Category : Books-Fiction

Sub Category : Fantasy

    Brutal Mystery Claims Pennsylvania Family

    Jake read the headline several more times before, again, studying the accompanying picture. It was his family. Tim and Lily Fox were his aunt and uncle. They cared for him several summers of his life after his mother’s death. It was very sporadic though as Jake would take off for months at a time. He always worried that he was a burden to them. In his eyes he was a broken kid disrupting a loving family. But really anyone who had witnessed what Jake had, might feel the same way. So, time after time he would run away. He would take busses, hitchhike, and travel on foot to find a new home on the streets. This last time he made it to New York City, and stayed in an alley for almost a year. 

As a tear fell onto the picture, and soaked into the paper, he folded it up. He turned and tossed it into a hollowed out, green dumpster which Jake had called home. He wiped the swelled tears away from his radiant, green eyes, and ran his other hand through his hair. The sandy blonde hair fell back in place, swept over one eye. He stood in front of an old, tall mirror leaning against the brick wall next to his dumpster. He obtained the mirror from a junk pile sitting outside of an abandoned house around a month ago. He figured, at the time, if he seen himself every morning he could strive to be one step better the next time he looked. But, as he stared now, all he saw was a seventeen year old asshole, who avoided his only family left. And now it was too late to fix it.

He let out an angry warcry, as he lifted his foot back and drove it forward through the mirror. The glass shattered and fell to the pavement with the sound of chimes. And, with that, he strode down the alley with purpose. Luckily he didn’t have to worry about stares as he power walked down the sidewalk. It was New York, where every passerby does their best to avoid absolutely everyone around them. As Jake thundered by, he pushed all his thoughts of grief and remorse to the back of his mind. He was going home. That’s all he wanted to think about. 

After about an hour and a half of walking the busy sidewalks, he stopped in front of a bus station. He contemplated how he was going to go about this. He could try and see if anyone was kind enough to buy him a ticket home, but again, this was New York. He could also sneak on a bus before it filled with passengers and lay low. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s pulled it off. He then decided the best thing to do would be to go inside, find the right bus, and then figure his course of action. So he climbed several stairs and opened the doors to the station.

Inside people scrambled everywhere, with luggage, tickets, briefcases, and food filling their hands. Families sat on benches waiting for their buses. Huge, crowded lines filled the ticket counters. And a big digital board in the middle of the station highlighted all the bus departures and destinations. Jake strode over to the board and started skimming down all the destinations. Finally his gaze stopped on one. There was a bus headed to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in an hour. Harrisburg was about three days from his aunt and uncle’s house on foot. He just hoped he might be able to hitch a ride once he got there. He turned and glanced over the huge room, and stopped once his eyes met a mother and two children sitting comfortable on a bench. He noticed a cross dangled around the mother’s neck. The kids were dressed mid-class, formal. He thought this might be his best candidate for a contribution to his trip. 

He started to walk towards them, but only made it halfway when something caught his attention. A loud hum, almost like surging electricity, came from the bathroom on the far side of the station. As the noise echoed throughout the large terminal, a blinding purple glow flashed from the crack underneath the bathroom door. Jake looked over the room. No one else seemed affected by this. Had no one else noticed? The sound alone should have caught everybody's attention. But his dwelling on the matter ceased as the bathroom door started to slowly open.

A tall, robed figure appeared in the doorway. Jake had to squint to focus on it. He could see no hands as the arms of the robe draped down past them. As he looked up to its face he saw large, beady, black eyes with small, illuminating, yellow pupils. Where the nose should have been were two vertical slits. The creatures chin came to a skeletal point. Its rough lips were separated in an eerie smile, exposing rows of small jagged teeth. Jake stared in awe as the creature slowly crept towards a group of teenage girls huddled in a circle next to the counter. It snuck its way into the middle of their little circle, and to Jake’s amazement, none of the girls deviated from there chatting. In fact, two girls stared at each other from across the circle still in deep conversation. They stared right through this thing as though it wasn’t even there. Jake was in an utter state of confusion and shock.

All of sudden the creature started to grow. It’s robes were slowly ripping, as it climbed to near nine feet. As the robes split and fell to the ground, Jake saw the entirety of the beast. It’s skin was hard and grey, as if it were an exoskeleton. Its legs were bent at the knees in a strange way almost resembling most depictions of a werewolf. Its feet were human-like save its toes, which were non existent. Instead four long arched claws protruded from its feet. The beast's arms were skeletal at the shoulders down to its elbows, which then went into large scimitar like blades that matched the color of the rest of its body. 

The bladed arms began to slowly rise into an attack like stance, as the creature locked its gaze on the girl directly in front of it. Jake broke from his shocked state and bellowed a loud warning.

“Look out!” A couple people gazed at him in confusion, and the mother on the bench grabbed Jake’s attention.

“My Lord, what’s wrong son?” she inquired with a hand held over her heart. Before any explanation could leave Jake’s lips, several shrill screams echoed from the group of girls. Jake’s gaze darted to them to see the victim’s body thud to the ceramic floor. And out of the circle, unsteadily, rolled the girl’s head. Before it even came to a stop the creature swept its arms back in an enormous circle, slicing through the middle of all the girls.

The bodies all dropped in a second. And in the next second the entire station filled with screams and frantic people scrambling and running towards the exit. The monster immediately dashed towards the doors with thundering steps and lightning speed. Along its path it bouldered through people sending them flying tens of feet. Its blades, outstretched, caught many unfortunate at the knees. Not one person could make their escape as the creature made it to the exit. It turned to face the crowd and immediately sliced, bashed, and flung bodies to their deaths. Much of the terrified crowd turned back instantly.

Jake darted for the digital board, then dove behind. As limbs, heads, and blood showered all around him, he frantically searched for any means of survival. Screams were becoming less and less as lifeless victims became more and more. Finally one last piercing scream as the mother with the cross necklace flew through the air to the back wall of the station. Her body slammed against a red, metal and glass box next to a fire extinguisher. As her body fell, so too did a large fireman’s axe from within the mangled box.

His stomach churned as Jake watched it land on the floor next to her. He couldn’t keep it in anymore. Vomit spewed from his mouth to the floor. He immediately looked up at the beast, who had definitely notice, and without hesitating, took charge. Jake leaped into a sprint towards the axe. With his doom gaining on him, the miracle of adrenaline kicked in. With one receiving hand down, he swept up the weapon, turned around and backed himself against the wall. The creature was mere feet from Jake with its deadly appendage stretched back and ready to swing down. Then it stopped. In its hesitation, the fierce yellow glow of its eyes locked with Jake’s.

Jake took his opportunity and swung the axe down hard on the beast’s arm. Its arm separated at the top of its horrendous blade. As it dropped to the floor, the creature threw its head back in a painful howl. It dropped its head to the floor and latched its teeth around its severed limb and began with fierce speed to the bathroom. It flew through the door and with another bright, purple flash left Jake with nothing but silence, and a question burning in his head: Why didn’t it kill me?

The sirens blaring outside could not pull Jake’s attention away from the bloody graveyard that was recently a bus station. The doors flew open to fifteen men charging in, guns in hands. Several uniforms were those of officers, while the rest wore traditional SWAT gear. They juked left and right avoiding the mess of mangled remains. They came to a swift halt in a semi-circle at the back wall. Guns were all ready and pointed at Jake who was wearing the blood of countless others on his skin and clutching a bloody axe tight in his grip. 

“Down on the floor you son of a bitch!”