Part VIII

Tommy stared at the creature that stood in front of him, he wanted to shout, to scream for his mama but his voice came out in small whimpers. He knew that he should run, run and get his pa who would scare this nasty monster away but his legs… they felt like little more than jelly under the fear this creature created.

How did we get to this point? Well folks, we will need to rewind to when Tommy was in his yard playing with Barky.

The morning light had just touched the top of the pine trees behind Tommy's house and Barky, the ever faithful stray, was standing outside patiently waiting for Tommy to come out and play. Tommy knew she would be waiting for him and hurried to get dressed and eat his breakfast that his mama had prepared.

Tommy rushed outside to find… Barky wasn't waiting for him. This was peculiar and Tommy was initially upset that his friend was absent for the first time since he, or rather she found him. Tommy didn't stay upset for long however, he just assumed Barky had decided to take her bath a little earlier than usual.

This still bothered Tommy since she had yet to even get any dirt on her. Maybe she was just playing hide and seek and forgot to tell him. To Tommy, this seemed more plausible than her taking a bath. Determined to find the answer, Tommy sat out to find Barky, whom he was now sure was hiding from him.

Tommy stormed into the woods, not bothering to be quiet, as he searched high and low for his dog, occasionally calling out her name. He searched for what felt like hours but was probably a few minutes before he gave up and started to head back to his house. Tommy would have, and most certainly should have returned to his home and waited for Barky to return on her own but something caught his attention.

Tommy turned his head and found Barky standing poised and ready to… run? Tommy, scared that one of the monsters might reach out and grab Barky, ran up towards her, shouting her name. Barky glanced up at Tommy and began to move deeper into the treeline, further away from Tommy's house and Tommy, being the young curious boy he was, followed after her.

It didn't take long for Tommy to catch up to Barky who was walking at a slow cautious pace, checking every part she stepped on to make sure no noise was heard. Tommy walked over to Barky, his breathing ragged from the run, and placed a soothing hand on her back and tried to coax her to follow him back home. Barky had other plans and Tommy, even at a young age, could tell that she was on a mission, but he couldn't shake this feeling that she was mourning for some reason.

They traveled deeper into the woods, deeper than Tommy had ever been before, and came to a stop a few feet outside a clearing. Tommy felt puzzled and scared, he didn't like the forest and the monsters that inhabited it and his eyes kept flickering back to where they came from, hoping to see his house that was now hidden behind the trees. As they came to a stop, Tommy could feel hot tears start to trickle down his cheek and began to sob.

Barky, being the ever loving dog, began to lick the salty tears from Tommy's cheeks as she gently nudged him. Tommy would have continued to cry, the fear of the unknown was too much for him, but something else was already crying. It wasn't a cry of sorrow or loss, it was more primitive. A cry of pain, pleasure, and the damned.

All of the hair on Tommy's body stood up at once and almost instinctively, Tommy began to back away from the clearing where the sounds were coming from. He would have continued to back away and possibly run, run to the safety of his mama's arms. To find his pa who would take on any monster and show them who's boss, but sadly he didn't get the chance.

As Tommy began to back away from the clearing, a woman who looked vaguely familiar, came charging out swinging a branch at Tommy's head. Tommy ducked and rolled to the side in time to see Barky, his protector, his night in gray armor jump on top of the woman and bite the branch she held…. Only, it wasn't a branch.

Oh God, Tommy realized in horror that what he thought was a branch was actually her arm. It was disfigured and longer than any arm Tommy had ever seen. It easily stretched to the size of the woman's body and Barky…. Her teeth couldn't pierce its skin and she was easily discarded off to the side like trash.

I wish I could say that Barky was still alive today, that she got back up and tore into this creature and carried Tommy home where she kept him safe, but I wouldn't be telling the truth. Now I am not saying this is the end for Barky, this knight in gray armor may still have some fight left in her. You will need to find out next time.

Hey folks, so I decided to do this differently and instead of placing the warnings and voicing stuff most people don't care about, I decided to put it all here at the end. Now, I know some, if not most or all of you don't believe my warnings, please take them seriously. If you have yet to have anything strange to happen to you, it is because I have neglected to tell you everything that brings these creatures to your door. Please, if you are going to read this story, do not try to find out more than what I have told you.

These creatures are dangerous and no weapon known to man or otherwise can harm them. If you read, see, or hear about them, you will become a target. I beg of you, dear readers, do not dig further into this story than what is necessary. The price of doing so just may be too high.