by J. Hickey
Chapter 5
Hot Water
The bright light blinded the children, and they couldn't see the tall scar-faced man pointing his large rifle at them.
"M-My name is Hunter…" he somehow managed to choke out.
Elly hid behind her big brother in fear of the strange man in front of them.
"Are you the Jakobs' kids?" The man lowered the blinding light completely. Hunter recognized the man with jet-black hair and the menacing scar across his face from the argument with the old man in the wheelchair outside his bedroom window during their first night at the mansion. The man's voice was quite raspy when he spoke. Nothing about the man was friendly, and the large rifle he carried and currently had pointing at the children with a laser scope and floodlight modifications didn't help either.
"Yes, sir…" Hunter replied.
"You're supposed to be locked in your room until we get this mess straightened out!" the man yelled, walking over to the kids with fury. His scarred face was ridden with anger as he spoke. "You're in big trouble!"
"S-sorry." Hunter's apology was quickly drowned out by the sound of one of the bookcases suddenly smashing to the floor. It sounded like an explosion had been set off just a few feet away from them.
"What was that?" Elly shrieked.
"Shut up!" the scar-faced man ordered. He promptly turned towards the noise and shined the rifle's floodlight onto the overturned bookcase. It laid face down, the books sprawled out all over the floor in a heap. Only something quite sizable would have had the strength to knock over such a large and heavy bookcase.
"I tracked the beast into the library. It's in here with us…" the man explained. His eyes darted across the large stretch of the library to see anything else that may be out of the ordinary.
"No…" Elly gasped.
"You kids stay close," the raspy voice demanded. "I could have bagged him already if you two hadn't disobeyed orders!" He pushed the children forward cautiously, safeguarding them from any potential threats. They slowly made their way towards the opposite side of the library, where the elevator doors waited to return them safely to their room. Hunter and Elly could hear something lurking about in the shadows as they got closer, but they felt a sense of safety now that they had the scar-faced man there to protect them.
They continued onward, weaving in between the maze of bookshelves, moving slowly and quietly, stopping every so often for the scar-faced man to shine his bright light towards a potentially threatening noise.
"Just stay by me, and I'll get you to safety," whispered the man in his raspy voice.
"I'm scared…" Elly said, starting to panic. The mysterious noise around them seemed to get louder and more dominant. Something was definitely out there stalking them as they made their way through the library, just waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.
"How much farther-" Elly jumped in fear as she was interrupted by a growl bellowing from nearby. The thunderous howl shot an intense ringing noise into the children's ears, deafening them momentarily. Before they could react to the noise, the large blur of a catlike creature leaped in front of them. The beastly figure crashed into the scar-faced man's chest, making a sick thud upon contact. The man let out a low shriek of pain as the creature's impact knocked the wind out of him. He gasped for air as he fell onto his back, clutching his chest in pain.
"Run!" Hunter yelled as he and Elly hid from the beast's preying eyes behind a bookcase. Hunter knew this was the Beast of Bladenboro, the creature lurking about the ventilation system in their room. This was the beast that had kept them locked away in their room for their own safety. Hunter now understood why Ms. Ellingbee and Margot wanted to keep them safely locked away in their room. This creature was terrifying. The snarls and growls flooded the library halls as the children fled, daring not to peer back and witness the menacing attack.
"Hide!" the scar-faced man managed to yell out as he struggled with the feline creature on top of him.
The children found safety underneath one of the large study desks a few yards back from the ongoing attack, allowing them to watch the scuffle from a safe distance. They watched, fearful for the scar-faced man's life as he struggled with the creature in the dark halls of the library. The mighty creature now sat atop the man, mauling him with its sharp claws. Elly's eyes filled with tears; never in her eleven years had she ever felt so stricken with sheer terror.
The beast was roughly the size of the panthers Elly and Hunter had seen two summers ago during their visit to the zoo. Yet strangely enough, it had dark purple fur around the majority of its body, with a small white patch on its underbelly. It was hard to tell during the struggle, but the creature appeared to have a large patch of leathery scales on its back, naked of any hair. Its frame was quite muscular, and its feline face hissed, showing off its grotesque teeth as it tried to take control of the man fighting beneath it. It thrashed repeatedly with its razor-sharp claws. The children could hear the man scream in pain with every blow.
The creature had the man's rifle locked between its mighty jaws, attempting to chew through it to get to the man's neck. The scar-faced man used every ounce of strength he could muster to stay away from the monster's deadly jaws. He stared fearfully at the beast's large, soulless, green eyes, doing everything in his power to keep calm. The fiend's drool dripped onto the man's face, eager for its meal. The man quickly jerked his hips to the right, causing the beast to lose its balance and briefly stop its onslaught. The movement caused the man's index finger to pull the trigger of the rifle, and a loud gunshot echoed throughout the library. He quickly took the opening to crawl off his back and get to one knee, his rifle perfectly targeting the fiend's neck-a perfect shot.
The accidental shot had frightened the beast, and it had fallen onto its side. It swiftly jumped upright onto four legs, its hair standing upright on its neck. It was evident now, as Hunter peered on, that what he had thought before was a patch of scales on the beast's back was actually a set of giant bat-like wings that stretched out magnificently as it jumped into the air to flee. It soared flawlessly off into the far corner of the library. The man regained his composure and took a quick shot, which barely missed the creature's head.
"Son of a-" the man cursed loudly. He swiftly began reloading the rifle to hopefully get off another shot.
The beast wasted no time and managed to pry open one of the ventilation shafts high above the library floor. It fled hastily from the battle, quickly disappearing into the safety of the vents and retreating into the heart of the mansion's darkest areas.
"Damn it!" the man yelled, dusting himself off, his clothes ripped by the beasts claws. Blood dripped from his wounds, pooling at his thick-soled boots. "You kids okay?" His injuries didn't seem to faze him.
"Yea, we're fine," Hunter answered. Now that it was safe, he left the hiding spot under the study desk. "Elly? Where are you?" He looked around, unable to find his sister.
"Oh, no…" The man raced over near Hunter, throwing over one of the library desks, causing a loud thud as it hit the ground. Hunter saw his sister then, still under the desk but unconscious with a small dart stuck in her shoulder.
"Elly!" Hunter gasped, a crippling sensation of fear striking his body.
The man pulled the dart out of her shoulder and tossed it to the floor. "Hurry, boy, we need to get her to a room!" He slung Elly over his shoulder and ran towards the elevator, never once wincing in pain despite the throbbing pain he must have been feeling from his wounds.
Hunter shook in fear as he followed behind. He thought his sister was dead. She lay motionless in the man's arms. He really was all alone now. No parents, no sister-his life was completely empty. He had no words, no real emotions, he literally felt like a body void of life. He could physically feel the emotional pain overtake his body with every step he took behind the scar-faced man.
"Hit the button for the lift!" the man's hoarse voice demanded. He pulled a two-way radio from his thick black leather belt. "Patricia, we have a 211 on our
hands. The female Jakobs! Medical attention is needed. Over." He released his finger from the button on the radio.
"Dominick?" Patricia's voice blared over the radio. "Are you serious?"
In the midst of everything, Hunter realized he didn't even know the name of the man who had saved his life, and who was rushing to save his sisters. Dominick was the name of the man with the long scar across his face, the man who had single-handedly fought off that creature to save them.
"This is not a drill," Dominick replied. "She's been hit by one of my darts. Get there stat!" he ordered.
The elevator ride was the longest thirty seconds of Hunter's life, standing next to the Dominick as he held his little sister in his muscular arms. Hunter felt hopeless as he stared at his sister's motionless face. He knew it was his fault that his sister had gotten hurt. What if she never wakes up? he thought. Again, the dreary word popped up in his head-alone. He thought of how fickle the word was. It was used every day for so many reasons, but now such a simple term haunted his thoughts more than anything in the world. Hunter couldn't stand, his knees wobbled, and his hands shook as the elevator's doors dinged and opened.
"C'mon, kid," Dominick urged to get Hunter moving. "She should be okay; the dart's a heavy dose tranquilizer. She's a small one, so let's just hope she doesn't overdose…"
"Overdose?" Hunter swallowed hard as he followed behind Dominick.
"Err… she's just gonna sleep it off." Dominick wasn't used to talking to children. He didn't want to scare Hunter any more than he could tell he already was. "Patricia will take care of her. Now hurry!"
The two rushed around the small curve in the long hallway. The children's room was now in their view. The door was already open and the light from the room illuminated the hall. Dominick ran into the room at full speed, trying his best to not rock Elly too much in his arms.
"Heavens, no…" Patricia jumped up quickly from the bed. She had tried to stay calm but had failed miserably as she waited for their arrival.
"We were attacked by the beast. My gun discharged during the struggle. Somehow she got hit." Dominick spoke quickly now.
Margot shot up from the other bed, where she sat with Trayer, whose canine instincts knew something was amiss. Margot helped Dominick lay Elly down gently on the bed. Ms. Ellingbee put a towel on Elly's head, which quickly became soaked in sweat.
"Hunter!" Patricia Ellingbee yelled. "How on Earth did this happen?"
"We… I… err…" Hunter's head hung low, his face now flushed with emotions and tears. He took a deep breath and continued, "I just wanted to see the mansion… I snuck out, and she followed me… I told her to stay, and now she's dead… just like my parents… everyone is dead!" His low, sulking voice quickly grew to an abrupt anger. Hunter was far too young to understand and deal with the travesties that seemed to be mounting up on his young shoulders, and anger was his only control. He ran out of the room and back into the hallway, away from the others.
"Margot," Ms. Ellingbee said, but she didn't have to. Margot was already running after Hunter into the hallway.
"She'll be okay, right?" Dominick asked. "I mean, I was escorting them back here when that bastard came out of nowhere and attacked me. It was an accident I swear, I jolted, and somehow it went off," Dominick explained.
"Shush, quiet, dear," Ms. Ellingbee replied. "You're not to blame; you saved their lives. Hopefully I can save hers. There's far too much sedative in her blood for her size; it is going to get ugly before it gets better."
"Damn it!" Dominick paced back and forth. His clothes ripped and now soaked in his own blood.
"I'll make it better," she replied in a calm voice. "It's just going be a grueling night."
"Can I help?" Dominick asked.
"In the corner is the emergency care pack. Set up an I.V. drip. Are you familiar with setting up an EKG?"
"Yes, I've been trained as a field medic and for emergency care. Consider it done," Dominick replied. "I knew I should have stayed home instead of taking this case." Dominick, despite being worried about Elly's health, was overly annoyed that the incident even happened. "Those damns kids weren't supposed to be wandering around the mansion!" He slammed his hand against the children's dining table in anger, leaving behind a small handprint of blood.
"Look," Ms. Ellingbee shot a look of death at Dominick, "what's done is done. Leave it in the past. Let's focus on making this girl better." Patricia noticed the blood that dripped from Dominick's arm. She had been so worried about Elly that she hadn't even noticed how hurt Dominick was.
"You're bleeding," she said, "…a lot."
"It's nothing," he stated matter-of-factly. "I'm fine."
"Don't pull that superhero act on me," said Patricia sternly. "What good are you to me if you pass out while I'm tending to Elly? Get over here and let me patch you up before anything becomes infected."
