by W.T. Hughes
Seeing this creeping menace finally made my terror give way to primordial fear for survival, and my body would once again respond. With a sharp intake of breath I leapt from my perch running past the thing as it struck out towards me like a snake. As I had seen the late Rue McGrath do I grabbed a brick and placed it in the empty spot the tentacle had emerged from. It began to thrash but did not dissipate as before, and then I noticed the edges of the opening were still visible. Grabbing the discarded trowel I pulled a scoop of cement and filled the gap in the wall putting the brick in place, and as I did so the tentacle burst into a puff of smoke.
I took a step back only to realize the hammering continued and within seconds another of the bricks vanished. And so the process persisted throughout the night, a brick would be placed, another would disintegrate, and I would replace it.
I thought of running, confident I could make my out of the basement while what ever lay in the great beyond hammered at another brick, but then what would happen to Mrs. Gardner and the others in the building. Would it turn them all to dust as it had the ill-fated Rue McGrath, perhaps the entire city, or even the world? What would stop such a thing if it were ever free? So I continued on.
At some point I noted the brick pile was getting dangerously low, and then I heard the buzz of the dumbwaiter, the nightly brick delivery, I knew now why they were paid so handsomely to deliver bricks regardless of the weather. Finally the first rays of the sun broke through the block windows of this portal to hell I had stumbled upon, and the hammering ceased. Exhausted I collapsed where I stood and slipped into unconsciousness.
***
Later I awoke and pondered my disconcerting situation. I could escape but again what would happen if no one were here when night fell. I could call for help but who would believe me. I began looking through Rue McGraths things and came across his ID card. Twenty seven, that was his age, a man who looked to be in his forties had only been in this world for twenty seven years. Of course two of those years were spend nightly trying to hold back this...this thing, which was enough to age someone ten times as fast it appeared. I contacted the building owner Josef Nadek to let him know McGrath was gone.
His panic stricken voice revealed all I needed to know on his knowledge of the nocturnal happenings. He conceded his familiarity of these things, indeed his family had known for generations and had always placed someone in a position to hold back the thing in the darkness. I informed him of the entire sorted story of the night before and he exhorted me to become the new superintendant, it had always been the one who witnessed the passing of the prior that took his place he said. I gave little resistance as I had already come to grips with what seems to have become my self imposed fate and agreed.
***
That was two weeks ago now and I am so very tired. Every unending night I strive to keep the unnamable force at bay while each day I toil trying to appear no more than the maintenance man. I have someone arriving to look at my old apartment tomorrow, part of me hopes they hear the hammering and their curiosity gets the best of them. I must end this now it is time, the hammering has already begun.
THE END
The Excerpt
I have always found them to be strange creatures. They have hair all over their bodies, most prominent on their head. For the most part they groom themselves on a regular basis except those that seem to be shunned from the herd and left alone for extended periods of time. It is interesting to note that these shunned members are the most difficult to hunt, perhaps the fact they are alone heightens their senses and makes them more alert.
They also prefer the light of day for their movement and hunting, while at night they bed down for rest. It should be noted the herd often separates at this time either into single individuals or mated pairs with any calves they may have. While these members still remain within a relative short distance of each other, I have found it easy enough to dispatch one without disturbing the rest.
When they do sense danger they are quick to respond. Most will simply bolt away from the perceived danger at the most rapid pace they can. This sets them up easily for any traps that may have been laid. Sometimes one of the larger males may turn and try to defend itself, but in truth they are not much danger. Their teeth are sharp and can rend the skin, but they do not have powerful jaws and do only minor damage and their claws are almost non-existent on their smallish paws.
I have hunted them for twenty years and only suffered one significant wound. That happened during the day when they are most alert. I was young and foolish at the time wanting to prove my worth to the other hunters by showing that I did not need to wait until they were at their most vulnerable. After that I learned it was better to be smarter than stronger or quicker.
So be smart and wait until they bed down for the night. Sleeping is almost like hibernation for them. They are not easily awakened and if approached quietly are not likely to sense your presence. If however you feel you cannot wait until nightfall and must hunt in the day then it is best to wait until one is separate from the rest of the herd. You can stalk one of the before mentioned specimens that was rejected from the main herd, or wait until a member separates and goes foraging or migrating by itself. While it may make little sense for one of the creatures to voluntarily separate from the rest of the herd it is inevitable. It seems to be part of their nature to rove on their own for short periods.
Once alone you must shadow it for a time, you must do this for two reasons.
1. Sometimes when one separates it is simply to meet with another of its kind. This appears to be part of a mating ritual.
2. When awake they are very alert and can hear the slightest noise. Sometimes it is almost as if they can simply feel your presence when you are watching them.
Once you are sure they are going to remain alone, and they are distracted by some other source, you can pounce. They are not the fastest creatures, but they can be slippery and difficult to catch. The will wriggle about and flail their limbs and head in an attempt to escape so be sure you have a secure grip before trying to do anything else. Most of the time when I have seen one escape it’s because the hunter was trying to do too many things at once rather than securing his grip on his prey.
After you have captured one it is best to kill it right away. They make an awful squealing noise while holding them down and will not stop until dead. The quickest and most merciful way to do this is by lacerating their jugular so they bleed out quickly, or breaking their neck although this takes some amount of strength. Once dead they need to be properly butchered or they will begin to spoil quickly.
You should make an incision just below the neck all the way to their genitalia, and reaching inside remove all of the internal organs, as leaving them in the carcass will cause it to decompose at a much quicker rate. Now some like to eat certain organ meats, in particular the liver, kidneys, and some even consider the heart a delicacy. I will admit to enjoying the metallic tang of a liver now and then, but for the most part I discard these as all of the organs tend to putrefy quickly just as with any other animal.
Now that the animal has been eviscerated it will last for several days if you store it where the temperature is cool, this will give you time to strip the meat for consumption. The most popular cuts are the rump, the meat from the upper half of each limb (the lower limbs tend to be primarily muscle and tendon), the ribs (these can be removed whole with the meat left on the bone), and the flank from below the shoulder blade to above the rump. The flank is, in my opinion, the tenderest portion of meat. I must confess that I prefer a good flank over any other food, as long as it is still nice and bloody you will find no more succulent a meal!
Well there you have all of the basics you will need to get started. I would advise any youngster interested in the hunt to accompany an elder to the surface. It is a great learning experience and character building exercise that I would recommend for everyone.
-An excerpt f
rom A Ghoul’s Guide to Hunting Humans and Other Large Prey
