The Mountain King

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The Mountain King Page 24

by Rick Hautala


  Dazed with pain, Polly turned and looked upward, aware only of the swelling darkness that seemed to be pulsating all around her as she began to drift away, high above the panic and pain. She wasn’t feeling anything whatsoever when the beast grabbed her by the neck and straightened up with her limp body nestled under one arm. After positioning her head in the crook of its elbow, it twisted her head sharply to one side. She heard a sharp crack as her neck snapped. With one last, bubbly gasp in her throat, Polly died.

  The creature grunted with satisfaction as it looked down at the dead woman. It was just shifting her body around so it could rip her belly open and feast on her entrails when the back-door window exploded as three shots rang out in rapid succession. The creature’s face instantly dissolved into a bloody splash as bullets ripped through its head, blasting fur and fragments of skull against the kitchen wall. The creature staggered backward, clawing futilely at its ruined face, but it never made another sound before it dropped to the floor, twitched for a second, and then lay still.

  Guy LaBrea kicked the door open, pushing Polly’s broken body aside as he stared at the bloody havoc. He’d seen a lot in the line of duty, but never anything like this. His stomach did a quick flip. He turned and dropped to his knees on the back doorstep and vomited. After the initial rush of nausea had subsided, he stood up, wiped his mouth on his sleeve, and went back to the cruiser, which was parked at the foot of the driveway. He kept his service revolver cocked and ready as he sat down behind the steering wheel and thumbed the radio microphone button to call the station.

  “This is LaBrea,” he said in a ragged gasp. He couldn’t stop his hands from shaking as he waited for the dispatcher to acknowledge his call.

  “Roger, Chief. This is Elliott. What’s up?”

  “I was—”

  He had to take a deep breath before he could continue.

  “I was on my way to the Newmans’ house when your call came in. I—umm, I’ll be needing some backup out here right away. Also I’m gonna need the coroner and an ambulance pronto.”

  “What happened?”

  For a moment, LaBrea considered telling him, but then he smiled grimly, shook his head, and simply said, “I don’t think you’d believe me if I told you right now.” He took another deep breath and let it out in a shuddering rush. “Let’s just say it’s all over for now, okay?”

  “Sure thing, Chief.”

  “Over and out,” LaBrea said.

  Sighing heavily, he eased back in the car seat and shook his head, desperately wishing that he could erase the memory of the bloody mayhem he had glimpsed inside the Newman house. He knew that eventually he was going to have to face it again, but he had decided to wait right here in the cruiser until more policemen showed up. Right now, there was no way he could deal with what he had seen—Polly Newman’s severed head, lying on the tiled floor. Her eyes had been wide open and staring up at him, and he wished to God he wasn’t positive he had seen her eyes blink . . . just once.

  “Yeah—” he said in a trembling whisper as he hung up the radio microphone, leaned his head back against the car seat, and rubbed his eyes.

  “Let’s just hope to hell it’s all over!”

  The End

  About the Author

  Rick Hautala has published more than twenty books, including the million-copy plus, international bestseller Nightstone, as well as Twilight Time, Little Brothers, Cold Whisper, Winter Wake, Impulse, Poltergeist: The Legacy—The Hidden Saint, and a short story collection, Bedbugs. With William Relling, he has co-written five screenplays, both originals and adaptations.

  Born and raised in Rockport, Mass., Rick received his B.A. and MA. in English literature from the University of Maine, Orono. He is married and lives in southern Maine with his wife and two sons, Jesse (soon to be a student at Clark University) and Matti (a freshman at Westbrook High School). His oldest son, Aaron, is on his own, working with the progressive rock band Satellite Lot. Rick has been a full-time writer for nearly twenty years.

  Cemetery Dance Publications

  Be sure to visit CemeteryDance.com for more information about all of our great horror and suspense eBooks, along with our collectible signed Limited Edition hardcovers and our awarding magazine.

  Our authors include Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Ray Bradbury, PetemStraub, William Peter Blatty, Justin Cronin, Frank Darabont, Mick Garris, Joe R. Lansdale, Norman Partridge, Richard Laymon, Michael Slade, Graham Masterton, Douglas Clegg, Jack Ketchum, William F. Nolan, Nancy A. Collins, Al Sarrantonio, John Skipp, and many others.

  www.CemeteryDance.com

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Quote

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Chapter Thirty-six

  About the Author

  Cemetery Dance Publications

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Quote

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Chapter Thirty-six

  About the Author

  Cemetery Dance Publications

 

 

 


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