The Monster Within

Author's note/Disclaimer:

This is my first attempt at writing.

As English is not my first language I found an additional challenge to deliver a range of vocabulary as I could in my mother tongue (German). Also I really hope I got the tenses and the grammar good enough for fluent reading. My attempt at finding an editor were unfortunately unsuccessful as the only volunteer I met in the forums, found himself/herself overrun by more important real life issues. (In case you read this: if you have more time at present, I would still really enjoy some feedback from you!)

This is the first chapter of a five chapter story. The total word count is roughly 55k, more or less evenly distributed over the chapters. The story is as finished as I can get it. Unless I find an editor who is willing to spend his valuable time on the following chapters, I will post the next chapter in a few days.

There is no sex in this part but I feel it is needed to set the scene.

All characters depicted in sexual situations are over 18.

Of course all characters are fictional, any resemblance with living or dead real persons is pure coincidence.

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Chapter I: The day I met her

Friday, 13.15h

"Stan, help, bring the pack!"

"On the way!"

I didn't ask for an explanation. When my best friend called, I answered. There was no need for any questions. While I turned the connection off, I called for my pack to follow me and started running through the garden where I had been training my dogs until a few seconds ago when Patrick had called. Ten seconds later I reached the corner of my house, jumped the fence and moved along the street on towards my next-door neighbours.

My neighbours are the Holm's: Patrick, aged 31, his wife Esther, 30, and their two kids, Gabriella, 7, and Daniel, 6.

My name is Stan, I'm 27 years old and have been widowed for four years. I had married my childhood love Sandra, Patrick's sister, when we were eighteen. Patrick, Sandra and I had grown up as neighbours in the same houses, or more precisely on the same premises, as we lived in now but while Patrick is four years older than me, an incredibly large timespan in your childhood, Sandra and I were born just a few days apart. We spent our entire childhood being almost inseparable and once puberty started hitting on us in our youth, we soon became an item. Once we were of age, we married.

As I ran towards my neighbours, my pack, ten Dobermans aged ten to one, followed close behind. When I approached Patrick's property I took a quick look around, remembering the stress in his voice. I noticed two unfamiliar cars in the driveway and two rather beefy guys with baseball bats in their hands watching the entrance of Patrick's house. I pointed on four of the dogs, gestured a wide circle to move in behind them, pointed towards the thugs and whispered, "Enemies, take them down."

The four selected dogs sped up and moved as ordered in a wide circle to get the thugs in between us. A few seconds after they had taken off, I drew the thugs' attention to me.

"Who are you?"

They turned towards me, raising their bats, pointing them towards me with a threatening impression.

The guy on the left hollered, "Get lost! This is none of your business!"

Right then the four supporters attacked in perfect synchronisation and coordination. Two went for the hands holding the bats and two went for their faces. A few seconds later the thugs lay on the floor, desperately trying to defend themselves from the snarling dogs. I approached the defeated goons and crouched down between them. The dogs withdrew slightly.

"Lay on your back, put your hands under your ass and don't move." They obliged, obviously scared to death.

"If you stay like this, you might live..." I stated, clearly implying the opposite would happen if they moved.

"Please," they whined just a small step away from panicking.

"Hold them," I ordered the four dogs. They growled to let me know they understood the order and refocussed on their prey. I moved on, six dogs still following me in a well-trained formation, towards the green entrance door which was standing open. I slowed and glanced inside. Patrick was lying on the floor of the living room holding his stomach, either unconscious or even dead. I took a few steps inside and quietly moved towards the noise in the living room. As I peeked inside I saw Esther standing in a corner of the living room, holding a serving tray as a shield in her hands, trying to defend herself and somebody crouched behind her from a big guy with a bald head with a machete. I didn't see anybody else or signs that another person might be around. A recliner lay on its backside and porcelain shards and some flowers were scattered on the floor in the middle of a water puddle. The meat head screamed at Esther to move aside but she refused. I quietly moved into the living room to leave space for my pack to attack and scanned the room again to avoid getting surprised by an overlooked assailant. When I didn't see anybody else I announced my presence.

"Drop the weapon. Now." I spoke loud but calm surprising the attacker and causing the meat head to spin around. I could easily recognise the signs that he was either drunk or on some drug or both. This could turn into a life-or-death-situation fast if I acted thought- or careless. I pointed to Esther and ordered "Defend." The six dogs behind me moved in efficiently, one to each of my flanks while four of them moved in between Esther and meathead, growling and their fangs exposed. All six kept their eyes focussed on the man in the middle of the room ready to attack at all cost following my command to defend Esther.

"Drop your knife now or you will not survive this," I insisted. It's easy to be calm when you have a pack of Dobermans backing you up.

He swung his machete in a wide semi-circle, the blade was at least thirty centimetres long, evaluating his odds. If I wanted to avoid a blood shed, I would have to increase the pressure.

"You can't take down more than one before your right hand is torn off and once they taste your blood they won't stop until there is nothing left of you to identify." A blatant lie, they would stop the second I ordered them to but meathead didn't need to know.

"Drop it. This is my last warning."

Looking around himself he finally realised, he would not win this fight. He slowly lowered the knife and let it fall to the floor.

"Slide it away. Carefully!" He did as ordered.

"Now slowly drop on your knees, get down on your back and put your hands under your ass."

I could see the resistance building back up in his eyes. My pack also felt it and all six dogs started to loudly and aggressively snarl at him. As clear as I could see his will to fight rise before, I saw him accepting defeat now. His whole body slumped and finally he obeyed by laying down.

"Hold him," I ordered the two dogs on my flanks and they moved in immediately taking threatening positions over his face and lower body. Meathead started trembling.

"Don't move or they'll tear you to pieces."

I quickly evaluated the situation. Esther and the woman behind her seemed unharmed and were being guarded by two dogs.

"Are you injured?" I asked in their direction. Esther shook her head. I moved over to Patrick who still lay on the floor. A quick check showed no blood and shallow breathing. I pulled out my mobile and called the police asking them to bring an ambulance with them. I looked towards meathead.

"Move just half a centimetre and they'll tear you apart." Then I went outside again. The two thugs still lay there, held in place by my dogs.

"Keep it up," I needlessly reinforced the dogs' command.

Going back in I saw Esther helping the woman stand up. It was the first opportunity to look at her. I remembered her face but could not connect a place or an opportunity when we had met. The woman was crying hysterically. Esther was trying to sooth her. I crouched down next to Patrick, finally finding time to properly look after my friend, having full control of the situation. With the basic first aid knowledge I had acquired over the years, I checked him through. He was breathing, shallow but unmistakably breathing, he was not bleeding as far as I could see but he was unconscious. I moved him carefully into a recovery position. I then stood up and looked over to Esther.

"As far as I can see he will be fine. Where are Gabriella and Daniel?"

"At some friends place playing, fortunately. They will be brought home around 15.00h."

"Police and ambulance are on the way. I think it's best if you stayed there behind your guards until they arrive. I'll go outside to wait for them. If you need me, call. Is that ok for you two?"

"Of course." Esther replied. I smiled reassuringly and motioned her to take care of her friend who was still crying hysterically not having calmed down a bit yet.

I looked down on meathead, "Don't move."

After another quick check on Patrick I went outside.

Friday, 13.28h

A minute later the police came rushing in. While they were still approaching I already raised my hands and placed them on my head. As soon as the car stopped, two police officers jumped out, drew their guns and pointed them towards me.

"Identify yourself!"

"My name is Stan Parker, I am the person who called you in. The two guys laying there plus one who is subdued in the living room attacked my neighbours and I came over to help. Please do not try to approach the attackers until I withdraw my dogs. Inside are four people and six dogs: my neighbour who is probably still unconscious but stable, the attacker who is held by two dogs and two women guarded by four more dogs."

"Stan Parker? The one who is training the county's police dogs and personally..."

"Yes," I interrupted him.

"Please, Sir, call the dogs back."

I took my hands down, now that they had identified me, "Berlin, Madrid, Paris, Rome, heel." They rushed over, taking their assigned positions.

Once the dogs were away the thugs started moving, checking their bodies for injuries. They had bite wounds on their wrists from when the dogs had disarmed them but the bleeding had already stopped. Otherwise they were unharmed. The officers moved in to handcuff and secure them.

"Is it true what he said?"

"Yes, yes, it is. Please, just keep that beasts away."

One of the officers took out his radio and requested back up plus a van from the police headquarters.

"Paul, stay here and guard these two.

Mr. Parker, if I understood correctly there is one more attacker inside?"

"Yes, that's right."

I ordered the dogs to wait outside and went in with the officer who seemed to be in charge. Patrick was just starting to stir, coming around. Esther was still trying to comfort the woman but with a complete lack of success.

The officer took the situation in and readied himself for meathead and nodded at me. I called "Berne, London, heel!" Quickly they complied. He approached meathead, turned him around onto his stomach and handcuffed him.

I heard the ambulance and the back-up arrive outside and the policeman left the house with a clearly defeated meathead. I followed them.

The officer outside was already instructing the newly arrived paramedics and the police officers. The paramedics started moving towards the house with a stretcher. With all attackers subdued and sufficient officers on site I called my dogs, "Pack, to me!"

The two dogs still at my heel and the four dogs waiting outside were soon joined by the four dogs which were still on guard duty inside, arranging themselves in a semi-circle in front of me. I approached Berne, the oldest and my second in command of the pack, petted his shoulder, confirming my satisfaction at their actions, "Very well done, boys, very well done. Now go home and wait for me, you've earned a special goody for dinner!" Berne turned around and moved towards home, the pack followed close behind.

Patrick was just being wheeled to the ambulance and the officers were moving the three attackers into the van as the police officer approached me again. While I gave him a short summary of what had happened from my point of view when one of the paramedics requested my presence indoors. The officer gave me permission to go in.

In the living room I was met by an immense chaos. Two paramedics tried to get to the unknown woman who was screaming and hitting out at them whenever they approached. Esther was trying to talk sense into her and was almost screaming to make herself heard. I pulled the two paramedics away from the woman and then proceeded to stop Esther's shouting. I positioned myself a few steps away from the hysterical woman, put my arms close to my body and turned myself sideways. I kept my face down while I turned my head in her direction. I spoke in what I thought to be a soothing voice.

"It's ok. We're here to help."

I took a small side step in her direction. She looked at me, her eyes wide open, the pupils big enough so I could not make out her eye colour, her entire body strained, ready to attack.

"Everything is under control." Another small step.

"The attacker is arrested." She didn't move or scream. I interpreted this as an encouraging sign and took another small step.

"I just want to check if you are well."

One more step, I extended one hand with utter slowness.

"Please. We just want to help." I took another small step towards her. When I got to the point where she had been fighting the paramedics, she suddenly jumped forward, grabbed my belt, turned me around so I faced away from her and used me as a shield against the world while hiding behind me. The paramedics reacted and rushed towards me.

I rose my right hand and ordered them to stop and retreat a few steps. I waited a few long seconds until everything had calmed down again.

"Can I turn around?"

When I didn't receive an answer I started to turn but she put up some resistance by holding onto my belt. As I didn't want to force her to anything I immediately stopped my movement.

"Please. I want to see if you have any injuries that need attention. Would you please let me turn?"

A barely audible whisper emanated from her, "Ok."

I made sure my arms and hands were still close to my body and turned carefully around. When I was facing her I moved my hands to my back in order to avoid every possible impression of being a threat. I stood there for a few seconds, unsure how to proceed. It was rather obvious that she didn't have any severe physical injuries. There was no blood to be seen despite her wearing a rather tight white blouse and pale blue pants. Any bleeding injuries would have left apparent stains. I was just about to ask if she would allow the paramedic to approach when she closed the gap between us by taking a small step, flung her arms around my torso and started crying with her face buried in my chest. I carefully extracted my arms from her grip and held her around her shoulders, offering protection and stability.

"A paramedic will quickly examine you for injuries. OK? I will not leave your side."

After some additional convincing, she finally let the paramedic approach her. It took fifteen more minutes and the support from Esther to persuade Beverly, as I by now had found out her name was, to climb into the ambulance. When they had finally left for the hospital, I finished telling the police what had happened.

"The various stories seem to match so far. We will leave now and contact you for a legally attested testimony. But with you being you, this can wait until Monday and won't take long. But please keep yourself available!"

I checked the time: 14.00h.

Forty-five minutes after everything began, I was alone again. Patrick, Esther and their friend Beverly were taken to the hospital for examination and treatment, the thugs had been arrested and hauled off to the police station and the pack was back at my place. After a quick check on the entrance door, I decided that it needed to be replaced. Having been their friend for as long as could remember and a regular in this house, I knew were they kept their house records so I went to their office and quickly located the blue filing folder. I found the company responsible for the doors and noticed that the owner not only once was a customer but also a member of the Saturday dog training group I often attended. He had become my customer of mine when he got himself a watch dog which he couldn't handle. As he knew my profound knowledge of dogs and their behaviour, he had asked me for some advice. It was an easy case with him not only listening to my advice but acting accordingly and we quickly had his dog doing what it was supposed to. Having such a complying customer was a nice variation from the standard private customer, who kind of expected me to wave a wand doing some magic to make their dogs behave without any work from their side, so I cut my invoice down by fifty percent and told him to donate the amount to the local animal shelter. After all, I'm not in the business for the money as I have more than enough, I'm in it for the dogs. So when I called to ask for an emergency replacement of the door, he promised to be on site in half an hour.

While I was waiting for the craftsmen to arrive, I started tidying the living room. Fortunately the recliner was still intact. This meant that only the vase had been destroyed during all the mayhem there had been on this crazy afternoon. I cleaned the shards away, dried the floor with a cleaning rag and put the recliner back in its place.

With this done, I made myself a coffee using the machine in the kitchen and planned the remainder of the afternoon. The craftsmen needed a little direction and supervision, Gab and Dan needed to be taken care of and my pack needed to be exercised and fed.

When the carpenter arrived, I gave them a rough summary of what had happened and instructed them on what needed to be done. They were just taking measurements and gave an express order to their production department when a white minivan arrived.

Gab and Dan jumped out of the car and flung themselves into my arms. The woman who had brought them, climbed out of the car and came over as well to meet me. She was a bit on the heavy side but far from being fat. She seemed to be in her late thirties, had natural blonde hair and quite some bust which she presented generously.

As she didn't know me she wanted to make sure that the children were safe, which she already assumed when she had seen how I was greeted. She tried to press me into explaining what had happened but as long as Gab and Dan were around I could only give a censored version.

I whistled with my fingers. Within seconds the pack arrived and I sent Gab and Dan with them into my garden to play fetch with them. This had the two effects that the children were out of earshot and the pack wouldn't need a long walk in the evening. Sonja took the opportunity to coax some more details out of me. She was impressed by my deeds.

"You mean that you took down three attackers alone?"

"No. The pack took down the three attackers, I just supervised them."

She came a step closer and softly hit me on the shoulder. "You're so modest. And so strong." She let her hand hold on to my biceps after she had given it a light test.

"I'm neither. A friend needed help and I answered. It wasn't even dangerous. Nobody can win against a pack of Dobermans."

She closed the gap even more and pressed her generous bust on my arm, "Maybe I've forgotten how men are. There hasn't been a man in my life since my husband died from that heart attack three years ago."

At least she had the modesty to look sad, while she brazenly declared her status as being both available and willing.

"Maybe you could give me your number and we could meet someday and you could remind of how men are?"