Liss Thomas's Blog: Mingling Myths and Monsters with Mortals, page 16

New Plan - Chapter 22 - Hidden Monsters

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Jill slammed the door to her bedroom as she made her way downstairs. She wore all black including her nails and lipstick to match her dark mood. After crying herself to sleep the previous night, she'd awakened pissed. Elyen had breakfast laid out but Jill ignored it, settling for coffee, heavy on the cream and sugar and a banana. She plugged her Skullcandy ear buds in and cranked up her playlist of Korn and Seather to drown out any potential for conversation. After downing her breakfast she wrenched open the back door to escape all company. 

 "Don't leave the yard," Vrag yelled to make himself heard. 

Jill gave him a 'Duh, I'm not stupid' look before she slammed the backdoor so hard she thought it would chip and splinter from its hinges. She sat on top of the picnic table and scanned the wooded area surrounding the backyard out of habit. He'd left again, not bothering to tell anyone where he'd gone. No one made a fuss so she didn't either. Her father knew better than to pester her when she was in a bad mood and she hoped the others left her alone too. 

She turned down the music and listened to the earthy sounds around her. She practiced tracking by sound, her keen hearing picked up the softest of steps and scamperings. After honing her skills for the past few months, with joint sessions from her father and Saal, she picked up the sounds of rabbits digging in their burrows and rocks breaking from ledges. She heard a twig snap and a low curse from Vrag who'd snuck out the house to keep and eye on her. She ignored him. A buck scratched its horns on a large tree and a car parked down the hill from their cottage. She focused on it and on the heavy footsteps next as they neared the house and continued around to where she sat. She didn't look back or acknowledge Officer Billy as he approached. She listened to his labored, out of shape breathing. 

"Where are your folks, young lady?" 

She ignored him and continued watching the woods and listening. She smelled blood and noticed the evidence bag from the corner of her eye. She remembered the crazy man and a tremor ran through her. 

"The FBI want to ask you some questions. They know you were up on Vertical Peak. They're mounting an investigation and need you to come to the station to make a statement." 

 Jill gave him her best 'eat shit and die' look before she turned away. Whatever she'd say to the feds, crooked officer Billy would poke holes in it or spin it to keep her in custody. She doubted his story entirely. She felt eyes watching her and looked through the woods, past the larger trees and saw two sets. A brief moment of relief escaped her before her anger burned again. 

Officer Billy snatched an ear bud from her ear. "I have the right to haul your ass in without any parental involvement!" he yelled before he gripped her wrist and wrenched her to her feet. He leaned in and sneered, "I know what you are." 

'Mistake' Jill thought. He released her quickly and grappled with the hand that appeared securely around his throat. Tom dragged Billy several feet away from Jill before he threw the man to the ground. Saal and Vrag both appeared to stand over the stunned officer as Tom raked him with a murderous glare. 

Jill stuffed her ear buds back in as her father walked back to her, leaving Billy to the others, who dragged him into the forest. He sat beside her on the picnic table and leaned his head to hers. 

"I know I scared you, leaving like I did. I'm sorry. You know I wouldn't have gone if I didn't have to." 

Jill wiped a few angry tears away with her fist and said nothing. He gently pulled the ear buds away. 

"Will you at least listen to me instead of Justin Beiber?" he said. Jill scowled and paused her ipod. Of course he'd hear the one guilty pleasure song on her FU playlist. 

"We need to go home," he continued. "I'm going back to confront the King and I'm going to rescue your mother. I have a plan but it'll have to be executed in my world." 

Jill finally broke her silence. "Ok, when do we go? I want to fight too!" 

Tom laughed. "I'm going to go fight the King. You're going back to school!"

Allies or Enemies - Chapter 21 - Hidden Monsters

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“She’s not here, Tom.  It’s a trap,” Saal said. 
“If it were a trap, they would have sent more than one.”    

Tom rose and followed Rebecca’s scent until he saw a clump of hair soaked in blood.  His heart skipped a beat, knowing she was suffering because of him.  He scanned the area and saw a set of  glowing eyes watching.   

“Did you act alone or did King Ulvarg send you?” Tom asked.    

The lone wolf emerged from the shadows, approaching Tom with caution.  “I would not violate the policy of the pack to see you like this.  The King grows impatient to have his vengeance.  The longer you defy him, the more your mate will suffer.”   

“He is a fool if he thinks I will just hand over my child and myself  to him to satisfy his vengeance.  The game is set and I will not stop fighting him,” Tom growled.   

“Calm yourself, Tomas.  There are many who feel the King’s revenge is unfair, especially to your mate and young one.  We used to be satisfied taking orders but now a variety of unjust dealings have caused a riff in the pack.  Your exit has created a loyal following.  You have many on your side.”   

“Will they fight for me?”   

“Perhaps, but you must speak to them.  Tell them the whole story,” the wolf said.  He backed away as Saal appeared to stand by Tom.  “The King knows of your part in this too, jackal.  You are an enemy now.”  He turned back to Tom and motioned him to follow.  “Come now.  I must return before the hour is gone.”   

Tom nodded.  They followed the wolf back through the woods to a designated area where a portal appeared at the top of the hour.  Tom and Saal followed the wolf through before it closed again.   

##   

Billy reached the campsite hours before the federal agents would appear.  He’d heard a portion of the 911 call through his dispatch and raced to get there first.  He approached the crazed man, who smiled at his arrival.  Billy checked the phone near the man’s head.  Dead.  The man chatted excitedly about his prize and the nice lady on the phone.  She’d promised him more prizes and he’d told her his location.  Billy nodded as he pulled his revolver from its holster, lined it up with the man’s forehead and pulled the trigger.  He released the man’s arms from their restraints and re-positioned the body.  No one would fault him.  Another deranged murderer dead, the product of a broken environment no longer preying on the unsuspecting.  They’ll make him a hero.   

Billy pulled the t-shirt from beneath the man’s head and placed the bloody garment in an evidence bag.  He smiled as he thought of returning it to its owner.


CCC#303

Aftermath - Chapter 20 - Hidden Monsters

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Tom raced through the woods toward Saal and his daughter. Vrag moved as a silent wing man on his right side. Anguish burned away all thought and breath until he saw her sitting safe by the creek with Saal standing watch. He wanted nothing more than to hold her close but he approached with caution. Their eyes met. She looked brave but he saw the control slipping. Her flush cheeks paled. The aftermath of her ordeal crossed her young face in a raw display of anger, terror, guilt and finally horror. 

Tom knelt before her, his face riddled with his own guilt. "I'm sorry," he said but it wasn't enough. 

"He killed people," she whispered. 
"You saw them?" he asked. 
"Parts," she said, a look of disbelief crossed her face before she reigned it in. "The cop sent him after me, Dad. The one from the restaurant. I heard them talking on the phone." 

Tom's vision saw red. He checked Jill over for injury or bruises but it didn't matter. 

"I'll have their blood for this," he snarled. 

"No, don't go there. The police will find him soon enough. I want to go." With those final words, Jill's composure ended. Her whole body shook in sobs that made Tom's heart ache. He pulled her into his arms and murmured soft words to ease her crying. She buried her face in his shoulder as he carried her back through the woods. Shadows elongated and stars began to dot the sky as they came within sight of the cabin. 

A breeze blew a rare scent through the trees. Tom froze. He glanced at Saal and Vrag, their expressions looked worried. 

Tom handed Jill over to Vrag. She screamed and pleaded but he wouldn't risk losing her again. 

"Take her home and keep her safe. Saal, come with me," he said. 

Saal quickened his pace to keep up with Tom as he moved with deadly silence though the trees tracking the scent. He stopped short just as Tom crouched behind a downed tree. 

"Who's scent is it?" Saal asked. 
"Rebecca's."

Break in Sanity - Chapter 19 - Hidden Monsters

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Raw adrenaline forced Jill into action like a fuse lit to dynamite. She snatched up the shovel, twirling it in her hands. The mountain man's movements registered shock and then anger. He rose and turned, his face contorted in psychotic rage that dominated his features. His eyes showed no signs of understanding, while his lips curled and a snarl rattled from his clinched jaws. 

He pointed the gun but Jill swung viciously at his arm sending it flying into the woods. She smashed the handle unerringly against the man's temple and he crashed to the ground. She sent blow after blow upon the man until he started to cry like a child. 

The hypnotic cloud of derangement melted away leaving only a broken, sobbing man behind. Jill forced herself to stop. She stepped back and grabbed rope from the cave entrance. She pulled his hands behind a tree and secured them. He didn't fight her but continued to cry and curl into a ball like a caged animal that had been punished. 

"He said I could have a prize!" the man sobbed. "I want my prize!" He still lay on the ground with his arms awkwardly behind the tree. He hit his head against the ground like a child not getting his way. Unable to watch the madness any longer, Jill stripped off her light jacket and then her T-shirt before she put the jacket back on. She pushed her T-shirt under the man's head. He calmed in an instant, happy and content. 

"It's so pretty," he cooed as he rubbed his face on the fabric. 

Jill had seen enough. She fished his phone out and dialed 911 before laying the phone near the man's mouth. She faintly heard the operator come online asking questions as the man continued to mumble about the shirt. She draped a canvas over low branches to give the crazy man cover before she retrieved her shoes and ran from the camp. 

Her mind raced as fast as her feet as she made her way down the mountain and toward the sound of water. Who had the crazy man spoken to on the phone? She searched her memory as she crashed through the woods making enough sound for her father and others to find her. She was certain they were looking. She found a stream and followed it. The woods looked familiar now and she rushed on. A memory slide across her mind and she stopped. She barely registered a large black dog on the opposite side of the stream running toward her. It jumped the water and shifted in midair. 

"Jill?" Saal asked when he reached her. 
"Billy's the cop," Jill said almost to herself. 

 Saal clicked his earpiece. "I've got her."

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Shallow Horror - Chapter 18 - Hidden Monsters

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Sunlight filtered in small quantities through the thick trees surrounding the camp. Jill's eyes stayed locked on the crazy mountain man as he mumbled to himself, laughing every few minutes as if he'd said something funny. 

Jill sat in a shallow hole, her arms secured behind a sturdy pine at her back and her feet bound in front of her with heavy rope. Clothes on wires and odd objects littered the camp. A child's stuff elephant lay at the entrance of a cave along with a small shoe, a broken lamp and a lawn chair. Jill concentrated on finding her bearings by referencing landmarks and moss growth. She twisted and turned her feet trying to dislodge her shoes while working each hand so as to loosen the ropes on her wrists. 

The crazy man pulled a fish from a bucket and a knife from his belt. After scaling and gutting it, he took to eating some of it raw. As if remembering she was there, he turned and offered her some. Jill shook her head and he continued to eat, mumble and laugh. Jill pushed her left foot from it's shoe, hooking it on an exposed root to give her leverage. She began rocking the other back against the root to loosen the other shoe. She needed to be free from these bonds and away from this nut before the stars began to come out. Plus she feared what he would do when the sun fell below the horizon. 

A ringtone buzzed and Jill froze. The man looked around confused before he pulled a cellphone from his pocket and silenced to the robot sounding ringtone. He opened the flip phone and listened for a moment before he spoke. 

"Yeah, I got her." He listened again. 
"I get to keep the shirt as a prize, right? She has a nice shirt." He paused and listened again. "You said I could have a prize, Billy!" He listened for a few more seconds before he hung up and pocketed the phone. He turned to her and grinned. 

"I get to keep your shirt!" he said with smug satisfaction. 

Like hell! Jill thought as she worked harder on getting herself free. She pulled and twisted her wrists until she felt the knot slip, a handy trick she'd learned from Vrag. She snatched one arm free but held the rope taunt as if still bound. She continued to work on her feet. Her right shoe finally fell away before she used the root to pushed the ropes further down her ankles. She felt metal scrap at her legs and realized something else lay buried in the dirt. She found the spot and pushed the ropes against it until her left foot broke free from the bonds. Jill paused and watched the man as he finished his meal and sat working a stick with his knife. He ignored her while he now got into a heated conversation with himself. 

Jill checked her surroundings again. A shovel to her right, where he'd dug the hole. His knife in hand and gun laying on the ground next to his feet. Once she rocketed into action, her movements had to be flawless so as not to get shot or stabbed. She stared at the exposed root as she went though the motions in her mind until she realized what the metal was. She wiped her feet across the metal until it revealed a broken octagon shaped watch back. The watch band looked like twisted chainmail as she brushed more dirt from the find. 

A harsh, cold realization froze her in place. She bit her lip to hold back the scream building in her lungs. Jill sat motionless, not in some random hole, but a shallow grave. The root was a human arm.

Mountain Trail Trouble - Chapter 17 - Hidden Monsters

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The woods seemed darker to Jill when she walked through them alone. After two months of training with Vrag and her father, she felt at ease, safe and it didn't hurt to have a fighting staff secured to your back.  She paused behind a downed tree and listened hard for any signs of Vrag moving through the trees. She never heard him but then again, he wouldn't hear her either. 

She was grateful training had been moved outdoors. Learning to use a staff inside with Vrag as your opponent caused for unnecessary breaking of furniture and knickknacks. And since there had been no signs of the police after the initial incident, it seemed logical. A noise snapped to Jill's left and she hunkered down. She crawled toward the sound and spotted a sliver of movement in the distance. Bingo! Jill kept ample space between them as she followed the movement further up the mountain. She picked her way silently through thick bramble, fingering the staff still attached to her back. Jill scanned through the trees and saw nothing. Fearing she'd lost her mark, she switched directions and backtracked a few hundred feet. 

The sharp crack of a gunshot split the silence. 

Jill ducked behind a tree and pulled her staff to the ready. Panic and fear crowded her senses. Jill pushed toward the sound of the gunfire and spotted a blood trail. Maybe a rouge hunter had spotted Vrag or her father. She moved faster through the woods following the trail until she spotted something lying still just ahead. Jill's heart slammed against her chest as she moved closer, a wolf. She swallowed hard as she rushed toward the downed animal. She stopped just short of the beast and realized it was too small and tawny to be her father. Relief washed over her until she saw the shine of steel flash toward her. A large hand covered her mouth as another pointed a gun to her temple. 

"You're getting harder and harder to track," the man drawled in badly broken English. "I hear tale, you'll fetch a better price than that wolf pelt." He sniffed the air and pulled Jill from the ground as she kicked and screamed behind his hand. "I can smell the others coming, smell their fear." Jill wondered how he could smell anything other than himself. 

The crazy man turned and ran back up the mountain with Jill. He moved through them like an old friend, leaving no trail behind. He knew these parts better than those strange new comers and Billy said he'd make it worth his while. He flashed a yellowed grin and headed deep into the darkness of the wilderness before him. 

Safe House - Hidden Monsters - Chapter 16

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Jill woke in a large bedroom. She looked around and noticed a bay window to her right. Outside she saw rolling mountaintops and a cloudless summer sky. She turned and found her father's eyes watching her from a recliner. He looked like he'd slept there all night. He smiled and approached her bed. Jill threw her arms around his neck as soon as he sat down. 

The door opened and a young woman walked in. Her dark curly hair was pulled back in a long French braid down her back. She walked with a grace any girl would die for and her flawless skin reminded Jill of cocoa and honey. 

"How is my patient this morning?" she asked. 

"I feel fine. But I remember being attacked by the wolf." Jill paused and examined herself feeling little pain and finding very few scars. The thought of the attack made her skin crawl and she shuddered.

"I'm a healer. It's what I do best. You escaped with some serious injuries but I was able to cure them quickly," the woman said as she set a small tray of fruits and sweet breads in front of Jill. Saal entered the room next and pulled Tom aside to chat. 

All conversation stopped as a giant of a man stormed into the room. His faced seemed set in a constant scowl. 

"You were correct, Saal. You must have been tracked. A uniformed man is watching the house not far from here, about two miles." He stopped talking and looked at the people in the room, who'd gone quiet and slack jawed. "What?" he growled. 

"You're so tall, Vrag!" Tom said. 
"And big!" Saal added. 
"And handsome!" the woman said smiling. Jill giggled. 

"ump," Vrag growled as he continued. "I can only alter my appearance so much; deal with it. "Anyway, I found the tracker and killed it." 

"You killed the officer?" Tom shouted. 

"I wish," Vrag said. "I killed the device he used to track you. He'd set it between the two back wheels of that thing you came in." Vrag stormed to the far window and wrenched the curtains open. He scanned the horizon and stopped, his eyes fixed on his target. He pointed two fingers to his eyes then out the window before he jerked the curtains shut again. "I didn't detect any listening devices so I think we're safe to talk. No one shifts. We stay human." 

He approached Jill next in a huff. She pulled the covers up high. Only her eyes showed as she looked up at the large man. "Even as a human, I'm still bigger and a hundred times stronger than you. You are agile and swift and you will need to be clever if you want to escape our training sessions unscathed." He looked back to the young woman, "Is she fit to start, Elyen?" 

"Yes, Vrag," Elyen said. 

"Good, we start in one hour," Vrag said pointing a mean beefy finger in Jill's face before he turned to leave. 

"Vrag, you should be nicer!" Elyen chided. 

"Why? I'm not nice to anyone," Vrag said as he reached the door. 

"You're nice to me," Elyen said. 

Vrag stopped and turned. He stormed back to Elyen who watched his approach with poorly concealed amusement. He stopped in front of her and pointed his beefy finger at her. "I'm nice to you because I love you…. And you're my mate," he said. His tone still sounded gruff and mean but Jill saw a slip of humor twitch at his lips. "And you look very pretty," he finished. Elyen smiled wider and tapped her cheek to request a kiss. "And nobody tells me what to do!" Vrag growled loudly as he kissed her forehead instead before he turned and stormed out. 

Jill smiled at the couple then frowned. "Training for what?" she asked.


CCC#298

Word of the Week Wednesday - Compotation

Compotation Definition:  The act or instance of drinking or tippling together



The moon stood high and proud over the cloudless night sky.  It shone brilliantly off the hood of a brown tracker making its way down a noisy street.  Earl and Carl pushed the old tracker through the faster moving traffic amid honks and shouts of passersby.  The men simply waved and moved along, occasionally turning the steering wheel to move aside and let angry motorist squeeze by.
A tow truck or two came by to offer their assistance but the men waved them on.  Finally, they turned down a more rural street and started moving toward the outskirts of town.  A flashing light followed them around a bend.  The men pushed the tracker to the side and sat panting as they waited for the officer.
"You boys need a tow?"  the officer asked."No sir, the tracker runs fine," Earl said."Then why don't you boys drive it home?""No sir.  Carl here's been drinking and he can't drive even when he's sober.""And you?", the officer asked."Are you kidding?  I'm drunker than Carl!"

Hidden Threat - Chapter 15 - Hidden Monsters

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A dark flash of black fur collided with the wolf hovering over Jill. Saal. Tom watched Saal's flawless attack with vast relief. They landed several feet from her and continued to claw and bite each other in a vicious struggle. 

Tom saw his opportunity and rushed to Jill's side. He had no time to coddle her but kneeling over her, he pulled a wicked three pronged blade from its sheath, poised to strike any who dared come close. Saal clamped his teeth into the wolf's neck and threw him like a he was a pup. The wolf righted himself and fled into the woods without hesitation. Saal trotted over to Tom and cleaned his muzzle of dirt and blood. The humans finally broke from their stunned immobility. 

Two officers rushed after the fleeing wolf, their guns drawn. Paramedics rushed to Jill and helped Tom carry her to a waiting ambulance. Saal stayed close and growled at an officer who'd attempted to catch him with a rope. Tom sat in the back of the ambulance as the medics assessed the damage. No concussion, to Tom's relief as they cleaned and examined her arm next. The officer who'd hauled her from the car stepped into the ambulance and after speaking in hushed tones to one of the medics, motioned Tom out. 

"Sir, you left your child in a locked car for over two hours. We take child protection very seriously here," he began. 

"My daughter is fifteen years old, officer. She had the capacity to unlock the doors if she needed to. She had plenty of money if she wanted something to eat at the restaurant. As it stands, we'd just had a picnic in the woods when the wolf attacked. My dog chased him off and I put Jill in the car before I ran after our dog. Had you left her in the car, she wouldn't have been in this mess," Tom argued as he gave his rehearsed explanation to the officer. 

###

The paramedic watched as Tom argued with the officer about the matter. Swiftly he pulled two vials from his pocket. He filled one with blood and saliva from Jill's wound. He quickly drew blood from her other arm, filling the other vial, before he pocketed both. 

###

Tom finished his argument, turned on his heels and went back to Jill's side. The paramedics suggested taking Jill to the hospital to test her for rabies but Tom refused. After pressing him more he informed them he would have his personal physician meet them at their destination, which was only a few hours away. He scooped up his daughter and exited the ambulance in a rush. He opened the back door to his car and Saal hopped in. He secured Jill in the front passenger seat, brushed a kiss against her forehead and closed the door. She hadn't awaken and he began to question the paramedic's diagnosis. 

"I'll have the healer meet us at my place. She'll be fine, Tom," Saal said after they'd left the restaurant far behind. 

"I'll feel better when she's awake," Tom said as lay his hand over hers. 

### 

Two people lingered in the parking lot as the other emergency vehicles pulled away. The police officer walked to his car and took a shovel from the trunk. He sifted through a puddle of mud looking for more DNA and blood traces. Finding nothing he wiped it off in the grass and put it back. 

"What are you looking for?" The remaining paramedic asked. He showed the two vials of blood to the officer. 

"It's too early to speculate but something's not right. I've been following this guy for awhile. He said his daughter was fifteen years old. I checked my files and found records of his marriage, the birth of his daughter but nothing else. Sixteen years ago, he didn't exist." 

"Maybe he changed his name or is from another country, Billy. You can't assume anything from that," he argued. 

"I checked. He didn't. I wonder if Doctor Pendergast's theory is correct." 

"You can't seriously think he's not human. Doctor Pendergast's theory has no scientific backing." 

"We'll know when we check the girl's blood. I don't want anyone to know of this. Send me the results as soon as you can. I'll follow them up the mountain. My tracker indicates they're going to Vertical Peak." 

"On the odd chance Dr. Pendergast is right, what then?" 

"You let me worry about that," Billy said.