Chapter 11
AFTER EATING SUPPER at the Seton Portage Pub, Trevor noticed his hands were a little shaky. With an hour before the start of his shift, he decided to take a relaxing horseback ride. So much had happened in such a short time. Needing to clear his head, the situation proved to be so much bigger than he was.
This seemed to be the pattern throughout Trevor’s life; his father and grandfather raised him abusively. It seemed no matter how big he became or how tough, the world always managed to beat him down. This situation was different though. Because of his nightmares and a profound fear of the dark, Trevor didn’t look forward to being alone in his cabin. Letting his mind settle on the simple sound of the horse’s hooves trotting along the old road, Trevor breathed in deeply. The clean air smelled great after the rain. ‘How different will my life be for now on?’ He speculated. Surrendering to his fate, he decided to let it steer his path. Closing his eyes, he let the horse move him. Becoming one with its rhythm of stride, he practiced to let things go.
When he opened his eyes, he found he was still on the main road, but he was next to his property. Looking over the old fence, he could just barely make out his cabin and the damage. Surprisingly, the damage didn’t look so bad from a distance.
Scanning the landscape back to the trees, he half expected to see Tiarrow or Tunoka, but there was no sign, nor sound of either of them. The cabin was still a dead lifeless shell. Only in Trevor’s eyes did it still hold the ghostly remains of the Sasquatch’s spirit. The entire mountain was haunted with the creatures for that matter.
Trevor didn’t bother traveling up his driveway. All he wanted was to just clear his head, after all. Returning to the sheriff station, Trevor felt much better. Admitted downstairs he was expected to take the guard’s place next to the jail cell immediately.
The guard stood up from his wooden chair, “Hey, Trevor, good to see you. For a second there I thought you weren’t going to show.”
“Well, after what this guy did to my home, I don’t have a lot of options.” Trevor replied with a forced chuckle. “After Gurchukk was taken away, some of the Copper Creek Coachmen offered to help me patch up my place.”
“That’s great!” The guard cheered and slapped his knee, “Well, it’s time for me to turn in.” As he passed by Trevor he paused in mid-stride and asked, “Why do you want to spend so much time with this creature? I’m sure you could’ve made other arrangements for tonight. You’ve been captured by it. Don’t you want to enjoy your freedom? You know, get as far away from it as possible?”
Trevor looked at the sleeping creature for a moment. He needed a second to think about the question. “Yes, you’re right. A part of me does want to get away from him and I do want to enjoy my freedom, and I will, but when I’m away from it I get spooked. It’s only when I can see it’s not free that I feel a sense of safety.”
The guard nodded; satisfied with Trevor’s statement.
Then Trevor added, “Yet somehow, this creature still fascinates me and this may be the last time I’ll ever see it.”
The guard huffed with a half-smile. He didn’t exactly agree with Trevor’s final comment, but he just shrugged it off and lumbered up the stairs without speaking another word.
After the guard left, Trevor sat and stared at Gurchukk for a long while. He considered all of his options. “Why am I drawn here?” he wondered. The real answer eluded him. He thought long and hard about what it was he really wanted out of this experience.
Deep down, he felt compassion for this creature. An emotional struggle occurred on the battlefield of his thoughts that resulted in the outcome of a fresh idea. A plan that Trevor believed was the only answer to resolve the entire situation. It was all he could do to appease his conscience.
The town’s folks who stayed up late to celebrate and drink told Sasquatch tales until they fell asleep after mid-night.
Trevor was entrusted with the keys to the sheriff’s station. Trying to unlock the weapons that were securely stored in basement cabinets, Trevor discovered he didn’t have access. He was, however, able to open the lower cabinets of ammunitions inventory. While he hid the ammunition and the chloraphorm jars in the attic, he found a vial and a syringe behind the sheriff’s desk.
The vial was labeled, NALOXONE. Trevor remembered the word. He heard the conservation officer refer to it as the antidote to the chloraphorm’s effects.
Filling the syringe with the contents of the vial, ten milligrams in total, Trevor headed down to the cell. Unlocking the cage door, Trevor carefully crept inside. Leaving the door of the cage open behind him. Trevor began to consider the implications of his actions. He had to clean an area. He used a cotton swab and some rubbing alcohol to wipe a sterile area of his buttocks. If the creature was playing dead this time, Trevor was about to find out as he inserted the needle of the syringe.
Some of the torn clothing still hung off Gurchukk’s body. After tapping out the air bubbles of the syringe and squeezing out an insignificant amount, Trevor inserted the long needle into the pelt of the potentially benevolent beast.
The body of the Sasquatch didn’t move or react. Trevor wasn’t sure how potent the Naloxone was. After waiting a few minutes, he administered two milligrams more from the syringe.
With the cell doors shut, Trevor patently waited. The drug worked quickly. Before long, Gurchukk was moving about and moaning.
Finding he could communicate with Gurchukk in his dopey state of mind, Trevor helped the poor creature to his feet. He spoke to his large hairy friend softly and frequently while directing him up the stairs of the sheriff’s station.
Next to the massive creature, Trevor felt like he was the size of a small child. It was three times his own height. Finding a black cowboy hat, he pulled it down over Gurchukk’s pointed head. Though they couldn’t walk in a straight line, or at anything resembling a fast pace, they did manage to cover the distance of the main floor to the exiting doors. The two of them bumped into every object they came near. Trevor had to be on his guard so he didn’t end up pinned under the weight of the massive creature. If Gurchukk slipped into a coma, it would mean big trouble. Trevor wouldn’t be able to move the creature on his own so he kept the syringe close, just in case he needed to give it a jolt. Using the entire vial on Gurchukk, it would likely throw him into a frenzy.
The wind blew through the dark town and curled into tight spaces between the rickety buildings. Old wood creaked and the dry hinges of shutters squeaked as a whisper of revenge fell upon the deaf ears of those who slept. A low pulsating hum signaled the presence of a new authority which governed this particular night.
Tired of watching from afar, the little alien fellow returned with the company of his brothers aboard their space craft. They had an agenda to tie up a loose end. The lights of the craft flashed in unison to its pulsating star drive engines.
Ominously, the craft floated down the main street of Seaton, past businesses and homes.
Long flexible beams of light snaked out from the belly of the craft like tendrils. The aliens detected they were getting closer. The flexible beams of light played over the buildings as they searched for Gurchukk they’d have him soon.
A portal spiraled open on the craft’s underbelly. From the open portal a little floating device emerged. It was the yellow robotic eye and it was to go out ahead of the craft and zero in on the Sasquatch’s location. The little yellow floating robot moved speedily down the road ahead of the craft. Looking this way and that, it blinked its penetrating eye.
Two horses, tethered to a wagon in front of the sheriff’s station were spooked when they saw the bright lights of the strange and unearthly spectacle. With a tentative neigh of panic, as the glowing yellow eye approached, the two horses reared up and broke free of their reigns. The horses raced off out of town like they were chasing after their spirits.
The mechanical alien eye stopped outside the sheriff’s station. It seemed to expect the front door to open. A man, hunched forward assisted
a large distraught Sasquatch. Supporting the weight of the massive creature who wore the disguise of a cowboy hat.
This didn’t fool the eye.
Trevor noticed a bright light come alive around him. He thought he was busted. Lifting his head under the groggy Sasquatch he stared into the yellow mechanical eye. Trying to focus his eyes on the brightness of the light, Trevor found the eye was motionless and stared right back at him. Lifting his head a little higher and squinting his eyes, Trevor saw a larger cluster of flashing bio-technology in motion within the eye itself.
Then, Trevor saw above the eye, the alien craft slowed and turn to face him. The ominous humming was felt resonating through Trevor’s chest. Though his mind screamed to run, his body couldn’t respond… He was frozen.
With great effort, Trevor shook himself out of his state of frozen fear. Ducking out from under the arm of Gurchukk, he intended to escape. A tendril of light snapped out at Trevor and wrapped itself around his waist and chest. Trevor wanted to scream but the tendril was too tight.
Gurchukk was also captured in the same kind of tendril. Neither of the two captives were able to fight back once the aliens were inside their minds. The alien creatures of the space craft used a type of weaponized telepathy. This was how they subdued them. The tendrils of light lifted Trevor and Gurchukk off the ground and placed them inside the open portal under their craft.
Sweating profusely from all of the heat resonating off the craft, Trevor and Gurchukk were released within the craft. The tendrils of light disappeared in an instant. Before the portal spiraled closed, the yellow mechanical eye darted inside with them.
Creating a sensation of butterflies in Trevor’s stomach, the craft rose quickly. A vine-like webbing grew over the interior walls. The air of the craft’s interior was an odor of putrid burnt cinnamon. The combination of the momentum and the stink made him feel noxious.
Three of the little alien beings appeared like they had been there all along. They were clearly not happy to see the Sasquatch. As they approached, Trevor could see, they weren’t happy to see him either.
As Trevor felt sicker to his stomach, it was followed with a bad taste in his mouth. This, he later learned, was due to his exposure to radiation which was given off by the craft.
A mysterious mist came down from little holes in the ceiling. It gently descended onto Trevor and the Sasquatch. The mist covered their bodies and coated their throats as they breathed it.
The three alien creatures opened their little mouths and began to emit an all too familiar resonating telepathic buzzing-scream.
Trevor began screaming also with his hands clapped tightly around his ears. This was his desperate attempt to interfere with the alien’s telepathy. When the aliens saw what he was doing, the little creatures scratched and tore at him. Trevor screamed louder from a place of utter terror. He was being attacked just as aggressively mentally as he was physically. Trevor tried to fight back but the aliens blocked his every move.
When the aliens stopped projecting their screams, Trevor was totally out of physical energy. Shaking his head from the disorientation, he found something new in his mind. Opening the new thoughts he acquired from the telepathic connection, Trevor understood that the aliens merely wanted to settle a score between them and the Sasquatch. Broken down, it was all just a silly ego thing. The alien creatures believed they were superior over the Sasquatch. Of course, the Sasquatch saw them as weak and mischievous. The law of gravity diminished until it no longer existed.
With a mere thought about the space craft, Trevor realized he knew how to fly it.
When the mist stopped settling over them, the sickness that Trevor and Gurchukk felt had completely left them. The smell of the craft, however, didn’t improve. The radiation no longer had any affect on them.
Charging in at Trevor, the aliens were incredibly strong for their small, limber bodies.
What they realized that Trevor was in possession of a syringe containing enough Naloxone to wake the Sasquatch fully, they wanted to make absolutely sure this wouldn’t happen.
Knowing what the aliens were after, Trevor quickly took the syringe out of his jacket pocket and jabbed it into Gurchukk’s thigh. Tearing Trevor’s jacket right off his back, the aliens knocked him across the chamber.
Trevor punched the plunger of the syringe down administering the entire contents of Naloxone into the body of the beast.
An alien snuck up behind Trevor and threw a thin membrane over his head. The membrane was organic with thin octopus-like tentacles extending out the edges that held tightly to his face.
Attempting to bind the groggy body of Gurchukk with organic webbing’s, the aliens fought with all they had. The flailing limbs of the Sasquatch were too strong. Gurchukk let out a deep breath with a deep chested huff. He opened his eyes and looked right at the aliens. The Naloxone was taking effect.
Frightened by the killer intensity of pure hatred in Gurchukk’s eyes, the three aliens turned and bolted out of the chamber together. The opening quickly spiraled shut behind the trio of aliens. The alien creatures expected the Sasquatch to kill Trevor when it flew into a terrible rampage.
Collapsing to the floor, Trevor clawed at the membrane that covered his face. It was suffocating him. Trevor’s eyes began rolling back when Gurchukk’s finger poked through the membrane and into Trevor’s mouth. When The Sasquatch removed its thick finger, Trevor took in a lifesaving breath of the stale, odor filled air. Limbs shaking Trevor felt his strength return as he floated through the air.
Needing a moment to think, Trevor found something new to remember though it was another memory he didn’t learn through experience again. It was another one of the alien’s memories. Trevor now knew the aliens had been busy moving over the mountain while the people of the town were distracted with the Sasquatch. They collected trophies from the mountain to take back to their mother ship. These trophies were stored in the back quarter of the space craft. From the inventory that Trevor could see in his mind’s eye, he knew they would find the still bodies of one human and a few Sasquatch.
Gurchukk finished resting. His blood, full of energy, his mind, wanting nothing more than to destroy little aliens. Filling its lungs, the mighty Sasquatch gave out a menacing roar that shook throughout the entire craft. Approaching the wall that the aliens escaped through, Gurchukk began beating on it with wild indignation.
Fortunately, for the aliens, their wall held up to the Sasquatch’s brutal thrashing.
Darting to the opposite side of the chamber, Trevor pushed his finger against a glowing bubble on the wall. A door spiraled open. Noticing Trevor duck into the doorway, Gurchukk quickly followed.
Within this next chamber, Trevor and Gurchukk beheld the site of a female Sasquatch laying on top of a strangely shaped table. The table was in the shape of a mushroom; both metal and organic. Resting upon it was none other than Gurchukk’s mate, Nuxie.
She was laid out on her back with multiple clear tubes connected to her body. It appeared that the aliens were draining Nuxie’s fluids.
By the look in Gurchukk’s eyes, it was clear he recognized the female Sasquatch. The beast’s anger momentarily subsided as Gurchukk knelt down next to Nuxie’s body and he wept.
Trevor shared in Gurchukk’s loss. He removed the thin tubes that were connected to Nuxie’s hairy hide. The strange tubes, he found, were injecting a strange dark fluid into her limbs. Lastly, Trevor removed a long white, snake-like hose from Nuxie’s mouth. This was emitting a strange mixture of oxygen and a sleep inducing gas.
As soon as Trevor removed the long white tube, it reclined into a jumble of other tubes and tools that hung from the ceiling. Trevor and Gurchukk thought Nuxie was dead, but when the tube was pulled out of her throat; she began to cough and take breaths of air.
To the surprise of Gurchukk and Trevor, Nuxie was alive. Gurchukk took her in his arms and they held one another for what seemed like an eternity.
While the couple reunited, Trevor studied the ba
nks of pods that lined the far wall. Each of the dark pods were stacked length wise and side by side. The images of Trevor’s mind were not clear; however he did know that if he investigated further, he’d find something familiar. Unable to contain his curiosity, Trevor began pulling at the tight fibers of one of the pods. His fingers hurt as he pulled but he continued nonetheless. Finding a seam that ran right up the center of each pod, he began working his fingers into it. Prying it apart, it finally split with a dry tearing sound. Gas released, stinging Trevor’s eyes and it was the same smell of a putrid burnt cinnamon, only ten times stronger.
While Trevor rubbed his eyes and coughed out the gas, Gurchukk and Nuxie lifted their heads and looked his way. There, they saw the open pod and recognized the face of the one inside.
It was the peacefully sleeping face of Tiarrow.
Gurchukk stood up with a huff and took two wide strides to the pod. Wrapping his huge mitts around the outside of the pod, he tore it in half with ease.
Through reddened and irritated eyes, Trevor also saw Tiarrow. Quick to reach out and catch her, Trevor eased her down gently. Lightly slapping her cheeks, he tried to wake her. There was too much alien gas in her lungs.
From what little gas he’d been exposed to, Trevor felt the dizzying effects too.
Filling his lungs with air, Trevor gently blew into Tiarrow’s mouth. The air from Trevor caused her to stir. While he continued trying to bring her around, Nuxie chattered something to Gurchukk to the effect of; “Search more pods, our son might be in one of them.”
Turning to the pods, Gurchukk began opening them one by one. Incredibly, they found Grouchy, Rusty, Coolcat, and finally Tunoka. As they were waking up, Trevor remembered an important tool attached to the rat’s nest of tubes that hung above. Reaching for another gas tube, it previously proved to counteract the effects from the terribly stringent gas.
Using it on Tunoka, it had a remarkable recovery time.
Gurchukk took the tube from his son and inspected it carefully. Not trusting anything of alien origin, the protective father poked the tube, then he sniffed it. The smell of it pleased him. Indulging in some deep breaths from the alien tube, Gurchukk gave it to Nuxie to try. She also took a liking to it.
In turn, Rusty, Grouchy and Coolcat also breathed from the tube which quickly restored each one to good health and awareness.
Rusty chattered along with the use of quick hand gestures to explain how he, Grouchy and Coolcat were outsmarted and abducted by the aliens.
Trevor sensed a great deal of fear from all of the Sasquatch. Their eyes became shifty and suspicious. Their usual slow and cumbersome ways were replaced with anxiety and an overall raised awareness of their surroundings.
Though the dark and dismal interior of the alien craft seemed remarkably similar to the Sasquatch cave, Trevor knew his opinion wasn’t shared by the Sasquatch. This wasn’t home to them at all. Trevor saw a fear in them. This wasn’t part of their habitat. Now they were fearful the way Trevor was when he first found himself trapped inside Gurchukk’s cave.
Coolcat went to Nuxie and they exchanged some chirpy words, with some nervous grunts.
Grouchy was the quietest, though there was something profoundly different in his eyes. He didn’t seem as grouchy as Trevor’s first impression of him. A look of defeat and innocence said it all. The aliens had broken him. Something had definitely happened to him. It must’ve been something so terrifying that it changed him forever.
Tunoka clung to his father’s leg. He hadn’t let go since he was freed from his cocoon. Gurchukk pried the youngster’s arms from his leg and lifted him up to his shoulder. After giving a short forgiving roar, he had his son’s attention, then he spoke to him. Not saying very much, the talking that Gurchukk gave his son was direct and stern enough to keep him from being so fearful.
The door to the furthest compartment opened and everyone responded to the sound as they turned their heads to look. When Gurchukk saw the little aliens standing at the door, he leaped and the lack of gravity coupled with his great strength enabled him to propel through the air like a super Sasquatch. His hatred for the aliens empowered him. He was a raging tyrant, knocking them down like little ants.
Behind Gurchukk came the other Sasquatch, charging and roaring. Grouchy saw the power of Gurchukk tear through the groupings of aliens mercilessly. He felt like he was looking at a God. Then the old Grouchy returned. He would never be intimidated by these little demons again. The Sasquatch were an unstoppable force when they fought together. A fire blazed in Grouchy’s eyes. He would prove to Gurchukk and the others how strong and fierce he was.
Even Trevor and Tiarrow leaped toward the fight though they had no weapons.
Gurchukk was right on top of the three aliens. They were very strong little beings, but they struggled under the strength of the Sasquatch. The little creatures scratched and kicked at the Sasquatch until Gurchukk hammered his fists down on them and slapped them around. Sweeping his mighty hand through the screaming and struggling trio of aliens, Gurchukk managed to catch one of them by its throat. Lifting it up, he peered into its soulless black eyes and growled to signal its doom.
The other two aliens used the distraction as an opportunity to leap through the air and escape. Small enough to squeeze past Gurchukk, Trevor went after the two escaping aliens.
The sound of the alien’s neck cracking in the crushing grip of Gurchukk echoed through the tight corridor. ‘What am I doing?’ Trevor thought. ‘I’m no match for these creatures. What’ll I do when I catch up to them?’ Using his arms and legs to move through the dark alien corridor, Trevor’s confidence disappeared. The combination of foul smelling air, the lack of gravity didn’t help his situation.
When he did catch up to the indignant alien creatures, they were waiting for him.
One alien grey was hooked into a pilot’s chair with countless navigational devices pointing in at it. The other creature was hiding behind a mechanical aperture in wait for the non-suspecting Trevor to come floating by. The alien leapt out at Trevor, knocking him into a console. It then came at Trevor again with a powerful blow to the side of his head. The alien was about to finish Trevor once and for all when Tunoka and Tiarrow came darting down the corridor screaming a deathly cry.
Tunoka began to beat on the alien and the two were more equally matched according to their sizes. Tiarrow tended to Trevor, dragging him under a great machine. The navigator glanced over his shoulder at the commotion behind him. It chirped like a bird when it noticed Tunoka approaching.
Tunoka raised his arms to beat down on the pilot, but the alien spun around and screamed in the infant’s face. Tunoka instinctively put his hands over his ears with surprised wide eyes. The alien took hold of a sharp metallic object and held it like he was about to stab the young Sasquatch.
With the alien threatening to use its telepathic screams as a weapon, Tunoka puffed out his cheeks and whistled at him. The sound of Tunoka’s whistle was so loud and penetrating that it actually drowned out the sound of the alien’s buzzing scream.
Trevor and Tiarrow could barely take the pain of the two penetrating sounds. Their ears started bleeding.
When the piercing sound finished, everyone’s ears were ringing. Hustling away and around a corner, Tunoka made his way to his parents.
Irritated, the alien shook his head, then turned its attention to Trevor and Tiarrow. It walked oddly and all hunched forward.
Tiarrow was creeped out.
Trevor held her as she curled into him for protection. Watching the alien crawl in under the machine toward them, there was nothing they could do to stop it. It frightened them when it reached out to them with its long thin arm.
A large hairy hand suddenly came down, grabbing the alien by its ankle and yanked it out. ‘Thank God, it’s Gurchukk.’ Trevor thought, but he was mistaken. It was Grouchy. He toyed with the alien, testing its strength, then he threw it to Rusty.
When Rusty caught the little creature out of the air
he began slapping it to the floor while doing a silly hop-like dance. He finally stopped to see if it was dead. Lifting the alien’s thin limp arm, he inquisitively saw it drop limp and lifeless.
Dark blood ran from the little alien creature’s wounds. When Rusty turned his back on the alien, it lifted its arms in support of its body. Coolcat saw it rising so she stomped her foot on the creature’s head. It sounded like the cracking of a coconut.
The three Sasquatch turned their aggression on the navigator. Climbing the complicated mechanism to the navigational chair above, they looked beyond the pilot and caught sight of the viewer. Turning back they climbed down hastily and bolted out of the compartment. ‘What had they seen?’ Trevor wondered. Crawling out from under the mechanism, he quickly stepped past the floating dead alien. Its head had been completely mashed.
Peeking her head out from under the mechanism, Tiarrow cautiously looked around.
Trevor continued to climb the machinery. When he silently looked over the alien’s shoulder the viewer depicted the interior of the mother ship. The pilot was in the midst of bringing the space craft in for a landing within the loading bay of the other ship.
To Trevor’s sickening surprise, the alien craned its head around and looked at Trevor face to face. Letting go, Trevor vomited all over the alien’s face. Wiping its face with its fore-arm and hands, it screamed back at Trevor.
Trevor’s mind telepathically exploded causing him to lose his grip and fall backwards.
The craft’s momentum was like a low gravity. It kept him from hitting the floor very hard.
The craft lurched as it was locked down to the deck floor. The sound of the heavy mother ship doors sealed shut outside with a thunderous slam. This was followed by a hollow vacuum ((-Thump-))
Trevor sprang down the corridor holding Tiarrow’s hand.
A new hissing noise sounded from outside. It was air pressurization. They couldn’t seem to propel themselves fast enough through the short corridor.
Joining the others, the six Sasquatch stood together. Their eyes were fixed on the space craft’s main portal.
When it irised open, a swarm of alien greys flooded into the landing dock.
Chapter 12