She shook her head. “Huh-uh.”
Mason pressed the pause button and craned his neck toward the door. He heard a slight scratching of the wood, along with a muffled cry.
“Sounds like a cat,” said Eaver. “Do the neighbors have one that comes ‘round?”
“No. But you’re right, it does sound like a cat.” He stood up and walked to the door.
Mason hesitated. For just a second he feared it could be something else on the other side of the door. Something monstrous. But he shook the fear off, realizing they had taken care of that nightmare. He turned the knob and opened the door.
Sure enough, he found a tabby pacing at the door. The feline waltzed right into the house. “Yep. It’s a cat, alright.”
Eaver saw it as it pranced into the living room. She immediately recognized the tan coat with black and gray striping. “Captain Purrbucket! What are you doing over here?” She looked at Mason. “It’s Cappy, Hannah’s cat. Should we take him back there?”
Mason shrugged. “If anybody’s there. Maybe we should call first to see.”
Eaver agreed. “Yeah, and I’d like to know if Hannah’s still missing. Okay, gimme a minute.” She pulled out her phone and called Hannah’s house.
After six rings, Eaver frowned.
“No one there?” asked Mason.
“Huh-uh. Nobody’s picking up. Maybe her momma’s out looking for her. Bless her heart.” She ended the call, then opened her contacts list to see who else she could call about finding the cat. Then her screen notified her that her battery was drained and the display faded. “Okay, now my phone’s dead.”
“No biggie, you can charge it tomorrow.”
Eaver turned her attention to their furry visitor. “How long have you been stuck outside, Cappy? I’ll bet you’re thirsty.” She addressed Mason. “Can I give him a bowl of water?”
“Sure, bowls are up in the cupboard by the fridge.”
She walked to the kitchen, the tabby at her heels. Finding a bowl and filling it with cold water, she set it on the kitchen floor and gave the cat a quick scratch behind the ear. Cappy responded with a purr and began drinking. Then Eaver made her way back to the couch. Mason resumed their movie.
Minutes later the cat joined them in the front room. Cappy paced the room, familiarizing himself to his surroundings. Then, as if something caught his attention, he suddenly scurried to the front window.
Cappy reared his back and hissed, his fur bristling.
“What’s wrong with him?” Eaver said curiously.
Mason frowned. “Must’ve seen something he doesn’t like. Or heard, or smelled. Raccoon or possum, I suppose.”
The cat was growling now. His eyes were locked on the window.
Eaver got up. “C’mon, Cappy, that’s enough. Whatever’s out there is probably bigger’n you anyway.” She walked to where the tabby was perched and bent down to pick him up.
The window busted inward, shattering. Eaver fell backward to the floor. The cat jumped from her arms and dashed out of sight. Mason sprang from the couch to see what had happened.
One of the sea creatures was coming in through the window frame, slick and shiny.
“No! No way!” cried Mason. How the hell did they get out? He was sure they would never see these monsters again after Marty had sealed the entrance to their cavern. Mason hurried to get Eaver out of harm’s way.
Eaver had rolled away from the window and was scuttling across the floor toward him. “Jesus! Mason!” She reached up, and he pulled her to her feet.
The beast was standing in the room, and now Mason could see a second creature making its way through the window.
Mason’s eyes darted around the room, desperate for some kind of weapon. Nothing but furniture. Mason grabbed a lamp, yanking it free from the outlet. Backing away from their unwanted visitors, Mason pushed Eaver slowly into the main floor hallway.
The monster raised its appendages and hissed loudly. Then it charged toward its human quarry.Mason and Eaver ran.
They immediately heard the smashing of the back door and realized another beast was breaking into the kitchen. They stopped in the middle of the hallway.
“Shit!” said Eaver. “Whatdowedo, whatdowedo?”
“The stairs! We gotta get upstairs before they trap us!” They turned around to hurry back, seeing the first beast was already at the end of the hallway.
Mason hurled the lamp at the attacker, and it cracked against the beast’s head. The blow was enough to daze it, stopping it in its tracks. The split second was enough to allow Mason and Eaver to cut around the stairway and scamper up the steps.
Upon reaching the second floor, Mason led Eaver down the narrow hallway and to his bedroom. They rushed inside and locked the bedroom door behind them. But they knew it would not take long for the persistent creatures to find them.
“Now what?” Eaver asked, panicked.
Mason looked around. There were no items in the room that could be used as a viable weapon. He glanced at the bedroom window, and realized that would have to be their escape plan.
“C’mon! Out the window!” Mason opened the window. Peering outside, he stepped through onto the mild pitch of the roof. He pulled Eaver through to join him, then closed the window again. They stepped aside, away from the window, to be out of sight from the bedroom. Then Mason looked down to find a good place to descend.
He pulled Eaver tightly against him and held a hand to her mouth.
Eaver spotted them too. Three more of the monsters had gathered in the front lawn below. Mason did well to cover her mouth – otherwise she might have screamed when she saw them.
Luckily the beasts in the yard had not yet noticed the couple on the roof. Mason slowly, gently, sat down with Eaver on the shingles. They lay back against the roof to keep out of sight.
The creatures inside broke through the bedroom door. Mason and Eaver could hear the commotion while the beasts searched the room for their prey. Violent smashing, breaking, and knocking things around.
Eaver had never been so frightened. Her heart was pounding so hard that she could hear her own rapid pulse. “What do we do?” she whispered, as quietly as she could.
“I don’t know,” Mason whispered back nervously. “We gotta stay right here, and not move.”
The two kept perfectly still on the roof, huddled together. All they could do was wait and pray that the beasts would not come out onto the roof.
CHAPTER 33
“Over there!”
The deputy followed the sheriff’s finger, aiming the mounted spotlight in that direction. The bright beam found a shattered window on the front of a lightless house. “The window?”
“Yeah, I just saw something go in there,” the sheriff stated. He put the vehicle in park and shut off the engine.
“Ms. Surrow’s house,” noted Carl. “I think she’s out of town.”
“C’mon, Spud.” Sheriff Steele opened the door and sprang from the car. Pulling his sidearm and pointing it up in the air, he hurried through the lawn and up the steps to the front porch. Carl was right on his heels.
The smell of sulfur was in the air. With a quick glance to his deputy to make sure he was ready, the sheriff opened the door and quickly stepped back. The door swung inward, revealing nothing but the dark.
“Be ready,” warned Steele.
“You got it,” Carl assured.
The sheriff aimed his flashlight into the house, holding it beneath his gun hand. The men tentatively entered Ms. Surrow’s home, prepared for the monster to appear at any given moment.
“Ms. Surrow?” called the sheriff, just in case she was home. After no answer, he figured Carl was right about the kindergarten teacher being out of town.
The lights came on in the entryway, illuminating the hallway and front room. Surprised, Steele jumped a little. He turned to see the deputy’s hand on the light switch. He chuckled. “Yeah, I guess that would help.”
“Um, yeah,” Carl smirked. “Light good. Dark ba
d.” He closed the front door and followed the sheriff further inside.
They slowly approached the kitchen. The sulfuric odor grew stronger. Steele tightened his grip on the handgun – the beast was close. When the men arrived at the kitchen entrance, the sheriff reached for the light switch on the wall. He found it and flipped the light on.
A large creature was standing in the middle of the kitchen. Its horrific features were fully visible in the fluorescent light, and Carl shuddered at the sight of the monster before them. The shiny, dark-green skinned creature was a hundred times more terrifying up close than it was in the hospital footage.
It reared back, hissed aggressively, and lashed out with two of its barbed tentacles.
“Look out!” exclaimed the sheriff. The men jumped back, away from the appendages that struck the linoleum floor just in front of them. Then Steele took aim and fired repeatedly, planting nine slugs into the monster’s midsection and head. Carl added five more from his weapon. The 9mm hollow points effectively ended the life of the attacking beast. It collapsed to the floor, oozing.
All was silent in the kitchen. The officers stood frozen, weapons still aimed at the monster, the air around them smelling of gunpowder and rotten eggs. Carl merely stared at the thing, his mind still processing what had just happened.
“Yeah!” the sheriff barked triumphantly, breaking the moment of silence. “That’s how you do it!”
The deputy snapped back to who he was, what he just shot, and why they were there to do it. “Yessir, that’s one monster that won’t be hurting anybody in our town.”
“C’mon, Spud, let’s make sure there aren’t any others in here.” The sheriff moved toward the next room, and the deputy was at his side.
They continued their search of the main floor and found nothing. Their sweep ended on the second floor, which was also devoid of any other monsters. Satisfied, they casually walked back down the stairs.
“Now what do we do?” asked Carl. “I mean, with Ms Murphy’s body, and Joe Reynolds, and the body of this thing in here.”
“We can probably call the ambulance out now,” said the sheriff. “But I still don’t think the town’s safe yet. I want to keep searching to make sure there aren’t more of them out and about.”
The deputy nodded in agreement. “Works for me.”
They arrived at the front door, and Carl reached for the doorknob. Just then he heard something on the other side of the door, like something rubbing against the wood, and he stayed his hand.
“Did you hear that?” he whispered, eyes wide.
Steele nodded slowly. “I did.” The sheriff raised his gun and took a step back. He took a deep breath. “Open it.”
Carl turned the knob and briskly pulled the door open. To their amazement, the men saw four more monstrous creatures in the doorway. When the beasts spotted the men, they hissed and charged into the house together.
“Shit!” Steele yelled. He and Carl instinctively retreated while shooting at their attackers. The beasts were taking hits, but were still advancing.
After six shots, the sheriff was empty. Reacting quickly, he ejected the clip and replaced it with his spare. He chambered the first round and continued firing at the onslaught.
“I’m out!” cried Carl, absolute fear in his voice.
Steele remained focused on killing the attackers. He aimed at their weaving heads, landing a couple of good kill shots. Two of the four fell dead, and the others were badly wounded. But they were still coming.
Then the sheriff was out of bullets.
“Ahhhh, shit!” he said. “I’m out too.” He knew their only hope was to get out of the house. “C’mon, Spud! We gotta make a run for it!”
Sheriff Steele ran toward the remaining creatures to get past them and to the front door. Carl was right behind him. The beasts grabbed the officers attempting to flee, digging their talons deep into them. The men screamed in pain and dread. They felt the cold tentacles squeeze tightly around their bodies, the barbed tips stabbing them, and then the agonizing sensation of the monsters’ sharp teeth tearing away chunks of flesh. The deputy caught sight of the sheriff while one of the creatures took a bite from his boss’s throat that silenced the sheriff’s shrieking.
Carl pounded at his own attacker, fists beating wildly against the beast’s snout and razor-like teeth. Finally he was able to wriggle free from his weakening captor. He pulled himself to his feet, lumbered away, and glanced back to see the wounded beasts finally succumbing to their bleeding bullet wounds. The deputy was bleeding a lot himself, and he was aware of his dire situation. He staggered through the front door and onto the dark porch. Then he toppled down the steps and landed flat in the grass.
Carl looked out across the lawn, seeing the sidewalk, the street, and the houses beyond with nervous people peeking out their windows. Summoning all his strength, he began crawling toward them. But he was losing too much blood. The deputy lost consciousness before he could make it to the concrete sidewalk.
CHAPTER 34
The sun had been up for just a little while. Mason acknowledged the light through his eyelids, but kept his eyes closed to rest them. He still had Eaver under his arm. Feeling her body stir, he opened his eyes.
They were still on the roof, lying uncomfortably on the shingles. He needed sleep. Eaver slept a little, but Mason had tried to stay alert throughout the night just in case the beasts returned to the property. Perhaps he had gotten some brief moments of slumber during the night hours, but if he did it was minimal.
Eaver sat up quickly and surveyed the yard below them. Seeing that the monsters were gone, she relaxed her back muscles and exhaled. Then, feeling the stiffness from lying on the roof, she stretched her arms over her head.
“It looks like they were never here,” she said, still gazing at the lawn.
Mason nodded. Just the familiar green centipedegrass around the house and the chirping of birds in the surrounding trees. “Yep. Like it was all just a nightmare.” He slowly sat up. “Come on, let’s get back inside.”
“What if some of ‘em are still in there?”
“Naw. It looked like they all left together, and I never saw any of ‘em come back.”
Eaver was satisfied. “Okay. Let’s go in.”
They cautiously got to their feet, established their balance on the slight incline, and made their way back to the bedroom window. Mason peered inside to make sure the coast was clear. It was. He entered, followed by Eaver.
The first thing they noticed was the lingering smell of sulfur in the room. Then they took in the sight of scratched and cracked furniture and the shredded mattress on the bed. Everything in the room had been overturned or moved.
“God,” said Mason. “They really did a number on this room. Must’ve wanted us pretty bad. I guess we’re lucky they didn’t look for us outside.”
Eaver had a creepy feeling. “You sure you saw all of ‘em leave?”
“Yeah, I’m sure. Plus I don’t think they could stay out of the water for this long. And they don’t like the daylight anyway.” He put his arm around her shoulder. “C’mon.”
They moved through the narrow hallway and down the stairs to the main floor. Mason stopped at the bottom of the steps. His heart sank when he saw the carnage.
The front room was ruined. The couch was ripped up, the antique furniture was shattered, the pictures were smashed, and everything was littered with a shiny, clear residue trail. Everything in the room that brought cherished memories to Mason was now destroyed.
“My house,” he mourned. “I can’t believe it.”
Eaver rested a hand on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry, sugar.”
Mason was pissed. “Fuck these things,” he seethed through his teeth. “I’m gonna kill them all.”
“We’ll get it fixed up,” Eaver reassured, trying to calm him. “You’ll see.”
“Maybe, but some of this stuff was irreplaceable.” He drew his gaze to what used to be the front room window. “I wonder how m
any other houses they attacked last night.”
Eaver’s eyes widened as she suddenly thought about her mother. “I gotta call Momma.” She pulled her phone from her pocket, then frowned when the black screen reminded her that the battery had died.
“My phone’s dead. I need to check in with Momma.”
Mason agreed. “Let’s get over to your house.”
Just then they heard a car pull up in front of the house and stop abruptly. They looked through the broken window to see Sherrie get out of the car and trot toward the house.
“Momma!” shouted Eaver. She opened the door and ran outside to greet her mother, and Mason followed.
“Oh baby,” Sherrie grinned, tears welling at the sight of her daughter. “Thank God you’re here. I’ve been trying to call you. Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” said Eaver, hugging her mother. “But you wouldn’t believe the night we had.”
“Those monsters you told me about?”
“Uh-huh. Broke into the house and almost got us. We had to spend the night up on the roof.”
“Oh baby,” Sherrie said again. “One came into the restaurant last night. Blew its brains out with the shotgun.”
Mason stepped closer to the women. “We’ve got to get over to the police station. Find out what they’re gonna do about this.”
Eaver nodded. “Yeah, I wanna know what we’re supposed to do next. And find out if anyone got hurt last night.”
Sherrie was also curious to hear how the police would respond to this, but her filthy, contaminated restaurant was a deeper concern. “I’m gonna go back to the restaurant, to help Cinch clean up the nasty mess and do more repairs. But get in, I’ll drop you two at the police station.”
They filed into Sherrie’s car and Sherrie drove them away from the house. While traveling the streets, they noticed quite a few other houses with broken windows, either on front porches or above trampled bushes. Last night’s activity was more substantial than they had thought.
Sherrie arrived at the police station to find all the parking spaces in front of the building already occupied. She stopped her car in the middle of the street to let her passengers out. Then, after kissing her daughter, she waved and drove off to join Cinch back at the restaurant.
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