Chapter 18
I didn't sleep all night. A nagging feeling, deep inside, kept me awake, guarding Jenny. At one point, her peaceful slumber was interrupted by what appeared to be the beginnings of a nightmare. When I noticed, I gently shook her awake. Jenny was confused for a few seconds until she realized where she was and that she was safe. She clung more tightly to me and drifted back asleep.
As the sun started to peek over the horizon and turn the sky a light shade of pink, I rose from the bed. My body was stiff and sore from remaining motionless for hours while watching my wife for any sign of distress. I didn't know why, but as the sun rose, I felt the trouble from the night before had passed. I stretched, then decided to go for my morning run.
I went out the front door, and to my surprise, the black SUV was there again. I walked over and peered in the windshield, prepared to confront whoever might be inside. It was empty. I backed away and heard the strange howl again. The skin on my arms and the back of my neck stood up. The animal sounded much closer now that I was outside. I wondered what it was.
Coyotes were common in our area, but their sound was much higher pitched and yippy. Bobcats were also reasonably common, but they had more of a yowling sound. Rumor had it that mountain lions were also known to wander the woods around our home. I had no idea what they sounded like, but I was pretty sure they didn't sound the same as the animal I was hearing.
I looked around, shaking off the creepiness, and began my jog. The park was still shrouded in darkness, as the sun was not up far enough to make it through the foliage. As I turned onto the trail that meandered around the lake, I heard the howl again, much closer. It was so loud that I could feel the rumbling in my chest. I ran a little faster.
The trail passed through a thick part of the woods, where the trees completely encompassed the path, forming a verdant tunnel. Suddenly, to my left came a low, deep growling, like a dog preparing to attack. I turned to look in the woods and saw what appeared to be glowing red eyes staring back at me from about chest level. I ran a lot faster.
I exited the tunnel and darted across a wooden bridge. I heard what sounded like heavy footfalls behind me, like an animal running. I lowered my head and started to sprint. As I rounded a bend in the trail, I hazarded a glance back, and what I saw sent terror through my body.
I only caught a brief look, but that was more than enough. It was jet black and appeared to be dog-like, but huge, it's back nearly the height of my shoulders. It had a long, pointy head terminating in a mouth of vicious fangs. It ran on all fours, on massively-muscled legs. Each of its feet had long, dagger-like claws that dug deeply into the Earth as it ran.
I saw a small utility building on the far side of the clearing and ran for it. I grabbed the doorknob and tried it to no avail. It was locked. I shook the door violently, but it wouldn't budge. I turned back and saw the beast bearing down on me.
I ran toward the main path, but the beast beat me to the junction. It slid to a stop and turned to face me. I was terrified and froze in place. The creature opened it's maw, and its fangs dripped saliva as it slowly stalked toward me, step by step.
I couldn't move. I knew I faced my doom, but something primal held me locked in place. It was as if my body knew it was too late. Everyone knows about our body's fight or flight response, but there is a third state the body goes into when facing a threat called freeze. Apparently, this state is to help us deal with impending death. I wondered if this was how a gazelle felt when a jaguar dragged it to the ground.
The beast lunged at me. I could feel the heat of its breath on my face and the warmth of the urine running down my legs as I evacuated my bladder. I was struck in the chest, violently, and knocked to the ground. I heard a ripping sound and warm blood sprayed out, covering my face, and blurring my vision.
Death was painless. That surprised me. I had anticipated agonizing pain. How long would it take, I wondered, before the oxygen left my brain and I passed out? How long until I reached silent oblivion?
"Are you injured?" someone asked through the fog in my brain.
I felt hands on my body, feeling me, touching me. The voice came again, "Are you injured? Did it reach you?"
I opened my eyes but couldn't see clearly. A blurry face stared down at me. It was a male face. It had dark features and a long, full black beard, and seemed vaguely familiar. "We must hurry," he said, trying to pull me to my feet. "There may be another hound on your trail."
"W-what?" I asked.
"This hellhound nearly got you," the man explained. "I just managed to dispatch it in the nick of time. I feared I might be too late."
"Am I," I began, my voice hesitating? "Dead?"
"Not yet," the man answered, "but if we don't get you home quickly, I cannot guarantee you won't be soon."
"I'm alive?" I asked, scarcely believing it.
"Yes, now come on, lad, we must go," he said, extending a hand to me. "Your wife is in peril. You should not have left her alone."
I took his hand, and he pulled me to my feet. I recognized him with a gasp. He was the man driving the black SUV and the bearded man in my dream.
"Who are you?" I asked. "What the fuck is going on? What was that thing, and why was it trying to kill me?" All my questions came pouring out all at once.
"The name is Krieg," he said, "I'll explain everything, but now is not the time."
He removed a bottle from his belt, uncorked it and poured the contents on the body and severed head of the beast that had attacked me. The remains began to smoke and sizzle. Within seconds it was reduced to black ashes.
I was still confused and bewildered, so Krieg had to drag me out of the park to his waiting SUV. As we neared it, he pushed a button on his key fob, and the rear gate opened. "Climb in the back," he directed me. "You stink of urine, and I don't want to mess up the leather interior."
Chapter 19
I laid in the back of the SUV, curled in a ball, shaking uncontrollably as I contemplated what had just happened. Nothing made any sense. Maybe I was in shock. Maybe I was stuck in a dream.
The SUV stopped, and a few seconds later, the gate opened. I crawled out as Krieg came around to the back. We were in my driveway.
"Hurry," Krieg said. "Her soul is in danger."
Krieg walked away. I followed him to the front door, which he opened without needing a key. "You should never leave the door unlocked," he scolded me. "It is an open invitation to trouble."
As we entered the foyer, Jenny let out a blood-curdling scream. I bolted up the stairs, taking them two or three at a time. Krieg was right behind me. We burst into the bedroom to find Jenny naked and spread eagle, her feet and ass were raised off the bed as if held by an invisible assailant. She was visibly being fucked by something or someone.
She cried out again, but this time it was a mix of pleasure and something else. I ran to grab her, but Krieg shouted, "Do not touch her!" I froze in place.
Krieg drew the sword, which he had used to kill the hellhound and swung it through the air between Jenny's legs. She gasped and fell to the bed, then rolled into the fetal position.
Krieg sheathed the sword and pulled another bottle from his bed. He uncorked it and began shouting in what sounded like Latin as he splashed the liquid on the bed and my wife's body. When it contacted her, Jenny screamed in pain and tried desperately to flee. Krieg grabbed her and held her down, splashing more of the water on her and shouting at her. I made out the words "in nomine patri et filii et spiritus sancti," which I knew to be invoking the Holy Trinity, but the rest was gibberish to me.
As I watched, in shock, Jenny lashed out with her foot, kicking Krieg in the chest, sending him flying from the bed.
"She is not yours!" Krieg shouted as he regained his feet. He drew a dagger. The blade seemed to come alive with blue flames. He waved it in the air as if drawing some magical symbol. I could see a five-pointed star appear before him, made of the same blue fire. I stared, unable to comprehend what was happening.
Krieg drew a deep breath and shouted, "Yod-heh-vav-heh!" His voice seemed to vibrate, like a Buddhist priest reciting a mantra. Jenny let out a shriek and fell still on the bed.
Krieg turned to his right and waved the dagger in the air, carving another pentagram, which flamed blue off to my right. He stabbed the blade into the center of the pentagram, and a cord of fire connected the first pentagram to the second.
