The Beast of 1977 (Book 1)

Chapter 16

Nightfall was a hard and acrimonious plight in the quiet valley as the beast crunched its way across the snow and towards a crippled forest. Its enormous paws and hind legs stretched forward at a pace that would be quite unusual for a creature of its enormity.

It trekked along as though it was aware that food was near, even though its stomach was nearly full by that point in the evening. Its hot breath steamed out in front of it as the demon entered the dark forest roaring and growling an ever-present warning to anything that may be in its sprinting way. The withered trees were more of a nuisance that only stood in its path. One by one, the demon's hairy arms bumped and crashed against the oaks that dared stand in front of it.

The thing's shiny eyes pierced the sheer blackness of night; its sight was flawless. The temperature was well below the teens that evening, and yet, the demon's thick coat of fur provided the ever so perfect insulation that it required for lurking. As soon as the creature cleared the forest thick, its eyes caught sight of a brightly lit house just a few yards up ahead.

Like a charging steed into medieval battle, the demon trampled further towards the large home, snarling and snorting across a snowy, open field that young boys would often play football in.

***

"You've been on my ass ever since me and the girls got home this evening! And it's only eight o'fucking clock!" An angry, balding, middle-aged white man raged as he slammed the refrigerator door shut and advanced towards his shuddering wife.

His wife, who was adorned in a pink bathrobe, hairnet and slippers, stood in the middle of the kitchen floor, staring a distraught eye at her fuming husband while holding her cold arms together.

"I told you to bring the girls home at four o' clock, Gary! You know full well that they have to eat before seven!"

"Well excuse me all to hell for wanting to spend a little quality time with my own children!" Gary screamed while waving his arms in the air. "You're the one that keeps on bitching about how I don't spend enough time with them, and when I finally do, you jump all over my ass! What the hell do you want from me, Sarah?"

Sarah stepped away from Gary and began to pace the floor as though she were trying to think up something important to say at that instant; like she had something to get off of her chest, but didn't exactly know how to let it go.

Gary only backed away and rolled his eyes in blistering frustration. The backdoor was only a few feet to his left, and there was nothing more he wanted than to storm away.

"Gary," Sarah pathetically whimpered, "I think...I just think that you and I should get a divorce."

With a drained appearance on his face, the man stared deep into his crying wife's eyes. It was as if his very breath had inexplicably been snatched away. His skin grew a shade whiter.

With tears flowing, Sarah said, "You can't be surprised, Gary. It's been a long time coming. I can't talk to you anymore. If you're not in Cleveland then you're in New York! If it's not New York, then it's Chicago! You're hardly even home anymore! And you want to stand there and take credit for taking the girls out for ice cream?" She hollered while stomping her right foot on the linoleum.

"I work, Sarah." Gary said. "I'm not like your brother who just sits around all day long and does absolutely nothing! Or you're instigating mother who just lets herself in our house every morning like she owns the damn place! I have a fucking career! And for that, I get this?"

"Oh, God, Gary," Sarah shouted at the top of her lungs, "This is not about you!"

Gary stood back, and with a smug expression on his face he asked, "A divorce, huh? Did Gloria Steinem tell you to do that?"

Sarah just rolled her eyes in defeat and exhaled as though the fight had taken everything completely out of her.

"Well...if that's the way you want it, then I guess I'll see your sorry ass in court." Gary sternly replied before re-opening the refrigerator door and resuming his search for food.

With her left hand covering her mouth, Sarah carried herself back into the dimly lit living room and dropped herself down onto the couch.

Hearing his wife cry in the other room suddenly caused Gary's rage to gradually dissipate. Like angry storm clouds, he could see the destruction of their union from miles away, but he honestly never imagined that he would hear the word 'divorce' said straight to his face.

He rooted around in the refrigerator, pretending to be in need of sustenance. Gary didn't want Sarah to think that he too was falling apart. In an aimless blunder, Gary recklessly sifted past an open box of baking powder and a carton of milk in order to reach a block of cheese before hearing a loud crash, which was followed by a heavy thud from the basement.

Gary shut the refrigerator door and leisurely stepped over to where the basement door was located.

The ferocious ruckus could have been yet another raccoon or possum, even though neither creature had ever made such thunderous, violent racket before.

Gary reached behind him and grabbed a red broom that was placed next to the sink; he then opened the basement door only to see nothing but darkness below. The noises had suddenly ceased. The longer the quiet down below reigned, the more Gary began to realize that whatever was at one time down there could have possibly run off the moment it heard the door open.

Just as Gary was about to shut the door, out of the corner of his eye he caught what looked to be two bright beams of wavering light appear in the blackness of the basement. Gary stood back as the beams

began to slowly advance towards him.

His own heart nearly jumped out of his chest at that second. He was accustomed to seeing animals shine their night eyes in the dark, but the thing that was apparently skulking about on his basement stairs had a strikingly different kind of sound to it, like that of an angry, snarling lion.

Both man and beast stood opposite the other, staring each other down. Even the light from the kitchen wasn't able to shine bright enough to where Gary could catch a more precise glimpse of the supposed animal that was prowling about.

As Gary began back up the steps, he felt his right arm being snatched forward. Before he could even let out a single scream, the beast tore into his face, ripping away at his eyes and mouth with its sadistically sharp fangs. All that could be heard was the bumping and thrashing of Gary's legs as they kicked from left to right, knocking over a canister of nails that was perched in a nearby corner.

Sarah, still seated on the couch in the living room, rolled her eyes in disgust at all the rumpus that she assumed Gary was making.

She immediately shot up from off the couch, carried her tired self into the kitchen and sighed, "What are you doing now? I thought you were getting something to eat."

When she received no response, Sarah looked at the open basement door and figured that Gary was downstairs; it was customary for him to retreat downwards whenever a fight broke out between the two.

"Can you at least try and keep it down?" She irritably yelled. "I'm going upstairs to be with the girls!"

But still, there was no reply, only the racket of what resembled something being torn apart, and snorting coming from the stairwell.

"Gary, why don't you have the light on?" She shook while noticing the red broom lying on the floor. As she leaned forward to pick it up, her trembling left hand managed to cut on the light switch.

Glorious light filled the top half of the basement, enough light for the woman to see an enormous, hairy animal ravenously eating away at her husband's stomach.

Without blinking, Sarah dropped the broom, turned and ran away, only to be chased down into the living room, hollering for help.

The beast pounced onto her back and proceeded to tear into her soft flesh. Pieces of red hair were torn out of her head to where the woman was nearly bald. The demon then used its powerful jaws to crunch into her skull.

Meanwhile, upstairs in the parents' bedroom, four little girls, two red heads and two blondes, all sat on the queen sized bed, watching 'Wonder Woman' on the RCA television in front of them and wondering why their mother had squealed for help the way she did.

Three of the scared children looked over at the eldest sister that was seated at the foot of the bed. Her little hands and legs shook with unyielding fear.

They had heard their parents fight before, but never had there been such an aggressive commotion as there was that evening. Never was there a plea for help.

"Is daddy hitting mommy again, Jamie?" The second youngest girl asked while wiping tears away from her eyes.

"Don't worry...I'll go and see." The young lady stammered before reluctantly rising to her trembling feet and marching her way over to the door.

As she twisted the knob, her only thoughts were that her father would not take out his aggression on her and her sisters.

When she finally opened the door and looked out into the brightly lit hallway, all Jamie could see was the blue laundry basket that was full of clothes sitting next to the bathroom door.

Too petrified to go downstairs, the girl carefully closed the door and climbed back onto the bed alongside her sisters.

Right behind the child, a loud chorus of thumps could be heard rumbling up the stairs. It sounded as though a series of people were chasing after one another.

"Daddy's gonna get mommy!" Another one of the girls screamed out.

Jamie covered her sister's wailing mouth with her hand while holding her own knocking knees together and thinking only of her three sisters that were gathered amongst her.

When the rumbling clatter ended, a new sound began to resonate. There was something on the other end of the bedroom door, sniffing up and down like a dog.

The girls held themselves in silent, dreaded anticipation. Not one child moved an inch as Lynda Carter spun around in a circle to reveal her alter ego on the TV in front of them.

One...two...three seconds passed by. Like a bulldozer, a fur covered arm crashed through the door. The arm was followed by a loud, unearthly roar.

The girls all yelled out in blood curdling unison as the hulking beast rampaged its way into the bedroom.

Outside, and from a clear distance, the bedroom lamp could be seen wildly thrashing all about, until finally, it went completely dark inside.