DARK CREATURES

(Fairfax, Virginia)

-1-

To whomever concerned... this note, written on this hotel’s courtesy notepad, is a recounting of the intense last few days of my life holed-up in this room. If you are reading this, well… I just might be dead, eaten or worse... and you might be seconds away from suffering the same fate as me. Anyway, here is my tale of Horrorwalker horror and woe…

-2-

The basketball game was another blowout loss for the Washington Wizards, DC's NBA basketball team. I drove up here from Richmond because I won two tickets on a radio trivia contest six months ago to see the Wizards play the Lakers. I have never seen the Lakers play a game and I looked at this as a chance to do something that might be a once in a lifetime experience for me.

Bobby, my best bud, bought the second ticket from me for fifty bucks because his wife is a huge Lakers fan, too. I would have given the ticket to him for free, but he wanted to give me something, so fifty bucks seemed right.

“Magnus,“ he told me with a huge smile on his face as I handed over the ticket. “You've just given me ten years of equity with my wife for what I did for her when I got that driving ticket.“

I know exactly what he meant by that statement because we both know damn well that, from the first time April showed interest in him, this six foot one inch tall blond haired, blue eyed beauty picture of feminine perfection, who by the way was an excellent big time college volleyball athlete at VCU throughout her four years of college days, was a mile above our normal league with women.

Actually, none of our clique of six guys, including Bobby, could really believe her true intent right up until the actual moment he put the ring on her finger after the final pronouncement of “You are now man and wife.” The fact that nearly every man who sees her has to try to talk to her filled him with insecurity... at first. But, as we all got to know her and her family, it became obvious that she is a one man woman with traditional family values... despite the way she looks. And because she made Bobby happy... so, then, were we.

As they drove away from the church, on their way to Miami for their honeymoon, it all became real. And Bobby even called me the next day from his honeymoon to ask me if I could still believe his fantastic luck. I told him again, for the fiftieth time, treat her right without arguing because God has decided to bless you with a goddess who loves only you. ‘And hey, man… don’t call me again from your honeymoon. If she catches you calling me she’s going to probably get on my case later on and I don’t need your tall wife looking down on my bald dome asking me why I can’t let her have you alone for a week. At least, that’s what I imagine she would think. Get back to her and I’ll see you next Sunday when I pick you guys up from the airport. Bye.”

And I know my best friend of 22 years… he realizes his good fortune. And, so, there was never any doubt that I needed to give him that other ticket to present to his new wife as a clout building gift.

-3-



We drove up here on the early Saturday morning in separate automobiles because they were going straight back home after the game. We arrived at my hotel room in Fairfax, had a hell of a good time hanging out for a few hours and eventually drove over to DC to watch the game. Despite the Washington loss... we still had a great time and parted ways soon after the game was over.

The weather was suppose to turn very bad a few hours after the game would end and that should give them plenty of time to drive the two hours back to Richmond.

Me, I’m still a single dude, and so I took off a week of vacation from my bookstore business and allowed Patricia to manage the store on her own for a week without my presence. She’s always wanted this experience, and I know she can handle Jeff and Mario without any issues… so I gave them all a step-up in responsibility.

That new large shipment of vintage books from the English castle estate sale, at Mamhead House in Devon, that I had attended three months ago, consisting of several great pieces from the huge collection of ancient books on mysticism, religion, and dragon fiction only recently discovered in a walled-in secret room in one of the sub-basements, had just arrived hours before I left, and this was a perfect project for them to research, catalogue and price. They would be very busy with that project.

The one volume in the part of the collection I purchased that spoke to me the hardest was that fantastical ancient book with that excellent, immaculate cover titled: The Red Book Of Dragons. I stood there for 50 minutes reading that chapter on demon curses and dragons, before Mario nudged me on my shoulder and told me I was late to leave.

I wanted to bring that book with me, but I decided to place it in my safe. I could not wait to get back to finish the book... from the beginning.

But the present reality was my friends were driving back home. We all exchanged our hugs and words of cautions before they drove away. I waved goodbye to my friends and then returned to my hotel room.

-4-



It is now three hours later and I am still very impressed by my room... and I knew at the time that I was going to have a good week here. I had already mapped out a whole bunch of activities that would take me to Wednesday. After that, I would go back home and chill for the rest of the week.

I actually, immediately, forgot about the English books back in Richmond.

So, I took a long hot shower under the powerful jets of the hotel water pressure. And it was great. And as soon as I stepped out of the bathroom, into the bedroom, I hear the first thunder boom in the distance. I looked outside the huge window and marveled at the lightening strikes coming from the south.

And then, within minutes… the actual storm came!

And then, within minutes… came the horror drama!

 -5-

The thunderstorm raging outside my bedroom window suddenly appeared like an approaching vicious predator springing out of a dark cave. It was obvious that this nature assault was what we consider an electrical storm because of the crazy light show dancing shadows from the trees outside my windows, reflecting off my hotel bedroom walls. It all sounded like, and looked like, two angry armies battling it out with cannons and laser guns. Loud, window vibrating thunder made me cringe. And the lightening flashes made me close my eyes all the tighter as this was extremely stressful stuff. I have always hated thunderstorms.

And this storm reinforced my hatred of this weather gone rogue.

And the anger, and the horror, and the forces of evil dragged into my personal world by this storm changed the reality paradigm of my life!

So, there I am… I’m lying there in my bed, covers pulled over my head, cringing with the tension of what was happening outside the building. The large rain drops were pelting my window like tiny pebbles tossed by millions of kids playing a prank. I swore repeatedly to god that he didn’t need to make the weather this aggressive. I got the point, I’m a little worm to you and this weather is pounding my little body back into the ground.

Without any warning, the double door window suddenly swung open inward and slammed against the inside walls with a loud crash. The slammed window frames sounded like every crashing bit of the violent outside came crashing into the room. I don’t know how the two window sections did not splatter into pieces. And, I was shocked that the glass did not explode into shards.

I jumped up out of the bed, braved the wind and rain drops forcing itself into the gale and secured the bent and now leaking window. I ran to the bathroom to towel off the cold water covering my front side of my body, stripped off my drenched underclothing and exchanged them with dry ones, skipped back to the bed and slid under the sheets and comforter to try to shimmy my body back into the warm safe spot I had recently occupied. Just as I got comfortable… I heard the things in the dark corners of my room move!

-6-

Five days of shear horror have passed! And, I have finally decided to use this pen and paper to tell this horror tale!

-7-



My eyes are now closed and I can hear the dark creatures.
My eyes are now open and I can see the dark creatures.
I sniff the air in the room and I can smell the dark creatures.
If I dared to risk losing one of my body parts...
I could reach out my hands and touch the dark creatures.

Over there is the dark thing that now resides in the darkened closet.
Over there is the dark thing that now hides under the kitchen sink.
Over there is the dark thing that now stands ominously in the shadowy corner by the front door.
And finally, splayed out there by the front door...
There lies the days old eviscerated bloody bodies of the maid and the security officer.

When she came banging on the door, I screamed at her, "I realize I've been in this room two days past my check-out date!" I screamed at her, "Go away! Don't open that goddamn door!" I screamed at her, "I can't be responsible for your safety if you come in here!" I cried and moaned and screamed as I watched two innocent people ripped apart by the dark creature by the door!

It is now obvious that at least one of these dark creatures is fully capable of unprovoked murder. Why I am allowed to remain alive is a complete mystery to me. These creatures sit in growling silence in their dark corners and stare at me. Why am I the victim of this unbelievable affront to reality and sanity?

This far corner of the bed has been my perch for days! I can’t call my friends because my pants with my cell phone in the pocket is over there by the creature that murdered the people. The room telephone is disconnected, too.

I have only eaten six small bags of peanuts, five candy bars, eight sodas and tap water. The dark creatures allow me movement around the bed and into the windowless bathroom, but growl at me if I approach the front door. I'm frightened...not only for me... but for what the short future holds for this hotel.

The dark creatures haven’t actually eaten the dead bodies by the door. All three of them have examined the bodies, running their claws over the remains, but not showing any desire to consume them. My lord, what do these things actually eat? And what will they do if they actually are waiting until they are actually hungry? Are they allowing me to live as a captive live food source.

These thoughts have made me very afraid for my life.

-8-

I now have only a couple of candy bars left to eat. I do have an unlimited supply of water from the bathroom faucet, but food is soon going to be a major issue for me. I am now looking into the glowing fire red eyes of these dark creatures as I sit here in my spot steeped in fear because I can’t grab any semblance of good sleep in the night time blackness as these creatures are occupying the space around me.

Funny thing, though... something truly crazy just hit me. The bodies haven't begun to decompose. The blood still looks fresh and the flesh is still raw, red and fresh.

Holy shit! Are these creatures keeping the flesh fresh to be our eventual food source? Do they expect me to eat th...?

-9-



There is a little morning sun now illuminating my room, shining in from the rising clear autumn sunrise. I obviously dozed off to sleep this morning around 4:30 from the lack of sleep... or, did I faint from the realizations I've came to explore in my mind?

The dark creatures are still crouched in their spots and they are still staring at me... and... oh fuck... it sounds like the entire Fairfax County police force just appeared at the front door and is now banging on the door, demanding for me to open it.

I can only close my eyes, pull my covers up over my head and scream inside my mind in horror at the unworldly savagery that is about to unfold!

-Epilogue-

They are still banging on the door. I am silent because I fear that if I address the horde storming that door the creatures might attack. They are screaming and threatening to crash through the door! I am helpless to do anything but watch the actions before me.

And the sublime is now the absurd as my telephone is ringing. It is sitting on the table, inches away from one of the creatures... feet away from me. The six inch teeth and the demon claws prevent me from risking my hands and arms and body by reaching for my phone. But I can see the screen from here... and the call is coming from Patricia back from the bookstore. She is leaving me a message. Somehow, maybe as a form of torture by these creatures, the speaker is on and her voice mail is playing for me to hear.

"Hey Magnus, this is Patricia. We've completely catalogued all the books and everything is going very well here. Have a safe trip back home and I'll see you soon. Oh, by the way... there is one volume missing from the group of tomes... The Red Book Of Dragons. Mario said you were reading it before you left. I can't find it. Did you take it with you? I hope you took it with you. OK, bye!"

Holy Shit!

MLJ

6-21-11

CLAWS

a horrorwalker travel guide tale:

(Harlem, New York City)

 

-one-

    The moment is now… on a Friday in the city!
    Margaret Anthony composed herself by first pulling her clothing tighter to her upper body. Then she took in a large breath of the musty Summer New York City air that was lightly swirling around her before slowly blowing it out through her pursed lips. She could taste the floating microbial impurities in the funky city air sticking onto the surface of her tongue.    
    “Yuck!” she whispered as she realized her regret with what she had just done to herself.
    She, again, flashed the thought inside her mind of… “Oh my god, how I wish I could scrub down this entire city with a bucket of Dawn dish detergent and a wire scrub brush!”

    She took off work an hour early today. She needed to be at the place that changed her life forever at exactly a particular time. She stepped off the bus with four minutes to spare and there was the place… right over there.
    Then she focused her attention to the task at hand as she peered into the misty darkness in the alley in front of her and begged in a whisper for an answer to these four questions, which she directed into the alley -- “What exactly are you? How can you possibly exist? Why in the hell am I trying to force you to confront me? And, holy shit... what am I doing?”
    She then took a hesitant step into the strange, narrow, dead end alley way -- positioned totally out of context between the drug store and the day care center -- stepping over the entrance threshold toward the darkness at the end of the enclosure. And just like before, when they grabbed her by her hair and clothing to openly and loudly and blatantly drag her into the alley, absolutely not one person on the busy street appeared to notice her situation as she stepped into the unknown surreal.
    The alley was 52 steps from entrance to back brick wall. Up in the blackness above her head, somewhere up there, has to be a ceiling or a roof… because, there was not a sliver of sunlight beaming down into the alley on this warm, bright cloudless day. But, despite the blackness in front of her, she could see well enough into the strangeness to see what she hoped to find.

 

-two-

    She could sense that it was there… this creature residing at the far end by the brick wall, as she reached out toward it with her right hand, swiping back and forth at the heavy swirling mist that seemed to grow thicker the closer she got to the creature.
    “What in the hell am I doing?” she whispered to herself as her eyes began to focus on the enormous shadowy form standing in silence about twenty yards in front of her.
    She took another step, a slow careful step, to bring herself one yard closer to the creature. She could see it better now. And, it was looking directly at her with its green feline-like eyes that seemed to glow even in this low light. She was, again as before, taken aback by the frightening mass of this… this monster. And when the creature placed its huge right arm across its chest, and silently extended five eight inch claws from all five of its digits on its dinner plate sized paw, she realized things were about to become… “real.”
    She could not help but drawn in another short foul breath of mist and air. She then stood there, unmoving, before the thing in the darkness!

-three-

    She stared directly into the starkly visible eyes of the creature. She carefully took a few more steps toward the creature before she lightly placed her fists on her hips, showed some attitude, and said, “Why are you threatening me? You saved my life two weeks ago, remember? You appeared from the darkness, did what horrible things you did to those dangerous thugs who dragged me into this very same alley… and then you vanished, taking their bodies with you, as suddenly and silently as you appeared. Surely, you must have known that I might try to find you?”
    The creature stood there amongst the swirling gray mist and stagnant darkness, gripped in silence… unmoving and frightening.
    “Hey, goddamn it! I know you’re intelligent. I know you understand what I am saying to you. Speak to me, damn you!”
    The creature did not move. Its black furred clawed feet seemed to grip the asphalt as it stood there stiff as a statue. Its claws were still out.
    “You’ve now revealed yourself to me,” She continued, forcing herself to be bolder. “You didn’t have to answer my call into the darkness, but you did. Now you’re threatening me? What are you going to do? Are you going to hurt me? Kill me? Eat me?”
    The creature slowly and silently withdrew its claws and dropped its arm to its side. Margaret then took several more steps toward the creature, until she was close enough to touch it. Her fear was now gone. She had unconsciously dropped whatever fear might have been inside her. She was now more determined than ever to get the answers she wanted from this huge otherworldly creature.
    She started to form a word with her mouth. She began to demand another question of the creature. But the creature cut her off by raising a hand toward her face and giving a quick side to side motion that unmistakably meant for her to stop it… now!
    The creature then spoke. She stepped back a yard in disbelief as the creature told her in a death rattle voice that sounded like a gravelly, choking nightmare, “You will never again speak ill using the name of your deity!”
    Her lower jaw literally dropped into the cleavage of her ample bosom.

-four-

    They stood there for a full three minutes staring at each other. One of them could not believe what had just happened!

-five-

    What else could she say in response to that intimidating declaration, other than, “I will never use God’s name in vain again.” She said those words loud enough to make sure the creature heard her response.
    And then the creature actually stood up.
    Margaret is very tall at 6’1” standing on her bare feet. As it turns out, the creature was actually crouched at rest, like a feline. What was once a 6”4” creature standing over her is now an 8’3” behemoth towering over her.
    “Alright now…” Margaret began to ask, looking up into the creature‘s face. “Can I ask my question of you again, in a more respectable fashion? Exactly what are you? And how can you possibly talk? I mean, I don‘t want to insult your intelligence, but… how can you possibly speak to me… and in English… and have morality that you can express to me in the form of a threat?”
    “We have interacted enough tonight,” growled the creature as it took a step back to press itself against the brick wall to its rear. “Another time…” it whispered to her in a softer growl as it began to quickly fade away in the boiling mist that was suddenly thickening the alley in blinding misty grayness. Within seconds the creature was gone and the mist began to evaporate as though it was never there. The only witness to this bizarre encounter was the original city musty air and its microbial core.
    She did an about face to exit the dark alley. Suddenly, as she stepped back into the now nighttime neon brightness of the city street, everything around her no longer had any relevance. She looked left down the always busy street and then looked right toward the four blocks down the street to her apartment. The flashing signs and after-hours foot traffic and the countless conversations and other human interactions no longer meant anything to Margaret. How do you go back to your normal life when you have just encountered what could be your guardian demon, or your new intimidating tormentor, or some unknown species of intelligent mammal, or maybe even some type of other worldly beast. How do you go back to your normal life?
    And then it suddenly hit her… the realization that when she entered the alley the time was 4:40 PM.! A glance at the huge bank clock across street displayed a time of 11:03 PM.
    “What the heck?” She whispered, remember the creature’s warning about cursing. “Where did all that time go? I thought I was only in the alley for a few minutes?”
    A quick glance at her wrist watch revealed another mystery to her. The watch had stopped working and the time was stuck at 4:40!
   

-six-

    It was a real struggle to get her head out of the bizarreness of the past few hours, but Margaret Anthony finally fell asleep at 4:42 AM. But before that…
    She could not eat her late night snack because she was too full of energy and thoughts. At around 12:30 AM, she showered away the city grime that stuck to her body and hair, read a couple of chapters in the good graphic novel she is reading, eventually turned off the bedside lamp and slowly drifted off to sleep… to dream about a huge furry monster thing that talks to her, and goes bump in her night, and appears before her in what might be a mystical dark alley.
    And what else would Margaret Anthony dream about if she would open her eyes right now to peer into the darkness of her bedroom… to stare into the reflective green eyes of the huge ebon fur covered, dark and mysterious, creature staring down at her sleeping form… standing at the foot of her bed… towering over her with the top of its head actually brushing the ceiling… both arms crossed over its chest… claws extended… watching her sleep… mulling over the type of thoughts a creature from the darkest darkness thinks about… in the darkness before the dawn arrives.

RLJ