《Boneless Beings》


 PROLOGUE

    ~PROLOGUE~


    "19th January 2009


    The moon stares at me through the lake as I stare right back at it. It''s a pleasant night, almost like my soul is dancing with another one. For those of you wondering, I live with my mom in THE Amazon, the rainforest, next to a lake in a wooden cabin with nothing more than a mattress made from hay and covered with a thin cloth. Unlike our traditional mattress, these things actually stab you every time you sit, lay down, or even brush your hand on them.


    We all were fishing that day. Everyone''s asleep now. It''s just me here, in a cabin, right across the lake, through which the moon calls me.


    Then, ripples from where I put my fishing net appear. Then, they repeat... over and over. A second later, they stop. But then, a big splash followed. One that woke everybody up. All the men take out their stones, torches, and put on a skirt made from banana leaves, just barely covering their knees. Then, they all jump into the water, shirtless, and without proper weapons.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Then, something just barely breaks the surface of the water. It looks like a claw... but not a normal one. It looks like one large branch from a reindeer''s horns. It becomes clear that is not a fish.


    I watch with suspense holding me down. But when they reach the net, they look at us and signal that it was nothing. The men then decide and agree to go deeper into the lake and check the bottom of the net. Then, I see it. It slowly crawls over the net to the side in which the men went down. As it slowly slips over, I see enough to be sure that it is not a fish. The fear takes its mask of suspense off and it sets in. The creature is still going. It is a good fifteen feet long and as thick as a wrestler.


    And finally, it crosses over. And then, the water''s surface shakes. Several large bubbles break the surface. Then, all the men''s bodies float up, followed by a crimson-red shade of their own blood


    They have been cut from every limb and all the bones have been removed. The skull is still there but turned upside down within the head. But before I know it, I fall asleep while standing... something PUTS me to sleep.


    Then, I wake up several hours later in the middle of an underground circular dungeon.


    If you''re reading this, I have been tied from the neck to a pillar using some sort of a rope.


    Help me." writes Morgan. He then crumples the paper and throws it through the top-open stairway.

 Chapter 1 - Davis

    Chapter 1 - Davis


    It was a long, long time ago in Brazil, that I used to solve violent doings and determine what the killer was. Notice that I said ¡®what¡¯ not ¡®who¡¯. It is usually something that the world doesn¡¯t know of. Villages in the Amazon have built wooden corridors from their door to the others so that the ¡°Prisao de Almas¡± doesn¡¯t mistake them for a meal. That is ¡®Prison of souls¡¯ in Portuguese.


    They had nothing but sticks and stones to work with. At daytime, they¡¯d be at a high alert. At night time, they scramble back into their corridors, letting sticks decide their fate.


    Now, I work as a P.I, through the imperfect loops of the law. I may sound mad, but I solve the ¡®activities of savagery¡¯ that no human being is capable of doing. For example, my first case was with a kid who was around seven years old. He said that something big dragged his friends into the water, and predictable I didn¡¯t believe him. He took my hand and ended up forcing me to go to the lake that they supposedly ¡®were¡¯ at.


    So again, I didn¡¯t believe him¡­ at least until now. I¡¯ve found a bunch of footsteps going into the water like people were here from last night¡­ but the footsteps didn''t return. And besides that, the soggy, slippery, and sticky mud had long finger grip-marks grooved into the soil, leading into the woods. Almost as if they were dragged. But they had jagged edges and went on for a long way in a straight line¡­ almost as if they were made at a high speed.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Locals say that that is a kid¡¯s finger-tracks. They believe that he came back once and haunted them in their slumber. He whispered ¡®me ajuda.¡¯ In their ears. Which is Portuguese for ¡®help me¡¯.


    So, now, here I am. I have taken up the case. Let me remind you, I don¡¯t work for or with the law. I work through it. I torture where I need to and I defend when I need to. So, I get to work and begin asking questions to the locals.


    This case hits home to me as I have a young son who went missing in the same way. I can''t believe that I am thinking this, but he''s gone. No one survives for a month while kidnapped and without food. All hope has been scraped away by me expecting him to walk through the wooden front door.


    I put my head back into my mind, flick dust off my raincoat, and tighten my fedora against my forehead. I begin examining the scene. The lengths between the finger-tracks are approximately the length between the spread fingers of a child¡¯s hand. I only found one track though. So, maybe he used the other hand to try and shake loose.


    This could be a human¡¯s doing. This case needs to be looked into. I have a partner who¡¯s been working in Brazil as a P.I too. I call him over.


    But there was something I did not cover. And he asks me just that. ¡°Were there footprints at the scene?¡± He asked.


    Oh god. A missing kid, and absolutely 0 pairs of footprints. He can¡¯t know about this case. The further he is from this, that much safer for him. So, I lie, ¡°Actually don¡¯t come over. I think I found the answer.¡±


    No footprints, but scratch marks on the mud. This is definitely not a human being. And then, the wind rushes towards me. It carries a crumpled piece of paper. I open it up and read through it. It reads, ¡°If you¡¯re reading this, I have been tied from the neck using some sort of a rope¡­¡±

 Chapter 2 - Me Ajuda

    <u>Chapter 2 ¨C Me Ajuda</u>


    My phone rings. I don¡¯t notice it, staring out the window trying to fit the puzzle pieces together. They just need more pieces. This isn¡¯t it. Then, my phone goes to voicemail. ¡°Honey. It¡¯s me, Lauren. Our little bulb wants to know when you are coming back. Call me, honey.¡±


    As that went off, I sat right there. Till now, thinking of what death is. Is it like discarding a soul that isn¡¯t needed anymore?


    My thinking comes to an abrupt end as an ugly beep plunges into my earlobes making my eardrums feel like a drum skin in use after the voicemail. As it went on, it became louder and louder. My windows shattered and the glass I had has also become one with the splinters on the bamboo floor.


    However, something changes in the beep near the end. It goes deeper and distorts. Then, a soft beep follows after which I hear my wife cry and beg for mercy. Then, I hear a knife jam through someone. My wife, Lauren begins choking. Then, my little bulb, a newborn begins crying, hoping for help. A cascade of worry and surprise holds me down in place as the voicemail goes off with a soft beep.


    Then, I wake up. I jump up and sit up in bed as I say to myself, ¡°One little, two little honeybees. Three little four little honeybees¡­¡±


    From the wooden door, a knock on the door jolts its way to my all-knowing ears. I go and check on it. It¡¯s a local man dressed in a vest and a cloth wrapped around his waist, covering up to just under his knees. He lifts his finger and points towards the woods. It seems that he wants me to take a look.


    So, I step out of my little hut and put on my shoes. As soon as I raise my head after tying my shoelace, the sun does a staring contest at me, without me. It¡¯s all around, the sun. It¡¯s all so¡­ bright and jolly. But not for me. Because I am like glass. The sun shines right through me.


    The old man then sneaks up behind me and ties my hands with a rope. I don¡¯t panic. He then puts a blindfold on me and drags me to a railroad. Onto the tracks, he ties me.


    ¡°Burn in hell, you filthy soul!¡± He says. ¡°Not today,¡± I say as calm as a bar of soap. He ties me up in the middle of the railroad. I simply pull my wrists away from each other and snap out of the ropes. Then, the old man looks at me in puzzle and rejection of what he just saw¡­ and what he sees.


    I then watch as he tries to run away. As soon as the train passes from the rope, I pick up the sliced bit. I close my eyes and feel my face change. When I open them back up, there I am, in front of a waterfall with the old man running towards me.


    He stops running and gasps, ¡°This is not possible, you were just there¡­¡± he points out. ¡°Now, I¡¯m here.¡± I reply with a grin growing leisurely towards my left ear, ¡°you¡¯re coming with me.¡± I say and put the rope on his wrist.


    I take him to the railroad and tie him up perpendicularly to the tracks. Then, I begin the interrogation. ¡°You tell me everything you know, or you get sliced and survive with nothing more than your chest and head.¡± I point out, ¡°So, where is he?¡± I ask him. ¡°I don¡¯t know man!¡± He replies. I say, ¡°I don¡¯t believe you. WHERE is he?¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    He replies the same for the next three times. But then, the tracks start to vibrate. A train¡¯s noise comes into range. So I ask him one last time.


    He panics and cracks, ¡°I had him tied here but he got away. I swear I didn¡¯t hurt that little kid!¡±


    ¡°Finally,¡± I say. ¡°Get me out of here now!¡± Screams the old rag. I turn around and slowly walk away. ¡°HEY!¡± He screams. I pull my fedora down, dust my raincoat, and snap my fingers.


    The rope snaps with my fingers and he drags himself clear, barely a meter away from the train. I grab a cup of tea and take a seat on a rock, staring at the undisturbed surface of the water. Is that death? Stagnant nothingness?


    I take out my phone and click on the beheaded telephone icon. It¡¯s Lauren, she has given me a missed call. Not knowing what to expect, I call her phone. I look down at the lake and I see the rippling reflection of the face the old man is afraid of. It is colored brown overall and a lighter brown fades in at every peak on the skull. Canines long as fingers and shaped like a giant claw, growing out of the gum and completely exposed due to no lip.


    I blink, and then it¡¯s me again. Just a father hoping to hell that his son is alive. His name is¡­ was Hopper.


    The call gets sent to voicemail. ¡°Hey honey, I¡­¡± I stop as I notice blood splatter on the damp soil. I finish the voicemail by saying, ¡°I might be here long. Hold on to yourself and little bulb Amy.¡±


    Very leisurely, I knock over the top of my flip-phone with an index and fit the little thing into my pockets. I push my sunglasses higher up my nose and begin walking there, not knowing what to expect, with a shadow of worry behind me.


    The blood splatter continues behind the bushes. I follow it until I see something/someone on the floor, dead. I walk over the bush and spot the body. It¡¯s just a poor bore except, it¡¯s not JUST a bore. This is the first bore I saw that has claws. I¡¯m probably not seeing straight. So I turn my attention to finding more leads.


    Seconds turn into minutes, which turn into hours. Seven hours of walking, searching, and digging later, I find a trail of footsteps about a mile out of the village. They¡¯re bare feet, and no one in the village wears shoes. And they are small. There is a good chance that this may have been someone who has something to do with the vanishing of Morgan.


    I follow the footsteps and they kept getting fresher every step along the way. In the distance, I see a kid run. Not knowing the context of this, I sprint to catch him. Several minutes later, along the same path, I catch up to the boy.


    He is tensed out and his heart is a fist moving as fast as an engine¡¯s piston, sweat rolling down his chest and his breath shaking from terror.


    ¡°Let me go! Let me go!¡± He screams, ¡°You can¡¯t protect me from what¡¯s coming.¡±


    ¡°Oh, trust me, I can,¡± I reply. Then the feeling of my face changing strikes again. The boy freezes in my hand. He then screams for help. ¡°Hey, stop!¡± I tell him, ¡°I am not here to hurt you, boy. I just need some answers about Morgan if you know him. He went missing two days ago.¡±


    ¡°Morgan? Is this about him?¡± He asks. ¡°All right, good start, you know him. You a friend or what?¡± I ask. ¡°Follow me.¡±


    He leads the way to a cabin in the middle of nowhere. ¡°This is where Morgan and I played last time I saw him.¡± he continues, ¡°That night however was different. There was something evil in the air. We decided to sleep in the cabin for the night, just to be safe. But when we fell asleep, I heard something. It said¡­--¡± I interrupt him with, ¡°Those dented bushes were there before?¡± He nods and says, ¡°That¡¯s where I lost Morgan.¡±


    Good, that is a solid lead. ¡°What did you hear while you were sleeping that day?¡± I ask. He replies ¡°I heard Morgan say ¡®me ajuda¡¯.¡±

 Chapter 3 - Its Gone

    <u>Chapter 3: It¡¯s Gone</u>


    Bad day, after bad day. Moon after moon. Star after star. And hope after hope, rain begins to kiss the forest, but it stays until it dries up. The Cascades of shadows roam the village at night. And in between all of that is I. Just plain old I. But ¡®plain old I¡¯ isn¡¯t just I. There is another me under my skin. The things I¡¯d do for my family.


    But behind all that, is a place for regrets. Things I have already done, things that I would do again¡­ they fit my cases. Something that no sane person is capable of. Here¡¯s why what happens really happens to me.


    When I was five, my mom and dad were just the best things to happen to me. Symptoms from my ¡®revanchist¡¯ identity began to show. I was a kid with teeth as sharp as needles and as tall as claws. My mom tried to give me a chip, it was movie night.


    As she grew towards me to feed me the chip, everything else started to slide out of my sight and I felt like I was being pulled into the wall behind. I open my mouth for the chip. As soon as the chip entered my mouth, my teeth grew the way they are right now and they sliced her wrists off.


    I have to live with that, worst part of it is my family doesn¡¯t know.


    This ¡®unusual¡¯ detective work, I do for me. Every day that it pours, I taste the rain, for the flavor reminds me of greed. Every case for me is a carnival of rust. I like it even though I shouldn¡¯t. I look for a puzzle, not a solution. It¡¯s all a game of avoiding failure. That is only till my true colors will bleed.


    So now, back to the case. I had to follow the trails of dents on the bushes. These are made by something heavy. Only as heavy as a young human or heavier. So, I get to the trail on foot and begin my chase. The trail just disappears into the green and yellow.


    My only audience being the revanchist, I move on, backtrack my way, and come across a little hut in the middle of nowhere. There is someone snoring inside¡­ in their deep slumber which I try to interrupt but fail.


    So, I drag him all the way back to the village. With mud paved on his back and hair, I set him in my cabin. As I did, I noticed that everyone looked at him will ill still eyes.


    I just need some information from him, then I will put him back¡ªHold on. I think I found it. It is pierced onto the right ear of his. I take it out. Then the locals barge into my cabin. They all shuffle in, squeeze me into the walls, and make their way to him. ¡°YOU sent it. I know YOU sent it!¡± Screams every man and woman. Then, he finally wakes up underneath a waterfall of accusations, heavy breath and cussing.


    They drag him by his feet to the center of the village and I sprint after them trying to stop them from whatever sinister deed that they may do to him.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    They lay him down on a stump, grab spears and scream at him in Portuguese. Then, I get a clear vision of what is happening. There is a spear jammed into his gut. He then replies screaming, ¡°I swear I didn¡¯t do it.¡±


    Then, all hell breaks loose and seven more spears get raised and put into his gut. Except, they remove it and stab it in again and again until the squirting fountain of blood covers all of the front row¡¯s faces in red. Then, the men using the spears, chop the head of the old man off and stab it onto the spear.


    Vines of blood wiggle down the handle and the blade. The earth drinks it all up. And there it is, another soul evicted. The blood shoots from the rest of his headless body and hits the lakeshore a foot away, with red foam sitting on top of a crimson river being drunk by the lake itself.


    I hear the rumble of a truck behind me¡­ a familiar truck. I turn around and see it, a brown-peach-colored Sherriff¡¯s SUV, or my partner, Lopez''s SUV. It comes rumbling slowly towards me. Then, the breaks screech to a halt.


    He steps out of the truck and doesn¡¯t say anything as his eyes are locked on the ¡®sticked¡¯ head. His brain runs around, tries to stack up as many clues it can.


    I tell him that it wasn¡¯t supposed to happen. But he¡¯s frozen. I back out of his bubble and resume my investigation. That¡¯s when I remember the letter I plucked out of the old man¡¯s earlobe. I unroll it and it reads, ¡°In the night all shall be released. In the night, the creature in the dark will strike¡­ away with a splash.¡±


    ¡°So, a creature in the waters, huh?¡± asks Lopez. ¡°Hey, partner! You okay?¡± I ask him, on my toes. He nods and we get back to work. Wait¡­ he doesn¡¯t know about all of this. He should stay out. Or¡­ maybe I could expose him to the other side.¡ªNo. Not a good idea.


    As we set off to investigate, I look around for more clues. None show up. On foot for the last nine hours, searching and nothing pops out.


    Then, my thinking bubble blows out, passing a disgustingly spectacular idea. The letter from the ear mentioned ¡®splash¡¯. It could¡¯ve implied to the lake. What if I try to kill it? I could lure it out of the lake once it is dark. I have maybe an hour of daylight left. I decide to do just so by borrowing my partner¡¯s rifle and revolver, buying a bunch of spears from the men. And that¡¯s all. Lopez should be asleep at that time.


    So, I go to the cabin with him, get an hour of sleep, and then it was ¡®rise and confine¡¯ in the little cabin.


    I close my eyes. Then, tiny splashes in the water wake me up. The fishing net then begins to move. It must be something heavy in there.


    I gear up, take half a million short breaths, and shuffle towards the shore. I push one foot forward, then the other, repeating it until the water had just crossed my hip-level.


    That¡¯s when I begin shaking around, making tiny vibrations in the water. I watch for ripples in the water and nothing happens.


    All of a sudden, my phone rings and Lopez wakes up. He must not see. So I run back out of the water towards the cabin, drop the gear under the porch, and barge into the cabin. I tell him that the lake was compromised as a bathroom by me. After all, I did wet myself in the wet. On the way, I must have knocked over the ¡®sticked¡¯ head. It is in the lake right now, floating in the water abandoning its blade. Lopez notices it too.


    I turn around and pick up the phone. It is a voicemail from my wife, ¡°Hey honey, please pick up. I miss you. I just wish¡ª¡± I stop the voicemail as I have no time for my personal life right now. I turn back around to look at the head on the water. It is still there. But then, Lopez points at it as he sees ripples that even I begin to see right under the head. Then, within a blink, something plunges out of the water and pulls the head in.


    It¡¯s gone.

 Chapter 4: Oblong Beast

    <u>Chapter 4 ¨C Oblong Beast</u>


    Lopez, he saw that. He shouldn¡¯t have. He isn¡¯t safe anymore. He has a family too. I need to get him out of here. So, when he¡¯s asleep I am going to take him out of here in the back of his truck. I hate to do this, but I am going to.


    So that nightfall, when the stars start to wink, I woke up, closed him in his sleeping bag, and dragged him to the car. Luckily, he sleeps like a lazy cat. Even falling down the stairs did not wake him up. I put him in the boot, and click the door shut. I get into the car and begin driving the oblong beast of an SUV.


    I park up near the woods, next to a cabin, and drag him into there. I shut the doors and drive back.


    When I got back, I fell right to sleep, covering my face to hide the other. I woke up the next morning feeling shy of caffeine. A local man knocks at my door and walks up to me. I lazily open my chameleon eyes and feel the light burn into them.


    A second later, I notice that the man has a cup in his hand. Looks like coffee. So, I sit up and accept the cup. ¡°Lopez, is he safe?¡± I think to myself. I better go find out after this cup of coffee. As soon as I take a sip, my right cheek quivers, and my eyes nearly fall out.


    That is a STRONG cup of coffee. Then, I look out the window to see EVERY LOCAL stare at me and begin laughing. This is a prank¡­ stupid me.


    A sip is enough to be wired for eternity. I leave the cabin, put on my fedora, and begin walking to the cabin I had left him in.


    The door is open. I call out to him and I hear no response. I speed up and jog to the door. No one is there. But a few footsteps are leading out.


    They look very sloppy as if he was sprinting from something or someone. A woman from the village is searching there too. It is Delores.


    ¡°He was just here. I came to get him some coffee.¡± She says. ¡°yeah¡­ he¡¯s like that. He might have run away from that coffee.¡± I say.


    I don¡¯t know what it is, but there is something strange about her. I can feel the strangeness. She looks calm. VERY calm. Too calm. But then, tears break the surface of her eyes. No facial expression, but gasps, head twitches, and tears. That is when I know, she faces autism.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    I take off my raincoat and put it around her, gently wrap my hand around her shoulders to hold the coat in place, and walk with her to the village, anticipating the presence of Lopez there.


    When I get there, however, he isn¡¯t there. Now, my heart shifts a gear up. I manage to remain in my little metaphorical box and not freak out. He must be somewhere else then. His car wasn¡¯t there either, so, maybe he drove out for a pub.


    I need to check on him. So, I got back to the cabin and yet see no one there from a few feet away. But when I walk over to the cabin, I see a kid. Not alive. Not on the floor either. They¡¯ve been hung by their neck to the ceiling. Suddenly, something pokes into my back. Feels like a spear.


    ¡°It chased me. It wanted me to do this. HE wants you!!¡± Screams Lopez¡¯s voice from behind me. I put my hands above my head and talk to him, ¡°Lopez, it is not ¡®making¡¯ you do anything. You just chose to follow it. Let me go. I swear, it will all be over soon.¡±


    He hesitates and then lets me turn around. He has a revolver. I thought I had it¡­


    As I look behind him, I freeze as I notice vines growing down from a tree. Vines that weren¡¯t there before. They are getting longer and longer, inching towards us. From inside that, I hear faint screams of, ¡°ME AJUDA! ME AJUDA!¡±


    Lopez drops the gun and then runs away, into the vines. Soon enough. A shake in the vines follow. He disappears. I call out, no response I hear.


    But, another shake in the vines follows. Then, the voices from ¡®Me Ajuda¡± are being screamed by Lopez. Immediately after that, a boy drops out.


    He matches the description of Morgan. And he looks like hell. Delores was around again¡­ She sees him and paces towards him. She carries him in her arms, and limps away, towards the village.


    I think I know what this thing is. The ¡®carcere animam meam¡¯. Or in English, that means ¡®Prison of a soul¡¯. I have encountered one before, but not one this hungry for fresh souls. It has never attacked children before.


    Immediately after that, a gooey brown substance salivates through the gaps in the vines. It plops on the ground and starts to flow together. The chunks overlap each other and build up, to become something like a human¡­ A seven-year-old. But soon, flames shoot out of little pores of the creature. Then, the color starts to form. It makes a very accurate figure of the scorched body of Morgan. As soon as it opens its mouth, it has the same teeth as my ¡®revanchist¡¯-self. Only that as he screams, he hisses and squeals.


    The carcere needs just one soul¡­ but why is it coming after me now?


    Then, my phone rings. It goes to voicemail straight away. And my wife screams, as something metallic stabs her and she chokes on her own blood. Then, my infant screams too. Something sinister with the same voice as this ¡®scorched¡¯ Morgan hisses, and slowly eases out of the hiss. Then, the voicemail goes out.


    It¡¯s true. My family is in danger. I have to save them¡­ I have to kill it.

 Chapter 5 - Transparent

    Chapter 5 ¨C Transparent


    I need a plane. To save my family, I have to travel around three hundred miles. So, I call my former employers and ask them for one, but they chuck me out.


    Or, I just need a car. A fast as hell one. I scope out the area for nearby car dealers and end up driving sixty miles to get to a used car dealer. Without considering it, I buy a brand new 1969 Chevy Chevelle and ride to Minnesota, where my family is.


    I stomp out of the car and towards the front of the hospital she got taken into. Ramming my way through carts, shuffling families and white coats, until two of them stop me. ¡°Mr. Macintyre?¡± they ask with a twisted head. ¡°Where is she?¡± I repeat twice¡­ or thrice. They take me in.


    My jaw leans downward and my hand moves to cover my mouth as I begin sobbing in front of the body that once was my wife. Strangle marks surrounded her neck caused by multiple ropes, leaving dents covered in transparent slime. Her face, grey and the remaining body, fading to grey too. The skin is dented to expose an upside-down skull. And she has no bones. Just a coat of skin.


    But then, everything changes. I am back in the Amazonian village. I laugh at my wife on the phone. It becomes the best work day of my entire life. I could barely tell the difference.


    Then, I move closer to the mic and say to her, ¡°Honey, shut the doors and windows. Something is out there¡­ Someone.¡±


    She listens to my words and understands that it is a warning. She exits the call and does so. I call it a day and lay down in on the bed in my cozy little cabin.


    Next morning, I see a woman dressed in police uniform sleeping next to the bed, on the floor. She wakes up, flings her chin-reaching hair to the back of her head. Then, she looks over to me and smiles. ¡°Good night¡¯s sleep?¡± She asks. ¡°Yeah. And who are you, again?¡± I reply puzzled. ¡°I am Spara. I just got assigned to a missing kid¡¯s case. But, I see you here, dressed in a sheriff¡¯s uniform, but studying out of a book of the¡­ paranormal?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s for entertainment¡­¡± I say. I change the topic and show her the clues I found so far. ¡°I¡¯ll check it out. You go home to your little bean and your wife.¡± She replies.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    I know what this is. The creature is manipulating me in an alternative reality. It wants me to stay, by giving me what I always wanted. So, what if I try to manipulate it back, by making it think that I want to stay, or I don¡¯t know what is going on? While I do so, I can study it, observe it and begin making notes to find a way and trick it¡­ or even kill it. I¡¯m signing off for now. I¡¯ll write more when something happens.


    Okay, it has been a few weeks¡­ I lost count. But I did notice that it is attached to the lake. And¡­ it is not a creature. Basically, hell broke loose. This is basically a demon. It took the form of an anaconda originally. But as it grew, it got hungrier. So, instead of going out and hunting more, it fused itself with multiple anacondas to get a larger stomach. It worked for a week. But then, it attacked Morgan and his friends. Shortly later, it attacked again and took the man on the shore and lastly, it tried to get me when I stepped into the water.


    My strategy worked so far. But since it is a demon, I have to lure it out, and try salting it in the eyes. According to local sightings, its length ranges from seven feet to a good fifty feet. They say that it has fused with around twenty anacondas now. So, I have to be cautious. It should NOT see me. I must be careful.


    Before I set off, I need to say my goodbyes to my wife and kid. I call them and she picks up instantly. ¡°Hey honey,¡± She says, ¡°Wanna know what we had for breakfast?¡± ¡°Oh, no no no,¡± I say, ¡°I already know. Bacon, chips and chocolate cake with coffee sprinkled over the top.¡± ¡°Are you sure you are not outside my window?¡± She asks sarcastically. ¡°Yep¡­ Hey, I love you and the little bean. Take care of him, okay?¡± I reply.


    ¡°Hey, Honey. Wanna know what we had for breakfast?¡± She asks again. Thoughts rush through my head as I answer, ¡°I already told you right?¡± I ask. ¡°No, you didn¡¯t. You can¡¯t get away from me that easy.¡± She replies.


    My mind rushes into blackness and I get worried. My heart begins speeding up and echoing. I put down the phone and rush to her. A few hours later, I arrive, take her into the car and head to a hospital. Slamming the brakes, we come to a halt. I open the door, grab her hand and walk into the building surrounded by long, white robes. A nurse takes her in and I follow her. A couple minutes later, the nurse comes out with a worried look. ¡°Nothing is wrong.¡± She says, ¡°We tracked her brain wave and found nothing wrong. Come take a look.¡±


    I follow her in. She turns on the computer screens. And the waves are just randomly swimming across the screens. Wait¡­ I think something happened. One of the waves repeated itself.


    It¡¯s almost like she repeated that moment. Almost as if she did NOT do the first wave. But she did the second one. It¡¯s like, she is just watching¡­ Like she was somewhere else while right here. Like something took over her.

 AN IMPORTANT NOTICE

    Good day! Reader, I have some bad news followed by a ray of good news. So let''s get the bad news out of the way first.


    Unfortunately, chapter 6 of this book will be the conclusion of this season. Hence, it may take a while to get released.


    The good news however is, YOU DON''T NEED TO WORRY. I have another season planned for this book. Now, the date is not been finalized yet, I may begin uploading alongside the release of Season 3 of Kelly. In order to determine the release of the season, you just need to answer the poll underneath. Based on the answers, I will begin drafting the chapters.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ***Please note that I am doing this as this is my less successful story. Hence, I just want to make sure that the book is enough love from the few reading it.

 Chapter 6 - [PART 1] - Tie My Tie

    <u>Chapter 6 ¨C Tie My Tie</u>


    <u>[Part 1]</u>


    Whatever got into my wife has something to do with Spara. I just have a strange feeling. I open my eyes and raise my head. I look at her on the bed, still in her uniform, in deep sleep. This is my time. Just to make sure, I have to check the villagers are asleep. And to my surprise, even a few of the night guards are asleep¡­ Actually, all of them are. That¡¯s just unusual. I then pull out my gun and start walking around the village¡¯s fence perimeters. Then, a guard very distinctively twitches his wrist on the floor. As I walk towards him, I see the face without a face. The layer of skin ripped apart from his face, barely exposing a crimson red skull with an eyeball attached to it and the other pushed halfway in. On his back, the inclined outline from underneath his skin roughly the shape of a slit spine.


    I begin to inhale air as if it is soup and exhale the air like it is cotton stuck within. I need to get out of here¡­ Not without some protection. So, I grab a branch, tie my tie around it, and light it on fire. But then, something I never expected happened¡­ Grey cloud that I failed to notice was stalking me all along. Now, thunder strikes by the water. Then, I hear, ¡°Help me, Amigo.¡±


    Lopez? And then I see him, standing crooked behind me. Nothing from hell can do that from what I know. ¡°You need to be careful man, amigo. They got your weak spot.¡± He says. In wonder I look around and then, I see it. My wife, in the middle of the lake, tied to nothingness, just floating in the air, six feet from the water.


    ¡°Dave! Leave him, honey!¡± She cries, ¡°I hid our son. Go, take care of him. His name now is, Andre. Please just go!¡± ¡°Hold on, we¡¯re gonna get you out of there!¡± I reassure her.


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen this thing, honey. I can¡¯t live with what I have seen. Just let me forget it, even if it hurts, it¡¯s my final wish.¡± She replies. ¡°Hold on, I¡¯ll swim over to you!¡± I say as I begin pulling the water towards me. I get right in front of her, open my eyes in the water, and notice that my line of sight of the moon is being obstructed by something big. That must be it. It must be the creature I am looking for.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    She needs to get out of there. I dive deeper down into the water. I change into the revanchist and swim-up so fast that I plunge out of the water five feet high. But it¡¯s too late. The creature already got up to her. Not even a second later, it swallows her whole. Then, through the scales, blood splatters onto me, warm and fresh. What I can only assume to be my wife¡¯s blood. Then, a soft rope-structure hits me. That is her intestine.¡± I notice as I look at it. Time goes back to normal and I fall back into the lake.


    Is that it? Is the last thing she saw the me underneath and right beside the me? I should¡¯ve quit this job when Spara told me to. Hell, do I need to carry on? Maybe I do. And why? Because this is all a part of the ¡®Big Plan¡¯ of the man upstairs?


    My revanchist stays on and I begin to swim away. The fins on my feet thrust me towards the shore. And within a second I clash with the shore, slipping into the mud, I get up again and punch a tree down, then another one. And over again. Until I become me again and begin feeling the buzz in my head. It¡¯s like my eyes are about to pop out.


    I mop myself back to the cabin, grab a rope from the utility cupboard and think about having my neck on the end of it. But I hesitate, I am too scared to die. Too scared to join her. Because I know where she is, but I don¡¯t know where I¡¯ll end up.


    But I decide to do it anyway. I put a chair under the lowest plank there is, throw my rope over the plank, tie a knot to secure and make a loop at the bottom of it. I look through the loop to spot something I never expected. Spara looks at me through the window and signals me that she has an idea, that she needs me to do something for her.


    I get away from the loop and walk around to her. She tells me about a plan. ¡°Use that rope as a trigger. I have an ultra bass playlist on my Blu-ray. I will connect it to the SUV. The rope will loop around a stone. When the creature bumps into it, it will pull the stone against the play button, which shall start the music. Then, the creature should get stunned enough to kill. I got a rat poisoned tranquilizers. I just need you to¡­ be the bait¡­¡± She says.