In a place of darkness, a place of evil, a place where dark creatures of all sorts lurk, a short bald man with a red robe and a beard made his way through a long, tunnel-like hall. As he neared the end of the hall, he came to two giant doors and knocked.
Two big gray muscular-like monsters wearing armor opened the doors from the other side, letting the man through. Right away, a boulder-like guy made of solid rock, a brownish color, walked up to the man.
“Muri, I warn you,” spoke the rock-like guy. “You must not approach the Dark Master.”
“Bouldan, I have come here with very important news,” the short man named Muri told him. “I must speak to him.”
“If you wish,” said Bouldan, stepping aside.
Muri then stepped forward onto a long narrow platform.
In front of him was a big, throne-like chair at the end, in the center of a circular-like platform. It was the same place in Charlie’s vision. Lava surrounded the room.
Muri walked up to the back of the throne. “Master, it is I, Muri,” he said aloud. “I have important news to bring to you.”
“What is it this time, Muri?” responded the Dark Master in an evil voice.
“It’s about the book.”
“What about the book?” the Dark Master asked in anger.
“I’m afraid the boy has lost it.”
Right after these words, the most aggressive, heart- gripping, powerful demonic roar of anger was heard from the Dark Master on the other side of the throne. Slowly, two thick horns rose up to be seen from the other side, and Muri stood trembling in fear.
“We must find and capture this boy,” said the Dark Master. “Gather the Rock Army and prepare them for battle until we retrieve the book. But first, we must get strong enough. Without the book, our world will only slowly grow stronger. We must not fail again. We will not lose the boy.”
“Yes, Master,” responded Muri. “I think I’ve got a plan this time that may work. I’ve recruited a Hunter to go out and capture the boy. The Hunter is a highly- trained beast with a very strong sense to hunt down anything we ask for.”
“I want the boy here tonight,” ordered the Dark Master.
“Will do, Master.”
“Now leave.”
“Yes, Master,” obeyed Muri.
Muri then walked out the two big doors, the two door guards closing them from behind.
Things were about to change…
Charlie awoke suddenly from his nap to the sound of Tara’s cat meowing freakishly in the kitchen. He went to go see what was going on.
Both Tara and the cat were staring at the wall as if they’ve just seen a ghost.
“Tara?” asked Charlie. “What’s wrong?”
She turned her head to him and the cat scrambled to the living room. “I saw a man,” she replied.
This made Charlie nervous. “Tara, go to your room,” he told her.
“But I saw him,” whined Tara, her eyes watering.
So it wasn’t over…
“I believe you. Now please, go lay down for a bit, Mom will be here soon.”
She went to her room. Now Charlie was left out in the kitchen, his face red and trembling.
“Dad, if you’re here, I need you to listen to me, you’re dead,” he said aloud. “Now please leave us alone. I’ve had about enough with this.”
Just then, Joe showed up on the other side of the counter as Charlie turned around.
“Dad!” yelled Charlie. “Why are you here?!”
“Listen, boy,” Joe spoke evilly. “You lost the book and now you must pay for it. Tonight you will see. And soon I will have a life again.”
“I don’t understand!”
His mother then entered the house. “Charlie, what’s all this yelling about?” she asked.
“Nothing Mom,” he replied nervously.
“Why were you yelling?”
“Oh, I was yelling at that stupid cat,” he lied.
Sharon sighed. “I’ll have to discuss this with Tara, Charlie. I want that darn cat out of the house just as much as you do. I haven’t gotten any sleep last night.”
“Okay... hey, you haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary lately, have you?” Charlie got up the courage to ask.
She looked at him as if he was on drugs. “No,” she replied. “Like what?”
“Oh, um, I believe some of my laundry ended up in your room somewhere,” he lied.
“Okay,” she responded. “I’ll go check on that then.” His mother immediately began to walk down the hall to her room.
“Oh and Mom?” asked Charlie. “Do you happen to know if there’s any transmission fluid out in the garage somewhere? Because my car needs it really bad.”
“I’ll pick some up tomorrow,” replied Sharon. “You’ll have to find a ride to school.”
Great, Charlie thought to himself. That means I’ll have to ride the bus again…if I make it through tonight alive.
Charlie stayed up in the living room for the most of the next hour watching TV.
He began flipping through the channels randomly and the first thing that caught his eye was the old horror movie The Wolfman. His automatic reaction to it was ‘no horror movies, please’.
He flipped through the channels again. His favorite band, Decimate the Masses, was playing in a music video. He left it there then went to put some popcorn in the microwave, the music still streaming out loud from the living room.
Sharon walked into the kitchen with Tara. “Tara, calm down, Sweetie, you’re going to be fine,” she said to her daughter.
I bet this is about Dad, thought Charlie.
“But Mommy, I don’t want to stay here anymore!!” cried Tara.
Sharon then turned to Charlie. “Okay, listen Charlie, I’m running to town for my therapist appointment and taking Tara with me,” she told him. “I want this house clean for dinner.”
“Alright, I’ll still be here,” he replied. “Well, see you later tonight.”
“Later.”
After his mother and sister left, Charlie briefly thought to himself, will this be the last time I see my mom and sister...and Will?
A minute then passed after they took off, and Charlie went back to the living room with a bowl of popcorn. Before he knew it, he fell asleep again….
The sun went down and the moon slowly and eventually began to rise to a crescent. Charlie was passed out on the living room recliner and Sharon and Tara were not back yet. It was 7:45 p.m.
A few miles away, in town, was the library, the big statue of the lion sitting there as if guarding the entrance, its teeth glowing in the dim light off a single light post by the front doors. Surrounding the library were trees in every direction, the leaves fallen off, and a cold wind was blowing.
In the back of the building, where everything was dark, a red fox quickly made its way through the midst of the woods. A growl came from the distance.
The fox looked up, alert.
A dark shadow of an unknown figure slowly crept up behind it, and about four-five seconds later, the fox was attacked by what appeared to be an enormous, gray, and thick-haired wild beast that resembled a wolf that can stand on two legs, just like a human. Claws blistered from its fingertips.
The creature broke the neck of the fox, leaving it lifeless in a patch of grass. It then took off in a heartbeat around the front of the library.
It made its way out of the trees and into the center of town, along the way cutting down an alleyway, diving past cars, and pushing over a guy-on-a-bike, who was unable to make out what had hit him.
The animal then headed into some trees again. It was up to something.
At home, Charlie awoke to the sound of the black cat meowing at his side. He slowly got up.
>
The TV was still on but silent. He turned it off. He then grabbed the cat and went to the front door, putting her outside angrily. “This will teach you,” he said to it, shutting the door behind him, the cat left in the cold on the front porch. But what Charlie didn’t notice was the wolf-like beast grinning at him from the side of the house…
Charlie yawned. He walked to the kitchen, turned the light on, and headed to the sink. He passed by a window and the beast stared in at him, its nose up in the air, sensing his presence.
Charlie washed his hands in the sink. “That cat is disgusting,” he said aloud.
As he stood there washing his hands, the beast outside stared in at him through a small kitchen window...
Charlie turned the faucet off. As he turned away he caught a glimpse of the creature, which backed away as Charlie put his head up. I know I saw something out there, he thought.
He decided to get a closer look out the window to find out if he really saw what he saw or if his eyes were playing tricks on him. He pressed his face up against the kitchen window and stared out.
Nothing was there. The animal had propped himself up against the side of the house.
Charlie then went to his bedroom. Inside his room, he felt a strong breeze from his door that lead out onto the patio.
He slowly walked towards what was a door leading outside from his room and slid the curtains open to peek outside… to discover the door wide open.
He stood there trembling for a few seconds then reached for a light switch. He turned the lights on, and behind him stood the beast, ten foot tall, the Hunter.
The Hunter stood there snickering, growling at him as he turned around, scared out of his wits.
“Please, don’t kill me,” said Charlie under one breath.
The Hunter then grabbed him by his shirt collar, tossed him over his right shoulder, and took off with him into the night.
Chapter 5