by T. L Smith
THE BEAST WITHIN
By: T.L. Smith
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.
Copyright © 2016 Terri L (Smith) Vest
[email protected]
Cover Illustration by:Rachel Rai
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All rights reserved.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I want to take a moment to thank those who have encouraged me. For my daughters who had to listen time and again to what was happening or going to happen in the story, to listen to me rattle on about where I want to take the story line, but could I really, was it feasible, was it possible, should I save him, would they do that, etc. I'm sure it got tedious many times, but they never shut me down. For your encouragement, and support- I Thank you!
To my friends who would, many times, be my sounding board. "How does this sound? What do you think/ Think this will work? I'm not sure I can do this, etc. - I Thank you!
And a very special thank you goes to my niece, Chelsea! My first critic, proofreader, evaluator, and encourager. I think without you I may not have seen this through. At a time when I needed someone to tell me it was good enough to keep going, you surpassed my expectations. When I asked you to help, what you gave me lifted my spirits and made them fly! A soul mate in the love of reading and writing. With your words of praise, and 'love' of this book, you gave me exactly what I needed, along with the inability to stop smiling! You made my heart soar. For all of your help, for squeezing me into your busy life, for being honest with me and pointing out mistakes, - I THANK YOU!
Our animal origins are constantly lurking behind, even if they are filtered through complicated social evolution.
Richard Dawkins
PROLOGUE
As his sanity slowly begins to return, confusion surrounds him. His tattered clothes, the chaotic surroundings littered with flesh and the warm stickiness on his hands and face leaves him feeling bewildered and a bit frightened. He struggles to remember where he is and how he got there. Nothing triggers a memory of recent events. As his eyes slowly scan the grounds around him, horror widens his eyes and steals his breath. He tries to scramble to his feet only to slip and fall in the pools of blood scattered around him. Now laying on his stomach he comes face to face with a set of eyes frozen in terror. The eyes are unmoving as they rest in a head now detached from it's body. All at once a connection is made between these eyes and his surroundings and Levi begins screaming at the memories now flooding his brain. The horror of his memories soon turn his screams into hysterical laughter which evolve into a sinister, evil sound as his brain mercifully turns off and the beast within once again takes hold.
CHAPTER ONE
With the morning dawn, the sounds of the day begin and Julie McCallister stretches, yawning widely as she tries to shake off the heaviness of the nights rest. The nightmares have begun to come more frequently, leaving her shaken and unsteady. She's been blessed with the inability to remember the details of the dreams, but has retained the sense that they are terrifying, violent . . . and deadly.
Ever since the murder of her family when she was around 7 years of age, Julie has felt like something was missing from her memories. She's not sure if the terror behind the event is responsible for the lost memories, or if the counselor she's worked with for years has done something to help her forget. She's pondered this many times but ultimately has decided that anything that horrifying is best left forgotten.
Shaking off the affects of the night, she throws the covers aside as she steps from her bed to prepare for her day. Glancing into the dresser mirror on her way to the bathroom, she stops to study her face. The worst of the facial scars were close to her hairline yet still visible, while others on her upper arm and shoulder were buried beneath her clothing. She'd always been self conscious about them but everyone kept telling her they could barely see them. Still, her eyes always found them.
Looking closer at her eyes, something seemed . . . different. Not quite able to put her finger on what it was, she shrugged and headed for the bathroom. Luckily her schedule for the day had her hurrying to get ready for work so she pushed the nagging thoughts aside for now. She'll figure it out later.
After a quick shower, Julie blow-dried her long, dark auburn hair just enough to stop it from dripping and leaving enough moisture to encourage her natural curl. She paused to check for the need for makeup. At 5'6", with a slender but strong physique, she'd been told she was a natural beauty. Having long, dark eyelashes outline her light, icy blue eyes and full lips with natural color, avoiding the need for any lipstick, she rarely wore makeup. She settles on a soft gloss for her lips and decided that should get her by for the day.
Julie lucked into her job about 8 years ago. When she was 16 she decided that she had a love of nature. Her family lived just outside of town, far enough to feel apart from the hustle of the city, yet near enough to have all the normal needs of food, entertainment and the necessary clothing stores for a teenage girl within easy reach. Who could ask for more than that?
Within 7 miles in the opposite direction of the city was the entrance to the state's national park. Miles and miles of forest spread across the land and were the home of many wildlife creatures that she found herself in awe of. When the Park Rangers started a program for high school juniors and seniors as an effort to help encourage more people to care for and appreciate natural wild life, she knew this program was something she had to find her way into. And lucky for her, the father of her best friend Sarah Warner, was the head Ranger! It was always nice to have connections - such as they were.
So after Sarah put her in a good word with her father, he allowed Julie to skirt through the process. It positioned her to become one of the first Junior Rangers in her school. She knew some may see it as favoritism and unfair, but she figured, "Hey, if you're provided with advantages, it'd be foolish to ignore them!"
Whether it was through genuine interest and a sense of belonging - or the need to simply prove herself, she worked diligently to prove that she deserved the position given to her and that she was where she belonged. Now, at the age of 24, she had worked her way up through the ranks and was a respected member of the team of Rangers. She was in a town she loved, a job she adored and among friends to die for. Life didn't get any better than this!
She grabbed a protein bar and a bottle of water on her way out the door. She had less than 15 minutes to get to work. She hated that the nightmares left her feeling sluggish, but she knew it would pass once she was on her feet and moving through her duties. As she hopped in her car, she glanced in the rear view mirror and noticed a tall, muscular man leaning against the street light across the street. That in itself wasn't strange, as many town residents would often pause at a bench or light post while chatting with friends, or while searching through items they were holding, looking for that elusive gadget or piece of mail. But when she'd noticed him, their eyes met and he seemed eager to hide the fact he'd been looking at her. Or was he looking for her? Giving herself a shake at the silliness of that idea, she returned her focus on her need to get to work before she was late.
As she drove away, she missed the intense look the stranger followed her departure with. He stepped away from the pole and turned the opposite direction she'd left in. Luckily the streets were void of residents because in the next heartbeat, he was gone.
CHAPTER TWO
"Hey Jules, 'bout time you got here!" Roger taunted. "Yeah, Yeah... like you've never been late Roger!" She sassed back. Roger Patterson was Julie's long time friend and partner. He was just under 6 foot tall, toned and well built. H
is brunette hair was shaved close to his head and his warm, sparkling green eyes always seemed to twinkle when he looked at Julie. Being only 5 years older than her, their banter always felt more like that of siblings. What was his, was hers - and what was hers, was his. They shared everything from lunches to friends, to sharing the blame when one of them had messed up on an assigned duty.
Julie smiled as she threw a pencil at him . . . and missed. He always ribbed her for her bad aim. She never let on that she would never intentionally hit him, and missed on purpose. He and his male ego would never believe it anyway, so she'd let him have his minor wins and ego strokes. He returned fire with the closest foam tension ball and it bounced off her forehead before rolling away. She stuck her tongue out at him and when he returned the gesture, they both laughed and turned to the work load cluttering their desks. She never would have thought there'd be so much paperwork in this line of work!
Normally the reports that came in dealt with overloaded trash cans at picnic sites, someone hogging space in a campsite or other trivial complaints among their campers. She felt more like a babysitter or janitor most of the time. But lately, all the Rangers were on alert for signs of an elusive predator that kept popping up.
Campers were calling in reports of finding animal carcasses littering the campsites and destroyed tables and other campsite equipment. Most reports came in as campers reached their reserved locations only to find that something very violent had occurred there and left the site less than desirable for use. And the carcasses were rarely intact. The evidence left behind usually portrayed a gruesome event, leaving body parts strewn around the whole site.
But once in a while, a report of a missing person would cross their desk and then things really jumped. The scary part to it all for Julie was that ever since the summer her family had been killed, evidence of a similar violence seemed to pop up. After a time, the investigations that took place slowly and seemed to point to a pattern that was developing. No one wanted to believe they had a serial killer roaming loose, but believing that an animal was that methodical was more improbable.
A policy of Rangers never going out alone was put into place in an effort to keep everyone as safe as possible. The high school Junior Rangers were never put on details after dark to alleviate the worries of their parents. Steps were taken wherever possible to keep everyone safe, yet a cloud of tension and worry hovered over the area.
As Julie looked over the reports for the day, she realized that Roger had gone quiet. Looking up she noticed a shocked look on his face that didn't really need words to say whether the report was good or bad. His face had gone pale and his eyes had widened. Clearly he had a report that everyone would become involved in. "Roger, are you OK?" Realizing Roger was looking at something very unpleasant, she got up and went to look over his shoulder. She gasped at the horrific scene laid out in the picture he held in his hands.
What should have displayed more greens and browns with the color pallet of the forest, was instead red. Blood red. The scene before her screamed of fury filled with violence. And it wasn't animal parts littering the surroundings, but rather human remains. Their predator had resurfaced and had chosen what appeared to be two hikers to vent his fury on.
As she looked on in horror, a strange sense of déjà vu passed over her. But how could she have seen something like this without remembering exact details? This was not an event that anyone could forget. Yet, the violence depicted in this photograph, was not new to her. There was a strange connection between what she was looking at and what she felt deep within her mind.
Shaking off the strange feelings, she turned her attention back to Roger. "Where did this happen?" she quietly asked. Seeming to snap back to the present, Roger slowly turned stunned eyes to her and stated, "In Sector three, just over the north ridge. The campsite just off the hikers trail".
Nodding her head acknowledging the location, she reached for the microphone from the stations CB radio. "Attention all Rangers, we have a code red for Sector three. Two hikers down. This is a crime scene so the area will be cordoned off. Please keep hikers and park visitors out of this area until the police have a chance to complete their investigation. All those in the area are asked to move to this location and assist the police in any way you can and help provide crowd control. Control out".
As Julie turned back to Roger, she noticed he was looking at her in a strange way. "What's the matter, Roger?" He studied her for a minute longer and then shook his head. "Nothing, I was just wondering how you were doing with this?"
Puzzled, a frown creased her forehead. "Why would you ask me that? I'm just as horrified as your are with this. Am I missing something here? Something you know that I don't?"
Realizing his mistake, Roger shook his head and tried to brush it off. "Nah, you know me. I just think you delicate females can't handle anything that's not all candy and lollipops". He chuckled when she rolled her eyes and playfully punched him in the arm saying, "I'll show you candy and lollipops! What a chauvinist!" They both laughed together, despite the ugly situation before them.
She turned to gather up the paperwork for this case in preparation to head down to the crime scene so she could coordinate with the other rangers. Roger turned away so as not to give away his relief in being successful in changing the subject. He knew Julie had been in counseling since the loss of her parents. She had made comments about being curious on how she wasn't able to remember all the details of that horrific day. Clearly it was a tactic her counselor felt necessary to preserve her very tender sanity at the time. Now he wondered how long it would be before she realized that this latest crime scene was the same location her family had chosen, and died in, that night so long ago.
CHAPTER THREE
Luke Shaefer watched as Julie drove away. He couldn't decide whether her seeing him was a good or bad thing. He knew contact needed to be made as soon as possible, he just wasn't sure of the best way to make that happen. Her time of innocence was running out and she would be needing someone there to help her through the transition.
When he'd first been assigned to her, he complained that it should be a woman to see her through it. Adam Cooper, however, saw it differently and since he was the leader, his will was the only one that mattered. Now that Luke had been tracking her for some time, getting to know her patterns, her scent and her temperament; he was glad that he had been the one chosen for this.
There was something about her that intrigued him. A connection that he couldn't understand at first. Could she be the one? Could she be the life mate he'd been searching for so long? But that didn't make sense. She wasn't born into his world, she was made.
As he had stepped away from the pole, he glanced around to be sure the area was clear. Seeing no one, he let his natural abilities take over and turned the opposite direction she was traveling. Luke was a tall and lean, powerfully built, 6 foot 2 inch force of nature. He ran at a speed the human eye couldn't track. He would return back to the pack and deliver his report. There were no signs of her awakening as of yet. Luke felt sure that once she came upon Levi's latest mistake, things would begin to happen that would start her down the path to her new future. A future he was hoping to be a part of.
As for Levi - everything was wrong about him. He didn't awaken when they expected him to, and when he did it was uncontrolled and unsupervised, resulting in his capture and confinement after going on a killing spree. It had gotten him locked up in the local mental institution and made him unreachable to the pack. Luke had made his release possible by sneaking in and taking out the power to the building. Once the lights had gone out, his supernatural ability of speed, scent and night vision had easily allowed him to find Levi and release him. His biggest mistake was thinking that Levi's human half was still in control.
As they left the compound, Levi had bolted away into the darkness while Luke was hiding all traces of his being there. Luke could feel the darkness within Levi. It happened occasionally. When one of their own would awaken, something
seemed to take the wrong path within the brain and the control that's usually there would get lost during transition. If it wasn't dealt with, the darkness would take more and more of the brain until there was no coming back. Levi was teetering on the edge, and if they couldn't capture him soon, it would be too late to help and they would need to end him.
Capturing Levi was becoming Luke's priority because of his connection with Julie. It was very apparent that she didn't remember the night so long ago that changed her life forever. But Levi did show signs of a connection with her. Whether it was for good or bad was yet to be decided. Now that Luke had developed his own connection with her, he would not stand by and let Levi hurt her in any way. He MUST be stopped, and soon!
During his patrol last night he had come across a gruesome scene involving two hikers. He could smell Levi in it. He knew that he'd lost control again and each time he did, he seemed to care less and less about leaving signs of his true nature. Protecting the identity of that nature was a top priority for his kind.
Luke was about to clean up the scene, or at least change it in a way that would hide what did it, when he heard voices approaching the location. He knew it was too late for attempts to hide anything, so he sped away before those approaching could see him. He would have to find a way to stop Levi soon. He hoped it would be to help him regain control, but felt deeper in his gut that it would be more of a search and destroy mission. The brutality of the scene displayed too much enjoyment for the job done. That wasn't done by a need to feed, but rather just to kill and revel in that kill. Luke feared it was already too late to help Levi.
