Jack Templar Monster Hunter

by Jeff Gunhus

  “And that’s why you came here early, isn’t it? Before the others,” I said.

  “That’s right. I’m here to take care of this on my own. That’s how I do things,” Eva said. “He’ll come for you and I’ll have my chance. And nothing will stand in my way. Not you, not some devil-werewolf. Nothing. Got it?”

  “You fool,” Aunt Sophie whispered. “Even if you were a match for him, which you’re not, Ren Lucre will not travel here, so far from his stronghold. Jack will be taken to him.”

  “Ren Lucre,” I said, pronouncing it properly. The second I did, a memory flashed in front of me. The man this morning with the pale skin, long fingers and black nails, and those pale blue eyes that seemed to look right through me. Suddenly, I knew. “No, you’re wrong. He’s already here. He’s in town.”

  “No,” Aunt Sophie said. “I was to bring you to him. The journey takes several days.”

  “I saw him this morning,” I whispered, shivering. “I know it was him. I don’t know how, but I know.”

  “Then we must get you out of here right away!” Aunt Sophie cried.

  “No,” said Eva. “This is what I came for. We have the element of surprise. We need to seek him out.”

  Aunt Sophie bored into Eva with her eyes. “You truly are a fool. You don’t know what you’re facing. You don’t stand a chance.”

  “I think we should…” I fell silent as Aunt Sophie held up her hand.

  Aunt Sophie whispered, “They’re here.”

  Eva stood up straighter, her eyes darting to the windows in the front of the house. She clutched her sword and pointed it at Aunt Sophie.

  “I told you she couldn’t be trusted,” Eva barked. “You kept us here until they could arrive. Out the back door. Go, go, go.”

  We ran toward the back of the house but the yard was filled with rows of halfdecayed bodies gathered in a half-circle around the back of the house. Zombies.

  We turned and ran to the front door. It was already open and trolls and goblins streamed into the house, knocking over furniture and smashing holes in the walls for no good reason.

  Finally, Mrs. Fitcher, now in her Creach form, walked in with her mottled, black wings trailing behind her. She grinned when she saw me and gave me a wink. My skin crawled at the sight of her.

  “Hello, Jack,” Mrs. Fitcher said. “It’s so nice we could all get together a day early. I didn’t have time to get you a birthday present…so I got you two.”

  She turned to one side and my heart sank.

  Goblins dragged two struggling humans into the house.

  Will and T-Rex.

  Mrs. Fitcher smiled. “Isn’t that nice? This way, you won’t have to die alone.”

  T-Rex had a finger in each nostril and Will stared at me like he was mad at me for holding out on him.

  Chapter Eight

  “Why is Principal Fitcher talking about killing us?” T-Rex squeaked. “My grandma isn’t going to like this.”

  “And why does she have wings, Jack?” Will said, staring me down. “You knew all this was going on and you didn’t tell us. Some pal you are.”

  The goblins were about my height but thick with bulging muscle. They sneered, twisting their giant hooked noses as they shoved T-Rex and Will forward.

  I caught them so they wouldn’t hit the ground and helped them stand. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I was trying to protect you.”

  “Oh yeah?” Will said. “How’s that working so far?”

  “Enough!” Mrs. Fitcher shrieked, her wings flapping behind her and knocking picture frames off the walls. She walked up to Will and stuck a long pointy finger in his chest. “I have to bite my tongue all day long as I deal with you little human fleas at school. Here, I get to do anything I want. I could bite off your fingers. Cut off your noses. Do you boys understand?”

  T-Rex and Will nodded their heads.

  “Good,” Mrs. Fitcher said. She turned her attention to Eva. “I see you’ve met a new friend, Jack. The one-handed monster hunter. I’ve heard of you.”

  Eva held out the dagger on her left wrist . “Come over here. Let’s shake hands.”

  Mrs. Fitcher smirked. “Such an attitude, even when you face certain death. I admire that. Under different circumstances, I would have enjoyed fighting you one-on-one.”

  “I would have too,” Eva said. “Maybe you’ll get your chance some day.”

  “Oh, I don’t think so, monster hunter,” Mrs. Fitcher said. “I’m afraid all of you will be dead before sunrise. Except you, Jack.” She walked up to me and stared into my face. “You’ll just wish you were dead.”

  Aunt Sophie stepped in front of me, blocking Mrs. Fitcher. “The boy is my prisoner. Ren Lucre gave me, and me alone, the task of bringing the boy to him.” Her voice was deep and raspy, full of authority. “You are all in violation of his will by being here. You all know his power to punish those who disobey him.”

  The monsters that filled the house stirred uncomfortably at this statement. They looked from one to another nervously.

  Aunt Sophie’s voice transformed completely into that of the demon. Her eyes glowed red as she roared, “I command you to leave this place! Leave at once!”

  The goblins, who are always the first to run in a fight, scrambled over each other to get to the door. The others looked to Mrs. Fitcher. She stood her ground and stared at Aunt Sophie through squinted eyes.

  “I don’t believe it,” Mrs. Fitcher whispered. “It’s not possible.”

  Aunt Sophie squared her shoulders and returned Mrs. Fitcher’s stare.

  “You think that you can save him,” Mrs. Fitcher said. “Have you lost your mind?”

  Aunt Sophie’s eyes flashed with red fire again. “Perhaps, after all these years, you’ve forgotten who I really am. Forgotten what I’m capable of.”

  “No, I remember,” Mrs. Fitcher replied. “I think perhaps it is you who have forgotten who your master is. Forgotten what he’s capable of. You can’t save the boy. No-one can.”

  “We’ll just have to see about that,” Aunt Sophie growled.

  T-Rex whimpered in the corner. Will put an arm over his shoulder. I eyed my sword that was on the other side of the kitchen. Eva crouched low, ready for battle.

  Just then, there was a knock on the door.

  It was so out of place in the middle of the tension, that we all turned and looked. There was a second knock.

  “Well, don’t just stand there,” Mrs. Fitcher hissed at two trolls by the door. “Open it and bring whoever it is inside.”

  The troll, an ugly blob of hairless flesh, opened the door.

  A person in a long, hooded cloak stood under the glare of the flickering porch light. A gloved hand reached out from the cloak and slid the hood back.

  It was Ms. Hester, the school secretary.

  She pushed back the cloak so that it draped behind her like a cape. This revealed an armory of weapons attached to a form-fitting leather outfit, almost identical to Eva’s. A bolt of lightning lit up the sky behind her, followed by a clap of thunder that shook the house.

  “Now, that’s an entrance,” Will said.

  “You?” Mrs. Fitcher hissed. “How can that be possible?”

  Ms. Hester grinned. “Sorry, I’m late,” she said, nodding at Eva and saluting her by placing a fist to her chest just as I had seen Eva do when I first met here in the forest. “Did I miss the party?”

  “No,” Eva said, returning the salute with a quick nod. “I think it was just about to start.”

  “Get her!” Mrs. Fitcher screamed at the trolls.

  Then everything turned to chaos.

  I watched in horror as Ms. Hester pulled a dagger out from one of the sheaths in her leather suit and threw it at me as hard as she could.

  Without thinking, I reached out and snatched it out of the air by the handle. Then I realized that she wasn’t throwing it at me; she was throwing it to me.

  Within seconds, there was a goblin on me, swinging a nasty pick-ax at my chest. I dodg
ed it and stabbed him in the shoulder. The goblin screamed and ran out of the back of the house. I saw him run right into the line of zombies in the yard. They closed around the goblin, dragged him to the ground and started to eat him right on the spot. I made a mental note…stay out of the back yard.

  I looked back into the room and saw Eva fighting two trolls, landing brutal kicks as they lumbered after her. Ms. Hester was cutting her way through a pile of trolls and hobgoblins (who don’t scare quite as easily as their goblin relatives).

  Someone grabbed me from behind. I spun, my dagger lifted, but stopped when I saw that it was Aunt Sophie. She pulled me close. “No matter what happens, just know that I love you. That was never a lie.”

  Even as the fight roared around us, I knew that she was saying goodbye. I hugged her tight. “I love you too.”

  Aunt Sophie smiled, as if hearing those words cured everything bad in the world. “Creach and humans don’t have to hate each other,” Aunt Sophie whispered in my ear. “Promise me you’ll remember that.”

  She suddenly went stiff in my arms. I looked behind her and saw a goblin sticking a spear into her back. When he saw me, he turned and ran for cover. “Run, Jack,” she said. “Take your friends and run. Don’t look back. Just run.”

  I held onto her, tears streaming down my face. But her body bulged under her clothes. Soon, they ripped and fell away. Within seconds, Aunt Sophie was gone. In her place was the devil-werewolf. And it was mad.

  The werewolf clawed at its back and yanked the spear out like it was no more than a splinter. It turned to the group of trolls, hobgoblins and ogres. They all froze in place, uncertain what to do.

  Mrs. Fitcher screamed, “Kill her!”

  They charged through the living room. The devil-werewolf leapt toward them, ripping the first wave of creatures apart with her claws and teeth.

  I saw my sword near-by. I scrambled across the floor and grabbed it. I got to my feet, found T-Rex and pushed him toward the door to the backyard. I looked for Will and saw him fighting a hobgoblin with a pair of scissors.

  Eva ran by me. “I’ve got him,” she said.

  She jumped off a chair, onto the breakfast counter, then jumped through the air to connect a vicious kick with her boot to the hobgoblin’s face.

  Behind her, Aunt Sophie was wreaking havoc on the monsters. Then Mrs. Fitcher jumped on her back, biting into her with those rows of jagged teeth. The werewolf roared in pain. Injured, she fell to the floor and the monsters piled onto her.

  “Aunt Sophie!” I cried out.

  Covered with monsters stabbing and biting her, she still somehow made eye contact with me. She roared and, with a burst of energy, she stood, swatting away the attackers. But they were too many and they jumped back onto her.

  Ms. Hester fought her way through a wall of trolls and reached us. She grabbed me. “We have to go. Come on. Don’t let her sacrifice be for nothing.”

  Eva led the way outside, pushing Will and T-Rex in front of her. I let Ms. Hester drag me along, Aunt Sophie’s cries becoming weaker as more monsters attacked her.

  We got outside and remembered why we hadn’t escaped this way to begin with.

  Zombies.

  The entire backyard was still filled with them. In the middle of them was the goblin’s clothes and armor heaped in a pile. They had eaten everything else.

  Will took one look and nudged Ms. Hester with an elbow. “I could use a weapon.”

  Ms. Hester nodded approvingly. She pulled a wicked-looking blade with jagged teeth from her leather suit and handed it to him. She looked at T-Rex and handed him a tiny dagger that looked like a steak knife. “Try not to hurt yourself.”

  I surveyed the backyard. The zombies formed a line around the entire backyard. They just stood there, staring at us, probably a hundred of them. I didn’t see any way out of this one.

  OK, timeout. I know we’re in the middle of an escape, but now is as good a time as any to give you some quick tips about fighting the undead. Also, most towns have at least a couple of zombies roaming around, so the chances of you running into one before you finish this book are pretty high. Like I said before, I don’t want you complaining to me if you lose a body part or two just because you didn’t listen to me, so pay attention.

  The deal with zombies is that they usually have someone else controlling them and giving them instructions. Being undead, they’re not the smartest tools in the shed, but what they lack in brains they make up for in persistence. So the trick is to figure out what their instructions are.

  If a zombie (or a wraith, ghoul, or shade-creature, for that matter) has been instructed to guard something, you might decide to fight them just to rid the world of a zombie. But if you’re in a hurry, you can just take a pass and go around it and that zombie will just leave you alone and guard whatever it’s guarding. But if that zombie has been instructed to kill you, it’s not going to stop until one of two things happens:

  1. The zombie eats your brains.

  2. You cut off the zombie’s head.

  So, to successfully defeat a zombie (and by successful, I mean cut off its head), you have to forget that the zombie was at one time a living, breathing person. This can be hard because, depending on the type of zombie, you’ll likely be dealing with a reanimated corpse. This means they will be wearing the clothes they were buried in and kind of look like the person they used to be. This can play tricks on you and you might hesitate when you should be hacking away.

  My trick is that I focus on all the nasty things going on with their body. Decayed flesh, worms crawling in them, bones sticking out, brains exposed. The works. This reminds me that the thing in front of me is no longer a person. It’s a zombie. And it wants to kill me and eat my brains. Thinking of it this way always makes it easier to take care of business.

  This may seem like no big deal now, but like I was saying earlier, since you decided to read this book, you are guaranteed to have a zombie come after you sooner or later (probably sooner). And the first time that happens, it will freak you out. Guaranteed. So, remember these tips and you might just survive with your brains uneaten. OK, back to the story.

  Standing there on my back patio, T-Rex and Will on either side of me, looking out on a sea of decaying flesh walking around my backyard, I was totally freaked out. The zombies held their ground, shifting side-to-side and moaning about brains in that annoying way that zombies do. Clearly, they had been told to keep us from leaving. And by the look of them, they were serious about doing their job.

  Hester walked over to me and placed a necklace over my head. It was medallion of hammered metal on a heavy chain. I lifted it up and saw the faint outline of writing etched into the surface. It was a language I didn’t recognize. Eva noticed that I was looking at it.

  “Cloaking medallion. Good idea. You must be Ms. Hester,” Eva said. She closed her right fist and thumped it against her own chest in a kind of salute. Hester quickly did the same.

  “Just Hester is fine. I already know who you are,” Hester said, speaking quickly and pulling weapons from her suit. “They told me that you were coming tomorrow.”

  “I came early,” Eva said, unscrewing the dagger from her left wrist.

  “I noticed,” Hester said.

  The screams of the Creach inside mixed with the roar of Aunt Sophie as a devilwerewolf.

  “Ok,” I said, “now everyone knows everyone. Now what?”

  Hester looked at Eva. “I’ve been told to follow your orders. This is your show.”

  “Good, Jack’s with me. You two are with Hester.” Eva pulled a longer blade from a sheath on her leg and screwed it into her wrist. “Draw them left and Jack and I will break through to the right by that tree.”

  “Where do we meet?” Hester asked.

  “In Will’s basement,” I blurted out. “You’ve got to keep him alive so you know where it’s at.”

  “Then let’s use my basement!” T-Rex cried out.

  Hester smiled. “I’m the school secretar
y; I know where you both live.” She winked at me. “But don’t worry, I’ll take care of your buddies. We’re the good guys, Jack.”

  Eva looked at me. “Go for the head. Nothing else will stop them. You might feel like you’re winning when you chop off a leg or an arm, but they don’t feel anything.”

  I gripped my sword. “Go for the head. Got it.”

  “And don’t let the screaming throw you off,” Hester added.

  “What screaming?” I asked.

  Eva just smiled. She turned to Hester. “Do your duty,” Eva said.

  “Come what may,” Hester replied, clanging her sword off Eva’s.

  Before I could ask what they meant by that, Eva yelled and jumped off the back porch. Hester did the same, swinging a sword in one hand and an ax in the other. The second they hit the grass, every zombie opened its mouth in a blood-curdling scream.

  I looked over at Will and T-Rex. We swallowed our fear and together let out the loudest battle cry we could. Brandishing our weapons - Will with the dagger that Hester had given him, me with my sword and T-Rex with his tiny knife - we jumped into the yard and ran toward the screaming zombies.

  For being undead, the zombies reacted pretty quickly to our movement.

  Once we hit the grass, the first line of zombies broke ranks and ran right at us. These weren’t the lumbering, barely-awake zombies that you see in the movies, either. These guys could move.

  Three big males reached Eva in front of me. Their screams were a combination of fury and pain; their mouths stretched open, showing their black tongues and decayed teeth. All three attacked Eva simultaneously. She blocked two of them, but the third landed a brutal blow on her stomach, bending her over in half.

  But when she jerked back up straight, she swung up her left hand - the one with the blade screwed into it - and landed a lethal uppercut that took the nearest zombie’s head clean off.

  I reached her just as she swung her sword and took off another head. I ducked just in time, her sword cutting through the air just over me so close that I felt it graze my hair. If I hadn’t moved, I would have been a goner.