THE CHRONICLES
OF BEAST AND MAN
By
J. Charles Ralston
Copyright© 2016 by J. Charles Ralston
All Rights Reserved.
(previously published as The Beast)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My thanks to these fine individuals who without, these stories might have never been completely finished.
Josie Huggins
Warren J. Miller
Lyrics from The Beast in Me by Nick Lowe copyright 1994 UpStart Records
H.P. Lovecraft quote from Supernatural Horror in Literature copyright 1935
Edgar Allan Poe quote from The Raven 1845
Also available By J. Charles Ralston (on Kindle)
Hextilda’s Rage
Maidens of Doom (novella)
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to a person (living or dead), place, or incident is entirely coincidental.
This book is recommended for mature readers. In contains sexual situations, language and violence.
In memory of my Father…
THE CHRONICLES OF BEAST AND MAN
“The beast in me
Is caged by frail and fragile bars
Restless by day
And by night rants and rages at the stars.”
- Johnny Cash
Hancock County Journal, Tuesday, July 18th 2000
Body of unknown man found
The Hancock County police are asking anyone with information about a mysterious murder to reach them. The victim found on the morning of July 17th. Sheriff Bay only stated that the individual was dressed in jeans and an over coat (dark blue). If you have any information which might be helpful to solving this unsolved crime please contact the La Harpe police department or the Hancock County police department as soon as possible.
PART ONE
August 20th 2005
Zero awoke to see that the sun had long since gone down. A cool summer breeze had now made its way across the open farmyard he called home. He got up from his spot, arched his back, and moved his front paws a little. This was his usual routine; once he was back up he would get his tail moving again. Zero started to move toward his nice, tall bowl of kibble; it was then that he heard the sound of his chain hit the ground. Zero lived his life in the wide open country, and could never understand why his owners felt the need to put a chain on him at night. He, of course, never complained about their decision to do so. Other than the chain, Zero had nothing to complain about. His owners provided him with plenty of food, water, and wide open spaces for him to run.
Zero began chomping away at his food, enjoying each savory morsel that crunched under his strong jaws. A strange sense took his attention away from his food bowl as he studied everything around him. Beside him was the same oak tree that was always there. Behind him was the big red barn. There used to be two horses that called it home, but that was several years ago. Zero brought his eyes forward to see the farm house and the one light pole beside it. Not a single light in the house was on; his owners must be fast asleep. He knew that the sooner his owner’s turned the lights in the house off, the sooner he would be let off the chain in the morning.
With that thought in his mind, Zero returned to eating his kibble. That was until he heard something; the sound of something moving in the distance.
Could it be his owner?
Why would his owner be out in the dark?
Zero lowered his tail and brought his head forward. He began to sniff the air for his owner’s scent, or the scent of an intruder.
He could smell nothing.
Just as Zero was about to return to his meal he heard several twigs snapping. Then followed a vile smell, the smell of...an enemy.
There was definitely something out in the darkness that should not be.
It was near and moving in closer; he could sense its presence.
He pressed his teeth together hard and began to growl.
There was no growl in return, in fact there was nothing at all.
He growled louder this time, but there was still no reply.
Perhaps, Zero was simply being foolish and there had been nothing out there at all.
Out of the darkness a wicked and savage beast charged toward him. Zero had no time to react; the beast was far too fast.
Its jaws opened wide, revealing its sharp teeth.
The beast’s huge arms wrapped around Zero’s plump body. A terrible pain surged out from the side of his neck when the creature bit down hard. Its teeth pushed deep down into his flesh, drawing blood in an instant. The beast was so much bigger than Zero, he was utterly helpless. The last thing Zero heard was the sound of his flesh being torn from his body. The hopeless dog’s body dropped down and landed hard in a thick puddle of blood and dirt.
Pleased with the easiness in killing his prey, the creature continued to feast.
It ripped its huge claws through the flesh with the greatest of ease. Blood flew about and splattered all over the face of the hungry beast.
It gazed upward and let out a primitive howl that could be heard a mile away.
The beast then shoved its snout into the belly of the canine and began to feast once again.
It took a great deal of time, but once it was satisfied, it stepped away from the body of its prey and sprinted away into the darkness. Another full moon had come, and now that creature had fed, it could go back home to hide. That is, until the next full moon.
.
.
Five minutes after six?
“Why in the world am I awake at five minutes after six?” Rod Truex asked himself as he studied his alarm clock, which wouldn't be going off until six thirty.
Then he heard the awful loud banging on his front door.
Oh God, who the hell is that? Rod asked himself as he got up from his bed and put a t-shirt and jeans on.
The mystery guest began knocking again before Rod could even get out of the bedroom.
“I’m coming, I am coming!” Rod insisted.
What in the hell could be so damn important that they would want to wake me up this damn early?
As Rod walked toward the front door he glanced over at his pistol still resting in his holster from the day before. As the Sheriff in Medusa, Rod had made a couple of enemies. Perhaps this was one of those little enemies making an early morning revenge house call. Rod almost laughed out loud at that thought. Medusa was a small town with small town crimes. Nothing that anyone would kill anyone over. Not usually, anyway.
Rod cracked the door open and peaked out.
Standing outside was his friend Dusty Welker, and the look on Dusty's face was unusual to say the least. It was a bitter and beat down look.
“What's going on Dusty?” Rod asked.
Dusty motioned to come in. Rod of course did not refuse his longtime friend's request.
All the anger that Rod had just felt, caused by someone waking him up a little early was instantly gone. He was now only curious to know what had happened to his friend, and how he could help fix the problem.
During the night Rod hadn't received any phone calls and never heard his pager go off. One of those two things would have happened had there been a serious emergency. This was especially true if anyone close to Dusty had been involved. Someone would have contacted him.
Dusty walked into the house and headed straight for the kitchen and dropped down in a chair.
“I'm not going to beat around the bush. I'm just going to come right out and say it. Something killed Zero.” Dusty spoke with an expression of sadness, fear, and anger all at once.
Zero was the Welker family's yellow lab. Rod could remember when they got the dog. It couldn’t have bee
n more than five years ago. Rod remembered that Dusty's daughters loved the dog a great deal.
“It's awful Rod, just awful.” Dusty continued.
“Coyotes?” Rod asked.
“No boss, I don't think so.” Dusty called Rod boss, not only because he was the Sheriff, but because he had called him boss since they were in high school. Everyone always kind of looked to Rod as if he were the boss. He somehow always had control over the situation, no matter what. Everyone knew it, and everyone for the most part was fine with that.
“If it wasn't coyotes, what do you think it was; bob cats?”
There were reported bob cat sightings in the area, but one hadn’t been reported in years. Rod himself had never seen one, but was willing to consider the idea.
“I really don't know; he was ripped apart Rod.” Dusty said, while caressing his forehead with his fingertips.
All of a sudden Rod's alarm clock back in the bedroom began going off. Rod had to excuse himself long enough to go back and turn it off. Once the minor distraction was dealt with, Rod returned to the kitchen, and continued his conversation with his friend.
“What do you mean ripped apart?”
“I mean just that. He had been ripped apart, there was blood everywhere. I had to use the hose to clean it up so my daughters wouldn’t see anything later.” Dusty said, as he began to sob.
They had been friends since grade school; Rod had been through a lot with Dusty. He was Dusty’s best man when he married his wife, Edith. He was there when both of Dusty’s daughters were born. Never once had Rod seen Dusty cry. Not once. Needless to say, this was out of the ordinary.
“Did you bury him yet?” Rod asked in a soft voice, trying to be sensitive to the situation.
“No, but I thought I’d take care of it on my lunch break.” Dusty answered.
Besides owning a family farm, Dusty also worked part-time at a farm supply store.
“I’ll tell you what. I’ll be at your house a little before noon. I’ll bring a shovel, help you dig a hole up, and then I’ll take a look at him.” Rod told Dusty, hoping that it might comfort his friend.
-
After Dusty left, Rod went on about his day as usual. He had his regular breakfast of eggs (over easy), bacon, and sausage served up between two slices of whole wheat bread. Once he was done eating, he began cleaning off his plate and frying pan. Doing mindless tasks like this made him wonder if he was destined to live his life alone. He didn't feel incapable of having a relationship; he had had several in the past. But it always seemed like he let the right woman slip through his fingers. The phrase 'You don't know a good thing until it's gone', definitely made a lot of sense to Rod Truex. He had been in good relationships that lasted a fair amount of time; that is until Rod did what he always does. He would find some way to sabotage the relationship, or flat out end it.
The reasons that he had to end relationships always made sense at the time, but always came back to give him this vast empty feeling. Rod had very few regrets in his life, but the fact that he could not find companionship bothered him a great deal.
Rod then moved from the kitchen and went back to the bedroom. He put on his uniform and headed out the door.
The sun was shining especially strong that morning and created a glare that forced Rod to wear his sunglasses to shield his eyes. He slid into his Ford F-150 patrol vehicle as fast as he could. Several people in Medusa had made remarks about his “fancy” police truck behind his back. The other two police vehicles used by the Medusa police department were Ford Crown Victorians. One was used primarily by Deputy Thomas Dolgen, and the other was shared between the night shift and Deputy Chester Knox. Both of the vehicles were nice, but neither one was as nice as Rod's F-150.
For the most part, everyone in Medusa liked and respected Rod as a person as well as a police officer, but there were a few people who didn't care for him. It might be because of his young age of thirty five, or his sometimes cocky attitude, or just out of pure jealousy. Some people even had a little nickname for him. These people only called him this behind his back of course; the nick name was “the boy king.”
On his way to work Rod could not help but think about the sadness he saw in Dusty's face. Rod had never had a dog, so he supposed that he couldn't relate to the situation. Perhaps there was a unique bond between a dog and his master that Rod just could not grasp. On the other hand, Rod had never had to deal with a lot of loss in his life. When he was ten his grandfather had died, and he was devastated by that, but no one else in his life had left him. Despite this, Rod felt that he had an understanding of life and death. In his mind, there was little that anyone could do in the matter. All people have to deal with their own fate when it is their turn, whether they realize that or not.
Most days Rod did not have to think about such matters. He was happy with the way people viewed him. Often he was too busy to worry about such things. Medusa may only be a town with a little more than ten thousand people in it, but the day-to-day responsibilities of acting Sheriff never seemed to end.
Rod pulled up in front of the police station and made his way inside. The mornings in Medusa were quiet. The only other person there at that time of day was Clara Awdry. She was the police department's part-time dispatcher who worked from five to ten o'clock in the morning.
“How has your morning been?” Rod asked Clara.
“Pretty slow.” Clara said, as she glanced away from the trashy romance novel she was reading at the time.
Clara had worked for the Medusa Police Department for fifteen years. She also worked part-time at the Medusa public library, week days from noon to five in the afternoon. Both jobs she started shortly after her husband Glenn passed away. Rod had only met her late husband a couple of times, but thought he had seemed like a kind and honest person, which was a good match for Clara. Despite her choice in reading material, Rod had no reservations about Clara as a person, or as an employee for the city.
At ten o'clock, Arnold Omaha would arrive and take over the dispatch responsibilities. Arnold had been a police officer in Medusa for more than thirty years, but retired to become the department's primary dispatcher.
Rod sat down at his desk and began reading through the little bit of paper work compiled from the night before. Of course, Rod saw nothing out of the ordinary for a Tuesday night. There was a speeder doing forty-five in a thirty mile an hour zone. The speeder had been pulled over on the highway, and Rod didn't recognize the name, so he assumed it must have been someone passing through. Deputy Stevens' had also documented an incident with a strange drunken wanderer. At least he seemed to be intoxicated based the conversation Deputy Stevens had with him. Even though it was a Tuesday night, this wasn't all that unusual. Some people like to consume alcohol no matter what day of the week it is. Rod supposed that everyone should just be happy that the gentleman chose to walk instead of drive.
After rifling through the paper work, Rod got up from his desk and filled himself a large cup of coffee. Once his cup was full, he moved over to the huge window, facing Main Street. Here he stood proud, watching the small town world pass him by. He took a couple sips of his coffee, and continued to present himself to anyone who passed. It was kind of his way of showing the early birds in town that he was there and in charge.
Rod then noticed someone staring at him with intense eyes. It was Daniel Montvale, a local punk who couldn't seem to keep himself out of trouble. Daniel was leaning against the hardware store gazing over at Rod through the window. The strong look on Daniel's face was strange and made the hair on Rod's arms stand straight up. Rod did not let Daniel know that he had caught him off guard. He only looked right back at Daniel as if to challenge him. Daniel squinted his eyes then ran his fingers through his long brown hair. Then he brought a cigarette up to his lips and took a drag. Daniel was only seventeen, which of course was not legal age to be smoking, but Rod did not feel the need to hassle him for the smoking offense at the moment. It wasn’t like Rod hadn't said things to Dani
el in the past. He had in fact taken a cigarette out of Daniel's mouth and thrown it down on the ground. This took place at a party which the Medusa police broke up just on the outskirts of town. Rod also did not take the opportunity to harass Daniel because he knew there would be another opportunity later. Daniel was far too active of a young criminal to not get caught doing something.
The strange look that Daniel was giving Rod was a little more than unsettling, but Rod refused to give Daniel the satisfaction of knowing that he was bothering him. Instead of acting on the strange feelings that crept up inside of him, he only nodded back at Daniel. Rod had no fear of Daniel Montvale; this strange activity was just annoying, like a fly that won’t stop buzzing above your head. Rod was also not concerned because he knew that either he or one of his deputies would eventually arrest Daniel Montvale.
Daniel kicked his leg up and strutted away in a display of attitude. Rod, for a brief moment, wondered why in the world Daniel had been stalking the police station. He suspected that maybe the young man was debating retaliation for past arrests. If this thought were true, it would only be bad news for Daniel. Any crime that Daniel might commit against the police station or an officer would have a large price tag to go along with it.
Once the unsettling feeling that came from Daniel's unusual interest in the police station went away, Rod sat back down at his desk and went through a little more paper work. He had very little to go through. There had been a city council meeting last Thursday and Rod still hadn't read all of the transcripts from it. Though, he was only interested in the topics related to the police department.
Rod felt boredom beginning to set in and had the need to go on patrol. Going on patrol to Rod meant driving down Main Street, going around to the outskirts of town, than driving back into town.
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