| |
“Thre...”
Suddenly, Eric stepped out in front of Stacie and Jack, unaware his ritually-created Golem was nearby. Jack whispered with great emphasis.
“Eric! Get over here...now!” Unfortunately, Eric was oblivious to the danger behind him. For the moment, he saw only his team members.
“Jack, Stacie. I’m glad to see you. I thought I’d never find my way back here.”
Stacie whispered as well.
“Eric, you need to get over here. The Creature...the petrified man...he’s alive and is right over there.” She pointed over Eric’s shoulders.
Eric turned around and saw a giant stone behemoth standing some thirty meters away.
“That...son of a bitch, Curtiss! He lied to me. He and Lester did come up with a realistic suit!”
A puzzled Stacie questioned Eric. “Realistic suit?? What do you mean, realistic suit?”
Eric knew they had no idea about what he was talking about. Jack sternly warned him. “That - that thing over there. It did come to life just like Lester said it would!” Eric still looked bewildered. Stacie pleaded with Eric,
“Don’t you understand? Lester warned it would kill all of us! And, it’s going to kill you if you don’t get over here and get ready to run!”
Eric smiled and chuckled. “Relax, you two, it’s OK. It seems my little excursion has exceeded my wildest dreams.”
Eric turned and began to approach the intimidating menace. He walked and stood directly in front of it. “Eric! Stop! Get back here!” Stacie yelled out.
“Observe.” He turned around and stood face to face with the Monster. He smiled. “So, you couldn’t come up with a convincing Creature? You went to a lot of trouble to convince me you and your uncle didn’t have it in you, but I have to say - what you came up - this - this is very impressive.”
The Monstrosity swung its arm at Eric and almost snared him, but Eric ducked to avoid being grabbed.
“You can stop acting now, Curtiss. It’s time we tell them the truth.”
Eric swung around to slap what he thought would be a silicone arm, but instead, the palm of his hand made contact with solid stone. This took Eric by surprise. “Ow! That material’s exceptionally hard.” Out of curiosity, he attempted to feel the texture of the its arm.
“Eric! Get away from it! Get away, now!” warned Jack.
The monster grabbed Eric’s hand and pulled it away. “Hey! What the Hell do you think you’re doing? Let go; that hurts!”
Eric tried unsuccessfully to pry his hand loose but could not force it to let his hand go. “Come on, Curtiss! Let loose.”
The Creature swung its arm behind Eric and reached down to the ground where an old burlap sack sat. The demonic entity reached inside and pulled out Curtiss’ head. It had been ripped from his body.
Stacie grabbed Jack’s arm. “Time to run.... three!” The two raced off into the woods, but Stacie stopped long enough to conceal herself in the thick brush.
“Stacie! Come on, let’s go!” Implored Jack. She looked back and saw Eric facing the Creature, which had turned to look directly into his eyes. The burning red glow conveyed all Eric needed to know - this was no hoax.
Then the harbinger of death slowly squeezed Eric’s hand. His eyes widened as he felt the bones being crushed into hundreds of pieces. He screamed in agony as the colossus hulk continued its course of destructive action.
Stacie screamed from the top of her lungs. “Leave him alone!”
The Creature responded to Stacie’s voice and let loose of Eric’s hand. He spun around and ran as fast as possible but gasped when he realized he had traveled into a narrow passage of large boulders that ended in a solid wall of rock. He turned to make his escape, but the monster blocked his exit.
From their position of hiding, Stacie and Jack knew there was nothing they could do to help him.
Eric’s lungs drew more panic in than air. He laughed loudly to counteract his fear, “Lester! You son of a bitch! You broke my hand! This has gone too far. You made your point. I’m shaking with fear, satisfied?!”
The Creature slowly approached. With every step it took, Eric’s breathing became more pronounced. He reiterated, “I said you can stop now! You’ve won!” Panic overcame Eric as he looked closer into its demonic dead eyes. He saw traces of blood oozing from each of the outer corners. He realized something was terribly wrong as its massive arms began to move towards his head.
Stacie stood on her tiptoes. She saw the Creature descending upon Eric’s body. She wanted to remain quiet, but she was unable to restrain herself, “Eric! Eric!!”
Eric heard Stacie calling out his name from the forest, and his tenacious attitude took over. He resolved to fight to the very end.
He squeezed his hand into a fist and pounded it into the behemoth’s chest, only to find his hand bloodied upon impact with its rock-like skin. He looked beyond the monstrosity’s shoulders and cried out.
“Stacie! Jack! Someone help me! Help!” Eric saw the massive hands of the Creature inching towards his head. As they began to push inward on both sides, he finally saw Stacie as she had come out of her hiding place. “Stacie! Help! Stacie, I’m sorry! I’m -”
His words were cut short when the Creature’s hands compressed his head in a scene reminiscent of an object that had been placed inside a large vice and completely tightened shut.
Stacie turned away in horror. There was no denying this was more than one of Eric’s fright sessions.