The Beast of Rose Valley

by J P Barnett

  “I gotta go, baby. Your dad’s about to give his speech.” She paused before continuing, “No. I’m sure he understands. You’re far away. You can’t come back for every little thing. Okay. I’ll call you later. Bye!”

  Cam smiled into the crowd, considerably more adept at public speaking than he had been over a year ago. “Citizens of Rose Valley. I am deeply honored to have been elected as your mayor.”

  The crowd erupted into cheers, claps, and hollers. It was more noise than a crowd that small should have been able to produce. Despite Miriam being the one that had taken down the beast, Cam had received the credit. To the townspeople, he saved Rose Valley from certain destruction.

  “We have been through a lot. I know we have. And we stood strong. We were not deterred by our adversity. We grew from it. We are stronger now. We embraced it.”

  On cue, the black tarp on the sign behind Cam fell away to reveal a new, mostly black sign. Two yellow serpentine eyes floated among a field of stars. A silhouette of the city sat below. Cursive letters adorned the top with Welcome to Rose Valley, leading into the bottom block letters spelling out: Home of the Beast.

  Cheers filled the air again. Jake shuddered. Shandi looked equally horrified. They felt alone in a sea of people. They had both grown up in Rose Valley. Neither of them really wanted to leave, but it seemed inevitable to Jake in that moment that they would have to. The agony of living in a town that glorified his pain would eventually be too much for him to handle.

  Jake felt a clap on his back and turned to find Steve next to him. Cory appeared beside Steve and said, “Well, this is crazypants.”

  Jake just nodded, as Cam continued, “Wes. Come on up.”

  Wes Morris walked up on the stage sporting an all-black football jersey, the numbers crisp and sharp. Rose Valley lost out on going to state the previous year, primarily because Wes shattered one of his wrists when the beast attacked him. Without football, he’d chosen to skip college entirely and stay in Rose Valley to work on his father’s ranch. Macy broke up with him when he gave up on his future.

  Cam motioned to Wes. “This is the look of your new football team—The Rose Valley Beasts!”

  More cheers. Despite a century of being the Rose Valley Jaguars, now they would play as the Beasts. Just like that, the entire identity of a town had shifted.

  “We’ll also be renovating the football facilities with state-of-the-art tech. The city council voted unanimously to rename the field to the Bernard Jones Memorial Stadium!”

  Cam had really pulled out all the stops to ingrain himself with the townspeople. Jake agreed with this one, though. Bernard would have loved nothing more than to have become synonymous with football in Rose Valley.

  “Now a few words from a good friend of Rose Valley—Skylar Brooks!”

  Again, more clapping as Skylar took the stage. He looked exactly as before, except Miriam and Tanner didn’t flank him this time. He stood alone.

  Skylar spoke into the microphone. “Rose Valley inspired me with its bravery. You were all a pleasure to work with. I regret that we weren’t able study the beast, but we did the best we could on that fateful night.”

  Shandi made a face that Jake fully understood the meaning of. Skylar contributed nothing to putting an end to the nightmare except for having sired Miriam. In fact, if not for his zealotry, they might have had a real shot at saving Billy instead of killing him.

  Skylar continued, “Today I am proud to announce that next January, I will be opening a new cryptozoology museum in Rose Valley—The Skylar Brooks Center for Cryptozoological Research. It will revolutionize the field, and you will all be a part of it!”

  After a lifetime of not really finding any monsters, it came as no surprise that Skylar would latch on to the one time he had finally found one. Billy was hardly a cryptozoological discovery, but such details didn’t stop Skylar from capitalizing on the horror to further his own fame.

  Steve let out a sigh. “Seriously? I don’t know if I can take this anymore. I’ll catch you guys later.”

  Steve and Cory disappeared into the crowd, leaving Jake and Shandi suddenly more alone. Jake looked at her and she looked back. Everything drowned away. It didn’t matter what Cam or Skylar did. It didn’t matter if the Rose Valley mascot changed from jaguars to “beasts.” All of that presented only a distraction. He and Shandi would build a beautiful life together, and that’s what mattered the most.

  Without thinking about it, Jake said, “Let’s just go. Let’s leave Rose Valley. Let them have their circus.”

  She looked apprehensive, surely hesitant to leave her home. Jake immediately felt bad for even suggesting it, realizing that he asked an unfair sacrifice of her. “Nevermind. Silly idea.”

  She took both of his hands, tip-toed up for a kiss, then melted into a hug. Jake felt so happy and so comfortable in that moment. He didn’t know what would become of Rose Valley, but at least he had her.

  Shandi murmured from his chest, but he couldn’t make out what she said. She must have realized it, because she unentangled herself from his grasp, leaned back, looked deep into his eyes, and nodded.

  “Yeah. Let’s do it.”

  ---THE END---

  But... don’t stop here. Please keep reading for more, including our Bonus Content—not just one, but two Special Sneak Previews:

  THE KRAKEN OF CAPE MADRE by J.P. Barnett

  and

  THE POSSESSION by A.K. Kuykendall

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  Spring break will never be the same after a legendary creature rises from the depths.

  Please enjoy the Special Sneak Preview we offer below, or....

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  Please keep reading for....

  CHAPTER 1

  ~~~

  Miriam Brooks stared across the beach and tried to focus on the waves calmly creeping up the sand. Her stomach fluttered with anxiety. Social anxiety, she guessed, though she hadn’t been to therapy. Whatever the problem, it had gotten much worse since the death of her brother—at the hands of a vicious government experiment, no less.

  It felt weird to think of it that way. But it was the truth. The terrifying, surreal truth.

  She did love the ocean. If the beach were empty, and she hadn’t reluctantly agreed to wear such a ridiculously revealing swimsuit, she might have actually enjoyed it. She hadn’t had access to an ocean growing up in Missouri, but she’d spent her high school years lifeguarding at the local pool.

  Miriam felt a tug at her hand, followed by the voice of her friend Macy, who urged her toward the surf. “You look fine!”

  Maybe she did. Miriam couldn’t really tell when she looked in the mirror, but she did know that she regretted giving in to Macy’s flattery and encouragement. The fact that she showed more skin than she would have liked wasn’t her problem, though. No. The problem centered squarely on the silly purpose of it all—to meet boys. Macy’s Number One pastime, and Miriam’s Number One fear. Miriam didn’t want to talk to any boys about anything, ever, but certainly not when she was half-naked.

  Another tug on her hand—this one more forceful—finally pried Miriam’s arms away from her midriff. Macy interlaced her slender fingers with Miriam’s and jerked her along the sand, leaving no choice but for Miriam to follow. The wind whipped across her belly button and Miriam felt the briefest jolt of exhilaration.

  This whole thing seemed so much easier for Macy. The simple blue bikini she wore looked amazing, hugging her skin, showing off her curves, and dutifully ignoring any flaws. Macy didn’t have knobby knees, or a pear-shaped figure, and though her skin may have been even paler than Miriam’s, somehow Macy carried it better, exuding a beautiful porcelain glow as opposed to Miriam’s more sickly pallor. Miriam insisted on wearing a wet-suit. Macy would have none of it.

  As th
ey moved closer to the water, Miriam spotted relief in the sizable form of Tanner. The only family she had left. He waved when he saw them, beckoning them to a slice of beach he’d staked out earlier.

  Once they closed in, Tanner exclaimed, “Holy crap, Mir. Put some clothes on!”

  Macy punched Tanner playfully on the arm. “Leave her alone. She looks pretty.”

  “I’ll have to take your word for it,” Tanner replied, massaging his bicep. “No offense, Mir, but you know...”

  He left the rest unsaid, but Miriam knew what he meant. Though Tanner was only her cousin, the two of them had grown up together under the oppressive regime of Miriam’s abusive father. For all intents and purposes, Tanner Brooks had earned the title of brother.

  Macy scanned the beach. “So, what’s the sitch?”

  “The jocks are over there,” Tanner said as he pointed up the shoreline. “They staked out the volleyball court, of course.” Then he motioned the opposite direction, toward the array of toned, glistening bodies lying on towels. “Sunbathers over there.”

  Macy nodded towards the large mountain of sand between them and the water, then shot Tanner a derisive look. “And you put us with the sandcastles?!”

  Tanner shrugged. “Sure. Why not? Didn’t figure Mir would want to be in the thick of things.”

  Exactly. She didn’t. At all. This location presented the perfect place to avoid everyone. Except the sand castle people, of course. Even though Miriam hadn’t built a sand castle since before her mother died, she felt like the kind souls carefully attending to their sculptures would keep to themselves. No flirting. No awkward conversations.

  Yes. The sand castle people were her people.

  “Fine,” Macy sighed. “You ready, Mir? Let’s go meet some guys.”

  Tanner interjected on Miriam’s behalf. “Maybe hit the waves first. Water looks great.”

  Macy cast a sideways glance at Tanner before slumping her shoulders at Miriam. “Ok. Ok. Go swim. But I’m not letting you leave this beach without meeting at least one new person!”

  Miriam nodded solemnly, not really intending to agree to anything, then dashed off towards the water, rushing in up to her waist. She enjoyed the enveloping comfort of the warm salt water, and, her favorite aspect, the endless stretch of horizon. She liked to think of the world like this: an infinite expanse. A world that didn’t end meant a world of endless possibility, where the laws of culture and society and even science didn’t have to matter.

  Her dad had honed her into a monster-hunting robot. She had finally rebelled against it, but part of her still believed. How could she not, after what she’d seen?

  In her youth, Miriam dreamed about being a marine biologist, or deep-sea diver. She loved the documentaries where people folded themselves up into tiny little submarines and charted the unknown. Alas, her father never let her pursue that dream, but she could feel the very earliest vestiges of choice coming back to her. Maybe she could one day spend her time out in the water. In a wet-suit, though, not a bikini.

  The splish-splash behind her alerted Miriam to Macy’s approach, causing her to lament the loss of her perfect, lonely moment. Macy—usually one to chatter—didn’t say anything. She just stood silent, comfortably close and seemingly as enthralled by the horizon as Miriam.

  The ocean waves muted the sounds of people up the beach. A seagull squawked overhead, then swooped down into the water, coming up with a fish that it would never be able to swallow.

  “You know,” Miriam said. “There’s a parasite that lives in snails. Gets eaten by the fish. Then it burrows up to their eyeballs and—”

  “Ew, Mir! You’re ruining the moment.” Macy giggled, nudging Miriam with her shoulder.

  “No this is totally cool,” Miriam continued. “Once it takes root, it basically controls the fish! When the parasite is young, it makes the fish move more slowly and stay in deep waters. Then, when it wants to reproduce, it makes the fish swim near the surface and jerk around. Causes the birds to eat it.”

  Macy narrowed her eyes. “So help me, girl, if you say something about poop, I’m gonna drown you.”

  “Well,” Miriam said as her cheeks flushed. “Yeah. Then the snails eat it. Then the fish eat the snails and it goes on and on. Super awesome.”

  Macy shook her head. “You and I have very different definitions of awesome.”

  “It’s called Diplostomum pseudopathaceum.” Miriam beamed, now intentionally trying to goad Macy on.

  Macy didn’t take the bait. Instead she turned toward Miriam and changed the subject. “I know it’s been a hard coupla years, Mir. Losing Cornelius and all. I know you’d rather be studying, but thanks for coming with me on my spring break adventure.”

  Miriam felt a surge of emotion flow through her, threatening to open a floodgate of tears, but she batted the thoughts away. She refused to cry anymore for Cornelius. He wouldn’t want that.

  “Come on,” Macy said. “Let’s go meet someone. Anyone. Doesn’t have to be a guy.”

  Miriam took a deep breath and gazed over the horizon again. Macy only wanted to help, Miriam realized, but being normal was so agonizingly difficult.

  As Miriam relented and turned back to the shore, she heard shouting. Off to their left, a young female swimmer hurtled through the air from twenty feet up. With nothing that she could have launched herself from, it seemed impossible—as if something threw her from the water.

  Adrenaline flooded through Miriam. Though she couldn’t tell how the teenaged girl got so high in the air, she knew the impact on the water would certainly be jarring. Might even knock her unconscious.

  The girl seemed to fall back to the waves in slow motion, her black hair tumbling and flailing. By the time she plunged through the surface, Miriam took off toward her, throwing arm over arm as she kicked forward with expert grace.

  Dumbfounded, Macy shouted after her. “Mir! What are you doing?”

  The sloshing against Miriam’s ears prevented her from hearing anything else. Only when she’d crossed an appropriate distance did she pop back up to tread water and look around. Her head turned in every direction, looking for any sign of the girl’s pink bikini or raven hair.

  Miriam took a deep breath and held it to try to steady her vision. The girl might be unconscious, face-down in the water. If so, Miriam didn’t have much time.

  There!

  She saw a spot of pink pop up in the trough of a wave, barely visible. Miriam threw herself back into the waves and swam to her target. In a matter of seconds, she pulled up next to the swimmer and quickly flipped her limp body, so that she faced up out of the water. Scrutinizing the girl for any injuries, Miriam winced when she saw deep purple bruises around the girl’s midsection.

  With no pier or boat in sight, Miriam worked through the possibilities of what could have caused this girl to fall out of the sky. And maybe more importantly, what could have possibly done this to her stomach?

  Miriam sucked air in, working to calm herself before the long trek back. Tanner would have seen this from the shore. He would come. Miriam knew he would.

  Something ran into her leg, hard enough to knock her sideways. A fish, maybe? She kicked at it, forcing it to scuttle away. A splash to her left caused her to turn her head. Something floated in the water.

  Not floated. Writhed.

  Its purple slimy skin moved along the surface, skimming towards her. A wave caused it to twist, revealing a lighter pink underside and the outline of huge suction cups. An octopus? A squid? It seemed far too large for either.

  A slideshow of legendary creatures flipped through her head; stories from the age of pirates and of Greek sailors. She needed a second set of eyes, but they were far from shore. Too far for anyone else to possibly see this.

  Miriam shook her head to try to make sense of it, but as the ominous tentacle moved closer, she hooked the girl under one of her arms. Kicking as hard as she could, Miriam moved towards the shoreline, desperate to put distance between them and the monster belo
w.

  Sploosh!

  Something deep and loud. She twisted her head but kept kicking. She didn’t see it anymore. Her lungs burned. Her legs ached. Too much time studying. Not enough time training. She pushed away the pain and swam. Like her life—and the life of this girl—depended on it.

  The shore seemed forever away, but another form swam towards her, causing her to slow to meet them. Tanner? Or a lifeguard maybe?

  Tanner’s head popped up a few feet away. “Mir. Are you okay?”

  Miriam nodded and transferred the unconscious swimmer to Tanner’s stronger arms. “Something was out there. Something—” She shook her head. “Go. Let’s just go!”

  Together, they swam until they could stand. Tanner lifted the girl in his arms, trudged through the remaining water, and laid her down on the sandy beach. Miriam collapsed next to the girl and rested an ear against her chest, listening carefully. The girl’s chest rose and fell. Faintly. She coughed and convulsed, her eyelids flitting wildly.

  Miriam registered cheers behind her, but they seemed distant. The fact that this girl remained unconscious was bad. Very bad. Miriam worried that there might be internal bleeding. Didn’t this damn beach have any lifeguards?

  Mesmerized by the injuries, Miriam grazed the tips of her fingers along the bruises around the girl’s midsection. It looked painful, possibly life-threatening. That tentacle. It must have grabbed her. And threw her? That didn’t seem possible. She pushed away her fascination and stood up.

  “Someone get help!” she pleaded.

  No one budged.

  “Emma!” another teenaged girl screamed from the throng, pushing through and throwing herself on the sand. She turned her tearful eyes to Miriam. “Is she okay? Is she going to be okay?”