You have led me on quite the chase, human.
The monster was clearly enjoying itself. With every prick of its bony appendage’s tip, it leaned close to Deena’s ear and whispered some new unintelligible taunt or imprecation. It had bound Deena to the ground and continually pricked at her nerves to deaden her limbs, ensuring she never mustered the strength to break her bonds. Blood trickled from a dozen tiny wounds inflicted by it barbed tip.
Normally, I detest playing with my food.
It jabbed its sharpened, boney dagger-like end more deeply into Deena’s upper arm.
“Oh, God please stop!”
You deserve this.
The monster, a reddish-brown, over ten feet in length, and shaped like a sausage, slowly drew in toward Deena and as it approached, its head poured out a stream of water that looked like blue flame. Another jab of pain showed Deena how much this monster enjoyed the taste of revenge.
Her senses were beginning to dull; she wasn’t even sure what was real and what might have been purely a nightmare. A growl of pain told Deena that she was alive, at least, for now. She felt a surge of anger. She yelled again.
At about every eight feet or so ran its heat to its tall a substance that had the appearance of a copper band encircled its body. Blue flames came from two horn-like structures near the center of the head with long, needle-like teeth and hinged lower jaws. The tail was shaped like a propeller.
The monster was red in color and had darker spots or blotches, and spiked projections at both ends in which Deena vividly likened to a cow’s intestine in appearance.
She watched as it moved half its length out of the sand and dirt. Started to inflate and the bubble on its body keeps getting larger, and, in the end, the slime squirted out from it.
* * * *
Gary Chapel got his bearings. It was night, and he was in the backyard of a house in town. He didn’t know which part, but lights from the city were spread in the distance.
He wiggled along the ground until his feet were free. He was in a flower bed at the edge of a patio in the backyard of a really nice house, though the yard was dry and dying. Neighboring houses sat behind walls that were hidden by ivy.
Chapel was scared that the monster and the others would hear him, but the house was dark and the windows were covered. He ran to the side of the house, and slipped into the shadows as if he were a comfortable old coat.
A walkway ran along the side of the house to the front. Gary crept along the walk, moving so quietly that he could not hear his own footsteps. When he reached a chain-link gate, he wanted to throw it open and run, but he was scared that the men would catch him. He eased the gate open. The hinges made a low squeal, but then the gate swung free. Gary listened, ready to run if he heard them coming, but the house remained silent.
Chapel crept through the gate. He was very close to the front of the house. He could see a brightly lit home across the street with cars in its drive. A family could be inside, he thought; a dad and mom, and possible other adults who might help him. All he had to do was sneak across the street and run the neighbor’s door.
He reached the end of the house and peeked around the corner. The short, sloping driveway was empty. The garage door was down. The windows were dark.
Gary Chapel’s face split into a huge toothy grin because he had escaped! He stepped into the drive just as steel hands clamped over his mouth and jerked him backwards.
He tried to scream, but could not. He kicked and fought, but more steel wrapped his arms and legs. They had come from nowhere.
“Stop kicking, dude!”
Mike Leopold was a harsh whisper in Chapel’s ear. Mike stepped out of a shadow and gripped Gary’s arm.
“Glad to have you back,” Leopold said.
“Good to be back,” Chapel returned with a smile.
“What do you want to do now?”
“Go back down and kill that fucking monster!” Chapel shot back. “And I ain’t waiting any longer. It has to be done now.”