The Mountain Town

by Josh Olsen

  Ashley had heard enough, “Roy,” she started, jostling him softly with one of her hands.

  “There’s something-“ Before she could finish, the thunderous noise of shattering glass filled the room. She whipped around quickly just catching a glimpse of it as Roy sat up quickly in the bed.

  A hideous wild doglike creature now crept towards them, foam dripping from its razor like teeth as it growled. Roy’s sleep filled voice quickly escalated into a shriek. “What in the hell?!” “Holy Sh-“

  The beast leapt high over him tackling Ashley off the bed, crashing to the ground. It’s heavy paws, pressed tightly against Ashley’s shoulders pinning her to the ground, the beast leaned in close, its foul breath bringing vomit to Ashley’s lips. Choking it back, she shrieked in terror.

  The creature drew in a deep breath through its nostrils, something was different, something about the scent. The beast growled deeper, staring into her eyes, its mouth opened revealing rows of jagged rotting teeth. Foam and drool dripped from its fangs covering Ashley in the foul liquid. It moved in closer, Ashley screamed as it moved towards her throat, mouth agape.

  Roy, darted back quickly, he grabbed the first thing off his nearby nightstand that he could see in the darkness. His letter opener, an antique he had carried for many years. He reared up, yelling loudly he plunged the sharp end as deeply as he could into the creatures back near its shoulder, the beast let out a roar turning around quickly, ripping the knife from Roy’s hand.

  Shaking with fear, Roy now faced the beast. Steam rose from its snout, he trembled with terror, paralyzed with fear.

  With one powerful swipe of its arm the beast struck Roy sharply, the force sent him flying backwards into the wall, nearly out of the shattered window. Roy let out a pained yelp, his breath leaving him as he struck the wall. He crumpled in a heap on the floor among the shards of glass and the wisps of snow that now blew in through the gaping window frame.

  The beast turned back sharply to finish its prey, but it was gone. It’s ghastly head whipped back and forth, stench filling its nose, it looked up.

  Ashley, through panicked gulps of air ripped open the bathroom door running frantically towards the window inside. The beast leapt forward, right at her heels, its massive shoulders crashing into the door frame, stopping it, restraining the beast. It roared and growled clawing at the air trying to reach its prey.

  Ashley had reached the window, her shaking hands unlatched the window and pulled it up quickly. The frozen frame squeaked as the window struggled upward. Screaming, she tore through the screen. Her hand snapped the mesh out of its frame, sending it spiraling downward to the icy ground below.

  The noise had stopped. Breathing heavily, she looked back. The creature was nowhere in sight. Cautiously she looked around, panicked breaths of relief escaped her lungs. Suddenly, the beast came crashing completely through the wall, entering the bathroom. Snarling, it fought the pipes and wires that held it back, tearing at them. Splinters of wood and shreds of drywall pelted Ashley as she screamed, she quickly turned around climbing through the window frantically.

  Shredded wires and broken pipes hung from the destroyed wall spraying water haphazardly in every direction. Ashley pulled herself forward, further out the window her legs kicked in the air as she leaned forward. The balcony of the room below sat covered in snow 10 feet below. The ground stared back at her, far below. She panicked, hesitating for a moment. Pulling herself through, she held tight to the wall. Something burned deep in her leg, cutting her. She cried out in pain, screaming as she felt the creature dig deeply into her leg, she let out a scream and lost her grip. Narrowly missing the cold metal of the railing below, she fell. Swirling down through the snow and mist she fell, tumbling downward to the snow covered ground.

  The beast advanced further, closer to the window, chasing its prey. A sudden pounding at the door captured its attention, snapping its head back to the room. Snarling, it bared its teeth creeping forward into the room. The wooden door to the room pounded, voices shouted just outside. Angry, the thing let out a loud roar. Its muscles tensed as it bounded back through the room leaping from the gaping hole back into the snowy night, the lights of the structure illuminated once again, the building alive with activity. It bounded forward as it hit the ground disappearing back into the darkness of the forest.

  Chapter 19

  Jason sat, draped in the silence of the hospital. His cards still clenched in his hand. Lost in thought he slowly drifted away.

  It had been cold that morning, colder than usual, the normally constant breeze of the hills had ceased. The cold air of the base of the mountain now sat, freezing the town even more than usual on this morning.

  He turned to his passenger seat, Dane sat, staring at Clark’s house, “What the hell do we need to wait for sheriff?” he asked turning back to Jason.

  For the fourth time he looked at Dane, “Because Black, for the last fucking time, without Child Protective Services here to witness the conditions, we can’t legally take her without going through the courts ourselves, any more brain busters you got for me?” he shot back, annoyed.

  Dane huffed and turned back to the house.

  Jason hadn’t wanted this, for the longest time, foolishly, he had hoped Clark would pull himself out of this. Long ago, they had been friends. Or had they? Time distorted and warped his own memories. Searching, racking his mind he tried to remember, the times they’d had, so many years ago.

  He closed his eyes, almost smiling as he remembered, leaving for a moment, this cruel reality he found himself shivering within. He remembered.

  How they would frequent the diner with their wives, Clark and Cass, and him and Sandra, they’d sit for hours, talking, laughing, sipping on Heather’s famous coffee. Complaining about the cold or their plans for the deer hunt that year. Jason smiled sadly to himself. It seemed like ancient history now, almost seemed like those days had never happened in the first place had been only a figment of his imagination.

  “Look alive, here they come.” Dane said, a grin showing on his face, his voice jolted Jason out of his daydream.

  Jason looked down the asphalt road, wisps of thin snow swirling through the air. Two trucks now drove down the street towards them.

  Jason sat up, letting out a exhaling deeply, he reluctantly unbuckled his seatbelt and sat up opening the door, he turned to his side.

  “Alright Black, let’s-“ The slam of the passenger door cut Jason off, Dane was far ahead of him.

  Jason sighed and climbed out of his jeep, the soft crunch of the icy snow under his boots audible in the suffocating silence they stood in outside of Clark’s home. The two trucks pulled up, a large visible CPS logo born on the side of one of the vehicles.

  “Shit,” Jason muttered to himself, “What the hell did I tell you? No uniforms, no signs, nothing. Clark isn’t stable, he could be watching us right now, you dumb sons of bitches!” he hissed through as quiet of a whisper as he could force himself, at the two CPS agents that now stood in front of him.

  “God dammit” he whispered to himself “Now we have to do this the other way, Black!”

  Dane turned, “Yeah?”

  Jason walked to the back of the jeep, “Kevlar, now.” He popped open the back window of the Jeep’s shell snow sliding off the sides as he lifted it. Reaching inside, he grabbed the vests, tossing one to Dane.

  “God Dammit Clark, why does it have to be like this?” he thought to himself. He finished strapping on his vest and drew his pistol out of its holster, sighing to himself, shaking his head.

  “Alright! Let’s go.”

  It all seemed like a blur after that, they knocked, no answer from Clark, as was expected. Next came the battering ram, the door broke off clean. Its old rusty hinges popping free from their mount, the door flew inward.

  “Alright!” Jason yelled, “Clear every room!”

  The men filed through the door, searching, but it didn’t take long, they found Clark almost immediately. Sprawled out, la
ying limply in his bed. His eyes were glazed over and a belt hung loosely from his arm, a tin box full of needles and cotton spilled across the floor. Jason’s heart sunk as he saw him, he immediately feared the worst.

  “Oh God. Medic!” he shouted back through the doorway.

  James emerged through the door, he was so young then, still just a paramedic. He rushed to Clark’s limp body, checking his pulse.

  “Is he?” Jason began.

  James quickly cut him off, “No, he’s not, but we need to get him to the hospital, immediately.”

  Dane immediately cut in to protest, his arms folded tightly, leaning against the door frame, “I say we leave this piece of shit here. He’s had his chance, we go pull him back from the grave we’ll be back here in a month with this same shit.”

  Jason turned to Dane, “Dane how about you shut the fuck up?” the words coldly spit from his lips, he turned back to James, “Alright, get him out of here. I want him sobered up and handcuffed to the bed, we’ll book him when he’s back out of it.” he handed James his pair of handcuffs and stood back up.

  James left quickly to retrieve the stretcher from the ambulance, just as he had left,

  Kevin Flaherty, an older veteran on the force, entered. “Sheriff, we found the girl.”

  Jason’s heart sunk in his chest, he stared off into the distance, standing up, he followed.

  Flaherty led him to a small cupboard in the kitchen just below the sink, Jason kneeled, looking inside, there in the darkness sat a huddled little girl shivering, dirt and grime covering her face.

  Jason, held back tears, extending his hand, “My name is Sheriff Arndt, and your name is Lizzie right?”

  The little girl still sat in the cupboard, shaking. Her eyes stared off into the distance blankly, tired.

  “We’re here to take you somewhere safe ok?, You’re daddy was sick so we took him to the doctor. You can come with me,” Jason paused, his voice shaking, regaining control of himself, he continued.

  “You’ll be safe, alright?” Jason said softly. Extending his hand, he reached towards her through the darkness of the cupboard.

  Lizzie looked up, her sad eyes staring at Jason, she gave a soft nod of acknowledgement and climbed out of the cupboard.

  Now out of the darkness, the officers could now see how bad she really looked. Her tiny innocent face obscured by dirt and grime was shrunken back. Her small cheekbones showed prominently, her small, ratty clothes hung limply on her thin skeletal frame. She shook violently with each step forward, both shivering and starving.

  Jason could take no more, his eyed welled up with tears, all he managed to choke out was, “Oh god,”

  One of the two CPS agents quickly stepped in, scooping Lizzie from the floor, holding her tiny frame close. “Tell that doctor of yours to wait,” the agent shouted at Jason, “We need to get this girl on an IV immediately!” he jogged out the door. Holding the girl close he shouted to James.

  Clark came back, returned to his cold reality, his consciousness he resented. He was fully alert a couple days after that. He snapped out of his haze in the jail cell, yelling curses at the top of his lungs tearing up the mattress and destroying anything he could, it took 3 officers and a black eye from Dane to get him to stop.

  When he was finally released, Lizzie was long gone. Carted off to a foster home in some neighboring state. Her location kept so confidential that only Jason was allowed to know. Even he was still required to be shown her case in a locked room guarded by two CPS agents.

  He signed all the paperwork and they took her away. Crying for her Daddy, some of the color returning to her face as she screamed. That was the last any of them saw of the little girl.

  It didn’t take Clark very long to retaliate, he appeared in the station the next day, catching Jason off guard. How he got past the other officers, no one could figure out. But he was there. Waiting in Jason’s office,

  “You Motherfucker!” was all Jason heard before Clark’s clenched fist cracked into the back of his head, knocking him out cold.

  He was lucky that the officers had heard the noise out in the hall or Clark may have killed him right then and there.

  Clark spent 6 months in jail for that little stunt, only because Jason wouldn’t press charges himself, he got out and spent the rest of the year on house arrest.

  So many chances. So many chances he had given his old friend and it had always come back to bite him on the ass. Was he doing it again? Foolishly giving his old friend another chance? Or was this finally his friend he had once known returning from the darkness?

  Jason threw down his cards and went to the counter to grab the bottle of whisky that now sat there. Twisting off the cap he tilted the bottle back and took a large swig. He just didn’t know anymore.

  “Jason” the radio started up, causing him to jump. Whiskey spilled over his lips and onto his shirt. “Jason come in over”

  Jason grimaced, sighing to himself as he swallowed another gulp of whiskey.

  “Yeah?” he said to the radio, holding it close to his mouth. His breath wafted out the scent of the liquor on his lips.

  “We’ve uh, we’ve had an incident up here at the Paradise, a couple injuries, one of them we identified as Ashley Clawson, a guest up here.”

  Nate’s ear’s perked up as he shot up from his chair. “Sheriff, that’s my wife!” he shouted.

  The radio continued, “Ain’t that boy you got down there in the hospital named Clawson too?”

  Jason looked at Nate and turned back to the radio, “Sure is, and I’ve got his father down here; Nate Clawson. We’re on our way up, over and out”

  He clipped the radio back on his belt and gestured to Nate as he threw on his coat, “Let’s go.”

  Chapter 20

  Ashley woke up on one of the leather sofas in the hotel’s lobby, an icepack held to her head tightly its cold numbing the pain of the bruise that throbbed. Someone stood over her, waving a flashlight over her eyes.

  “Ma’am?”

  She squinted hard, the light blinding her. All at once she felt the pain, her muscles hung limp and heavy, covered in bruises. She felt as if she had been hit by a train. Struggling, she tried to make sense of all of it.

  Any attempt to remember what had happened was met with a blankness more blinding than the light shining in her eyes.

  “Ma’am.” again the voice continued.

  Her eyes began to adjust to the light. Squinting, she started to make some of it out. Standing above her were two or three hotel employees, their sleeves rolled up, faces hung with concern.

  “Ye……Yes?” She mumbled out. Racking her racing brain, she tried desperately to remember.

  The shorter of the 2 spoke up first, “Ma’am there was an accident, you fell from your window.”

  Her eyes were distorted with confusion, almost asking herself, she continued. “Can you tell us what happened?”

  Confused, Ashley stared back, “Happened?” “I fell from my window?” She was in a hotel, an inkling of organized thought began to creep back into her mind. “From my room?” She asked cautiously.

  “Yes ma’am,” the worker continued. “From the third story. You’re lucky to be alive. Now can you tell us what happened?” “The room is destroyed, did you break the window with something?” She was interrupted by her co-worker.

  “Sheila, you honestly think she could have done that to her room? You saw it up there, what the hell could have done that?”

  Sheila snapped back, “Eli, I am just trying to keep her calm, you don’t need to yell at me.” Her tone timid, almost frightened.