Damn! Damn!” the sheriff cursed, his back against the patrol car, still firing the shotgun but knowing it did no good. The creature was coming their way and there seemed no way to stop it.