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Stacie followed Lester’s directions to locate the landmarks he had identified in his drawings scribbled in the dirt. She arrived at the Cave, determined to find the sticks of dynamite needed to destroy the monster from Hell named Carl.
The cave and abandoned mine had been there for many years, and quite an amount of silver had been excavated. When the deposits in the cave were depleted, they used it as the staging area for a mine that had been tunneled deeper into the mountain.
As Stacie entered, she saw a lone lantern lit in the corner. Nearby, she found matches and a few extra lanterns strategically positioned to provide ample lighting for the cave. She frantically lit them and began her search for the only thing left that would end her nightmare - dynamite. As she searched the cave, she did not readily see anything that would resemble boxes of dynamite. Frustrated, she called out to herself. “Dynamite? Come on, dynamite, where the Hell are you?!”
In a darkened corner, off to the side, she spotted several unlabeled boxes. She thought, “That’s it! They’ve got to be in there!” She pulled on the lid, only to discover it was nailed shut. She looked around for a hammer, but that proved futile.
She suddenly realized she had something better than a hammer in her possession. She cried out. “The machete!” As she drew it from her waistband, she began to look for a slight crack or spacing where she might insert the blade to pry open the box. “Come on, come on, come on! Get with it, Stacie!” She found yelling out loud helped to get herself moving more quickly. The lid popped open to reveal what she so desperately needed.
Stacie gathered up what few sticks of dynamite were in it, along with a handful of matches, and ran towards the entrance.
She saw the monstrous Aberration about twenty feet away when she came out, it was slowly advancing towards her.
Stacie was cognizant of the fact she at now had the advantage, “Now, I’ve got you.” She told it.
It raised its hands high above its head and abruptly moved towards her. Then, it did something unexpected. It let out an unnerving sound not heard before. She panicked and lost control of everything held in her hands. She stumbled and backed away only to realize left in her hand was but one stick of dynamite and one match to light it. Her body began to tremble with fear. She struggled to hold on to the dynamite. She knew her throw needed to be just right for the detonation to be effective. She pulled her arm back and lit the fuse. As she prepared to throw it, Carl strangely reacted to her actions, as if he knew the destructive force associated with it.
She was perplexed when she saw he had begun to curl into a ball-like structure. She was out of time and dynamite. All she could do was toss it as close to the monstrosity as she could. She threw it dead center and had only seconds to lunge back into the cave before it exploded.
As Stacie dove into the cave, she was unaware Carl had swatted the stick down before he had completed curling himself into his ball-like form.
Stacie heard the dynamite explode. Seconds later, she emerged from the cave anticipating seeing the Creature destroyed. Instead, it started to uncurl to begin its advancement towards her.
For Stacie, there was nowhere else to run but inside.
Trapped, she turned around at the entrance and faced the Colossus beast. She screamed in desperation. “Carl! Why don’t you die!”
Carl stopped. Stacie swore she saw what resembled a half-smile. She looked down at the box of dynamite and hoped there might be one stick left, but it was empty. There wasn’t much for her to do but wait.
Then, from behind Carl, a familiar voice rang out. “Hey, Stone Boy! Wanna another shot at me? Turn around if you wanna piece me!”
The Monster turned to see Jack holding a dynamite stick in his hand. “There’s plenty more where that came from!” Carl saw Jack had already lit the dynamite. He threw it at him.
Once again, Carl assumed his defensive posture, but this time the dynamite ricocheted off his body just before the explosion went off.
Inside, Stacie looked around and saw one last box of dynamite. She ran to it and found that it too was nailed shut. Without hesitation, she pulled out the machete and began to pry open the box.
She screamed as it opened, as she had accidentally cut her hand.
She quickly pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and tightly wrapped it around her palm. “That’ll have to do for now.” She said.
Outside, Jack threw another stick of dynamite at the behemoth, but it too failed to make contact. He tossed another, but his cunning adversary was ready this time as he snatched it in mid-air and threw it back. “Maybe you’re not as dumb as I thought you were.” He yelled out.
Back inside, Stacie looked into the box... and found only one stick remained. “Oh, shit!” She cried out.
Now, she really began to panic. “This is your last chance, Stacie. Last chance.” She was ready to light the stick when she heard a voice from within that began to echo in her mind. It was Lester’s voice - his warning to her, “Only the blood of a virgin can bring him to life. Only the blood of a virgin can destroy him.” The word blood repeatedly echoed. She heard it over and over again. “blood....blood...blood.”
Then the answer hit her like a ton of bricks. “Only blood can kill it, Stacie! Only your blood!”
She unwrapped the handkerchief from her hand and held it palm up. The blood began to flow until it was lightly filled. She grabbed the last stick of dynamite taking care to rotate it until it was completely coated with her blood.
“This has to work. It has to! But, I must be sure it explodes directly upon his body.” She thought. “There’s only one way to ensure that happens. I’ve no choice but to let Carl grab and pull me close. Yes! Together we’ll have the biggest bang ever.”
Stacie started to walk towards Carl. “Hey, you!” Carl turned and faced her. “You and I have a date - with death!” She held out the blood-coated stick and was prepared to light it.
Carl had adapted to the sticks of dynamite being hurled at it. He no longer had to curl himself into a defensive posture. He was ready for her. Stacie stood prepared to light the dynamite when she remembered something significant. She reached in her pocket and pulled out the heart-shaped stone. She held it in front of Carl’s head. “I have something of yours. Something Annie gave you.”
Carl turned its attention to the small stone and began to reach for it. Stacie threw it, and it landed on the cave floor. She teased him. “You want it? Go get it.”
He turned around and bent over to pick it up when Stacie eyed his monstrous back. There before her, within his cracked and petrified skin, she saw the deep cylindrical crevice that Ed’s gunfire had bored into his outer petrified skin.
She lunged at the abomination from Hell , lodged the dynamite stick into the crevice, and twisted it deep inside to ensure it was secured. She wittingly used its rocklike surface to strike the match and light the fuse. Then Stacie sarcastically apologized Carl. “Looks like I’m gonna have to bust up your party – party of one, that is.” Astonished, Carl tried to reach behind him as far as he could, but was unable to grab hold of the dynamite and dislodge it.
As Stacie ran for cover, she saw Jack enter the cave. “Get out! Take cover! It’s going to blow!”
Realizing his fate, Carl stood there, arms held wide open, waiting for his own nightmare to end. A half-second later, the Creature from Hell exploded in a hail of shards.
As with previous explosions, a cloud of dust appeared, however, this time when it cleared, there was nothing left of the goliath but thousands of rock fragments.
Stunned, Stacie gathered her senses and was elated to see the Petrified Man had finally been destroyed. “Jack, we did it. We did it!” She cried out. But no answer came. “Jack? Jack?!” She looked towards the cave entrance only to see Jack’s legs protruding from behind some large rocks. She cried out again, “Jack! Jack, answer me....” She began to break down and sob. “Jack...please.” But, still, no answer came.