Killer Koala Bears from Another Dimension

by P. A. Douglas

  The call ended. From what he made of it someone was on their way, which was good.

  Frank watched from the safety of the locked glass doors with absolute horror. What he was witnessing couldn’t be real. Whoever they had chased down in the street was now in view. He watched as three of the bear-like figures dragged the man by the legs across the gravel kicking and screaming. His attackers didn’t seem to notice. A fourth creature walked up with a spear in hand. Frank felt his heart pounding against his ribcage as he watched. He had an idea of what was coming.

  A deathblow to the chest perhaps.

  What happened was much worse. The moonlight illuminated everything in gruesome detail.

  With one swift strike, the fourth creature lunged with the spear jabbing at the man’s stomach. Blood spurted into the air. The man howled in agony. All four of the hairy figures raised their arms with excitement. If hovering over the poor helpless man and watching him bleed out wasn’t enough, the creature jabbed him again. With the clear strike, something dark and shiny spilled out across the pavement. The figure with the weapon stepped away. And that was when it started. The other three monsters started to feast. Ravenous and malicious, they used their sharp claws to yank and pull at the bits of shiny substance. As it reached their lips, it coated their furry faces in that same shiny moonlit glow. Frank realized what it was. The man’s intestines had been strewn out across the parking lot and these freaks of nature were eating him from the inside out.

  Frank gagged and felt bile rise in his throat. He forced it back and took another look. The point that he couldn’t hold the vomit back any longer was when he realized the dying man wasn’t dead. He was still alive while they feasted on his exposed guts and gore.

  Frank puked.

  The warm smell of cheesy nachos splashed across the freshly waxed floor at his feet. When he was done, he wiped his mouth and looked out to the street again.

  The creatures were gone. The man was alone, unmoving.

  Dead.

  Franks phone rang in his left hand and it made him yelp. Forcing his good arm over his mouth, he looked outside and stood still. The phone rang a few more times while he investigated.

  Sure that he hadn’t given away his location with that God-awful shout, he looked down to see who was calling him. Kathie, his girlfriend’s photo popped up on the screen with her number below it. His fears seemed to lift just by the thought of her.

  “Hey baby,” he said, answering the phone.

  “Oh my God, please help me! They’re gonna get me! They already ate Captain! Oh my Go—”

  “Honey! Kathie… Baby! Hello!”

  The call ended.

  He dialed her back right then. The phone rang once and went straight to voice mail. He hung up and called again.

  It rang twice. “Come on, baby… pick up… fuck… fuck…”

  The answering machine again.

  “Kathie, I’m on my way home! Get somewhere safe!” He paused. “I’m coming… Baby… I love you.”

  Kathie was in trouble and their three year old Wirehaired terrier was dead.

  This just couldn’t be happening.

  Frank felt faint and his shoulder throbbed.

  3

  “Hey…” Tim pointed. “You just passed the street we need to take to get to the diner. What gives?”

  “What… gives, Tim. Really?” Joana’s grip tightened on the steering wheel. Forcing out a smile across her chubby cheeks, she said, “Do you even realize what time it is? We spent nearly two hours out at that old creep’s house. The diner’s closed. I’m taking you home and then I’m going to bed.”

  The car moved slowly down the rural streets of downtown. All of the shops were closed, most all of the sale signs turned off. Other than a few parked cars in front of some of the small businesses, the narrow street seemed like a ghost town. It always gave Joana the jitters when she drove around the small town at night alone. Riding around with Tim was basically the equivalent of driving alone. If they were ever to be put in a dangerous situation, she would be the one defending him rather than the other way around. He was as worthless as one could get.

  The car rolled to a stop at the four-way. Although they were the only car on the street, out of habit, Joana looked both ways and then started down the road again. One of Korn’s new songs quietly played through the speakers. She wasn’t one for turning the music up ungodly loud like Tim.

  “But you can’t drop me off at my house,” Tim insisted, rolling down the window.

  The cool air felt nice, so Joana did the same. “And why the hell not?”

  “Because the ’rents think I’m staying at Pete’s… remember?” Tim’s eyes went wide as if she were supposed to have remembered something she had yet to have been told.

  “So, am I taking you to his house then?”

  “Well… I was kind of thinking that—”

  “No. You can forget that.” Joana shook her head, cutting Tim short. “I’m gonna get in trouble as it is if my parents catch me trying to sneak back into the house this late. You know how they are about that crap!”

  “Hey… don’t raise your voice at me just because your parents are the strict ones.”

  “Look who’s talking,” Joana argued, not taking her eyes off the road. Doing a U-turn toward Pete’s house, she barked, “I’m not the one telling lies about where I’m staying.”

  Tim looked like he was about to refute the statement. Instead, he pulled some of his long black hair from his face and turned his attention to things passing by outside of the car.

  “What? You don’t have anything to say to that one, do you?”

  “Hmmm…” Tim snorted, as if thinking something he knew he better not say.

  “What… Don’t act like you aren’t thinking it…” Joana stopped the car at the same four-way once more, this time going the opposite direction toward Pete’s house.

  The car idled. The only sound in the street was that of the humming motor.

  She waited, her head cocked to one side, eyes locked on Tim.

  Tim just shook his head. Joana put the car in park and crossed her arms. The mix on her CD changed from the new song by Korn to one of her all-time favorites: Acid Bath’s Scream of the Butterfly.

  “Fuck…” Tim slung his arms up as if in defeat. “What the hell am I supposed to do with you, huh? All you ever do is bitch.”

  “Where the hell is that coming from?”

  “The stones are heavy, this… it’s late that…” Tim said, his voice a mocking nasally pitch. “I’m hungry, this… You lie to your parents, that… Shit, girl… if you ain’t running that damn trap at me its only because your busy stuffing it.”

  “Excuse me?” She winced, trying like hell to keep the tears from flooding.

  Joana’s bottom lip quivered.

  “Oh, now you gonna start tearing up on me, too?”

  “What the hell is your problem, Tim?” Joana began to cry. “I didn’t do anything. I don’t deserve to be treated like this.” Her thick eyeliner and mascara started to run down her rounded cheeks. She wiped at it with one hand, only smearing it more. “I don’t know why I put up with you, you know that? There are plenty of guys out there that would treat me a whole hell of a lot better than your sorry ass. Grown men… that… that don’t throw stupid stones in the middle of the night because… because of some fantasy game!” She breathed deep, finding her voice among the sobs. “You need to grow up, get a job, get a car… and get a life!”

  There, she finally said it. It had been eating away at her for months now and finally it was out. As those closing words danced across her lips into the air, she felt lifted. Lighter. She had needed to, wanted to, say that for a long time. It was out. How she really felt was on the table. She took a deep breath and paused, hoping that what she had just said was sinking into her boyfriend’s thick skull.

  What Tim did next was unexpected.

  He began to laugh.

  The sound felt like a sharp jab to Joana’s gut. H
e couldn’t be serious.

  “You? Get better guys than… or sorry… ‘men’, than me?” He used quotation fingers. “Give me a break. You and me are the only two people in this stupid town with the same interests. And besides… let’s face it. You’re fat.”

  “Ohhh!” Joana huffed, balling a fist in the air. Her chubby cheeks seemed to boil, her eyebrows squishing into her face. “That’s it! It’s over. Get out! Just get out! You can walk to Pete’s, or where ever the hell it is you plan on staying tonight.”

  “Awe, come on.” Tim’s demeanor became soothing. “Pete’s house is like a twenty minute walk from here. Besides, he is probably already asleep.”

  “Well, you should a thought about that before becoming such an asshole.” Joana locked stares with him and then glared at the passenger side door.

  Tim got the hint and reached for the handle. “Look, Joana. I’m sorry. You know how I feel about—”

  Tim stopped in mid-sentence, his attention drawn to the middle of the street less than a block up ahead.

  “What the hell is that?” Joana saw it, too.

  “What are they doing?” Tim asked, the argument seemingly forgotten.

  “I don’t know.” She whispered with a sniffle.

  Up the street ahead two lone figures wearing strange clothing dragged something into the street. Whatever it was, it was a good size.

  “Are they wearing Mickey Mouse Club hats?”

  “I don’t know. It’s hard to see.”

  Even with her headlights on, the events unfolding before them were cast in shadows. Whatever it was they were doing, it was odd. Wrong. With their windows down, even from that far up, they could hear the scraping sounds as the two figures pulled the large object across the pavement. Tim and Joana didn’t speak. They just looked on, dumbfounded.

  The two creepy figures stopped in the middle of the street and leaned over whatever it was they were carrying. They were doing something to it. A faint yelp from that direction eased its way into the car. Joana heard it clear as day over the hum of her idling car.

  “That sounded like a dog. What the hell are they doing to that poor thing?” She said, leaning into the steering wheel as if that would help get a better look.

  “I don’t think that’s a dog. Honk the horn at them. Maybe that’ll scare’em off.”

  Just as Joana was about to protest the idea, Tim reached between her chest and arms, pressing the horn for her. He hit it with three quick taps. The horn sounded ominous as it blared across the darkness in the unlit street.

  “What the hell did you do that…” Joana gasped. “Oh, God.”

  “What?” Tim looked up.

  The two figures were up and walking toward the car. It was then that, without them over the object they were carrying, Joana realized what it was. It wasn’t a dog at all. It was a child. Left for dead, the two tall aggressors strode toward the car leaving the little boy in the street. The kid wasn’t moving. He was just lying there…dead.

  “Oh my, God… What do we do?” Joana panicked, watching the two attackers close the distance between them.

  They started running toward the car. One of them was holding something. A spear. Tim and Joana watched, while in mid-run, the figure raised the weapon up, lobbing it at the car.

  “Drive!” Tim insisted.

  The long slender object collided with the hood, scraping against it. The teeth grinding sound of metal scraping against stone reverberated in the street. The spear fell to the gravel beside the car, only the car’s paint job damaged.

  Joana screamed.

  “Fuckin’ drive!” Tim shouted, reaching over and shoving her leg down on the gas.

  The engine revved, but didn’t move. The car was in park.

  The two figures running down on them grew closer. Their bare feet slapped across the asphalt with each dashing stride. Close enough now that the cars headlights illuminated them, both Joana and Tim’s eyes went wide with disbelief. Those weren’t Disney Channel fan-club hats. Those were their ears. They were bears or something like it. But that wasn’t possible. They were upright. Walking like humans. Aside from the hair that covered their bodies and face, they were human. Dressed like something Joana would have seen on the Discovery Channel, they were wearing primitive clothing. Rags around their waists, bone necklaces and bracelets. It just didn’t make any sense. At least not to—

  “Stupid fat bitch! You trying to get us killed? Drive the fuckin’ car!” Tim shoved her.

  Jarred from her paralyzed state, Joana winced. Who was he calling bitch? She slammed the shifter into drive. The lead attacker lunged on top of the hood, scratching it with his talon-like fingernails. They were long and black… and sharp. Clawing at the car made screeching noises like fingernails to a chalkboard. Only she wasn’t in school and that wasn’t a chalkboard. It was her car, and she was being attacked from all sides. Tim pushed on her and yelled. With her focus drawn to the figure on the hood, for a split second she forgot all about the second assailant. But she was quickly reminded when it reached the driver’s side door and grabbed at her.

  Joana kept screaming.

  The figured pulled at her with its sharp claws. The sleeve of her shirt ripped. Her shoulder felt warm and wet. The pain was instant.

  Fear engrossed, Joana closed her eyes, gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands, and slammed on the gas. Her lungs bellowed out a loud cry the entire time. While the car raced forward in the street, she screamed. She was even screaming when she felt the arm let go of her from outside. She screamed over Tim’s shouting protests. She continued to scream when she felt the car run something over in the street. First it was the front tires. Then the rear. Even with her eyes closed she could see it. She envisioned the little boy, dead in the street, each tire rolling over his dead corpse.

  Her screams grew louder. Joana was out of breath, yet the noise still came forth from her empty lungs.

  “Slow down!” She thought she heard Tim shout. “Watch out!”

  Joana opened her eyes, but it was too late. She yanked the wheel hard to the right just as the front end collided with the side of a parked truck. It all happened so fast. The creature that she thought was a man flew across the hood into the truck, and then disappeared on the other side. The front end of her car pressed in like an accordion. The windshield shattered. The sharp pain in her chest as the air bag engulfed her vision, pressed the back of her head against the seat. The shattered windshield.

  Everything stopped and for a moment things went black.

  When Joana looked up, still in shock, the airbag was deflated. Steam rose from the crushed front end of her mom’s car. The side of the truck she had collided with was even worse off. Her stomach tensed as the thought of explaining all of this to her parents rushed to the surface. Her ears rang. She rubbed her throbbing head and looked to the passenger seat.

  Tim was gone.

  The first thing she thought of was his seatbelt. He never wore the damn seatbelt. Her mind instantly switched to a different, more terrifying thought. Those things in the street. She craned her neck, looking in the rearview mirror. There was no sign of life. Nothing moved. Her eyes did catch a quick glimpse of the small body still lying in the road. The one that she was sure she ran over. Her heart sank and the emotions raced. Confusion. Dizziness. Fear. Regret. Adrenaline surged through her body. The thick mixture of feelings coursed through her, forcing her stomach to churn. She unlatched her safety belt, leaned out the window, and vomited. The warm, wet splash resonated in her ear as the puke plopped across the pavement.

  She stopped to catch her breath and wiped her lips. Her throat felt sore.

  Something shifted outside the car.

  Hearing it, Joana froze, gripped with fear.

  “Jooa…”

  There it was again. Faint, yet not all that far away. It sounded like Tim. He was hur—

  “Joooanna…”

  It was Tim!

  Oh, God. Tim got thrown from the car. He’s probably par
alyzed, she thought, opening the door and climbing out. Stepping in the still warm vomit, she almost slipped. Not even paying it any mind, her thoughts raced as she rounded the front of her car to investigate. Oh, please be okay… I should have had my eyes opened. I should have—

  There was Tim lying in the grass on the other side of the truck collision. He was sitting up, thank God. But he looked like he was in a lot of pain. His face was scrunched up and he was holding his side. It looked like he had a pretty good gash on his head. Blood and thick strands of his long black hair lined the left side of his face.

  “Are you okay?” Joana gulped, leaning in to aid him.

  He reached out to her. She nodded, helping him to his feet. He groaned out loud as she heaved him up. For a stick, he sure was heavy.

  “Oh, God. Please tell me you’re okay. I’m so sorry…”

  Still gritting his teeth and holding his side with one hand, he was clearly in a lot of pain. He didn’t reply. He just pointed. Joana’s eyes followed the direction of his shaking hand. When her eyes met the stop he was intending for her to see, she couldn’t believe it. What had happened really had happened. The bear of a man that was attacking the hood of her mom’s car when they crashed was lying on the sidewalk between the parked truck and the closed shops.

  It was dead. A large pool of red liquid pooled around its skull.

  “Thing…” Tim winced. “Thing cracked its skull wide open when it hit… the sidewalk.”

  Joana looked closer, confirming her boyfriend’s statement to be true.

  “What the hell do you… think that is?” Tim continued with a raspy voice. Stepping away from Joana toward the corpse, his eyes went wide. He grimaced while struggling to stand. Falling to his knees, he leaned against the truck that Joana had hit, and said, “I’ve never seen anything like it. What if we actually… did it, man? Opened up the multi-verse. I can’t believe it. We weren’t there to see it. This is it. This is proof. The stones worked. We need to find the rift… and get the hell out of here. It’s a door to another world, Joana. We did it. These things… they came from that world. I can feel it.”