by Michael Dahl
Another accident? thought Thora. What is going on around here?
Thora glanced up. The meteor shower had grown brighter and more intense. Hundreds of sparkling stars streamed across the sky.
Suddenly, a blood-curdling roar ripped through the darkness. Louise yanked herself free of Thora’s arms and ran, screaming, into the ditch alongside the road.
“Louise! Where are you?” Thora brushed aside the tall grass as she and Bryce ran through the roadside ditch and toward the dark trees.
“Louise!” cried her father. “Come back here!”
The grass became taller as Thora traveled past the line of dark trees and into the woods. She lost sight of the others. Their voices grew muffled and distant. All she heard was the swish of the grass as it brushed against her shoulders.
Thora looked up. Silently, the Draconid meteor shower was still lighting up the evening sky. She pushed through more grass. Her shoes were getting damp. “Louise!” she called.
Then, from the corner of Thora’s eye, she saw a small white figure. It dashed ahead of her and vanished behind a tree trunk. “Bryce!” yelled Thora. “I see her. She’s here in the woods.”
No one answered. Thora awkwardly moved through the dense grass and trees. She grasped at the low tree branches to pull herself through. Within the shadow of the woods, she screamed, “Louise!” Nothing moved over the spongy forest floor. No twigs snapped. No bushes rustled. “Louise!” Thora called again. Nothing.
Thora pushed her way deeper into the woods. The forest grew darker and darker. Now, the roof of branches above her blocked out the starlight. Darkness was draped thickly around her. Thora shivered. “I’m lost,” she said to herself.
Then Thora heard a voice. A girl’s voice. Singing.
“Within the wood
There lies a house,
And in the house, a room,
Where Someone sits and waits for me,
Hiding in the gloom.”
“Louise?!” cried Thora. “Is that you?”
“Then Someone soon will whisper
And pull me to my doom,
Within the wood,
Within the house,
Within that little room.”
Thora walked nervously toward the voice. She stopped when she saw a large, rounded shape. The object was hard to see against the dark trees beyond. It looked far too large to be a little girl.
Is that you, Louise? Thora thought nervously.
“Yes,” came a voice from the shadow. “It’s me, Thora. I’m hiding in this bush.”
How did she know what I’m thinking? Thora thought. “But I can’t see you,” Thora said.
“I’m right here,” came the voice. “Come closer.”
The black shape shivered, as if a breeze had brushed it. But there was no wind.
“Thora!” someone yelled from behind.
As Thora turned, she saw Pablo standing with Zak Fisher, another boy from school. Pablo held a flashlight, and there was blood on his face.
“What are you doing here, Pablo?!” Thora asked.
Pablo blinked. “We’re looking for —”
A roar shook the forest. Thora turned back. The black shape shivered. It jerked and twisted, unfolding itself. Branches became knees and elbows. Twigs turned into hands. Long spindly fingers reached, claw-like, toward the sky.
Thora screamed as Zak’s flashlight partially illuminated the growing mass. Lizard-like eyes, black and oily, blinked back at them. The shadow rose higher. It stood tall and thick and jagged like a tree. A giant hand reached toward Thora.
“Get back!” shouted Zak. He aimed his flashlight’s beam directly at the creature’s eyes. It roared again and covered its face.
Suddenly, bright light grew in the woods, as though a door had been opened in a dark room. Whiteness blazed around them. Thora could see every single leaf on the ground beneath her feet.
“Get back!” Zak shouted at the creature. “Get back, you — you whatever!” He shoved the flashlight closer toward the oily pupils. Thora looked up, shielding her eyes against the growing brightness. She ignored the monster’s roars and stared. A second unbelievable figure was rising in the clearing.
It was a centaur.
Years ago, Pablo had read a thick book of Greek myths. He distinctly remembered a half-man, half-horse creature called the centaur that was strong and fearsome. In the forest before him now, the centaur was more powerful than he could have ever imagined. The creature’s long white hair fell onto his broad shoulders. His four legs ended in gleaming white hooves.
The centaur’s muscular arms aimed a gigantic bow at the shadowy monster. In one quick movement, his huge hand pulled back an arrow and released it into the night. The tip of the arrow blazed with the brightness of a shooting star as it dug itself into the monster’s chest. A scream thundered against their ears as the monster ripped the arrow out and threw it down. As the blazing light fell at Pablo’s feet, he saw that it was not an arrow. At least not anymore. It was a safety flare, with one end sputtering like a welder’s torch. When Pablo looked up, the centaur was gone.
“Over here!” shouted a strange voice. A man was standing behind them, waving his arms at them. “Hurry!” he yelled. “Before its eyes adjust to the light!” He turned and broke into a sprint in the other direction.
Thora, Pablo, and Zak immediately ran after the mysterious man. Soon, they emerged onto the road once again.
They came to a stop by an SUV with its headlights off and its engine running. All of them were out of breath and panting — except for Thora, Pablo noticed. “You don’t even look tired!” he said.
Thora smiled at him. “Looks like all that running at track practice finally paid off,” she said.
“There’s no time for chit-chat!” urged the man, swinging open the door to his SUV. “Quick — get in!”
Pablo held his friends back. “Wait,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “How do we know we can trust you?”
“You mean, aside from the fact that I just saved your lives?” the man answered with a smirk.
Pablo hesitated. Although he didn’t know the man, he didn’t see any other options. “Fine,” Pablo said.
As soon as all of them had clambered into the SUV, it shot forward. Thora, Pablo, and Zak were hurled back against their seats. Branches scraped at the SUV’s sides.
“Turn on your headlights!” yelled Zak.
“I don’t want the others to see us,” the man said.
“What others?” asked Thora. She turned and glanced over at Pablo, who was staring out the back window.
“The one back there, once it recovers, can easily find us even without seeing us,” said the strange man. “And there’s a group of them out tonight. A scouting party. I don’t want to attract their attention.”
“There are more of them?” asked Zak.
“Yes,” the man said gravely. “Many, many more.”
The SUV plunged over a deep rut.
“What exactly was that thing?” asked Thora.
“It has many names,” said the man. “In its own language, it calls itself gathool. But most experts simply call them trolls.”
Trolls? A lump settled in Pablo’s throat.
Zak laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding! You mean, like in Lord of the Rings? That’s fairy tales.”
The strange man gave a bitter laugh. “Was it a fairy tale that crashed into your parent’s car this evening?” he asked.
Zak’s face went white. “How do you know about that?” he asked.
“Hold tight!” said the man. The vehicle bounced over a series of bumps and then stopped suddenly. “I’ve got to get that driveway fixed,” he said, opening the door. “Well, we’re here. Quick, into the house.”
“What about Louise?” said Thora, her voice beginning to shake. “And I have to find my brother!”
“We will,” said the man. “But we won’t do them any good if we let that troll catch us. Now hurry.”
A dark building rose amo
ng the trees. In a single window, dim lights glowed. The place reminded Pablo of something. An old nursery rhyme from his childhood about a house in the woods …
“You’re all in danger,” the man warned. “You can’t stay out here in the car. Please. You can trust me.”
Pablo looked hard at the man’s face. He seemed younger than Pablo had first thought. The man had wild hair and high cheekbones. His eyes were hard to see inside the dim SUV. But then Pablo saw something flash in them. Starlight.
“Come on,” Pablo said to the other two. Then he whispered to Thora, “I think he’s okay.” He gave her a small smile. Thora nodded back.
They slipped out of the car and followed their guide through a yard full of weeds, then onto a solid stone porch. Zak kept glancing back over his shoulder, peering warily into the darkness around them.
Pablo shivered. The night was nearly silent. In the sky above, stars still twinkled, but the meteor shower had stopped.
The mysterious man who led them into the building wore a long cape over his shirt and jeans. In the light that poured from a round window in the door, Pablo thought he saw something. In the shadows of the man’s cape, he swore he saw a third arm.
Once they were inside, the man led them up a long flight of winding stone stairs, using only a flashlight as a guide. “Isn’t it safer downstairs?” asked Zak.
“If those creatures get inside, it won’t matter where we are,” said the man.
After a few minutes of climbing, Pablo was gasping for breath. “How high do these stairs go?” he asked. “We must have climbed three stories.”
“Four,” said the man. “Oh, and here we are.” The stairs ended. He pushed open an old, heavy oak door and ushered them inside.
“Wow!” whispered Pablo.
The eight-sided room was spacious. Tall windows on four sides faced the points of the compass drawn on the floor. Starlight flooded into the room, revealing tables and scientific equipment. The other four walls were lined with floor-to-ceiling bookcases.
The entire countryside was visible from this height. Pablo could see the edge of the quarry, and the fields beyond the forest. Weird, thought Pablo. I don’t remember seeing a tower outside.
“Ah,” said the man. “A full moon.” He walked to a window and picked up a pair of binoculars from the windowsill.
Pablo noticed how thick the stone windowsills were. The whole place must be built from quarry stones, he thought.
Thora grabbed his shoulder. “This room,” she whispered. “It doesn’t make sense. It’s bigger than his whole house!”
“I know,” Pablo whispered back. “What’s going on?”
Zak walked toward the man. He stood face to face with him. “You seem to know a lot about us,” he said, “but we don’t even know who you are.”
“And what were you doing back there in the forest?” asked Pablo.
The man lowered the binoculars and turned to them. “I was there because I knew that’s where the trolls would meet to join forces,” he said. “According to my research, it’s halfway between the two entry points to the surface.”
“The quarry,” said Thora. “So that weird smell was coming from those monsters?”
“Yes — to both questions,” said the man.
“But who are you?” asked Zak.
“Hoo,” the man said.
“Yeah, man — who are you?!” said Zak.
“Um, that’s me,” said the man. “Hoo. Dr. Hoo, actually.”
Pablo eyed Dr. Hoo up and down, noticing the strange clothes he wore. “What kind of doctor are you?” Pablo asked.
“I’m a doctor of several things,” said Dr. Hoo. “But most recently, cryptozoology.”
“What’s that?” asked Zak.
Dr. Hoo sat down on a window seat, facing his curious guests. “It’s the study of hidden or secret creatures,” he answered. “The kinds of creatures whose existence hasn’t been scientifically proven.”
“Like Bigfoot?” asked Thora.
“Or the Loch Ness monster?” added Pablo.
“How about trolls?” added Zak, with a grin.
“Or the yeti, the chupacabra, unicorns, the orange pendek, the giant squid — which, by the way, has been proven to exist,” the doctor added.
“And centaurs?” said Pablo, staring at the doctor.
“Exactly. Like centaurs,” Dr. Hoo said. “Half human, half beast.” He stood up quickly, his cape wrapped carefully around him, and pointed out the window. “Did you know that the centaur is the only creature to have two constellations named after it?”
Zak crossed his arms. “So, what’s the deal with those other creatures?” he asked. “The trolls.”
“And how do you know so much about them?” asked Thora.
The doctor raced over to a wooden table covered with books, papers, and maps. Dr. Hoo pointed at a pile of books at one end. “These books were recently brought to me by a colleague,” he said. “She and I met online while we were both studying the gathool. Her great-uncle, in fact, was the first person to discover their existence. And these are his books.”
Pablo walked closer and read some of the weird titles. The Pit of Trolls. The Call of Cthulhu. Servants of the Graveyard.
“I have been hunting through these tomes to find the creatures’ weaknesses,” said the doctor. “I mean, everyone knows that trolls can be destroyed by fire or acid in stories and video games. But that’s not real life.”
The house trembled. Books spilled off the table. In the distance, there was a roar.
“Well, I sure hope you found it, Doc,” said Zak.
The room shook again. This time, books fell from several of the tall bookcases. Suddenly, Zak screamed. The doctor swung his flashlight around toward Zak. An insect-like creature the size of a large cat had its thick claws wrapped around Zak’s head. “Get it off me!” he yelled. “Get it off!”
“Relax,” said the doctor. “It’s only a coconut crab. And it’s stuffed.”
Zak threw the lifeless hulk to the floor. “Why was it hanging from the ceiling?” he shouted.
“That’s the only place I had room for it,” said the doctor.
A louder roar came from outside.
“It’s getting closer!” said Thora.
The doctor dug through the clutter on the table. He handed each of them a small orange pistol.
“Flare guns,” Dr. Hoo explained. “In case of emergency. Aim directly at the creature’s eyes and pull the trigger. It will blind them long enough for you to run away.” Then he handed out small red cartridges. “These are the flares. Keep them on you.”
Pablo stuffed a couple of flares in his pockets. He held one of the flares up in front of his face. “Could one of these start a forest fire?” he asked.
“Who cares? It’s better than getting caught by one of those things,” said Zak. “Hey, maybe a fire isn’t such a bad idea! Doc, do trolls burn?”
“The gathool can survive temperatures up to 1200 degrees Celsius,” said the doctor. “Some of them live next to magma streams deep within the earth.”
“So I guess fire’s out,” said Zak.
The room shook. A spiderweb of cracks appeared in several of the windows.
“Where are they?” asked Thora.
The door opened. A ghostly shape appeared at the top of the dark staircase. The doctor aimed his flashlight beam at it. Standing there, blinking in the light, was a small girl in a white nightgown.
“Louise!” said Thora. Louise ran to her.
“I heard it again,” said the little girl. “It’s getting closer.”
“How did you get here?” Thora asked.
“The doctor brought me,” said Louise.
“Oh, she’s the girl you were looking for?” Dr. Hoo said. “I found her wandering outside earlier.”
“Dr. Hoo, did you find the creatures’ weakness?” Pablo asked. “Is there a way to stop them?”
Dr. Hoo picked up one of the books from the pile on the table. “Yes, I
’m afraid there is,” he said.
“Afraid?” repeated Thora.
“You’re not going to like it,” said the doctor, flipping through the pages. “At least not right now, because it can’t help us. Sunlight is the one thing that can destroy the gathool.”
“There’s at least seven hours until dawn,” said Zak.
Thora shook her head. She felt weird talking about this. How could any of it be true? But she had seen the monster with her own eyes. Everyone else in the room had seen it too. And she had heard it singing to her in the forest. In Louise’s voice. Trying to lure her closer. To trap her.
“Listen, I know those things out there are real,” said Thora. “But are you sure about sunlight? I mean, that really does sound like a fairy tale. The sun comes up and turns a troll into stone?”
“It has something to do with their chemical makeup,” said the doctor. “Their bodies can’t process the sun’s radiation, which is probably what drove them to live underground in the first place.” He tossed the book aside and grabbed another. “And they don’t exactly turn to stone. It’s more like meteoric rock. It’s in their DNA. Some scientists think that’s how the trolls got to earth in the first place. On rocks from outer space. Meteors, maybe.”
Dr. Hoo furiously flipped through the pages of the book. “Folklore usually does contain at least a small element of truth,” he pointed out. “Ah, here it is.”
He read aloud. “An ancient prophecy among the gathool has warned them for centuries of a deadly ‘band of light’ that could destroy their species. But the gathool vocabulary is small; their mouths are limited in the sounds they can make. So few words must stand for many things. ‘Band’ can also mean ‘ring,’ ‘circle,’ or ‘sphere.’ ‘Light’ can also stand for ‘gold,’ ‘shining,’ or ‘pain.’ Most experts believe the old tradition of sunlight being harmful to trolls is true. And since the two most powerful rings of light are obviously the sun and —”
The doctor stopped. “There’s something outside,” he whispered. He quietly walked over to a window.