

Wes Parker

Monster Hunter

Volume Three

Short Stories

By C.J. Pike

Copyright © 2014 by C.J. Pike

Smashwords Edition

This collection is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are draw from the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely accidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any forms or means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

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A Quick Note

This book is a collection of short stories

that were originally posted on my blog.

You can visit there for more hunting.

It had been three weeks since my run in with the werewolves and vampires. Roy was doing a lot better but he had been loaded with a lot of vampire venom, so he had a ways to go. He was just lucky that he hadn't been bitten by a werewolf also. He would have died right on the spot.

If you're just joining us, Roy is a human that fights monsters. I met him while hunting some vampires, which were working with werewolves. He got hurt really badly. If you're confused go back to the last story "Hairy and the Vampires." I'm not re-explaining everything. If you are still confused then go even further back.

We had stayed in the same motel for the first couple of weeks—who knows how much money that had cost—but eventually we had to leave. Roy was well enough to move so we took our chances.

We had driven across the country just to end up in another crap bag motel, but we had to. If I showed up in a fancy hotel I would have a better chance of being recognized. It was the nature of our job. We had left because, can you guess? Ding, ding, ding! There was another monster to hunt. Every day, all day there is another monster to hunt. I was literally going to be spending the rest of my life hunting them down and killing them. I don't like to complain, though.

There were disappearances in a town that wasn't too far from Las Vegas. I thought about maybe going through there if I had some time. The one good thing was that at least it was warm. I was done with the cold air.

It had been a week since we had arrived and I hadn't found anything yet. There was nothing about the disappearances that gave away whatever the monster was. Who knows, maybe it was another demented human being. I knew that wasn't true because I could feel that it wasn't a human.

"You find anything yet?" Roy asked me.

"Do you see blood on my clothes?" I replied.

"If I was out there I would have found whatever it is by now."

"Go on out then. You look well enough"

"You know I'd rather be out there."

"Maybe next time you can try not getting hurt."

"Not all of us can be paladins."

"Only some of us can be so lucky."

I sat on the crappy bed that was dawned with some pretty shady looking sheets. I didn't really care, though.

"Hungry?" I asked him.

"A little," he answered.

"What do you want?"

"Pizza."

"Pizza."

I ordered us some pizza and we waited. I was glad to find someone who liked pizza as much as I did. This would be the fifth night in a row. Thankfully I am a paladin or the pounds would start adding up very fast.

"So, you didn't get any leads?" Roy asked again.

"If I did I would tell you," I responded. "There is nothing out there. And to be honest everyone just talked a bunch of crap about everyone else. This isn't a nice town."

"Life isn't nice, kid."

"Yeah, I know."

Roy was watching the news. There was a reporter walking the strip. I wasn't really listening to her because I was way too busy thinking about the pizza that was on its way. Roy looked like he was listening but who knows. I decided to start listening to her.

"Apparently the thief grabbed the woman by the neck and threw her into one of the freezer doors," she said. "Witnesses have identified the suspect as a male, Caucasian with long hair and standing about six feet tall." The woman stopped. "What? Where?"

The woman turned around. Now she had my attention.

"There's nothing there," she said.

All of a sudden the woman was ripped out of the camera shot into the air. She was gone.

"What the hell was that?" Roy shouted.

"I don't know," I said. "I've never seen anything move that fast."

"Never?"

"Never. I have no idea what that was." It was true. I didn't. All I know was that whatever the monster was it was in Vegas and a lot of people saw that happen. This was going to be a nightmare.

I didn't wait around for anything else to happen. I headed right into Las Vegas. Whatever was terrorizing the town we were in decided to head into Sin City. At least I knew where to start looking but I had no idea what the monster even was. I left Roy back at the motel because he wouldn't be able to do anything to help me. I was on my own. Of course, I was always on my own so that didn't really matter to me.

The city was amazing. There were so many bright lights and so many people. The only problem was that I would say about 80 percent of them were completely drunk.

I found my way to the spot where the woman was ripped up in the air. It was in front of a convenience store just outside the city. I wasn't the only one that had showed up. Obviously everyone was there to find out what had happened to that news reporter. The police were there too, which made me feel very uncomfortable. Even worse other news teams were there so I had to stay out of the camera view.

There wasn't a whole lot I could do without being noticed and I probably wasn't going to find much by looking on the ground anyway.

"Sir, did you see what happened?" someone said. It took me a second but I realized that they were talking to me. It was a reporter followed by a cameraman.

"No," I said quickly.

"Do you know anyone involved?"

"No."

"Do you have any comments?"

"Yeah: Go away."

My phone started ringing. I knew who it was before I even looked at the phone.

"Now you've done it," I said to the reporter. He ignored me and walked away.

I answered the phone.

"You guys are fast," I said.

"What's the matter with you?" Kelly asked. To remind those of you who may have forgotten and inform those of you who decided to join the story in the middle, Kelly works for an agency of humans that hunts down monsters. It's not like Roy who is on his own.

"I wanted my 15 minutes of fame."

"Are you an idiot?"

"It's not like I wanted to be on camera, you dumbass. Didn't you see what happened here?"

"A moment ago, yes. We're sending a team out."

"Without you?" I asked

"Yes," she replied. I don't know if I've ever worked with anyone in the agency without her. "Do you know what it is yet?"

"Not a clue," I answered.

"Odd."

"I have never seen anything move like that and I have seen a lot of different monsters."

"Neither have we."

"No ideas on your end then?"

"No. We're looking through some files to see if maybe something was forgotten over the years but nothing yet. We'll figure it out."

I was sure that they would figure it out, but I wanted to figure it out before they did. Don't call me a child. Everyone is competitive in one way or another so don't sit there behind your computer screen or tablet or whatever you're using to read this and act all high and mighty.

"Listen," I began, "I've got this under control. There's no reason to send anyone out here."

"Wes, we're sending a team out," she reiterated.

"Okay. I'll let you know when I kill it."

"Wes, no."

"Bye." I hung up the phone.

I knew they were coming and I couldn't stop that. I didn't know how far out they would be so I had to move fast. This was possibly a new monster and I didn't want to give anyone else the credit for killing it, which meant at most I had until the end of the night to find and kill it. Happy hunting, Wes.

I wasn't going to find whatever captured the woman by looking on the ground. This thing was probably hanging out on the tops of buildings, where most people don't go, snatching up people from the ground. That meant one of two things: either it had very, very long arms or it could climb walls. Unless Spider-man has a gambling problem I think it's safe to say that it's not him.

I tried to find a way into the building through the back but there were plenty of people, mainly police, standing back there so there was no way I was going to sneak in there. The only thing I could do was go into one of the surrounding buildings and look from there. First, I wanted to talk to the convenience store clerk to see if I could just get a little bit of information.

The guy was standing with a police officer who was asking him some questions. I waited until he was done and walked over to him.

"Hi," I said.

"Hey," he replied. He didn't really seem too shaken up.

"This is crazy, huh?"

"Yeah, man. I was robbed, which is whatever, and that news reporter. Way too weird."

"Did you see what grabbed her?"

"No. I was talking to the cops already and missed it."

"Did you ever hear anything on the roof before? Were there any other weird things going on?"

"No." He turned and looked at me. "You a cop or something?"

"No," I answered. "Why?"

"You're asking a lot of questions. You are way too young to be a cop."

"I'm a student. Just trying to learn."

"Well, go learn somewhere else before I get the real cops over here."

I put my hands up and walked away. What a jerk. He was cool at first and then totally switched gears. Oh well.

I walked away and headed to the building next door. There wasn't anyone surrounding that building or paying attention to it so I ventured inside. It was some type of office building that was clearly closed but I've done a little breaking and entering plenty of times in the past. No biggy.

The building was dark and completely empty, which worked for me because that decreased my chances of getting caught, significantly. I navigated through the building and eventually found the door that led to the roof. The building was about seven stories high, so I was pretty far up.

My first thought as I stepped through the door was that there was no one on the roof with me. I was wrong.

"What are you doing up here?" a man asked me as he stumbled from behind a vent. His clothes were a mess and so was he. There was a liquor bottle in his hand.

"What are you doing?" I asked back.

"That's noneaya business." He could barely speak. "My wifethinks shesssooo god? She leaves me because of one sim mistake? Stupid."

He was obviously at a bad point in his life and I didn't really want to get in the middle of that.

"Look," I began, "I'll just go into the next building."

"Don't you move," he said, waving the bottle at me.

"Okay, bud."

"I'm notyabud, dumb stupid."

I chuckled. I know I shouldn't have chuckled but the man just sounded so ridiculous.

"You think this funny?" he asked.

"No," I said.

"Then whyareyou laughing?"

"I don't know."

"I should beat you bloody."

"I think I'll just leave now."

I could kick the crap out of him but I didn't really want to do that.

"Get over here so I can beatyasenseless," he demanded.

He didn't really have the chance to do that, though. He was suddenly ripped off the roof. Whatever took him was still moving too fast to see exactly what it was but I could make out just a little bit and one thing was clear: it could fly.

I quickly went through my head, trying to figure out what monsters I knew could fly. There were only elves, because of their magic, and fairies. I knew for sure that it wasn't either of them. If it were elves then it would be a bunch of them and they wouldn't have left the other town. And fairies are the size of a small child and are severely ugly. This was something else. I was scared. I'm allowed to be scared you know.

The man was yelling as he and the monster shrunk away in the distance, which didn't take long because that thing was hauling ass. I tried my best to see where it was taking him but I lost them. I could see that they were heading into the heart of the city, though. So, I did too.

I found a parking garage on the strip and left my car there. I thought about leaving it back near the convenience store but I didn't feel it was safe there. At least I knew that this place was guarded.

The strip was full of all kinds of interesting people but to be honest I wasn't paying too much attention to them because I had my eyes up in the sky, looking at the tops of the buildings for the monster. My guess was that the guy that thing just took was dead. One less life I didn't save. Good job.

"Whoa!" someone shouted.

I turned just in time to see the girl I was about to walk into. We collided into each other and I almost knocked her over. I grabbed her just in time and accidentally pulled her right into me. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen.

"Uh, hi," I half said half breathed.

"Hi," she said back.

"Sorry for bumping into you." I let go of her and she took a step back.

"It was my fault, too. I wasn't paying attention."

We both just looked at each other and smiled. I could feel my stomach turn into knots.

"Oh, I'm Wes," I said.

"Julie," she replied. I couldn't take my eyes off her. I hadn't felt like this since Kerry. I felt a quick surge of guilt, but I pushed that feeling away.

"What were you looking at?" she asked me.

"I was just admiring the buildings," I lied. I knew I should've be looking for the monster but I didn't want to walk away from this girl. I could get the monster after. I always get the monster I am after. Almost always.

"You're not from around here," she said bluntly.

"What gave it away?"

"You just seem out of place."

"Doesn't everyone here?"

"Fair enough. You also look too young to gamble."

"How old do you think I am?" I asked.

She thought about it for a second. "Seventeen."

Damn. "Yeah."

She perked up a little bit, proud of herself.

"You look a little young yourself. To be gambling I mean."

She seemed to break out of some sort of daze and wore a look of concern.

"I know," she said. "I go to school outside the city. I'm just here looking for my dad."

"I see," I said.

"He got into a huge fight with my mom and then took off. She wouldn't tell me what it was about."

"Oh." I felt a pit forming in my stomach.

"He has a drinking problem and I'm afraid he is going to do something stupid."

"Maybe I can help you look?"

"No. I don't want you to drag you into my problems."

"I want to help. I mean, I don't mind."

"Okay, thanks. I thought he was probably in one of the casinos but I don't know. I've tried looking in a few but the bouncers know me pretty well because of him. They haven't seen him."

"Does he usually gamble?"

"Yeah. But I was thinking about checking his work. He goes there sometimes when he and my mother fight, if he's not out gambling. He owns his own business outside the city."

"Where's that?" I asked.

"It's actually right next to that placed that got robbed," she said. "He is usually on the roof."

Crap, crap, crap. I really wished that she hadn't said that. I was going to be the one to have to try to explain that her dad was taken by a monster that could fly and was probably dead. I really liked this girl, too.

Maybe it was all just a big coincidence. Maybe there were a lot of fathers in Vegas who get drunk and hang out on rooftops after getting into a big fight with their wife. Yeah, I know. That was definitely not the case. I just wasn't sure how I was going to explain it to her with her believing me and not scaring her off. I kept replaying the conversation in my head and it really didn't sound good.

She started walking off, so I followed her.

"We can grab my car and drive over there," she suggested.

"Have you checked all of the casinos?" I asked her.

"Only the ones he usually goes to."

"Maybe tonight he decided to go to another one. If he's drunk he could have ended up anywhere." Although that was very true, it was a dumb thing to say.

She scowled. I don't think she was necessarily mad at me but just worried.

"I know he could have," she said.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I didn't mean to say that." I did, though. And it was true. Well, he wasn't just anywhere. He was somewhere with a scary, flying monster.

"I know my dad. If he isn't at a casino, then he is at his job."

"Should we split up?"

She looked at me doubtfully. I could see it in her eyes.

"You can just go if you want," she said angrily.

"No," I said. "I just think that maybe I can look around here and have some better luck."

"How do I know you won't just take off?"

"Here's my number." I gave it to her. "Call it."

She did and my phone rang.

"See," I promised. "We can keep in touch and I have your number now, too."

She still seemed skeptical but she gave in. "Fine. I'll look at his office and you look around here. His name is George." She described him to me and he sounded just like the guy that was snagged from the rooftop.

"Okay. Shouldn't be too hard to find."

"If you find him don't try to talk to him. He gets very obnoxious when he's been drinking." I knew that was true. "Just call me and I'll be right there."

"If I see him, don't approach him. Got it."

"Right."

"I think I can handle this."

"I don't even know how to thank you. Why are you doing this?"

I took in a deep breath. I couldn't tell her the truth—either truth. I was doing it because it's what I do and finding him meant that I would find the monster, probably. But I was also doing it because I thought she was cute as hell.

"It just seems like the right thing to do," I said.

She walked up to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. She then walked away.

"Call me," she called behind her.

"Yeah," I sighed. I watched her walk away for as long as I could.

I snapped out of the daze I was stuck in and tried to figure out my next move. Her going to the office building would keep her away from danger, and I could keep dodging her long enough to find the monster and her dad. Time to start looking for a needle in a hay stack.

I knew that I was still going to have to look for this thing on the rooftops, which meant I was going to have to go through one of the buildings. The problem was they were all full and no one was going to let me get through without making a scene. I was just going to have to try my luck.

After walking down the strip for a couple minutes I found myself in front of one of the hotels. Without thinking I just walked through the front door. The place was really fancy and looked very expensive. It was somewhere I would never stay.

There were people at the front desk but none of them were paying attention. I figured the best thing I could do was act like I was already staying there. I know. When does everything I do ever go the way that I want? One of the bouncers stepped in front of me, stopping me dead in my tracks. He looked big and if I wasn't me I would be intimidated. The only reason I was nervous is that he could make a scene.

"Can I help you?" he asked me.

"Nope," I replied.

"Can I see your ID?"

"ID? Just to get to my hotel room?"

He just stared at me.

"Look," I began, "we both know that I'm too young to gamble. I just want to get to my room."

He still didn't say anything.

"I'm on vacation with my dad?" I tried.

"I'll also need to see your room key," he said.

"I lost that."

"Let's check at the front desk then."

I think it kind of goes without saying that within the next 30 seconds I was back outside. Anywhere else and I could have just walked right through. It didn't help that I had to walk through the casino that was in there to get to the rooms. So, I was back at square one.

My phone started to ring. It was Julie.

"Hi," I said.

"He's not here," she said. "But the back door had been broken into so now I'm kind of worried."

That was me, I thought to myself. I wasn't going to tell her that, though. She had gotten there a lot faster than I had expected.

"I'm sure he's okay," I lied. I felt so awful for doing that.

"I kind of thought you'd be gone by now," she admitted.

"I told you I wasn't going anywhere."

"Thank you. Have you found out anything?"

"No. I went into one place but the guy kicked me out right away."

"I hope my dad's okay."

"I'm sure he's just drunk at some casino or bar or something, hiding from everyone."

"You think so?"

No. Not at all. "Yes."

"I hope so. Where can I find you?"

I tried to think of something to tell her because I didn't want her to find me in case I found the monster. She needed to be as far away from me as she could.

"I'm not really sure," I lied.

"What do you see around you?"

"There's nothing where I am." That sounded stupid.

"Okay." She sounded frustrated. "Can you walk to anything close by?"

I never got the chance to answer her. At that moment something latched onto my shoulders, digging into my skin, and lifted me into the air.

So there I was, flying through the air with some monster's claws digging into my shoulders. I can say that it was certainly not a comfortable feeling. Somehow I had managed to hang on to my phone but I didn't waste any time hanging it up. I didn't want Julie to hear what was going to happen. I didn't even know what was going to happen. I certainly couldn't just try to get away from its grip because we were way too high in the air at that point. Plus I wasn't in a good position to try. So, I just waited to see where it was taking me.

It was interesting, seeing things from that point of view. If you can believe it I have never been on a plane before so I have never flown. I can imagine that flying on a plane would be a little different than being dragged through the air by some monster. I still couldn't see what it was.

My phone started to ring and the monster started making some squawking noise. It was making the thing angry. It was hard to focus on anything with its claws in me but I did manage to silence the phone.

The thing brought to me to a rooftop and dropped me. I was a little disoriented so I didn't see exactly where it went but I think it flew away.

I looked around and I was sitting in what looked like some sort of nest. There was just a bunch of garbage all bunched together in a circle. Plus there were human remains as well. I couldn't tell if one of them was Julie's father or not.

My phone started ringing again. It was Roy.

"Hey," I said with a grunt.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked.

"I think I found the monster."

"How do you know?"

"Because it just picked me off the ground and dropped me in its nest." The phone beeped at me because Julie was calling, but I ignored her.

"What?! It can fly?"

"Yeah, it can."

"I don't know anything that can fly. Not that big and fast anyway."

"Me either. Maybe we're lucky enough to have discovered a new type of monster."

"I hope not."

I grunted as I started to move around. Paladin or not, having something stab you in three different places on each shoulder hurts. I stood up and started moving away from the nest. I needed to get away from the bones mostly.

"At least you're all cozy at some nice motel," I said.

"Yeah, real cozy," he replied. "Just a dozen or so healing vampire bites and scratches."

"See. Optimism. Always good practice."

"If I could see you I would punch you."

"You mean you would try."

I know I should have been paying attention. If I was I might have seen the monster coming back at me.

It didn't grab me this time but instead just knock me over. It felt like I got hit by a Mack Truck. The thing knocked me 20 feet across the roof.

I stood back up, turned around, and prepared myself for another hit but it didn't come. This monster was tactical and I didn't like that. I didn't have my axes—I couldn't walk around Vegas with two axes strapped to my belt—but I did have my guns. Luckily neither of them fell off when it grabbed me. I took them both out and readied myself for another attack.

There was a whimpering somewhere off beyond the nest.

"Hello?" I called out, but there was no answer.

I stepped toward the noise but went with caution. There was no telling if there was a person there or if this monster could mimic humans.

"Is there someone there?" I asked. There was still no reply.

I continued.

"If there is someone there you should say so," I stated. "Otherwise I am going to just start shooting."

There was a shuffle and something moved. I took a quick shot but it was just a warning. If there was someone there I didn't want to kill them.

"Get out here!" I demanded.

The person finally did. I couldn't believe it. I felt a huge wave of relief as he headed toward me. It was Julie's dad.

I couldn't believe it. He was still alive. He looked a little less drunk than before, which I'm sure was because adrenaline had kicked in. I slowly approached him.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

He just shook his head.

"Do you remember me?" I asked.

He stared at me for a second confused. "You were on the roof before."

"Yes. I'm going to get you out of here. Your daughter is looking for you."

"Julie? You met Julie?"

"Yeah."

"Is she hurt?"

"No, she's fine."

"How did you meet her? She could be in trouble." He was still slurring his words a little bit but at least he was making sense.

"The whole city is in danger."

"That thing is going to come back and kill us." He was really starting to panic.

"I won't let it," I promised.

"You can't stop that," he practically shouted.

"You should really keep your voice down."

"How can you be so calm?"

If he continued to talk as loud as he was that thing was definitely going to come back, and I really didn't want it to. I was going to have to kill it at some point, though. I just wanted to face it when I didn't have Julie's father with me.

"I need to get you out of here," I said.

"We can't get out," he responded. "The door is locked."

"I can get through."

"How? Who do you think you are?"

"Wes Parker: Monster Hunter."

"Monster what?"

"Hunter." It wasn't like he was going to remember when this was all said and done. Plus he could clearly see that monsters did in fact exist.

I was getting a little anxious that the monster hadn't come back yet. It could be grabbing someone else or waiting for a good moment to strike me again. It must know what I am or at least had felt my presence when I arrived here. Otherwise I figured it would have just attacked me head on.

I quickly looked around fearing that it was watching me. I didn't see anything, however.

"We should really go," I said.

"Is it back?" he asked in a pathetic, high pitched voice.

"I don't know. It will be."

I started walking for the door that led into the building when I heard it land on the ledge off to my right. Judging by the sound it made as its feet hit the roof, it was big. I looked over, scared to do so, and saw that I was exactly right. It was taller than me, covered in scales, with a long snout and it had large wings. There was no mistaking what it was and I had no idea they even existed. It was a dragon.

I honestly didn't know that dragons were real. It wasn't huge like they usually are in the movies and books. It was more like the size of a very large grizzly bear, but it was still very intimidating. I'm not even sure it was a dragon because I had never heard of them existing, but it looked just like one.

It spread its wings out and let out a very high pitched squeal. I would have expected it to let out a horrific roar but it was more like a giant bat. It was scary none-the-less. It stepped down off the ledge and approached us, ready to pounce on its prey. That was us. I slowly started to back away with Julie's dad behind me.

"It's going to eat us," Julie's dad whispered.

"Shut up," I said back. I didn't want to spook the animal. It already looked aggressive enough. "Just head to the door, very slowly."

He did just that and moved toward the exit door that he claimed wouldn't open. The dragon followed us, letting out occasional hisses, sticking out its tongue like a snake as it did.

"We are going to have to move quickly," I said. "I'm going to rip open the door and then we'll have to get in there."

"It's going to kill us," he replied.

"Not if we move fast enough."

"You're an idiot."

"When this is over, I'm going to punch you in the face."

We reached the door and the dragon was still keeping some distance in between us, probably wary of what I might do. I really wondered if it knew what I was. I had Julie's dad try to open the door but it didn't budge.

"You see?" he said.

"Okay," I began. "I'm going to rip the door open in three seconds."

"It's getting closer."

"Three. Two. One."

I ripped open the door and shoved the man through it, wondering if he was going to break any bones. If I went down there with him the dragon could have just followed us so I couldn't take that chance.

The dragon didn't waste any time and pounced on me like a feral cat. I managed to roll out of the way in time but barely. As I rolled up into a kneeling position I stuck my guns out, ready to fire, but the monster was way too fast. I didn't have time to shoot as it took a bite into my arm. I yelled in pain but I didn't give up.

I took one of my guns and shoved it into the creatures back. I pulled the trigger, firing a bullet right in. Thankfully it wasn't like the thing had scales that were impenetrable because the bullet did hit its mark. The thing let go of my arm and let out another squeal. Then it flew away.

I checked my arm and saw that I would live. I found my phone and called Roy.

"Wes, you die?" he asked.

"If I died I wouldn't be calling you," I pointed out.

"I know."

I let that sink in for a second and then snapped back into reality.

"It's a damn dragon," I said.

"What?" he replied. "Dragons?"

"Yeah."

"There's no such thing."

"There's no such thing as vampires either."

"Good point."

"This thing is not going to be easy to kill. It's strong, fast and it can fly."

"When are they ever easy to kill? How's a giant dragon not noticed in Las Vegas?"

"It's not as big as you think."

I thought I heard something fly above me but it was just a bird.

"I need to get down from here," I said.

I got down, but I really wanted to use the stairs. Instead the dragon came swooping down and knocked me right off of the building.

There I was, falling to ground, heading to my inevitable death. They say that when you die your entire life flashes before your eyes. It didn't. That must have meant that I was going to survive. Of course I survived. I don't know why I have to remind you but if I was dead I wouldn't be able to tell you about this story.

So, it turns out I wasn't going to hit the ground. No. The dragon didn't catch me at the last second. I bounced off a balcony and then landed on the ground. I didn't plummet to hard pavement below, but hitting that cement overhang didn't feel too good either. There was no doubt that something inside me had broken.

I was lying on the ground, moaning and groaning like a little baby and luckily no one saw me fall. Either there was no one around or they were all too drunk. I looked at the building that we were just on top of and could see that it was abandoned, which made sense. The dragon wouldn't want to be nesting at a populated spot.

"Wes?" I heard a female voice. I turned and saw Julie. Great. I'll admit that despite not wanting her around right then my heart still jumped.

"Hey," I moaned.

"Why are you lying on the ground?"

"Just taking a break." Ha, get it? There's a little Arnold one-liner for you.

"Are you okay?"

"I've been better."

I stood up and she came over to help me.

"What happened to you before?" she asked. "I thought you took off on me."

"I told you I wouldn't," I reassured her. "I thought I saw your dad so I got excited and dropped my phone."

"So you didn't find him?"

"Well, I did."

She looked back and forth, trying to find her dad.

"Where is he?" she asked.

"Um," I stumbled. I wasn't really sure how much I should tell her. "He's in there." I pointed to the building.

She just shook her head. "That place is all boarded up. How did you get in there?"

"We came from the roof." I just spit it out, without even thinking about.

"Why were you on the roof?"

"We were sort of taken up there."

She let out a long sigh and she seemed even more worried than she already was. I didn't really blame her, especially considering I knew that there was a dragon flying around. Where was that monster anyway?

"Who took you?" she asked. "How did you get away? Why did you leave him?"

"I didn't," I said. "I was sort of knocked off the roof."

"You were knocked off of the roof?"

"Yeah."

She just started to chuckle.

"I knew you were crazy," she said. "I shouldn't have trusted you from the beginning. Who knocked you off the building? Who took you?"

"It wasn't really a who, but more of a what," I admitted.

"What are you two kids doing here?" a police offer asked as he approached us. Uh, oh.

He was walking towards us slowly and he looked angry. I just wanted to flash his brain so he would forget this and we could go save Julie's dad, but I couldn't just do that in front of Julie either. It was a sticky situation.

"I asked you a question," he stated.

We never got a chance to answer him. The dragon came swooping in and yanked him into the air. Julie literally jumped in the air and let out a short scream.

"That's what knocked me off the roof," I said.

We both watched as the dragon took the police officer away. That was another person that I was going to have to save. Hopefully the thing will bring the guy right up to the roof I was just at. That would make things a lot easier.

Julie had turned white and couldn't seem to close her mouth. Granted anyone who didn't know about monsters would be a little more than freaked out.

"What the hell was that?" she yelled.

"That was a dragon," I informed her. "I think."

"A what?"

"A dragon."

"A dragon? How? What?" She couldn't even voice what she was thinking.

"Yeah. So, monsters are real."

"Did that thing take my dad?"

"It took me too."

She just let out guttural sobs.

"It's okay," I promised. "He's unharmed. He's a little drunk but not hurt."

"We have to go save him," she said.

"He's okay right now. I really need to go save that cop."

"What about my dad?"

I looked at her and found myself in quite the predicament. I really needed to go save that cop but I couldn't just leave her dad or her alone. The one good thing was if the dragon did bring the officer to the top of this building then I had to go in there anyway. That was the first place I was going to look so it kind of worked out.

"Let's get in there then," I said.

She didn't wait and just headed for the building. It was completely boarded up and not accessible, but thankfully I'm me. I could get in.

"How do we get in here?" she asked as she was trying to pull some of the wood off. "We need to get in there now." She was brave. Anyone else might only think about themselves and try to run but she didn't. She wanted to run right into building that could ultimately lead to her death. This girl was awesome.

"Step aside," I said. In a totally non chauvinistic way, of course. I just needed her to move so I could get us in there.

I grabbed the boards and ripped them off like they were Styrofoam.

"How did you do that?" she asked me.

"I work out," I lied. Who has time for that? I get to look like this without even trying. Jealous? Oh yeah. You can't really see me, can you? That's a shame. Oh, sorry. Back to the story.

I kicked open the door and we both headed in. The place was a complete mess. There was debris everywhere. She took out her cellphone out and used it as a flashlight. I suppose I should have a flashlight on hand but I never really need one. I'm sure I've told you I can see in the dark better than a human.

"He could be anywhere in here," she said.

"We'll find him," I said.

"Dad!" she yelled out loud.

"Don't do that. At all. No loud noise unless you want that thing to find us. It could be up on the roof right now."

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

We continued to walk through the building, looking for her dad. The first two floors were empty. On the third floor we heard something shuffling in one of the rooms.

"What was that?" Julie asked, grabbing me as she did so.

I crept forward with Julie right behind me. When we were no more than a few feet away from where the sound came from, Julie's dad jumped out from behind an old desk. I jumped, so what?

"Dad!" Julie bellowed. She ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her.

"He's been helping me." She pointed to me.

His face turned red with anger. "Why would you bring her in here?"

"It's okay," I assured him. "The dragon wouldn't come in here."

I hate being wrong. I'm not ignorant enough to pretend like I'm not. There was a thump off to my right. I turned to look down the hallway and sure enough, there was the dragon, staring right at me.

This was not a position that I wanted to be in. If it were just me and the dragon I would be fine. Well, no, I would still be screwed but at least I wouldn't have two people to worry about.

The dragon walked towards us with slow, calculated steps, ready to pounce at any second. We all backed away, trying to keep as much distance from the thing as we could. It was less than 15 feet away. Julie and her dad were both breathing very heavily but luckily neither of them made any loud noises or quick movements.

"I'm going to distract the thing," I informed them in a low whisper. "Then you two head for the door."

"You can't," Julie whimpered.

"I can." Without waiting I jumped at the monster.

We collided and it head butted me right in the shoulder where it had bit me earlier, which hurt. I had actually forgotten that happened. It tried to jump past me at the other two but I grabbed the thing by the tail and tore it to the ground.

"RUN!" I yelled. Julie and her dad took off.

I still had a hold of the dragon's tail, so I whipped the thing off to the side and out a window. It managed to keep its balance in the air and turned itself around to face me. It let out another one of its high-pitched squeals right before it started flying back towards me.

I had both of my guns aimed forward and just started firing, hitting the monster several times. It still kept coming, though. When the dragon was a few feet away from me it reached out to grab me, but I dropped to the floor on my back and it just flew by. As I landed I aimed my guns and continued to fire, shooting upside down and backwards. Not an easy task.

It landed on the ground and whipped around to look at me. It then reeled its head back and started to suck in a lot of air. There was no way this thing could actually breath fire, could it? It could. I rolled out of the way and into a room, putting a wall between me and the fire. There was so much debris that it caught fire the moment the flames licked it.

I heard thumping as the dragon came running from around the corner, fire still shooting from its mouth. I started running as quickly as I could, trying to avoid the hot flames. The thing was fast so it was hard to get away but luckily I am quick, too, so I managed to keep it back far enough.

There was a weak wall ahead of me so I picked up my speed and busted right through it. I then jumped to the side so that when the dragon came through I could punch it right in the face, which I did. The thing let out a little squeak and ran off.

The dragon flew towards a window. I couldn't let it get away this time, so I ran after it as quickly as I could. It smashed through the widow, creating an explosion of glass. I jumped out the window right after it and grabbed onto its wings. The thing just freaked out. It started flying around in all different directions and was squealing constantly. There was no way that anyone below didn't see what was going on.

We flew around like it was missing a wing and ended up going halfway across the city in another slightly abandoned area. There seemed to be a lot of vacant buildings, more than I would have expected for this city.

The dragon plummeted onto a smaller building and we rolled around on each other until eventually I pushed myself away from it. Then it flew away. I really hated that it ran away, again.

My phone rang. I didn't recognize the number.

"Hello?" I said.

"Wes?" came a male voice.

"Yeah?"

"This is Kevin. I work with Kelly. Where are you?"

"To be honest I'm not sure. Can't you lock on my phone?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then do that."

"Keep the line open."

"Yup." My phone beeped as another call was coming in. "I have another call. Hang on."

I picked up the other call. "Roy."

"We have a problem," he said flatly.

Just then the dragon landed on the ground in front of me.

"You better make it quick," I said, "because I'm a little busy here."

"Another person went missing earlier, in the town we're staying in," he told me.

"How? The dragon has been here."

I hate when I asked stupid questions. I really do hate it. There was a loud thud behind me. I dared to turn around and couldn't believe my eyes. It was another dragon and it was bigger.

I really wasn't expecting that. I wondered which one was the male and which one was the female. I assumed it was one and the other. My guess was the bigger one was the female, and it looked really pissed off. I wish I had my axes with me.

They both started circling me, measuring up their prey. I guessed that if there were two of them that they were probably there to mate, and I definitely didn't want them to do that. The dragons started hissing at me, bringing the tension way up. I took my guns back out and prepared myself for the fight of my life.

The smaller dragon faked like it was going to come at me so I turned towards it a little. Then the bigger one attacked, biting the same shoulder the other one had. I yelled in pain and tried to get away, but the thing was not letting go. It whipped me back and forth a few times before it finally let go and threw me across the roof. I landed with a thud and then rolled a few times. My shoulder felt like it was on fire.

The two dragons came running at me with great speed. They both fanned out so that they could approach me on each side. I followed them with my Desert Eagles but no matter how many times I managed to hit them they just kept coming. I don't know if they had a ridiculous healing rate or if there was just so much adrenaline pumping through them that it didn't even faze them. Either way it wasn't really working out for me.

When they were both a few feet away from me, one on my left and the other on my right, I did a back flip to avoid them. The collided into each other and it was actually pretty funny. I laughed a little but the feeling faded.

The attack went on for a while and for the most part they were getting the best of me, but I managed to dodge them enough to stay alive.

All of a sudden the door leading inside the building busted open and a bunch of guys with guns came running out. It was the agency. They all stopped and dropped their guns, shocked at what they were seeing. One of them seemed to have his head on his shoulders, though.

"Wes!" he shouted. "Here!"

He threw something at me. As it got closer I could see that it was a sword. It wasn't my axes but it would do.

I grabbed the sword out of the air just as the smaller dragon was approaching. When it was just a foot or so away I swung the sword as hard as I could and cut the things head clean off. This sword was extremely sharp.

The other dragon let out a blood curdling squeal that forced me to drop to my knees. I just killed its mate. It was furious. I didn't care, though. There's no telling how many people these things have killed.

The dragon lifted in the air and flew right at me. I tried to jump to the side and cut its head off but it was moving faster than I expected, so it slammed right into me. We tumbled together and then toppled over the side of the building. We plummeted to the street below until we both hit the ground with me on top, thank god, so the dragon took all of the impact. That isn't to say that it didn't hurt.

I pushed myself off of the dragon and backed away. The monster obviously took the hit kind of hard because it took a couple seconds to get up, stumbling as it did. And then we stared. It was just one on one, equally matched. I really wanted to get this over with before anyone noticed what was going on. People might have already. I didn't notice. I was a little too focused on the dragon that was bigger than me facing me down.

"I think we both know how this is going to end," I said to it.

It hissed at me.

"You want to do this anyway?" I asked. "Okay then. I was just hoping for an easy submission."

The thing charged at me, again, but this time I was ready. It came at me straight on, keeping its head mid-level right at my chest. I took the sword and swung upward, aiming to take off its head. The dragon knew that was coming and dodged to the right, narrowly avoiding being chopped. Have you ever watched that show, Chopped? Sometimes when I'm sitting in a motel I'll catch it and it's so hard to not get an appetite after. I could really use a burger. Oh, sorry, fighting a dragon.

So, it moved to the right to avoid getting its head cut off. When it came back at me, however, I had my gun ready and stuck it right in its face.

"Eat this," I said. I'm just kidding. That would be extremely cheesy.

I didn't wait to pull the trigger and just let the bullet fly. It hit its mark and the dragon wasn't getting up.

I dropped down to my knees and took in a deep breath, relieved that it was finally over. Now all I had to do was get the thing out of there before anyone noticed.

"What the hell was that?" someone shouted.

"Donny, get the shot," said someone else.

Not only were there people behind me but there were cameras as well. Crap.

I couldn't believe it. This was worse than the whole ordeal with the carnival. Kelly was already angry—I was angry with myself, too—that I was on camera before, but this was even worse than that. I had to hope that no one saw my face.

"Sssir," someone stuttered. "What is that?"

I didn't say anything. I had to think about what I wanted to do. I couldn't just wipe their memories because even if I did this was on TV. And then there are things like social media so this was definitely being seen by people somewhere. You people and your damn Facebook. Maybe the news people weren't shooting live.

"We're reporting live," the news woman said. I almost felt like punching her in the face.

I was going to have to flash them to distract them. The only thing is I didn't know if I could drag the dragon—ha—with me because it was huge. And the police were definitely going to be there any second. I was just going to have to take my chances.

I stuck my hand facing backwards and flashed everyone with my bright light—hold the giggles. I then grabbed the dragon and started pulling it as fast as I could. I was almost in the alley way.

"How did he get over there?" someone asked. I grunted in aggravation.

Once again I stuck out my hand flashed the light to distract everyone. When I got into the alley I could see that the agents were there with a van, waiting for me. The back door was open.

"Throw it in," one of them said. I did just that. "Now get in." I climbed in right after the dragon.

Once everyone was in the van started driving.

"It's for you," one of the agents informed me, holding out a phone. I grabbed it.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Kelly shouted through the phone.

I pulled the phone away and started pointing at it.

"She's mad," I whispered. I put the phone back up to my ear.

"Are you listening?" she asked me.

"Yeah, yeah," I said.

"I want you to come in with them. We need to talk."

"That's not really going to work for me."

"I really must insist."

I looked around and all of the agents looked ready to restrain me.

"Do you really think they will be able to stop me?" I asked her.

"No," she admitted.

"Good."

We stopped at a traffic light and I quickly erased everyone's mind in the van and jumped out the back door. Running with speed I didn't know I could manage, I headed back to my car. There was something that I needed to do before I left, though.

On my way to my car I headed back to the burning building to find Julie and her father. She was still there, amazingly. I ran right up to her.

"You're still here?" I said.

"We were waiting for you," she said.

"Walk this way, quickly."

We walked away from the building as quickly as we could.

"I'm going to do something to your dad," I said. "I'm going to make him forget."

"You aren't going to do nothing," he informed me.

Without waiting for an answer I wiped his memories. Julie took the brunt of the flash but I kept her memories intact.

"Listen to me," I said. "If anyone comes asking you about me or the dragons pretend like you've forgotten. Okay?"

"Why didn't you do the same thing to me?" she asked.

I was selfish. "I don't know."

"I'm glad you didn't."

I leaned in and kissed her. She didn't pull away from me, which was amazing.

"Will I ever see you again?" she asked me as we finally pulled away.

"I hope so," I said. And then I took off.

When I got back to my car I called Roy to let him know what happened and that we needed to leave as soon as I got back. We had to get as far away from the agency as we could. They weren't really going to do anything, even though I exposed myself and the dragons to world. But why would I take my chances?

Hey. It's been a while. Last time we talked I was dealing with dragons. That was a lot of fun. Roy and I kept running for a while, trying to stay away from Kelly and the agency. So far we seemed to be safe but we didn't want to take any chances. I honestly didn't think she was going to come after me anyway.

We watched the news story over and over when we had reached the next motel and luckily my face wasn't visible, but if anyone looked hard enough they might recognize me. I couldn't wear my jacket for sure. We jumped from motel to motel until eventually we found ourselves in Vermont. Roy was still in bad shape so I couldn't let him go off by himself. Although, given how much time I've spent alone it was nice to have some company for once.

It was mid-morning and there was a slight overcast. We were somewhere near the White Mountains when it hit me. It felt like all of sudden we were driving through water. There was something near us and it was significant.

I started to slow down the car.

"Why are you slowing down?" Roy asked me.

"There's something nearby," I informed him.

Roy was looking at his phone. "There's nothing weird in the news."

"I can feel it. Trust me."

"Feel what?"

"I can feel when there is a monster is around. Didn't Drake tell you that?"

"No. Guess it wasn't that important since I'm human."

"True."

"So you guys cheat?" Roy teased.

"It's not like I can pinpoint their exact location," I explained. "It just helps to know that I am in the right area."

Roy just nodded his head.

I pulled the car to the side of the road and got out. I wasn't really sure what I was going to accomplish by wandering but the pull from this monster was so strong that I just couldn't help it. It felt the same as when I had the run in with the elves in Colorado. I really hoped this mountain thing was just a coincidence.

After aimlessly looking around I got back into the car.

"What are you doing?" Roy asked me.

"We have to go up the mountain," I said.

"We? You mean you. I don't think I'm exactly in shape to go mountain climbing."

"What's the matter? You scared?"

"No. I just know my limits and I'm not an idiot."

"Fair enough. We'll drop you off at a motel and I'll go up the mountain myself."

We drove around for a bit until we found a motel suitable enough for Roy. He wasn't very picky and neither was I so it wasn't that difficult. Once he was settled in I went out by myself and found the same spot that we were at before. I wasn't really sure that it was the right place to be but it felt like a good place to start.

I headed up the mountain with my axes and Desert Eagles and minimal food. I was hoping not to be in there for that long and that was going to be my mistake. I was a little distracted by the overwhelming energy I felt emanating from the mountain in front of me.

When I was about two hours into the climb I thought I heard a noise from behind me, so I whipped out my axes and spun around, ready to attack whatever it was. After a few seconds of silence I started to move toward the sound, eager to find out what it was.

"Hello?" I said. I knew that if it was something stalking me I certainly wasn't going to have the element of surprise.

There was no response.

"Is there anyone there?" I asked.

Eventually a little rabbit came out from behind the bushes and was bouncing right toward me. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was just you?" I asked it. It went right passed me. "Where are you going?"

I turned around just in time to see a bear charging right at me. I jumped out of the way to avoid being eaten and then prepared myself for a fight. It wouldn't come to that, though, because the bear also just kept running. That is when I looked around and noticed there were a ton of animals all running down the mountain, away from something. What had them so afraid? When you see animals, especially all of them, acting like that then you know something is very wrong. I had a bad feeling that I did not want to keep heading up that mountain.

Against my better judgment I continued up the giant hill. There were still many animals passing by me as I made the climb, and huge flocks of birds flying above. I have never seen animals act like that, except for in movies. And that usually meant that there was aliens or a big Earth changing storm was coming. I don't think the ice age was coming and as far as I know there were no aliens. I'm not going to say aliens don't exist. I think it would be pretty silly to think there isn't alien life somewhere out in the universe I just don't think there were any at the top of this mountain.

Eventually all of the animals were gone and it was just me. Once the sound of the stampede dissipated the forest was way too quiet. It was like those quiet moments when you know something terrible is about to happen. Of course, my life is all about monsters so I usually have those kinds of moments all the time.

My phone started to ring. I kept it on vibrate but it was still audible on the quiet mountain.

"Hey," I said, into the phone.

"You find anything yet?" Roy asked me.

"No, but I think I'm in the right place."

"Why do you say that?"

Wes quickly explained to Roy what was happening. Wes? Did I just refer to myself in the third person? Maybe this isn't Wes Parker. Maybe I am just the figment of someone's imagination just for pure entertainment. Ha, just kidding. Would I make this stuff up? Anyway, back to reality.

Roy was silent for a couple of seconds.

"I know you're a paladin and everything," he began, "but this sounds like something that you either walk away from or get some help."

"I never walk away," I informed him. "And who's going to help me, you? I can't call Kelly because she's a little angry about me being on TV."

"Understandable."

"She'll get over it."

We stayed silent for a bit as I continued the walk up the mountain. He was probably right. Whatever was at the top of the mountain was probably more than I could handle, but I always got myself into terrible situations. So, I wasn't going to just walk away from this one.

"Look," I began, "I've been in worse situations. I can handle this."

"I can't stop you," Roy pointed out.

"No, you can't."

I hung up the phone.

Then, again, I started walking back up the mountain, heading toward my inevitable doom. I started to think that maybe it was elves again. That would certainly explain the odd behavior of all the animals. But it would be way too coincidental that they were in the mountains again. Plus the last time that I had a run-in with the elves it didn't end too well. So, here's to hoping.

What if it were ghosts? Ghost would send animals into a fritz, especially if there were a lot of them. Oh please don't let it be ghost.

A few hours later I was nearing the top of that mountain. I don't know how high the mountain was but I can move really fast so it didn't take me that long, I think. I could hear some chanting coming from the top of the mountain. I stopped, weary of what was ahead of me. It sounded loud and it sounded like there was a lot of whatever it was.

I crept up to the top and then stayed hidden behind a tree. I looked on in shock. Not only was there a crap ton of monsters, but there was a crap ton of different kinds of monster. They were all gathered and it looked like they were getting along. This was worse than the vampires and werewolves. I really was screwed.

I couldn't believe my eyes. I know that things had been weird lately and there had been a lot more monster activity, not to mention that I didn't even know that dragons existed, but this was completely off the charts. After counting there were four different types of monsters and a little over 30 combined. There were the ogres. Those guys were nothing like Shrek. They are kind of like trolls but smaller with more muscle, and they were a lot smarter. But their faces are just as ugly. Then there were some basilisks. Those monsters aren't exactly as you would think. They are snakelike but they're humanoid, so they can speak and have some intelligence—only some. And never look them in the eye directly. No. It's not like in Harry Potter where they will kill you but they will drain any bit of happiness right out of you. Yes, I do know about Harry Potter. They are average height and thin, and they have fins on their head like a cobra and they are extremely quick. The third monsters were Minotaurs, which are pretty self-explanatory but for those of you who don't know half man, half bull. The last on the list of monsters at this giant meeting were trolls. Luckily I didn't see the head female troll I ran into last time. For reference please refer back to Under the Bridge.

It looked like they were having some sort of conversation. It seemed that they were getting along but my guess was they were arguing over dominance. My money was on the basilisks. They might be the smallest of the bunch but they were quick and strong. However, I didn't want to stick around to find out. Roy was 100 percent right, I wasn't going to be able to do this by myself. I was going to have to bite the bullet and call Kelly.

I turned around and walked down the mountain, away from the large crowd of monsters. I was one minute down the hill when I felt something sting my in the back on my right shoulder blade. That sting was a blade that a basilisk shoved into me. I know, I should have heard the thing coming a mile away. Did I mention that they were way too quiet?

With what I would call amazing speed I spun around and took a swing at the human like snake, but missed. I was fast but it was faster. It came up at me again and tried to stab me in the left shoulder in the front. I blocked it and pushed it out of the way but it still managed to cut my shoulder a little bit. I kicked the thing in the chest and then back-flipped away from it. I quickly checked my shoulders and could see they were fine.

"Paladin," the thing hissed. "We felt you coming the moment you entered thissss town." Its tongue popped in and out of its mouth as it talked.

"I bet you did," I replied. "I could smell you from three states over."

"Mind your tongue."

"You should really watch yours. Stick it out too far and you might accidentally eat a bug."

The basilisk lashed out at me and tried to cut me again, but this time I was ready for it. He or she—so hard to tell—might be faster than me but I was a whole lot stronger. I grabbed its arm, flipped it over my head, and then slammed it into the ground. I knew that if I held on I had the upper hand so I didn't let go of him and continued to slam it around. Right it might be a she, sorry. I didn't let go of him/her.

I took the monster and pinned it against the tree, squeezing the life out of it.

"This is ironic, isn't it?" I asked.

It gurgled something.

"I'm choking a snake," I continued.

Oh, yes they have tails. It used its tail to wrap around my waist and tore me off of it. I rolled across the ground but eventually ended up on my feet.

"You cannot sssstop usssss," it informed me.

"You know," I began, "that isn't the first time I've heard that."

"It will be the lassssst."

It moved toward me so fast that I barely had any time to react. I did, though. When it went to kick me I blocked its leg with mine and then, with my leg already in the air, I kicked the snake into a bush.

"Is this it?" I asked.

It slowly got up but didn't say anything.

"A whole group of monsters and they send just one of you?"

The basilisk smiled.

I should have learned. I really should have learned. I felt something hit me in the back of the head and I fell down.

I didn't get knocked out. I was a little disoriented from being pummeled in the back of the head but I was still conscious. I was being dragged and when I looked up I could see that it was an ogre that was pulling me. I needed to get out of there and I needed to do it fast.

The basilisk was walking behind us, ready to stop me when I tried to do something. So, I had to be quick about it.

As quickly as I could, I flashed the beam of light out of my hands, which distracted them just like I needed it to. I then managed to get one foot free and used my other foot to kick the ogre in the head. Then I rolled back and kicked the basilisk in the chest with both of my feet. The snake rolled backwards until it slammed into a tree.

I cut down the ogre first and then went after the basilisk but all of the other monsters must have heard us because they were heading towards me. Before I could kill the snake monster, one of the minotaurs threw a spear at me with ridiculous speed. I barely made it out of the way in time. I did though of course, but it was time to run.

With as much speed as I could muster I ran down the mountain, trying to get away from the large mob of creatures that were definitely going to kill me. Somehow I managed to put enough distance between them and I so that I could lose their trail. Yes they do have a keen sense of smell but we paladins don't put off a scent.

When I knew I was safe enough I whipped out my phone and made the call I had no intention of making.

"Where are you?" Kelly asked me as soon as she answered.

"Look," I began, "forget about whatever you want with me for right now."

I explained what was happening.

"Are you kidding me?" She was shocked. Anyone would be.

"Unfortunately I'm not," I assured her.

"You need to get out of there."

"I agree but that isn't going to be easy. Plus, we can't just let them run amuck."

"I know. We can do what we did with the werewolves?"

"Not a chance. There are way too many people around the mountain."

"What do you suggest?"

I took in a deep breath and let out a long sigh.

"I need you guys to come out here," I admitted.

She didn't say anything for a few seconds. "We'll be there within the hour."

"I don't really know if I have an hour."

"You're going to have to."

She then hung up the phone. How were they able to travel around so quickly?

There was a rustle from the bush behind me, so I whipped around with my axes ready at my side. There was nothing there, though.

I called Roy.

"Hey," he said. "What did you find?"

I filled him in.

"You need to get out of there," he said. "And then we need to get out of here."

"Kelly's team is on the way," I said.

"Then we definitely need to get out of here."

"I can't just leave it all to them."

"We can't let them take us either."

"Take me."

"Huh?"

"Can't let them take me. They're after me not you."

"True."

"Listen." I stopped short. I looked around and all of the monsters were completely surrounding me. There was no escape.

I spun around slowly, trying to find some gap to escape through, but there was nothing. I was literally trapped. All of the monsters moved closer and closer but when they were about 15 feet away from me they stopped. Waiting patiently, I expected for them to attack me at any second but one of the minotaur stepped forward.

"Wes Parker," it said. I think it was a he. His voice was deep and raspy.

"How do you guys always know who I am?" I asked.

"You're the only paladin left."

"Good point."

"You've stumbled into the wrong place."

"I kind of got that impression about five minutes ago. What are you guys doing up here anyway? I've never seen any of you guys gathered together like this. Except for the werewolves and the vampires I ran into a few weeks back."

"That is not a concern of yours."

"Well, it kind of is. I sort of have to kill you all."

They all started laughing. Some of it sounded like laughter. The rest of it sounded like a mixture of barking and choking.

"You are in no position to kill anyone."

I just sighed.

"Yeah," I began, "I guess not. But even if you guys do kill me I am going to take down some of you with me. Plus I have an uncanny ability to get out of bad situation. I've dealt with worse than this."

"You have a big mouth," he told me. "I think I will take care of you myself."

I smiled. "Come and get me." Was that lame? I don't think that was too lame.

The monster charged me with its spear held high. It took a quick, massive swing at me but I ducked and rolled out of the way. As I came up I swung my axe and cut the minotaur's leg. It howled, more in anger than in pain, and then thrust his spear down at me. I hopped backwards to avoid being impaled. With speed and strength I kicked the spear, breaking in right in half.

"Is this the best you've got?" I asked. I never really do learn to keep my mouth shut. I wonder if it had to do with me witnessing my parents' death and having to learn to live my life without them or if it was just my natural progression as a teenager? Either way I was never like this before that happened. I never talk about what happened to my parents much but it really does piss me off.

Anyhow, I must have forgotten that I was surrounded by a large group of monsters. One of them, I didn't get the chance to figure out who, whacked me in the back of the head, hard. I toppled to the ground. That was twice I took a blow there in less than ten minutes. I don't know how I haven't gotten a concussion at some point in my life. Maybe I have.

I went to stand back up when another monster came in to attack me, but I was ready for it so I kicked myself up and cut the thing's head off. Another one was right behind it though and kicked me right in the neck. Have you ever been kicked in the neck? It sucks.

Struggling to breath I stumbled to the ground again and that's when another monster decided to pummel me right in the stomach. These a-holes were letting me have it.

"Like I said, Wes," the minotaur began, "you hiked up the wrong mountain."

"You did," I coughed. He kicked me in the head, really sending me spinning.

That was it, my final moments. I was surround by who knows how many monsters, with a giant half bull, half man standing over me, spear in hand.

"This is the end for you," he said.

I pulled myself up into a kneeling position. Well folks, this was it. There was no way that I was going to get out of this one.

There I was at the end of my life. Just kidding. Did you really think that I was going to die? How would I be writing all of this down if I was dead? Every time I have to remind you. Maybe I should stop reminding you. Redundancy is annoying, isn't it?

The minotaur held his newly acquired spear on my right shoulder, threating to take off my head.

"Goodbye, Wes Parker," he said.

"Goodbye," I echoed.

As it swung the spear at my head I rolled backward and swung my axe up. I managed to connect with the minotaur and the end result was definitely not pretty. He was dead. I still had the rest of the monsters to deal with, though. I had once chance of getting away from them.

I threw my hands up and let out a beam of light, temporarily blinding them and giving myself a window of escape. Before I ran, I chopped down three monster, thinning their numbers ever so slightly. And then I ran. I couldn't just run down to the bottom of the mountain and run away because I had to keep them away from people. Also I needed to be where Kelly's team expected me to be. I hoped that she would understand the severity of the situation and send enough people to handle it.

Tree after tree I passed as I distanced myself from the angry mob of monsters. I was clearly outmatched. I knew that I could take down a lot of them but in the end I would be on the losing side. I had never faced a force so great before. It was a little overwhelming. It wasn't going to stop me, however.

I must have reached closer to the bottom of the mountain than I realized because all of a sudden I found myself surrounded by a bunch of agents. They all had their weapons aimed directly at me so I raised my hands up in surrender. There was somewhere under 50 of them. It was a lot but I had the feeling that it wasn't going to be enough.

"Don't shoot," I pleaded, jokingly. "I'm not the bad guy here."

"Guns down," said a female voice. It was Kelly. She walked up to me wearing a leather, Black-Widow looking outfit. She looked hot. The outfit was extremely impractical but I didn't really care about that. I wasn't the one who was going to have to fight in it.

"You are looking great," I cracked.

"Really?" she asked me.

"Yup."

"Focus, Wes."

"I'm focused."

"Where are they?"

"I'm not completely sure," I admitted. "I sort of lost them."

"How did you lose them?" She seemed mad. Why would she be mad?

I stared at her for a second, appalled at the fact that she would be angry at me for losing the monsters.

"Well," I began, "to avoid getting pummeled to death and then possibly eaten, I ran for my life. I had no idea when you guys would be getting here."

"Are you telling me that the great Wes Parker, Slayer of Dragons, can't handle a couple of monsters?" she asked me, mockingly. Just a reminder, in the last issue I fought and killed two dragons.

"Very funny."

That's when they showed up. All of the monsters were up the hill, looking down at us.

"Whoa," said Kelly. "You weren't kidding."

"I never do," I replied. That was a bold face lie. I always joke.

It was a classic standoff. Both groups just stood there, waiting for one of the other to do something. I looked back and forth between the monsters and Kelly's team.

"I don't like to play waiting games," I informed them. Then I took off towards the monsters, with Kelly and her agents in tow. The monsters shared our enthusiasm and started charging toward us. This was really going to be interesting.

As we ran toward our apparent deaths, I felt an overwhelming feeling of rage. It seemed like it came out of nowhere. I was mad that I needed Kelly's help to fight a group of monsters. I was mad that this many monsters were gathering, something they have never done before, and I didn't know why. I was mad that even if we did manage to kill the monsters Kelly and her team were just going to try to take me in anyway. So either way I was going to have problems no matter who won. Unless, of course, I was killed. Then I wouldn't have to worry about it at all.

Kelly and her team started firing at the monster, actually managing to take some of them out. Most of them, however, were either too fast or too big to even notice. The minotaurs weren't even phased when they were hit by a bullet and just kept charging down.

Eventually all of us met partway up the hill, or partway down if you were in the monster's perspective, and we collided just like you see in the movies. Well, sort of like the movies. In reality I was really the only one who met the monsters head on. I don't blame the humans for being afraid. If I didn't have the power that I did I might be a sissy too.

One of the basilisks attacked me with a troll right behind it. The snake monster slashed with its curved sword at my head but I ducked out of the way. That was when the troll swung its giant club and nailed me right in the face. My whole body jerked backwards and I was actually lifted in the air by the sheer force of the swing. When I landed I immediately rolled out of the way. I knew the basilisk was going to attack me and he did, but because I saw that coming I was able to move out of the way in time.

As I rolled out of the way I swung my axe and chopped the thing in half. It started wiggling around and convulsing while it hissed in pain. It was a horrible thing to see but I thought it was hilarious. Hey, if it were me in the same position it would be feeling the exact same way.

The troll that gave me a bloody nose took another swing at me but I jumped to the left. Then I leapt at it and buried my weapon into its chest.

The battle raged on and many monsters fell. I did notice that some of Kelly's agents were lying on the ground too but I knew there was going to be some casualties. I tried to ignore that, though. I didn't have time to worry about that right then.

"Wes!" I heard Kelly shout. I searched through the crowd and found her pinned down by one of the ogres. It didn't look to good for her.

I darted across the hill as quickly as I could and then tossed one of my axes right at the ugly monster. It hit the thing in the arm so it reeled back away from Kelly. I then swung my axe up and severed its head. Some blood poured onto Kelly but she didn't care. I kicked the ogre off her and helped her up.

"Thanks," she said.

"No problem," I replied.

"We seem to be winning."

"Amazingly. Power by numbers."

"Yeah."

"You guys get good training huh?"

"That we do."

One of the trolls broke up our little conversation by knocking me into a tree. I left a crack in the old oak and it started to tip. Before I was squished I jumped out of the way and, funny enough, it actually landed on the ogre. It didn't kill him but it certainly knocked him out. Kelly had jumped out of the way. We both just nodded and re-joined the battle.

As the fight continued monsters continued to fall—as did some of the agents. I had no idea that when I had woken up that day that I was going to be in an all out battle.

Another basilisk tried to kill me and, after a little back and forth with a couple cuts to me, the basilisk fell to the ground. I was certainly enjoying that I was able to kill a bunch of monsters.

All of sudden there was an eerie calm on the mountain and all of the monsters stopped fighting. All of us looked around trying to figure out why they had stopped and that is when I saw him. The guy that had been popping in and out of my life was there. He stalked down the hill towards me with his trench coat and hat he always had on, covering his face.

I knew this guy was bad, I've fought with him before, but why did all the monsters stop fighting when he showed up? Anyone who had that much power over that many monsters scared the crap out of me.

Without even wasting a second he attacked me. He moved so fast I had trouble keeping up with him. A block here and a punch there. I was getting beat up, bad.

I went to cut him down with my axe but he blocked me with his right arm and then hit me in the head. Guess what? I was knocked out again.

So, I woke up, again, and when my eyes finally focused on the tragedy that I saw around me, I was horrified by what I saw. It looked like all of the monsters were dead. I did a quick count and figured that some of them must have taken off but the majority of them where dead. The only problem was there were a lot of fallen agents, too. I scanned the bodies as quickly as I could, searching for Kelly, but I didn't see her there.

"She got away," the man in the trench coat informed me. Well, I wasn't sure if he was a man. He was standing over me. "She is a sneaky one."

I looked around again. "Did you do all of this?"

"Not most of it. That was all of you. I just came in and cleaned up."

"Why?"

"Why what, Wes?" He bent down in front of me probably to create the illusion that he wanted to hear me better.

"Why are all the monsters meeting? Why did you let some of the agents go? Why did you kill some of the monsters?"

He stood back up straight and chuckled.

"So many questions," he said to himself quietly. "The monsters got careless. They should have never been discovered nor should they have attempted to kill you. They needed to be punished. And I did not let your friends go, they escape."

"You could have stopped them."

He just smiled.

"Anyway," he continued, "I cannot let them get to you, not yet. I have plans for you Wes Parker."

He walked up to me and stood in front of me, making himself appear as tall as he could. And he was tall.

"As for why are all of the monsters meeting together, you will find out soon enough," he promised me.

I just tried to control my breathing. I know that he wasn't going to kill me right then and there but that didn't mean I wasn't afraid of what he could do to me. It wasn't very often that I was actually afraid of something, that I was afraid I might not live. This guy had me on the verge of shaking.

"Relax," he demanded. "I'm not going to kill you here." See how he said here? "I think I have overstayed my welcome. Goodbye." He was gone in the blink of an eye.

For the longest time I just sat there, unwilling to move. I knew something was coming, I knew that that guy was the head of whatever it was, but I was terrified of what that was. I had a pretty good idea but I don't think I was ready to admit what that was. Instead I found it much more comforting—it was hardly comforting at all—to just leave and go back to the motel.

Roy was sitting on the bed, watching something on TV. When I walked through the door he sat up quickly and moved toward the end of the bed.

"Jesus," he said. "What happened to you?"

"I had a long day," I informed him.

"Yeah, I know."

We sat there for a second, letting me take some time to gather my thoughts.

"So what happened?" he asked me.

I took in a deep breath and then let out a long, exaggerated sigh, really trying to express what I was feeling. I turned to him.

"We're screwed."

It had been a few months since my ordeal back in the White Mountains. Roy was doing a lot better. Enough so that I decided to take him out on the next adventure I was heading out to. I was back in a city, not New York but definitely a place that was way more crowded than I wanted it to be. I didn't have much of a choice, though, because my job was to hunt monsters so I went where the monsters were. It was that simple.

I'm not really sure what the name of the city was but we were somewhere in the middle of North Dakota. The place smelled. I don't know what it was but there was something in the city that let you know you were in a scummy place. I was more of a country guy myself. I enjoyed the clean air, especially the smell of fresh-cut grass. Not the smell of gasoline and raw sewage. Although, I was going to have to get used to that very soon. I'll get into that in just a little bit, however.

We settled in a cheap motel that most people would go running from if they had any good sense, but when your life revolves around vampires, werewolves and a whole bunch of other monsters, it wasn't that scary. I heard three screams and one gunshot within the first ten minutes of being there. Yes, of course. I dealt with the gunshot. Turns out the guy was just shooting spiders off the wall. I still knocked the guy out and took the gun. I couldn't let him the shoot the wall and actually hit someone.

The streets were dirty. I mean they were so dirty that I felt like I was going to need new shoes by the time I got to the next intersection.

"This place sucks," Roy pointed out.

"I noticed," I agreed.

"Why did we come here?"

"Monster."

"Right."

"So what are we after again?" Roy asked.

"An alligator in the sewer," I replied.

I know. That sounds like a bad urban legend and it was. There was no such thing as giant alligators that live in sewers and eat city workers. There was definitely something that was down there but it certainly wasn't an alligator. I wasn't really sure exactly what it was yet but that is why we were there.

"What the heck would be living in the sewers?" he asked me. He didn't say heck. I'll let you imagine what he really said.

"I don't know," I admitted. "There is really only one way we are going to find out."

"Sometimes I really hate this job."

"Me too."

"I'm not going down there without a gas mask. I have a thing with smells."

I stopped to look at him. "You hunt monsters for a living and you have a thing with smells?"

"Yeah. Are you going to tell me you don't have your pet peeves?"

"Not smells."

"Let's just go get some gas masks."

"Gas mask. I don't need one."

"Whatever."

We went to a store and purchased the gas mask that Roy so desperately needed. I was going to give him so much crap for that one. How could a guy who has been within two feet of a werewolf be afraid of the stench of a sewer?

Once he had his mask we needed to find out where to start looking. The city was pretty big and there were plenty of sewage drains, so there were a lot of places to start. In the interest of finding the thing as quickly as possible we figured we would ask around.

After talking to a few people we had 10 different places to start, which means we had zero ideas.

"That was completely useless," I said.

"Yeah," Roy agreed.

"Just pick a place, I guess."

"Yup."

"Roy Winston," came a deep voice from behind us.

We both turned around and there was a group of five men walking towards us, and they looked really angry. On top of that they were huge, like obvious steroid users.

"Oh crap," Roy sighed.

We couldn't even walk down the street without grabbing someone's attention.

The men stalked towards us with malicious intent in their eyes. In retrospect I wasn't really afraid of what they would do to us considering that I could beat them but I didn't want to draw in unwanted attention.

They finally reached us and just stood there, staring at Roy. He stared right back at them with the same hard look on his face. Then they all smiled. The one who had called his name pulled him in for a hug. I was very confused.

"You jackass you," he said. "Why didn't you tell us you were going to be in town?"

"I didn't expect to be here too long," Roy admitted. Hopefully we wouldn't be.

The man looked over at me. "You running a daycare center?"

"Excuse me?" I asked. Who does this guy think he is?

I stepped forward but Roy put his hand up to stop me.

"He's a friend of mine," Roy lied. Well, maybe it wasn't a lie. "We're working together." Roy turned to me. "Wes, this is Harry."

I reluctantly stuck my hand out and squeezed his hand a little harder than I should have. He took it like a man, though.

"Good grip," he said. "Wouldn't have expected that from you. I can respect that."

"Thanks," I said.

"Still bounty hunting then?" Harry asked Roy.

"Yeah," Roy replied. "That's why we're here actually."

"A lot of disappearances lately."

"You know anything about that?"

"Come have a drink with us."

"I guess we can have a quick beer." Roy looked over at me and I nodded in agreement.

We got to the bar and Harry bought everyone a beer. I went to grab for one but he knocked my hand away.

"You're underage kid," he pointed out. It was worth a shot. Honestly it smelled terrible anyway but I didn't want to look like a wimp.

Once we were all settled in Roy talked with them for a little while, getting reacquainted. Apparently he had come through here once before after Drake had sent him on his own. Drake, to remind you, is the paladin that trained both of us. Roy was the only human, besides the agency, that I knew of that hunted monsters. Anyway, he was hunting a vampire and Roy saved Harry's life. Harry just thought it was someone high on drugs or something, which was convenient because he didn't need to know the truth.

"Anyway," began Harry, "so what's the deal? Do we have a serial killer here or what?"

"I don't know," said Roy. "We're here to find out."

"It's been really strange. A lot like last time, but stranger."

"How?"

Harry slowly spun his cup of beer. "I don't like to give into rumors or myths or anything like that but people have been disappearing into the sewers."

"Yeah," I chimed in. "We knew that part."

"Did you know that the only thing left of the people they find are their heads?"

Now he had our attention.

"Come again?" Roy said.

"Yup," said Harry. "All they find is their heads. They didn't release that information to the media."

"How do you know then?" I asked.

"Frankie's wife here works for the sheriff's office."

I was already dissatisfied with having to be where we were and why we were there, but now I knew what we were there for. There was only one thing that would kill a human and then leave just the head: a mantis.

Okay. I know what you're thinking and the answer is no. A mantis is not what you think. Well, maybe it's similar. A mantis is a creature that is dark green with long arms that bend the wrong way and is ugly as sin. They bite the head off their victims and eat the bodies. Yeah, that's like a praying mantis where the female bites the head off the males. But they're not praying mantis, they are just similar, henceforth the name. They have little beady eyes and a round mouth fully of tiny, sharp teeth. They usually live in caves.

Roy and I looked at each other with an "oh crap" look plastered on both of our faces. Mantises are nasty creatures and a pain in the butt to deal with. I think you've probably learned by now that all monsters are difficult to deal with.

"Pretty messed up," said Harry. "I hope you guys know what you're getting into. Whoever you're after is one crazy psycho."

"You have no idea," I muttered under my breath.

"Huh?"

"I said yeah."

Harry just grunted.

"We should really get going," Roy suggested. "We have a lot of ground to cover."

"Yeah," I agreed.

"How long do you think you'll be in town?" Harry asked us.

"I have no idea," Roy told him.

"Let me know."

"Yeah."

Everyone shook hands and then Roy and I were outside. We started walking down the street.

"A mantis," said Roy.

"No crap," I replied. "Although the way things have been going there will probably be 10 of them."

"Ha, yeah."

He laughed but I knew that he was worried about it, just as much as I was. Dealing with one mantis would be difficult enough but there were probably a number of them that we were going after. Every monster that I've run into lately has been in groups larger than what there normally was.

Harry had told us that most of the heads had been found in the same area so we decided to start our search there.

There was a sewage drain in the heart of the city down a dark, sketchy alley. If I weren't a paladin I would probably not go down there. When we were about halfway to the end a man came stumbling out from behind a dumpster.

"What are you doing in my yard?" he asked us.

"I don't think we're in a yard," I pointed out.

"This is my yard."

"Okay, but we need to get down there."

"If you don't get out of my yard I'm going to call the cops, ya little hooligans." We were both taller than him, so I wouldn't say we were little.

"Look, sir, we really don't have time for this."

"I've warned you."

All of a sudden Roy ran up and punched the guy right in the face, knocking him out cold.

"Really?" I said.

"He wasn't going to just go away," he pointed out.

"Did you have to knock him out like that, though?"

"He'll live. Not all of us can wipe people's memories."

"Touché."

We reached the end of the alley and the sewer grate was there, buried in the ground and surrounded by grass. The mantis was waiting for us, hungry for more. I've been fighting monsters for a long time—it's a long time to me—but they still made me nervous. And I don't care who you are going into a sewer to fight something that chopped off heads was daunting.

Without any words I opened the drain, which was already broken open, and we both jumped in.

That place stunk like nothing I have ever smelled before, and believe me some monsters smell terrible. I was starting to think that maybe I should have gotten a mask just like Roy but I would never admit that to him. I would die before I ever let him think that he had won.

There were at least five dead rats that I could see within the first 20 feet and they were all floating in a mix of a whole lot of nasty things. Yes, sewage. We were in a sewer so it was sewage. I had a little more respect for the people that had to work in sewers or anyone who cleans portable toilets. That takes a strong stomach.

We started to trek through the underground tunnel, searching for any clues that might lead us to the mantis.

"I can still smell this place even through the mask," Roy complained.

"You have no idea," I said.

"Wishing you had a mask?"

"Nope. I'm not a little baby. I can handle it."

"Uh huh."

"You don't hear me complaining about it, and I'm not wearing a mask."

"Whatever. Call me when you hit puberty."

"That's mature."

We eventually came to a four-way intersection. I looked back and forth a bunch of times, trying to decide which was the best way to go.

"What do you think?" he asked me.

"I don't know," I admitted.

There was a hissing noise off to the right.

"You hear that?" I said.

"Yeah," he said. "It came from that way." He pointed to the left.

"No, it came from that way." I pointed to the right.

"That's just the echo. Trust me."

There was another hissing sound, and I started to think that he was right. I wasn't afraid to admit it that time because we needed to find this thing.

"Okay," I started, "maybe you're right."

We started walking down the tunnel to the left with our weapons ready. These things were quick, nasty creatures that were out for nothing but blood, just like every other monster on this planet.

We were a little ways down the tunnel and we still hadn't found the mantis.

"Just remember that these things will usually leave a trail of body parts," I pointed out.

"I know that," Roy retorted. "That's only if the kill is fresh."

"Not always. Sometimes after they eat they might sleep for a day or two, maybe even three."

"Let's just hope we're that lucky."

"Scared?" I was hoping for the same thing but I needed to give him crap.

"No. It'll just be easier."

Hissssssss.

We both jumped and turned to the right. There was a short tunnel that looked like it wrapped around to the left.

"I don't think we're that lucky," I said.

I headed towards the tunnel with Roy right on my heels. I slowed down for a moment and he stepped on my heel. I almost turned around and chopped off his head but I quickly thought better of it.

"You're the one who slowed down," he whispered.

"Pay attention," I said back.

I started down the tunnel again. When we rounded the corner we found what was making the sound, and it was not what I was expecting to find.

It was an alligator. There was actually an alligator in the sewer. I never thought that I would actually see that. It wasn't a big one but we couldn't just leave it there either. Any unsuspecting victim might wander into it and get seriously injured.

"Seriously?" I said.

"I didn't see that coming," Roy admitted.

"Why is there an alligator?" The thing was hissing at us but it hadn't moved yet, so we kept our distance.

"I don't know, but what do we do about it?"

"We can't just leave it here."

"We can't call animal control either. They're not going to believe that we found an alligator in the sewer. They'll think we're crazy."

"Maybe we are crazy."

"Speak for yourself."

I stared at the alligator and it stared right back at me.

"We can't just leave it here," I repeated.

"Then what do you suggest?" he asked me.

Five minutes later we had the thing dragged out of the sewer and zipped tied the legs together and the mouth shut. Oh yeah, and we tranquilized it. Apparently Roy has things like that. We left it out on the street and called animal control. That was their problem now.

We headed back in the sewer. Of course we had to head back in there. There was no way that the alligator was the one that was killing everyone. That was just a random coincidence. It was definitely a mantis.

It didn't make sense to head down the same tunnel that we found the alligator because if the mantis were down that way it probably would have eaten the reptile. More than likely it was down one if the other tunnels.

"Well," I began as we were standing at the intersection, "should we split up?"

"We were working alone well before we met each other so I think we can survive," Roy pointed out.

"True. I'll head this way." I went down the tunnel I originally wanted to go down, leaving Roy to go the other way.

"Stay in touch," he said and then disappeared.

Being in a sewer by yourself is really creepy. I'm not really sure how the Ninja Turtles manage to live in a place like this. It was really gross.

Ten minutes had gone by and there was no sign of the thing anywhere. I checked in with Roy and he hadn't seen anything either. I was starting to think that maybe the alligator was the one that was killing everyone. It was a fleeting thought.

I saw something move in the tunnel up ahead. I couldn't make out what it was from where I was standing, so cautiously I stalked forward with my axes at each side. The creature was lying down. That was good. I could end this thing quickly and be done with it. I was afraid there were probably more of them hiding somewhere.

I was a few feet away from the thing, which was covered by some sort of blanket, when it grunted. It didn't sound like a mantis. I ripped the blanket off the thing and there was a man underneath it.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" he asked me. "I'm trying to sleep down here."

"I can see that," I replied. "Don't you know that it's dangerous down here?"

"What? Like there are alligators in the sewer."

"You know my friend and I just dragged one out of here, alive."

"Yeah right."

What is with this town? First there was a dude in an alley calling it his yard. Then there was a mid-sized alligator living in the sewer. Now there is a dude living in the sewer. This city was awful.

"I'm serious," I tried. "You should get out of here."

"I don't think so," he said as he stood up. "I've been living under here for ten years and ain't never had a problem."

Suddenly, something grabbed him and yanked him down the tunnel so fast I barely had time to see it.

The unsuspecting man was pulled down the tunnel and ripped around a corner. After my three seconds of hesitation I took off after them. At least we now knew the monster was definitely down there and it wasn't sleeping. We were never going to be that lucky.

I picked up phone and called Roy. Don't worry about how well I can run and talk on the phone. I assure you my ability to multitask is unmatched and I have a great attention to detail.

"Did you find it?" he asked me right away.

"More like it found me," I replied. "There was a guy sleeping down here and when I was talking to him the thing just snatched him right up."

"There was a guy sleeping down here? What is it with this city?"

"I don't know. All I do know is that as soon as we are done here I am leaving."

"I'll second that. Where are you?"

I gave him a quick overview of the route I had taken.

"Okay," he said. "I'll start heading that way."

"See you soon," I replied right before I ended the call.

I had lost any sight of where the monster and the guy had headed but all I had to do was follow the screaming. I just hoped that I didn't get confused about where the sound was coming from and head down the wrong tunnel. It wouldn't be the first time that had happened.

The mantis was pulling him so quick that the sound of his screams was becoming distant echoes. I was losing them, quickly. I don't have a whole lot of experience with mantises so I don't know if they have any sort of ritual before they eat people or if it just happens right away. I hope for that guy's sake that they like to prepare their food first.

Eventually the echoes became so quiet that I could barely hear them. There was no telling where the monster had taken the guy and I was too slow to catch up. Hey, give me a little slack will you? Let's see you try and keep up with one of those things. Yeah, I didn't think so.

Anyway, I stopped running and started to look around for any clue that might lead me to where they had headed. There was nothing. So, I just kept running in the direction that I thought they had gone and hoped for the best.

I looked down and my feet were dirty as hell. Even my pants were beyond disgusting. I was definitely going to have to throw these away and buy some new shoes and pants. Not a big deal. I kind of have an unlimited supply of money. Oh, right, the monster.

After wandering around for a while Roy finally found me.

"You lost them?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied.

"How?"

"Those things are fast."

"I thought you were, too?"

"I am. Doesn't mean I'm the fastest creature on the planet."

He just shook his head.

"Watch it or I'll kill you and leave you in this sewage," I threatened.

"I bet," he said, laughing it off.

"We need to find them."

"I agree."

All of a sudden there was a horrific scream and a loud crunch. You know when you hear that sound that either makes your teeth hurt, or you can feel it, or just generally makes you feel sick? That's what that sounded like. I almost felt like throwing up. I don't do that, though. I haven't thrown up since I was a little kid.

"What was that?" Roy asked me.

"You know what that was," I said.

"It came from that way." He pointed down one of the tunnels.

"So we head toward the bone chilling sound then?"

He just nodded his head.

"Cool," I sighed.

We headed for the sound of the man that had definitely just been eaten.

I wasn't really scared. Yes they are fast but they aren't that strong. Compared to me that is. It was just one mantis. That is of course if we were lucky because the truth is that there were probably six of them at least.

We were walking down the tunnel towards the monster and the more than likely dead homeless man. I followed Roy's lead because he seemed to have a little more experience being underground walking around in the sewers. That was something that I should probably talk to him about.

As we approached the monster we could hear the thing eating the man. There was the sound of squishing flesh and bones snapping. It was really gross.

"How do you want to do this?" I whispered.

"I figured we would just run at it and kill it," Roy replied.

"As sensible as that sounds, let's pretend that there may be more than one of them around the corner. We should probably come up with some sort of strategy."

"That might be a good idea."

"You think?"

We stopped when we knew that the creature was right around the corner, slowly devouring its meal. I searched through my brain trying to figure out a smart way of handling it.

"Any ideas?" Roy asked me.

"Yeah," I began, "you run in and distract it, and then I'll cut it in half."

"That doesn't sound very favorable for me."

"It's not, but don't you trust me?"

"Not really."

"Too bad."

"On three then?"

"You count."

Roy shook his whole body, preparing himself for the fight about to take place. Then he took a few deep breaths.

"Are you going to take all day?" I asked him.

"Three," he said and then barged around the corner.

I gave him a second and then followed right behind him, axes in hand. I could hear the thing screech as loud as could be when it saw Roy coming at it. When he was no more than a few feet away from it, he ducked down and the monster leapt into the air, coming right for me. With one swooping motion I spun around and chopped the thing right in half, just like I said I would.

The mantis fell to the ground with a thud and a splash. It was dead.

Roy got up and we stood back to back.

"There's more," I said. "There has to be."

"Where are they?" he asked.

"I don't know, but there is no way there is just one of them. There are always more of them lately."

"Maybe not this time."

We stood there for the longest time, just waiting. We were waiting for something that was never going to come, however.

After five minutes of waiting we realized that there really wasn't going to be any more of them.

"Seriously?" I said.

"Wow," said Roy.

"I don't understand."

"Maybe this monster didn't get the memo."

"So, we're done then?"

"I guess so."

We burned the monsters body and then left the sewer.

That was really it. It hadn't happened in a really long time but there was only one monster to fight and kill. A part of me still couldn't let go of the fact that there weren't any more of them. You would figure that I would be satisfied with that fact but something about it just didn't sit right. Are you disappointed?

Pennsylvania: the good ole state many of the founders of this country called home. Well, it's where they decided this country was going to be a country, anyway. I was nowhere near there. Actually I was somewhere in Canada maybe four hours past the border above New York. It wasn't just me because Roy was still with me. I honestly wasn't sure how much longer the two of us were going to be together but I didn't really see a reason why we had to separate. I enjoyed having the company and he was actually good at what we do.

The country up there is absolutely beautiful but I never ventured there that often. There was never that much activity outside the US so I never left. Plus I knew that Kelly's agency extended outside the country and even across the sea. Oh yeah. I should probably tell you that I haven't talked to Kelly since the whole incident where a lot of her agents died. I was sure she still wanted to bring me in and I can't imagine that she and the rest of her agency is too happy about what happened.

Anyway, the town we wandered into was a small town with a lot of woods. We were there because there had been reports of disappearances and people seeing some strange stuff near an old mansion on the outskirts of the town in the middle of nowhere. I wasn't sure what it was yet and I know what you're thinking but I don't believe that it is ghosts. I hoped it wasn't, at least.

I had learned about the mansion because someone had been looking to restore the place but they had been having a lot of trouble due to the disturbances. The place was rumored to have been haunted for years but it was only recently that someone wanted to fix it up. I know all of this because I read it online, okay? The person that is restoring the place posted online looking for help. Given our background, Roy and I answered the ad. Most of the comments mocked the person, whose name is Rita, but we believed her. And more importantly, she believed us, which is silly because I lied. We posed as paranormal investigators by the names of Randy and Patrick, and we were there to cleanse the house of all evil spirits. Does this story sound familiar to you? I can't put my finger on it.

Rita told us to meet her at a coffee shop in the middle of town and she was late.

"What time did she say?" Roy asked me as he took a sip of his coffee.

"She said nine," I assured him.

"AM or PM?"

"AM, jerk."

"Just checking, Harry." Some of you may get that. Dumb and Dumber when Harry tells Lloyd to meet the girl at the restaurant for drinks at 10 in the morning and then realizes that it was 10 at night but he was actually lying the whole time because he was actually meeting with her. That was a mouthful. Just dropping some knowledge on you. If you haven't seen that movie then you disappoint me severely.

"How's the coffee?" I asked him.

"Terrible, but it gets the job done," he replied. "You don't drink coffee?"

"Don't need it. I'm a paladin, remember."

"You're missing out."

"Not really. It tastes terrible."

It was around 9:15 when Rita finally showed up. She was a very plain looking woman with bleach blonde hair that was tied up in a bun. She was wearing a blue suit and looked like someone who always got what they wanted. There was a demanding look plastered on her face.

"Hello, Dave and Patrick," she said, shaking our hands.

"Hello," we replied in unison.

"Let's get started. I want to make sure that the two of you are not just pretending and plan on stealing my money."

"Ma'am," I started, "we have been exorcising ghosts for a very long time." I began to feed her a bunch of bull-crap about how we went to school for it and the extensive studies we had done. Honestly, I can't even remember what I said. If I told her the truth then she would have sent us both packing.

"Good," she said. "Now I need this done quickly. I can't get anyone to work out there due to the...problems."

"Fast is our middle names," said Roy.

"I hope so. I would prefer for you to begin immediately."

"So would we."

"Now, there have been some problems during the day but most of the reports have been at night."

"That shouldn't be a problem," I said.

"So you don't mind spending the night?" she asked us.

We did. At least I knew that I did. We had no intentions of spending the night but in fact planned on dealing with the issue as quickly as possible.

"If that is what it comes to," Roy responded.

"Let's go then," she demanded.

"Lead the way."

We followed her outside to our cars, so we could go to the mansion. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.

The house was about 15 minutes from the coffee shop and there was literally nothing else around it. Nothing except for woods and the feel of death, that is.

We got out of the cars and headed towards the front gate, which was what you would typically expect in this scenario: a brick post and a metal gate and fence with arrowheads on top surrounding the property. It was rusted with some sort of family crest built into it and it looked so, so creepy. I couldn't see the house yet because of all the trees. It's killing me because this definitely reminds me of something.

The three of us met by the front gate and I could tell that Rita felt uneasy. Her hands were fidgeting and her eyes were shifting back and forth. I thought it was funny but then again I haven't feared for my life in a very long time.

"So this is it?" Roy asked. It was a redundant question.

"Yes," Rita replied.

Roy and I just stared at it for a few seconds.

"You don't plan on backing out, do you?" she asked us.

"Not at all," I assured her. "This is nothing we haven't dealt with before."

"How old are you?"

"I'm 22."

"You look 17." She seemed unconfident in my ability to do what I can. She was right about my age and I understand her concerns but she could still shut up.

"I get that all the time."

She still seemed unsure. She didn't have a problem before so I'm not sure why it mattered now.

"Well," she began, "I'll let you gentlemen in from here."

"Not walking us to the door?" I asked.

"No. This is as far as I go." She opened the gate, looked down the driveway for a second and then walked briskly back to her car. She left a trail of dust in her wake and within seconds she was gone.

"That's comforting," I said.

"Extremely," Roy agreed. "I'll go grab the car."

"No. That's my car. I'll get it."

"We should have taken mine."

"Maybe if you didn't get hurt by a couple of werewolves and vampires you'd have your car, but we had that towed to my storage unit."

"Just get the car."

I got my car, stopped next to him so he could get in, and then headed towards the house.

The driveway was long and weaved back and forth like a snake. It was flat with trees lined up and down the entire thing. It took us two minutes to actually reach the house. The oversized mansion matched the look of the gate: creepy. A part of me did feel like turning back but I didn't. Of course I didn't.

As we stepped out of the car I felt an odd sense of fear and hatred wash over me, like nothing I've ever felt before. I'm not really sure what that was but I definitely didn't like it.

"You okay?" Roy asked me. He must have noticed something on my face.

"Yeah," I lied. "I'm fine."

"Just don't throw up or something. We can do this."

"Shut up."

We headed for the front door and I started to feel regret, like we should turn around and run. I couldn't do that, though. But something definitely felt wrong.

You ever watch the movie the Haunting? It was a terrible movie but the trailer was absolutely terrifying. It showed parts of the house describing it as if it were a face and then the woman speaking invites you in as the house bites at the screen. It looked so scary, but then it wasn't at all. My point is that was exactly how the house that I was standing in front of looked like to me. I felt like it was just going to jump out and eat me at any second.

The front doors were tall with stone lion heads built into them. It was very typical. Everything about this house was typical when it comes to haunted houses. It was also huge. If this place was so notorious for being haunted that people wouldn't even go near it then how did Rita plan on getting people to stay there once she fixed it back up? I would never stay in a place like this. Actually, I probably was going to that night. Who knows what the place had in store for me? I do. We'll get to it.

For the longest time we just stood in front of the house, waiting for the other one to make a move.

"I'll go first?" I said.

"By all means," Roy replied.

"Chicken."

I opened the door, which was unlocked by the way, and it groaned in great protest. The place was the haunted mansion that time forgot. There was dust on literally everything. It was a good thing that I don't have allergies or I would have been sneezing up a storm.

When you first walk in it was a great room with a high ceiling and set of stairs that led to the second floor. There was a chandelier hanging low that was decorated with crystals. To the right looked like a library and to left was some sort of living area or common room.

"Where do we even begin?" Roy asked.

"We could just aimlessly wander around the house until something attacks us?" I suggested.

"Sounds like a good plan to me. What do you think is in this place?"

"I don't know. I just hope it's not ghosts."

"You afraid of ghosts?"

"No. I just don't like fighting something that I can't fight back."

"Fair enough."

We made our way into the library and I scanned over the books, wondering what I would find. There was nothing that I recognized probably due to the fact that they were more than likely published before 1900. I like to read occasionally but nothing that old.

There was a piano off to the side of the room and a fireplace on the opposite wall. How cliché.

"It sounds like there are ghost here," Roy pointed out.

"It always sounds like there's ghosts," I retorted.

"True. I agree with you, though. I hope it's not ghosts."

Roy made his way over to the piano.

"Do you play?" I asked him.

"A long time ago I was known to play a little here and there," he informed me.

He sat down and wiped all of the dust off of the keys.

"You might draw attention to us," I said.

"I know," he responded. "I want to get out of here fast, don't you?"

"Fine."

He pushed one key and then stopped, because it sounded awful.

"This is way out of tune," Roy informed me.

Suddenly, the fireplace lit up, but there was no one there.

"Um, what the hell was that?" Roy blurted.

"Yeah, I don't know," I admitted.

I turned around just in time to see the chair flying right at my face.

When the chair was inches from my face I shifted my body to the right so it passed right by me. It felt like I was in the Matrix being a wicked badass. The only thing is a badass wouldn't have let the chair crash into Roy. He yelped with surprise and was knocked off the piano.

I didn't have time to check on him right then, though, because I was more worried about whatever had thrown the thing at me. Plus Roy was a big boy and the chair wasn't that large.

Looking back and forth I tried to get a lock on whatever threw it but there was nothing that I could see. I went to the room the chair was previously closest to and looked in there but there was nothing. Weary, I went back to Roy to check on him.

"Sorry about that," I said. "I probably should have just knocked it out of the way."

"Yeah, that might have been a good idea," he spat.

"I'm not used to having someone with me, you know."

"I've been with you long enough you would have figured you'd remember that I was there."

"My instincts kicked in and my body responded. Suck it up."

"Little ungrateful jerk." He muttered that last part under his breath but he might have forgotten that I am a paladin and that the house was deathly quiet, so I still heard him. I didn't bother responding to it, however, because I'm better than that.

Feeling that the room we were in was okay we decided to venture out into the rest of the house in search of the supernatural being that was haunting this domicile. It was decided that splitting up was the best thing to do. It was nice having someone else to split the workload with. It made everything go a lot faster.

I was in the kitchen and it was probably the largest kitchen that I had ever seen. Sure it was covered in dust and practically empty but I could imagine that in its heyday this place was amazing. Now it was just an oversized piece of crap taking up unnecessary space. I wondered if the lady cared about all of the furniture that was in the place because there was no telling what kind of condition it was going to be in after we were done with it.

Absentmindedly, I turned on the faucet to see if it would work. It didn't. I continued to peruse around the kitchen, searching for any signs of anything but came up short. It was starting to look like it was a ghost, or several, that was haunting this house. How much I hate ghosts is something that can't be measured. I hoped that I was wrong.

Roy and I searched the first two floors and found nothing but old belongings and more dust. All we had left was the basement and I had a strong feeling that the monster inside would reveal itself down there.

"You want to go first?" I asked Roy as we stood at the top of the stairs.

"No," he admitted.

"I didn't think so." I pushed passed him and headed down.

The steps were made of stone and the basement was much more elaborate than I had expected it to be, especially for such an old building. There were a series of hallways with doors running under the house like a giant maze. Funny story, there is a hedge maze outside but I'll get to that fun stuff later.

"Let's take this door to door then," said Roy.

"Yeah," I agreed.

The first door led to an empty room. It was nothing but cement and dirt. Why was the floor dirt and not cement? Oh well.

"Uh, Wes?" Roy called my attention. He was still standing in the hallway.

"What?" I asked him.

He didn't respond.

"What?!" I repeated, a little more aggravated.

After no response again I looked out in the hallway. All he was doing was point down the hallway, looking like he'd seen a ghost. That might have been because he did see a ghost.

There was a little girl at the end of the hallway, maybe 11 years old, with a white dress. She was extremely pale and was covered in bruises. Plus the dress was all torn. I don't know what it is about little kids but they are just creepy as hell when they are in a horror story.

The girl started running right at us. There was no mistaking that she was a ghost.

The creepy child was heading straight for us and there was really nothing that we could do about it. It wasn't like we could hit her with iron or salt and she would just wither away. Nope. Instead we could either stand there and take it like men or run away. I felt like running away. Unfortunately Roy wasn't thinking the same thing.

I turned around to run away like a little girl and ran right into him. We both crashed into the ground, hitting the cement hard. He yelped, again, and I let out a gasp of air. Before he could start yelling at me I jumped up and braced myself for impact, but there was no one there. The little girl had disappeared as ghosts often do.

I was angry, I mean really mad. I hadn't dealt with ghosts since the last time I told you about them and I had really hoped that would have been the last time. But that, of course, was just wishful thinking. People die every day and there was nothing that I could do about that.

"What the hell?" Roy complained.

"Sorry, again," I replied.

"You went to run? Seriously?"

"There was a ghost running right at us."

"It was a little girl."

"But she was a ghost!"

"Are you telling me that you are going to run from ghosts?"

"What would you do? You can't exactly fight them."

"I wouldn't run."

"Well, if you did then we wouldn't have collided."

He punched me in the shoulder. Not that hard but enough to make a point.

"You're a paladin," he said. "Act like it."

I let out an exasperated sigh.

"You feel better now?" I asked him.

"A little, yeah," he responded.

"Can we look around now?"

"Yeah."

"Thank you."

We spent a couple of minutes looking around and spent the time searching quietly, still angry at one another. I didn't like to hold grudges so I hoped that Roy was the same way.

"Who do you think that girl was?" he asked me.

"I don't know," I admitted. "I'm thinking that maybe we should have done a smidgen of research."

"We kind of dropped the ball on that one."

"That's so stupid. I always research." That was a lie. But I wanted to look more competent than I really was. I kind of suck, don't I?

We were walking around some sort of lab looking room, when it hit me. Remember when I told you that when we had first arrived I got that really bad feeling, like death was around us? Well, I felt it again. I don't know what it was or where it came from but I certainly didn't like it.

I looked over at Roy and he didn't seem that affected by whatever it was.

"What?" he asked when he noticed that I was looking at him.

"Nothing," I lied.

"You feeling okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine. You?"

"I'm good."

"Great."

"Yeah."

I headed toward the door and left the room, satisfied that there was nothing in there. When I walked through the next door I started to get a feeling that I knew why there was a ghost in the house and that there was probably going to be a lot more. It looked like the room was some sort of torture chamber. We were in a lot of trouble.

The room was full of all kinds of devices that made my skin crawl. This was a house of torture and I could only assume there were a lot of souls that were put through hell. All of the devices were blood stained and rusted. The room was rather large as well.

Eventually Roy joined me in the torture chamber.

"Uh," Roy started, "wow. This is disturbing."

"Yeah," I said.

"This place is worse than I thought. There's no telling how many ghost are in this house."

"Why have we only seen just the one so far?"

"I don't know, but we really need to know what happened in this place."

"Oh really? Why?"

"Because if we don't know what these people need then we can't get rid of them."

"You jackass. I know that. I was being sarcastic."

"I know that. You were being the jackass."

I let out a long sigh. "As much as I would love to beat the poop out of you we really need to get going." I didn't say poop. I'm sure you can think of what I said instead. Just use your imagination.

We searched the room trying to find any clues that may be in there when I came upon a journal. It had William Haverfield etched on the front of it. I opened it up and started searching through the pages. For the first 20 pages there was nothing but scientific mumbo jumbo but then things started to get a little bit interesting.

September 5, 1892

I had my first subject today. A 12-year-old boy I found living on the streets in the city. Subject is Caucasian and is four feet tall with black hair. I found him rustling through the trash in search of food.

Okay. I'm going to be honest, the writing after that got really technical and 80 percent of it went right over my head. So I'll skip ahead a little bit.

The test went well. My wife was completely oblivious to the screaming. Subject responded as expected. I am well on my way to achieving absolution. Hopefully tomorrow will go just as well.

"What are you reading?" Roy asked me.

"Oh," he caught me by surprise. "It's a journal. I think it belonged to the guy that built the house."

"Anything good?"

"This guy was extremely sick."

There was a sudden noise back in the hallway.

"God, I hate ghosts," I complained.

"Let's just go see what it is," Roy demanded, remaining as calm as ever. I hated him for that because I knew that he was just as freaked out as I was. He was just hiding it better. But I didn't see the point in hiding the fact that ghosts suck. I shoved the journal into my jacket pocket.

We ventured out into the hallway, heading toward certain doom. I knew exactly what was waiting out there for us. It was an angry ghost. I had known before we had come here that that was exactly what we were going to be dealing with, I just held onto a sliver of hope that I was wrong. False hopes are a big part of what I do. You can call me a cynic but when you have lived the life that I have then it's pretty hard not to be.

The only light in the basement came from the flashlight that Roy held in his hand. Of course, I can see in the dark but his flashlight was screwing that up. So, I tried not to rely on that power and focused on the illumination from Roy.

"How big is this basement?" Roy asked, rhetorically. I felt like answering anyway.

"I'm sure it's about the same size as every other floor," I replied.

He turned around like he was going to hit me but didn't. That was a good choice because I would have laid him out flat. That is when the worse thing that could possibly happen in that situation happened.

A spider jumped from the ceiling and landed on my face, and the thing was huge. I reached up as quickly as I could, moving faster than I probably ever had in my life, and swatted the monster off of my face. Before the thing could run away I stomped on it, ending it for good. In hindsight I might have overreacted just a little bit but I really, really hate spiders. I would have rather have dealt with every ghost in the world than deal with one, tiny spider.

Roy was staring at me like I had three heads.

"Seriously?" he asked me.

"I don't like spiders," I responded.

"At of all the things you face you are afraid of spiders?"

"They're so creepy. They have eight fury legs and like a hundred eyes, and they crawl around like the little creep bags they are."

"Sometimes you astound me."

"Don't act all high and mighty."

"Pull yourself together."

He turned around and started walking further down the hallway. I contemplated knocking him upside the head but that wouldn't do either of us any good. Instead I followed him.

We continued to search from room to room, looking for anything that could tell us what was going on and that is when I remembered the journal. I opened it back up and continued to read.

September 6, 1892

It is the second day of my experiment. Subject holds on, hopeful that he may survive. He will not. But he cannot let go yet as the procedure will take several days.

Blah, blah, blah. And blah blah blah blah blah. Skipping ahead a little bit.

September 7, 1892

Subject did not survive the third day. I am frustrated to say the least but experiments take time and will result in several failures. I will need to head back into the city to find another test subject.

"What's this?" Roy asked. I looked up to see what he was talking about.

We were in a room lined with books, sort of like the library but full of encyclopedias and various journals.

"What's what?" I asked him.

"This," he repeated. He was looking at something that was sitting on top of one of the bookcases that was attached to the wall. The thing he was looking at was some sort of statue.

"It looks like a statue," I said.

"That is does. But I just have a weird gut feeling about."

Roy studied it, trying to discover all of its secrets as if it would just reveal itself by him staring at it. Eventually he reached up and pulled on the statue. He didn't have a good grip on it though and it dropped to the floor, smashing into pieces.

"Smooth," I teased.

"I guess I was wrong," he stated.

"What were you expecting?"

"You know in the movie when they pull on something on a bookcase and it reveals a secret room? I was expecting that."

"Why in the world would you think you have to pull on a statue? It's always a book on the shelf."

I randomly reached up and grabbed a book to prove a point. Nothing happened.

"There isn't going to be a secret room," I said. "Especially since the torture chamber is there for anyone to go into." I paused for a second. "This guy had a wife."

"So?" Roy wasn't making the connection. That might have been because he hadn't read the journal.

"He was hiding this place from his wife."

"And your point is?"

"I think it's crazy to believe that his wife never came down here. So how could he hide it?"

"I don't know. Maybe there used to be a lock on the door to get down here."

"Maybe."

I looked around the room a couple of times.

"Let's get out of here," I suggested. "This room gives me the creeps."

"Really?" Roy asked. "Why?"

"I don't know. It just does."

"Okay."

We left. That room really did give me the creeps and I didn't know why. It made my skin crawl. Later I would find out exactly why that room freaked me out.

The rest of the basement was relatively normal, compared to the rest of the rooms that is. A couple tables with straps here, some cutting tools there. It was all some really average stuff. I felt very comfortable and very at home in that place, like it was the safest place on Earth.

I looked through the journal some more to see if there was anything relevant but it was just a bunch of pages about this guy grabbing some homeless people and torturing them until they died. This guy was really disgusting and I really wanted to know what he was trying to do. Half of what he wrote made absolutely no sense, though. So it could have been written in there somewhere and I just missed it.

"I think that covers the entire basement," Roy pointed out.

"Pretty much," I agreed.

"No more ghosts."

"Just the creepy little girl."

"So, what now?"

"Back upstairs?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

We made our way back to the staircase that led to the main floor. There was a sudden cool breeze that came from nowhere. Roy stopped just as he was about to ascend the stairs. He turned around.

"Did you feel that?" he asked me.

"Yes I did," I replied.

"What was that?"

"I have no idea, but I'm thinking that we should get up the stairs as quickly as we can."

"Agreed."

Roy climbed the stairs quickly with me right in tow. The only problem was that when we got to the top of the stairs the door was locked.

"It's locked," Roy informed me.

"Well, then unlock it," I suggested, aggravated.

"That is a great idea. I'll take that under consideration."

"Get out of the way. I'll get it open."

Now I can understand that what happened next was pretty funny but at the time it really pissed me off. I tried to kick open the door but it felt like I was hitting an eight-foot thick steel wall. I flew backwards and tumbled down the stairs like an idiot. When I reached the bottom I flew backward right into the wall. It hurt a little.

Roy ran down after me.

"You okay?" he asked me.

"Stellar," I choked.

"What was that?"

"I don't know. There is no way we are getting out that door, though."

"How could you not break through?"

"Obviously, someone doesn't want us leaving."

"I got that impression. Where are we supposed to go then?"

"Let's just walk around and then we'll figure it out."

That's what we did. We searched every room again over and over, but there was no other way out. We were actually trapped in the basement. Even though I am not claustrophobic I started to feel like I was. It was like all of the walls were closing in on me and there was nothing that I could do to stop them.

"Okay," Roy started, "this is awesome."

"We'll find a way out."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because I never die."

You will today, Wes Parker, whispered a voice.

I looked around trying to find the source of the voice but there was no one else there. And the scariest part was, how did it know my name?

"Tell me you heard that," I said to Roy.

"Heard what?" he asked me.

"The voice."

"What voice?"

"The voice that just whispered that I was going to die."

"There was no voice. You going crazy on me now?"

"We are in a house full of ghosts. Obviously, one of them spoke to me. Remember that I am a paladin and can hear more than you can."

"I just think you are going crazy."

Maybe I was but I definitely heard someone speak to me and it was a very unsettling. I have been threatened more times than I can count but having some creepy voice telling me that I was going to die tonight made my skin crawl. Even though I am a paladin it doesn't mean that things can't make me nervous. Oh my, a weakness, stop the presses.

I started walking around so I could find another way out. I figured it would be better if we split up so we could cover more ground.

Did that ghost say today? What time was it? I honestly lost track but did he mean that it was going to be before nightfall or did he just not know the difference between day and night? Maybe he meant tonight but said today. No need to worry about that now.

I went back to the torture room figuring that I might find something. I didn't. Just a bunch of tools used to cause others pain. I really wanted to know what this monster was doing, so I took another gander in the journal. I skimmed through as quickly as I could and skipped ahead, a lot.

October 16, 1894

I am close. The closest I have been since the beginning of my experiments over two years ago. I can feel it in my bones, in my soul that I will achieve what I have moved here for. I left my home in New York to be here. It will all be for a very worthy cause.

There was still nothing in the journal about what the man, William, was doing, but he had been doing it for over two years and in that time there were a lot of people that he killed, many innocent souls. I guess I'm not 100 percent sure that all of them were innocent but I highly doubt that William took the time to find criminals, nor did he care if they were or not.

I flipped to the next page but it was blank.

"What the heck?" I said to myself.

I kept flipping pages but the rest of the journal had nothing in it.

"What happened?" I asked no one.

Whatever William was trying to do, I wasn't so sure that he had finished it. I began to wonder if anyone had been down in the basement since William had died or whatever happened to him.

I heard a scream.

"Roy?" I yelled back like an idiot. I knew it was him that screamed and I knew that he wasn't going to be able to answer me.

He screamed again.

"I'm coming buddy," I shouted. I hoped he heard me that time. I also hope that he wasn't dead yet either.

I rounded a corner and ran straight into the room I know I heard the scream come from but there was no one in there. I looked back and forth a few times, as if something was going to appear out of thin air, but there was nothing new.

"Where the hell did you go?" I had come from the only way that Roy could have gone.

I realized that I was in the room with bookshelves that gave me a bad feeling.

"What is going on in here?" I asked the open air.

I turned back around. Remember what I said about things appearing out of thin air? Well, I had more than 10 ghosts standing there staring at me. I felt my heart hit the floor.

"Hi," I said.

It felt kind of stupid. I have a large group of ghosts standing in front of me and I say hi. I'm sure there were a bunch of other things that I could have said instead but that was the only thing that I could think of. Think of me what you want but you face off against a bunch of ghosts and see what you say.

They all just stood there and stared at me, like a bunch of creeps. I didn't see the little girl that first appeared but I'm sure that she was hiding in the group somewhere.

"So you guys all look a little angry," I said.

They remained silent.

"Does anyone feel like sharing why you are here?" I asked them.

They still remained silent.

"This is extremely awkward," I pointed out. "If any of you want to do anything; speak, attack me, moved one step, that would be great."

Nothing.

"Tough crowd."

"Be silent, Wes," the voice from before whispered.

"Who said that?" I asked.

"I said, be silent."

In interest of staying alive I listened.

"I am glad to have finally met you," the voice continued. "I have heard so much about you."

That was very encouraging.

"I have your friend," he informed me. "If you wish to keep him alive then you will follow my instructions."

"What if I don't wish to keep him alive?" I asked.

One of the ghosts darted out at me and knocked me into the wall. It took a few seconds for me to start breathing again.

"Anything else you want to say?" the voice asked me.

"I'm good," I choked.

"In the room in which you stand lay a pathway. Find that pathway and it will guide you further on your journey."

"Seriously?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"My 'journey'? I'll get right on that Gandalf."

I don't know why I open my mouth, knowing that I will pay for it. Another ghost threw me up into the ceiling. Hitting the floor definitely didn't feel all that great.

"Time is of the essence," the voice warned me.

All of the ghosts disappeared. Who was the voice? Was it William or something else? Either way I could feel the shivers running up my spine with each syllable he spoke.

I looked around the room a hundred times—maybe more like three—and couldn't find anything of importance. It was just an ordinary room with an ordinary arrangement of bookshelves. I thought back to Roy's original thought when we were in that room. Maybe there was some way to open a doorway behind one of the bookshelves.

I walked over to the one that we were at before because if there was a moving bookcase this is the one that would make the most sense. It wasn't against a wall where I knew there was another room behind. I scanned through the books to see if any of them seemed out of the ordinary but none of them did. There had to be one. I tore all the books off but all of them just fell off. There was nothing obvious, but there had to be something in that room otherwise the voice wouldn't have said so.

That's when it caught my attention. On one of the other bookshelves one of them look out of place. It was very subtle but it was made out of wood. Sure enough when I pulled on it the bookshelf swung open, revealing a tunnel behind.

"I have a bad feeling about this," I said to myself.

I followed the tunnel for a good mile. It twisted and turned, and went up and down, until it finally led me outside. I was standing at the beginning of the biggest hedge maze I had ever seen. I was about to embark on the most un-fun maze of terror ever.

So mazes are fun right? You start at the beginning, try to work your way through and solve the puzzle, and then you reach the end. Ta da! You have accomplished something. Wrong. They are not fun because they make you feel stupid that you can't just get from A to B without jumping through hoops and running into walls. To top it off the maze I was about to walk through was full of fun surprises.

I headed through the entrance of the maze, which was a giant metal gate. Each side of the walkway leading to the maze from the house to the gate was lined with hedges that were almost as high as the house. Right at the entrance, the maze split to the left and to the right.

"Awesome," I muttered to myself.

"Most definitely," said a ghost, who appeared right in front of me.

Instinct kicked in and I roundhouse kicked the guy in the head, but my foot went right through.

"'Ello," he said.

I looked at him for a second. "Did you just seriously say 'ello'?"

"Yes, sorry. My voice gave out for a second there. Hello."

"How could your voice give out? You're a ghost."

"I am a ghost, but I am not dead, you know?" He seemed very offended.

"Yes you are."

"Tomayto, tomahto. I will be your guide through this maze."

I was a little confused.

"That creepy voice sent a guide to help me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

The ghost simply shrugged his shoulders.

"I am Jonathan," he informed me.

"Wes," I offered.

"I know."

I wasn't really sure why the voice, who was more than likely trying to kill me, sent someone who could help me get through this maze. It didn't make that much sense to me.

"Okay," I said. "You are my guide, so guide me. Where do I go?"

"I don't know," he replied.

"What do you mean you don't know? Where do I go?"

"Where do you think you should go?"

"I'm starting to understand why the voice sent you."

I didn't bother to answer Jonathan's question and went to the right.

"I wouldn't go that way," he said. This ghost was really going to make this walk even more miserable.

"Would you say that I should never go that way?" I asked him. Sometimes I just can't help myself.

"I wouldn't say never. I would just say that right now, this time, I wouldn't go that way."

"If I could punch you in the face I would."

"That would be counterproductive. Let us move on."

"Oh please."

"That's the spirit." Obviously, sarcasm was lost on this guy. Or maybe he was ignoring it.

I headed to the left, going the direction that the ghost implied I go down. I stopped for a second to make sure Jonathan wasn't going to say anything but he just smiled at me.

When I reached the end of the pathway I turned to the right. The ghost was in front of me.

"Look out," he said.

"What?" I asked.

He moved to the right and a large, stone ball headed straight for me.

Luckily the ghost warned me with plenty of time to spare. As the giant ball made of stone flew toward me like a cannon ball I jumped in the air doing a barrel roll right over it. What surprised me was that when the ball hit the hedges it didn't go right through. Instead it bounced off and rolled right back towards me. It was going a lot slower this time so I just moved out of the way and let it roll by. I looked around and tried to find out where the ball came from. There was no obvious source.

"Do try to watch out," Jonathan suggested. "There are plenty more surprises."

"I'm looking forward to it," I said with so much fake enthusiasm.

I walked through the maze making left turns and right turns, not really sure where I was going and receiving no help from the ghost sent to help me.

"So what's your story?" I asked him.

"It is such a long one," he exclaimed.

"Something tells me that we are going to have plenty of time."

"I was once a respected man of the community, from upstate New York. But now I am dead."

"I thought you said your story was a long one?"

"Ha. I guess not. One can never really tell, can they?"

"You are a real pain in the ass. Do you think you could just leave and let me go through this on my own?"

Jonathan stopped walking and looked at me. "I don't think I can do that."

"I was afraid you would say that. Will you at least tell me where to go?"

"Wherever you feel is best."

I grunted in anger and walked right through him.

"I never!" he shouted.

I had no idea where to go, and I had no idea how far I had even gotten into the maze. Jonathan followed right next to me and didn't say a word but he kept humming a melody that I couldn't quite recognize. Either way I hated this ghost with every fiber of my being.

I wanted to find Roy and get the heck out of the house because I suspected that whatever was waiting for me at the end of this labyrinth was not pretty. Of course it wasn't going to be pretty. When were the things I faced ever not ugly? Never. That's when.

"I've always liked this maze," Jonathan told me.

"How long have you been here?" I asked him.

"Who really has the time? Mmmm?"

"Has the time to do what? Keep time? Do you realize how stupid that sounds?"

"It sounds pretty normal to me."

"Well, maybe because you're an idiot."

"Name calling is beneath you, Wes."

"No. Not really."

"Touché."

When I first left the house I could have sworn that the sun was out, but now I realized that dusk was upon us.

"When did it get dark out?" I asked him.

"Just now," he replied.

"Wasn't it light out when we first walked out here?"

"Yes."

"What time was it?"

"Around 11 am."

I stopped, not really believing what he just said.

"What time is it now?" I dared to ask.

"Seven at night," he answered me.

"What? We've been walking around for eight hours?"

"Yes."

"But how?"

"That's the beauty of this maze. It will feel like minutes but it has really been hours. You could be in here for a very long time."

Okay, so I was in a bit of bind. I could be wandering around the maze for days, months even, and never even realize it. It had been over eight hours but it only felt like 30 minutes. I had to find the end of this place as quickly as I could. Who knows how long that was going to take?

"Has anyone ever gone through this place before?" I asked my useless guide.

"Only a few," he replied.

"I'm going to guess that it didn't end very well for them."

"They died."

"That was very blunt."

"Why dance around the point?"

"You're joking, right?"

"No."

"All you are doing is dancing around the point. If you got straight to it I would be at the end of this maze already."

Jonathan didn't bother responding to me.

I started to think about Roy and hoped that he was okay. It was very plausible that he was being tortured as I was navigating the labyrinth made of hedges. I assumed that the voice that had spoken to me was William. I wasn't really sure how he was doing it but more than likely I was going to find out.

I came up to a crossing that split in three different directions. I had no idea where to go, of course.

"I don't suppose that you are going to tell me where to go?" I tried.

"Go down the middle row," he answered.

"Really?"

"What?"

"You actually told me where to go."

"I figured I would take another approach."

"I appreciate that." I should have known that he wasn't helping at all, but given the situation I was in, I followed his lead.

After about 100 feet down the path there was an open circle with nothing in it. It was a dead end.

"You've screwed me," I stated.

"It depends on your prospective in the situation," he replied.

All of a sudden the ground started to shake and there was a loud grinding noise. A giant hedge now blocked the entranceway that I had just walked through.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Things are going to get hairy," Jonathan taunted me with a smile.

Three hedges that formed part of the circle dropped, revealing three werewolves. How were there three werewolves locked in this maze alive? They all stalked toward me, hunger in their eyes. We were in a very tight space, so this was not going to be easy.

I only had a second to think before the werewolves attacked me. Jonathan was gone—no surprise there. Luckily I had my axes by my side. Oh, wait a minute, no I didn't. I didn't even have a gun on me either. Did I walk into that house unarmed or did I lose them at some point? I felt so incredibly stupid. They would have been useless against the ghosts but I could have really used them at that moment.

The first one jumped in. Relying completely on my hand to hand, I darted to the right, grabbed the werewolf by the head and slammed it into one of the hedges. I could have sworn that I heard something crack but that didn't put the werewolf down. It came at me again.

Another one of the werewolves went to attack me from behind. I did a backflip right over the beast so that the two werewolves collided together. They both fell to the ground. There was still another one, though. If I hadn't known before I would have certainly known after it slashed me across the back. I yelled in pain and did a somersault to avoid another gash.

"I hate you hairy monsters," I spat. One of the werewolves responded by taking a quick, strong swing at my head. I ducked and let its massive paw narrowly miss my skull.

While the werewolf was vulnerable I drove my fist into its kidney. It yelped in pain and hunched over a little. I jumped up as quickly as I could and wrapped arms around its oversized neck. I was about to snapped its neck like a ninja but one of the other werewolves grabbed me and threw me into the hedges. They must have had steel behind all of the growth because it was very, very solid.

I wasn't so sure how much longer I was going to last without my axes. Before you start judging me, yes I can take on three werewolves. But, it is very difficult to fight them in a space only ten feet wide with no weapons. Not exactly an easy thing to do.

While I was on the ground one of the werewolves dove at me with its mouth open, itching to eat my face.

"Flesh," it breathed. I told you it wanted to eat my face.

"That's what I am made of, yes," I said, stating the obvious.

"Hungry."

"I can imagine."

"Hungry."

"Yes you said that." I was having trouble holding the thing back. Why were none of the other ones attacking me yet?

"Flesh."

These monsters must of have been locked up for a long time. They had completely lost their minds.

"I really don't want you to eat me," I said.

With quick hands and a twist of my body I was next to the giant wolf with my hands prying its mouth apart. A werewolf's mouth is stronger than a shark but I was doing well enough. I put an extra effort and pulled as hard as I could. I could tell you the next part but I think can figure out what happened. Let's just say the werewolf was definitely dead.

"Okay," I began, "who's next?"

"Hungry," one of them said.

"Flesh," said the other.

"I'll just pick one then," I stated.

"Or we'll pick," said a voice.

Just then a large group of ghosts swarmed me, giving me no chance at leaving. That's right ladies and gentlemen; I was in big trouble.

None of the ghosts actually attacked me but they were whirling around me like a tornado. Every few seconds, a werewolf's arm would swipe at me. Sometimes they connected with me and I suffered a few more cuts. I was getting very frustrated.

One of the werewolves went to slash me across the chest, so I grabbed its arm and threw it into the other one, knocking them both over. The ghosts were still moving around me, making it almost impossible to see. I needed to get out of that little area, and fast.

"I need to get rid of you guys," I said.

As quickly as I could I spoke the chant to expel all of the ghosts. They would be back at some point but at least they were gone for now.

I looked back and forth, searching for a good way out when one of the werewolves tried to attack me. I saw it coming at the last second. I leapt into the air and used the werewolf as a jumping point. It was exactly what I needed to get out of there. I soared through the air and above the hedges. It wasn't quite enough to make it all the way over but I landed right on top. I didn't waste any time and started running.

"If I stay on top, I can probably get to the end faster," I said out loud.

"No you don't," someone yelled.

I turned to the left to see a ghost heading right for me. Luckily I saw her in time and just ducked. What I didn't see was the ghost from the other side, so they knocked me right over. I didn't get a chance to see if it was a he or she.

"This maze sucks," I complained.

"That is a matter of opinion," said John, showing up from out of nowhere.

"Oh yay, you're back."

"Of course. I'm here to guide you."

"To where? You just led me into a trap."

"Perhaps."

I let out a long sigh. I wondered if this guy was once a nice person, but I got the distinctive feeling that he wasn't. Ghosts don't just change their personality because they are dead. They are who they are.

"Are you going to help me?" I asked Jonathan. "At all?"

"Not really," he answered me honestly.

"You know I'm going to get rid of you, right?"

"I am honestly not sure what has taken you this long."

I spoke the words and he was gone. I hoped it would be a long time before he ever showed back up.

I heard a howl come from behind me. I turned around and saw the two werewolves running right towards me. I wasn't in the mood to fight them so I started running. Hold back your judgments.

As fast as I am, werewolves are much faster, so eventually they caught up to me. I had no choice but to fight. I decided to fight back with a more aggressive, powerful approach. I double punched the first werewolf, sure that I broke something, and it flew back into the other one.

We went back and forth for a little while, wasting a lot of time. I grabbed one of them by the head and then ran along the hedge, twisting its neck as I did so. The wolf fell. The other one suddenly attacked me like it was a rabid animal. I put my reflexes into overdrive to avoid being mutilated by the thing and barely came out of it alive. I did, though.

I jumped off one of the hedges and went back and forth to each side of the pathway, going higher with each jump, until I finally reached the top. I started running. I looked back and saw that the werewolf followed me up.

"You certainly are a persistent breed," I muttered.

"Flesh," it yelled.

"Yeah, yeah."

I looked further up ahead and saw that there was a large opening and I knew that I had to get to it.

"Follow me, jackass," I taunted the werewolf.

The opening was 10 feet in front of me and the werewolf was five feet behind. I leapt in the air and twisted around so I could see the monsters. It had jumped right after me and was flying right for my face. As it hit me I grabbed it, spun in the air and whipped it toward the ground. Luck was on my side because there was a spike in the middle of the ground.

I landed on the ground with a soft thud.

"Ha!" I shouted at the dead wolf.

I looked around and saw where I was. It was like some sort of alter for the son of the devil. The feeling I mentioned earlier washed over me like a 40-foot wave. I almost fell over backwards. Then I saw Roy, strapped up to a pole like some offering.

"We've been waiting," said the voice. I turned around, but I wish I hadn't.

There she was, the ghost with the voice that had been taunting me. She was surrounded by a bunch of other ghosts and a man that looked like a zombie. I wondered who that might be.

"You're a woman?" I asked, confused.

"Were you expecting something else?" she asked me.

"Kind of. You sound like a man."

"I am not."

"You sure sound like it."

"Silence." Her voice boomed with an echo, making my skin crawl even worse than it already was.

I looked over at Roy who looked like he wanted to cause me some physical harm. I really can't help it. I feel the need to mock or insult people, or in this case ghosts, at times of stress because it calms me down. Who am I kidding? I insult people all the time. It's how I am. Deal with it.

"I am glad to see that you made it to the end of the maze," she said.

"Well, with old Johnny Boy helping me I almost didn't," I pointed out. Of course she already knew that.

"He can be difficult, but he is rather useful."

"Who's the stiff?" I pointed at the zombie.

"William."

"That's what happened to William?" She nodded her head. "Things certainly didn't work out for him."

"He got what I promised him."

"And what was that?"

"Eternal life."

I looked back and forth between the woman ghost and William.

"Something tells me this isn't what he had in mind." I'm sure she knew that, too.

"It does not matter what he expected," she said matter-of-factly. "I lived up to my promise."

"You're not exactly alive, so you didn't live up to anything."

That one earned me a solid punch in the chest. She sent one of the ghosts to do it and it kind of hurt. I rolled backwards right into one of the hedges.

"Are you finished?" she asked me.

"Yeah," I lied.

"I have been waiting for you."

"Ah crap. Why?"

"You sound disappointed."

"Whenever someone says they've been waiting for me it means something very unpleasant. Let me guess, you are a very old ghost and you are gathering a bunch of ghosts to rule the world?"

She didn't say anything. She only smiled.

"You see what I mean?" I asked her.

"William was very critical for me being here," she told me.

I just nodded my head.

"What is all of this?" I pointed at everything around us.

"A means to an end," she said. "You are the last piece of the puzzle."

"What puzzle?"

"My return."

"Who are you?"

"The first."

"First what?"

"Ghost."

Yep, that was happening.

The first ghost, ever. To me it just seemed like an outrageous claim but when you figure what I had been running into over the past year, who knows? I tried to keep my composure, not giving away the fear rising inside of me.

"The first ghost, huh?" I asked redundantly.

She just nodded her.

"I thought that prince guy was the first one," I said.

"Prince Gregory?" she asked me. "He was nothing."

"Just really old I guess."

"I died in 5000 B.C."

"How can you speak English then?"

"I have been around long enough to learn."

"How are you here?"

"You see that object that your hairy, big toothed friend is stuck to over there?" She pointed to the werewolf that was stuck on the spike.

"That's not my friend," I pointed out.

"That was a statue made for me."

"It's just a spike."

"William learned about me on a trip to Lithuania. I have been transported to many places over the years and have taken many lives for the sake of my own. I promised him the prospect of eternal life."

"Why him?"

"Because he had the resources and the motivation. There were many before but none of them worthy."

"I'm guessing that you need souls in order to get free?"

"Correct."

"And he was gathering those souls?"

"Correct."

"Then why did you kill him?"

She laughed.

"I did not kill him," she defended herself. "One of his victims got the better of him."

"I certainly did," said Jonathan, who fell from the sky.

"I kept William as he is because I am tied to him, and now Jonathan is being punished."

"No punishment for me. I enjoy it." I could hear the sarcasm hidden in his voice.

"Right," I said. "Now what?"

"Now I have to kill you," said the ghost. Let's just name her Regina. "And then I am free."

"I don't think so." I spoke the words that would banish her, but she didn't go anywhere.

"Did you really think it would be that easy?"

I knew I needed to destroy the statue that the werewolf was pegged on but there was no way I could do that, not easily. I was pretty sure that Roy and I were both going to be dead very soon.

I looked over at him, wondering if it was going to be the last time I ever saw him, or anybody for that matter.

Regina flew at me like a bat out of hell. I jumped to the side and rolled, avoiding certain death. Before I stood up she slammed into me with amazing strength. I flew into the spike and bounced off it like a super ball.

"Time to pay the price, Wes Parker," she taunted.

I prepared for my death. But then I looked up and saw something I honestly did not expect.

The man with the long coat and hat dropped down, landing in between Regina and I. That guy just kept showing up everywhere. Was he always following me?

Remarkably Regina didn't attack him, but instead she looked like she was a little afraid.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"I cannot allow you to harm him," he told her. "I have plans for him."

"As do I."

"I'm afraid that I need him alive."

The two of them went back and forth a couple of times, so I decided to use that time to get Roy free. I felt that I had a chance to escape and I needed to act upon that.

I got over to Roy and ripped apart the straps that were holding him down.

"We need to get out of here," he stated the obvious.

"No kidding," I replied. "Follow me."

I headed for the entrance to that area but I didn't really want to head back through the maze. There had to be another way out of there.

"Where do you think you are going?" Regina asked.

"We were thinking about leaving?" I tried.

"Never!"

She flew at me ridiculously fast but before she could reach me the man jumped in between us again and knocked her to the ground. I don't know how he was able to actually hit the ghost.

"Get out of here," he ordered us.

"Where do I go?" I asked him.

"Over that hedge." He pointed to the hedge on the opposite side of the area. I darted towards it.

Roy was right behind me when I reached the wall and I hoped that he would understand what I wanted to do. I put my hands down for him to step on them and he did. I then lifted and threw him high into the air so that he landed on top of the hedge. The only problem was that I couldn't jump that high. That didn't matter, though, because the guy in the trench coat—what was his name again—grabbed me and threw me right up next to Roy. I didn't waste any time and just jumped down.

"Jump," I yelled.

"Are you crazy?" Roy asked me.

"Just jump you idiot!"

He did and I caught him.

We were in the woods somewhere behind the house. After a while of walking around we found the front of the house but my car was gone.

"Where's the car?" Roy looked around trying to spot it.

I had no idea but before I could say anything the man appeared out of nowhere in front of us.

"Wes," he said.

"Stalker," I replied.

"You need to be more careful."

"Why don't you just kill me?"

"I've told you."

"Yeah, yeah. You have plans for me."

I suddenly realized that he might kill Roy. I decided to keep my attitude in check.

"I don't suppose you are going to help me destroy that statue in there?" I asked him pointlessly. "To get rid of Regina."

"Who?" he asked. I forgot I made up that name.

"The ghost lady."

"There's no need. She needs a paladin to be released, just like Prince Gregory would have needed. Just stay away and she cannot leave."

"But people can still die."

"That doesn't matter. Soon enough none of it will matter."

"What does that mean?"

Before he answered, he was gone.

"Who was that?" Roy asked me.

"That guy I told you about," I said.

"Why did he help?"

"I think he does want her out but he doesn't want me dead. Not yet at least."

"So where's the car?"

"We'll get it back."

I wasn't 100 percent sure where the car was but I had my suspicions. Either way, we had one more thing in that town to take care of.

We headed back into town, which took a few hours since we had to walk, and I called Rita to meet us. She sounded surprised on the phone, just as I had expected her to be. It was light out again by the time we reached the center and all of the shops were just opening up. We met at the same coffee shop we had the day before.

"Hello," I said to her as she sat down. She flashed me a quick smile, but didn't say anything.

I stared at her and waited for her to say something. I needed to be in control of this conversation.

"Did you get rid of them?" she asked quickly and quietly.

"No," I replied. Roy seemed a little surprised by the attitude I put behind my answer. "But you already knew that didn't you."

She looked scared.

"Where's my car?" I asked her.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she lied. It was so obvious she was lying.

"Where is it?"

She looked like she had some reservations, so I leaned forward just to put a little fear into her.

"It's at the junk yard," she finally answered.

"If anything is missing I am going to be really mad," I told her. Just so you know everything was all there.

"I have no idea what is going on," said Roy.

"Regina needed a paladin," I started.

"Who?"

"The ghost lady."

"Oh right."

"Anyway, she needed a paladin. We are in a short supply as of late, which leaves just me. She could wait and hope that I would eventually show up or she could lure me in."

"Okay?"

"William certainly can't help with that because he is just a zombie. His wife on the other hand is more than capable of doing that."

Roy looked back and forth between Rita and I a couple times before his brain finally figured it out.

"You're William's wife?" Roy asked the obvious. "How?" Rita didn't say a word.

"Regina gave her eternal life since William had died," I answered. "Or she was going to do it anyway."

"So you're not human anymore?"

"She's something else. Ghosts can grant other's eternal life but if the ghosts get removed from this world then so do they. And they don't go somewhere pretty."

"Do we kill her?"

Rita jumped at that one.

"No," I answered him. "When she gets back to Regina I'm sure she will be a little more than displeased."

With that little chestnut I walked away leaving Rita with her thoughts. Roy followed me out.

"We're just going to let her go?" Roy asked me.

"Yeah," I said. "Either Regina will take care of her or she'll run away. Since I'm the only paladin and she can't trick me again then she'll have no use for her."

"Good point. We have to get rid of that statue."

"I know, but I'm not really equipped to destroy it. We can't go back right now because she'd know we were coming. We'll have to come back at some point and hope no one goes in there."

It was the best we can do. Honestly the last disappearance was years ago because people were smart enough to stay away. I would come there some day and destroy it.

CASPER! That's what this reminded me of. The lady hired Bill Pullman, or Paxton, whoever it was to get rid of the ghosts in the mansion.

I never should have walked into that forest. I knew what I was walking into, so I should have turned tail and run. I couldn't though. It was written in my blood to walk head first into danger no matter what would happen to me. But this was just so gross. I'm getting ahead of myself.

After the run in with the Regina, the world's oldest ghost, we headed back to the states to a small town in Maine. We had seen a report of something that I can't really repeat right now without throwing up, so let's just say it is really disgusting and vile.

We were eating lunch right outside of the town because I wasn't quite ready to go in yet, because I knew the horror that waited for us. I wanted to enjoy one last meal before I was killed or eaten alive.

"Are you going to finish those fries?" Roy asked me, snapping me out of my train of thought.

"No," I replied. I guess I wasn't really going to eat anything.

He grabbed the fries and started eating them like there was absolutely no problem whatsoever.

"How can you eat right now?" I blurted louder than I should have. Roy looked back and forth because some of the people in the burger place looked over at us.

"Because I'm hungry," he answered the obvious.

"How can you be hungry, knowing what we are about to walk into?"

"It's no different than what we do every other time."

"This is different."

"How?"

"You know how."

He smiled at me. "You're such a baby."

"You're a baby. Just eat and let's get this over with."

He ate the rest of my meal and we both headed for my car. I was really starting to miss my motorcycle.

"What are we going to do about Regina?" Roy asked me.

"I don't know," I admitted.

"We can't let her stay there. She'll keep killing people."

"People are smart enough to stay away from there. It will be safe for now until we can figured out how to get to get rid of the statue."

"It just makes me uneasy."

"Me too. Let's worry about the issue at hand for now."

Within ten minutes we had crossed the line to the next town and headed to the house barn that was all over the news. There was a large crowd with a lot of news crews, which meant that I was going to have to keep a low profile. I was already on the news back in Vegas and I certainly didn't need to end up on live television again.

We both got out of the car and stood on the outskirts of the crowd standing around the object we came to investigate.

"What are we supposed to do?" I asked.

"Go look at it," Roy said plainly.

"I'd rather not go stand in front of the cameras again."

"Good point. We'll just hang back, look at it from afar I guess."

"That is the only way I would have it."

There was a space between all of the people so I could actually see what we went there to look at. I have seen many of them in my day and this one looked no different than any other one. That was with one exception of course: this one stretched across the opening of the barn that was 20 feet from side to side. It was a giant spider web.

I've given you my thoughts on spiders in the past. I'm not the biggest fan. And that's when they are little, no bigger than the end of my finger. I just imagined what could have created something this big and it makes me shiver.

"You ever hear of spiders this big before?" Roy asked me.

"No," I replied.

"Me neither."

"I'd never heard of dragons before either."

"Good point."

I stared at it like it was the omen of my death, a symbol that my end was near. There were sounds of birds chirping but it didn't lighten the feeling I had.

"You want to wait until everyone leaves and then come back tonight?" he suggested.

"You mean wait until dark when the thing will probably come back and eat us?" I responded. He nodded his head. "Sure."

We did just that. We found a hotel in the middle of the town and got ourselves settled in. I hoped that we wouldn't have to be there for that long but my life sucks so we probably would.

Julie texted me as we were waited, in the hotel, to go back to the barn. We texted each other every now and then but I hadn't talked to her in a couple weeks. She was the one that I met in Vegas. She was so beautiful and brave. I wished I could quit this life and go live there. That way I could spend all of the time in the world with her. We all know that's impossible, though.

Back at the barn the spider web was still there, taunting me. At a close glance it really wasn't any different than a normal web, other than the size of it. Each strand was half an inch thick. Of course, it was stronger, too.

"This had to be a spider," Roy pointed out.

"What was your first clue?" I asked.

"Other things can make webs you know?"

"Not like this."

"Yeah, but as far as we knew there no such thing as large spiders. Nothing bigger than the ones in the jungle anyway."

"Fair enough."

"What do you want to do?"

I looked back and forth a few times, trying to look for some sort of trail or anything, but there was there nothing. There wasn't really much that we could do other than wander around and hope for the best.

"I don't see any trails," I said.

"Just a bunch of footprints from people wandering around," Roy pointed out.

"You know what's weird? There are no disappearances yet and this is from yesterday."

"I know. You think this is just a fluke?"

"I don't know, maybe. I would have figured there'd be a few people missing, maybe some family pets, but there are none."

"Well, I don't think we have anything. Let's get out of here and search the woods tomorrow."

"Yeah."

There was a shuffling sound that came from the side of the barn. It sounded like quick footsteps, kind of like a spider. It turned out we were going to get to see the creature as we expected.

I wasn't very eager to run around and chop the thing in half, and neither was Roy. Sure he acted tough, but he was just as frightened at the idea of a giant spider. Have you have ever seen how fast those things are? They move like lightning, even faster than I can see. Now picture one that is the size of a Saint Bernard. Can you imagine how quick that thing would be? Nope. Eight types of nope right there. I was going to take my sweet time walking around that barn.

Inch by inch we stalked around the side of the barn, terrified of what we were going to see. I might have been physically shaking. It's called arachnophobia people. I'm not the only one that has it.

We finally made it around to the side, my heart pounding against my chest, but there was nothing there. It didn't mean the spider wasn't around. It could be on the roof or it could be twenty miles into the woods by now. Who knows?

"Where is it?" Roy asked.

"Shhh!" I hushed him quietly. "Do you want it to hear you?"

"Well, we do have to kill it."

"Maybe it will just run away and die on its own."

"Some spiders can live for years without even eating."

"I didn't need to know that."

"Did you know that some spiders change colors to blend into their environment?"

"Yes. I saw Spiderman, too."

"Just thought you might want to know."

I shivered at the thought. I hoped if there was definitely a giant spider that it couldn't do that.

We split up and circled around the barn to look for the spider. I didn't really want to but you know I wasn't going to be a complete chicken about it. I have a reputation to uphold, one that no one really knows about, except you guys. I really hope you aren't telling anyone about this. This is all strictly confidential. I really don't care who you tell.

There was no spider, none that we saw anyway by the time we met back up on the side.

"I guess we should leave," I suggested casually.

There was a hush that came from the outskirts of the woods. It was a human voice so I wasn't afraid. I leapt to where it came from and grabbed someone, pulling them into view. It was girl in her teens, maybe a couple years younger than me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her. Three more kids came from behind the trees, two boys and another girl.

"We, uh," she stammered. One of the guys charged at us.

"Let go of my girlfriend!" he shouted.

I let go of her and stepped back. The moron tackled nothing but air and ran straight into the ground.

"Sorry," I said to the girl.

The guy got back up and walked towards me with his hands up, ready to fight.

"Please don't," I begged him.

"Shut up," he said as he took a swing at me. I leaned to the left, letting his hand pass right by me and then chopped him in the neck. It wasn't hard enough to damage but hard enough to stop his breathing for a second.

"Just breathe," I suggested. "Now what are you guys doing here?"

"We came to get some of the web you jerk," the other guy told me.

"You came to steel some of the web? Is this some form of redneck cow tipping? Kids these days."

Roy chuckled.

"How old are you?" one of the girls asked.

"Old enough," I said.

I flashed my beam of light and wiped their memory of us.

"Let's go," I said to Roy.

"To the barn?" he asked. He was looking around confused. "We were just at the motel."

Oops. Maybe I should have warned him before I flashed my memory erasing light.

"I'll explain when we get back to the motel," I promised him. And then we left, empty-handed.

I had to explain to Roy what happened. He wasn't too happy that I erased his memory but I told him to get over it and we moved passed it. The next morning we woke up pretty disappointed. Who am I kidding? I was so happy that we didn't run into any giant spiders. This is one job I would be happy to leave.

We were getting breakfast at a diner down the street when the kids from the night before came walking in. One of them stared at me and I stared right back. I started to think that he recognized me.

"What?" he asked me, trying to be intimidating.

"What?" I asked like I didn't know what he was implying.

"What are you looking at?"

"I was looking at you."

"Do you have a staring problem?"

"I do actually, sorry."

"You better be." He walked away.

Roy looked at me and I remembered that he had no idea who that kid was.

"He was one of the kids from last night," I explained to him. "I wanted to make sure that he didn't recognize me."

"Has anyone ever gotten their memories back?" he asked.

"Not that I know of."

"Then why would you assume that this time someone would?"

"It's called being thorough."

"Okay then."

He took a bite of his pancakes.

"I could have punched that guy in the face," I said.

"I know," Roy replied. "Did they fake the web?"

"I told you that they just wanted to take some of it."

"Who does that?"

"Idiots."

"Maybe someone did fake it, though."

"Maybe, but we're never that lucky."

"I guess not."

We finished our food and headed back to the owner of the barn to talk about the spider web but he was as useful as a bucket of nails. He had a few loose screws, if you know what I mean. So, with nothing else to do we headed back to the motel room. Neither of us really wanted to explore the town otherwise.

Roy went over to his computer while I watched TV. After a few minutes of browsing on his laptop he turned around and looked up at me.

"I think we can assume that it isn't a hoax," he said to me.

"Why?" I asked.

"There's another news story here."

"And?"

"There is another web. And this one looks bigger."

I got up to look and he was right. It was hard to tell for sure on the computer screen but it did appear much larger. All hope went right out the window.

We left the motel so we could go see the larger, even more terrifying, spider web. Outside the motel there were a lot of squirrels running around, more than I was used to seeing together. Obviously this place was a very quiet, peaceful place to be. Makes me wish I lived here. Except for the fact that there may be a giant, man-eating spider.

This time the web was right on the outskirts of the woods behind someone's house, and it was so much larger than the last one. I tried not to think about what the size of the thing that created this might be. It made my skin crawl, pun intended.

There was a large crowd around the web again, with news vans and everything.

"Do we wait and come back?" Roy suggested again.

"No," I said. "If there are spiders I'd rather be able to see it better in the daylight."

"Good point."

"Let's go in from the woods over there and get behind this thing. I want to search for tracks and not be seen."

"Lead the way."

I entered the forest about a hundred yards away from the house with Roy in tow. Luckily there was no one in there and there was enough cover to hide us. We had to keep quiet though so no one would hear us.

I looked around the web in search of tracks but there was nothing there, again.

"It's odd," I pointed out.

"Well," Roy began, clearing his throat, "you don't see spider webs this big everyday."

"Not that. There are no tracks. Even if this was a hoax there would be tracks from the people that put this stuff up." It couldn't be a hoax because I could feel the presence of a monster anyway. One of the perks of being a paladin.

"Maybe they are just good at covering their tracks?"

"I'd still see it."

Then I looked up and it occurred to me that whatever is creating the webs could be traveling by using the trees. I looked around in the sky and tried to find something in the trees.

"What are you doing?" Roy asked.

"There could be no tracks because the spider is using the trees," I pointed out to him, still looking up.

"Or spiders."

I looked down at him. "Let's pretend it's just one."

"Baby."

I looked up again and noticed a piece of web on a tree further into the woods.

"There," I said, pointing straight at it.

"Hmm," Roy hummed. "Look at that."

We walked in that direction and found that there were more pieces of webs stuck in the trees all heading in one direction. I was pretty sure that we were going to find the monster that we were looking for any second.

"Look," said Roy. He nodded his head for me to look in front of us.

There was another web the same size as the one we had just left.

"It's around here somewhere," I said. "I know it."

We both circled around waiting to be attacked but we never were. There were also no more webs in the trees. We looked around for them for almost two hours and came up with nothing. What the heck was going on?

Four days. That's how long we had been in that town and each day a new web would appear but there were no spiders anywhere. I knew it had to be real or I wouldn't feel the monster nearby but I was starting to doubt my ability, my instinct. It was very frustrating.

Roy and I were both getting pretty antsy and to be honest I was starting to get sick of him. Neither of us had anything to hunt and kill so we were getting on each other's nerves. Even the way he just sat there on the bed made me want to punch him in the face. Maybe we shouldn't be hunting with each other anymore.

We woke up on the fifth morning expecting to see another story about another web, and we did.

"I'm starting to think this is all bullshit," said Roy with bitterness present in his voice.

"I don't know," I admitted.

"Maybe it could be some other monster just trying to mess with us? Are there any that use trickery?"

"Maybe an elf, but we would know."

"An elf?"

"Right. You would never know about them."

"Why?" He looked at me like I was making it up.

"They use magic and dupe the town they invade," I explained to him. "No one would ever remember them. So, if you have ever run into them before then you would never remember anyway."

He looked at me thoughtfully.

"They sound awful," he said.

"You have no idea," I replied with a sarcastic smile.

"Let's go look at the web."

"We've got nothing else to do."

When I stepped outside our room something seemed wrong but I couldn't put my finger on it. The area seemed eerie for whatever reason but it wasn't obvious to me yet. So, I ignored it for now and got into the car with my idiot companion. Sorry. Thinking back is reminding me how much he annoyed me.

The web was by the woods again but this time it wasn't near anyone's yard. Instead it was down the only main road in the town just near the border. The usual crowd hung around outside of it. Roy and I entered the woods further down to avoid detection.

We reached the other side of the web and this time we found another trail of webs in the trees. We started to follow.

As we trudged through the thick forest it really started to bother me again that something felt off.

"Anything feel wrong to you?" I asked Roy.

"Other than giant webs and nothing that made them?" he replied sarcastically.

"Yeah."

"No. Why?"

"I don't know. Something just feels off."

We followed the webs until we reached another web set up to catch something. This one actually had something caught in it. I couldn't tell what it was because it was wrapped up in webs, ready to be eaten. That's when it hit me. There were no bird sounds, no squirrels running around. The forest was dead quiet.

"Do you hear any animals?" I asked.

"No," Roy responded back to me.

"Neither do I."

"Your point?"

"Since we've gotten hear there have always been singing birds or a bunch of squirrels running around. Now there's nothing."

Roy looked around. "Oh yeah."

"There were no missing animals reported, right?"

"I don't think so, but I haven't really seen any dogs or cats since we've gotten here. Maybe no one has pets here."

"People always have pets." I used to have a dog.

There was a rustling in the tree above me, right by the web. I was too afraid to look up, knowing what I was going to see. Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment. Maybe I'm just a moron, but I looked up, and I wished I had never walked into that town.

The thing was the size of a Saint Bernard, just like I thought it would be, with legs as long as my body. It was moving slowly towards me, probably thinking that it still had the jump on me. I couldn't move, like my feet were frozen to the ground. I could even feel the icy chill running through my entire body.

There was hair all over the creature's body and the front of it was covered with eyes that were staring into my soul. I wanted to poke out every single one of them. I was going to poke them all. That was if I could thaw the fake ice that encased me.

Slowly and carefully I reached for my axes, trying desperately not to spook the thing. I never took my eyes off of it while I stretched my arms out a little bit so I was ready when the thing jumped at me. And it was definitely going to attack me at any second.

"You're one ugly mother," I breathed. You Arnold fans should get that one. I left one word out, though.

The spider dropped from the tree and plummeted towards me as fast as gravity would allow, which is way too fast. I jumped backward into a flip and kicked the thing on the way. I hit it right in the face and it fell to the ground but it was quick to recover. Before I could even prepare myself it jumped at me with lightning fast speed. It hit me and pinned me to ground.

I don't like to admit what happened next but I squealed. I squealed like a twelve year-old girl and had to do everything I could to not throw up. I gained my dignity back, though.

With all my strength I kicked the spider off of me. It went straight up into the air and as it came back down I swung my axe in my right hand upward and cut the thing in half. Blood splattered everywhere, including all over me. That was it. That was enough to make me spill my lunch all over the ground. I wasn't proud of it but spiders are just incredibly awful.

I looked up at Roy, with puke hanging off my bottom lip. "That was surprisingly easy," I said.

"Really?" he said with a disgusted look on his face. "That was pathetic."

"I didn't see you doing anything."

"Did you see how fast that thing moved?"

"Now who's pathetic?"

"I'm not a paladin."

"No you're not."

I looked over the spider with a little bit of relief knowing that it was dead. I thought they looked horrible on the outside but the inside was way worse.

"Is that it then?" Roy asked hopefully.

"Maybe," I said.

"We should bury or burn this thing. We don't want someone stumbling onto it."

"You act like this is my first time doing this."

"If the shoe fits."

"Just grab that half." I point at the side closer to him.

"I'm not touching that thing."

"Are you serious? Grab it."

"Hey you're the paladin. I'm just a simple human."

"Ass."

I walked toward the spider, despite my instincts screaming at me, but stopped when I was halfway there. There was a sound in the distance but I couldn't see what was making it.

"You hear that?" I asked Roy.

"Yeah," he replied.

There they were. They were hundreds of yards away but they were moving fast. There was dozens of them.

There were so many of them—giant spiders coming to eat Roy and I. I have never been more terrified in my entire life. I thought it was bad when it was just one of them but this was horrible.

"Run?" Roy asked me, stating the obvious.

"Not that it will do any good, but yeah," I replied.

We took off. Roy was a lot slower than I was and I didn't feel comfortable just taking off without him, so I ran beside him so he wouldn't get eaten. Well, he could still get eaten and so could I but at least I wouldn't be a coward.

I chanced a look back and saw that the majority of the spiders had stopped running and were surrounding the dead one that I had just chopped in half. They were eating it. It was so disgusting. The one comforting thing was that if they were eating the other one then they might be less hungry and wouldn't come after us. That was a false hope, however, because they still came running after us.

I took out my guns and started firing behind me. I managed to hit them but it didn't really seem to stop the monsters, save for a couple of them. It did slow them down, which allowed us to stay alive longer.

"We need to get back to the car," I said.

"I know," Roy said back. "I don't remember where we are, though."

"Just follow me."

I did remember where we needed to go. I have an amazing sense of direction—not to toot my own horn. We were no more than a couple hundred yards away from the edge of the woods and the spiders were right on our heels.

"Close your eyes!" I yelled to Roy.

"What?" He was confused.

"Just do it."

He did as I suggested and I flashed my white light, blinding the spiders. It worked. Most of them stopped running while the others ran around in circles.

We reached the car and I didn't wait to see if they were following us before heading back to town. All of the people that were by the web were gone but their cars weren't. That made me nervous.

"This is so much worse than I thought," Roy pointed out.

"There were just so many spiders," I agreed.

"What are we supposed to do?"

"The last time a town was overrun by monsters I had Kelly blow up that town."

"This town actually has innocent people."

"I know, but we may need her help. I can only do so much. We don't even know if that was all of them."

"I really hope that was it."

We made it back to the center of the town and things were even worse than we thought. Lining the woods on the way back was a lot more spider webs, and the closer we got the more frequent it got. I was really afraid of what we were going to see when we got back.

We finally reached the center of the town and believe it or not it was in perfect shape. It was a little quiet but nothing out of the ordinary. We pulled into the parking lot next to the police station. It was going to be difficult explaining to them what was going on and convincing them that it wasn't a joke but we didn't have a choice. I was also very hesitant to willingly walk into a building full of cops.

I jumped out of the car as quickly as I could and pulled out my phone. I found Kelly in my contacts and called her.

"Wes," she said plainly.

"No time for chit chat," I explained. I let her know what was going on.

"I've never heard of giant spiders."

"Neither have I. But I had also never heard of dragons either."

"Can't handle this one yourself?"

"If I could I wouldn't call you guys, believe me."

"We've locked onto your position. We'll be there as soon as we can."

"Great, hurry." I ended the call.

At that point Roy and I were standing at the front desk at the police station.

"We need to speak to the chief or sheriff," I demanded.

The guy sitting behind the desk looked like he didn't care if the building was on fire.

"If you want to file a complaint then you'll have to fill out a form." He shoved a piece of paper towards me.

"We really don't have time for that," I explained.

"What's the problem?" another man asked. I was pretty sure he was the chief.

"We have a big problem heading this way."

"What's that?"

I stared at him, not able to say what I needed to. He wasn't going to believe me. Why would he? It didn't matter, though, because they needed to be as ready as they could.

"This town is about to be raided," I started.

"Raided by what, terrorists?" he asked me, suddenly worried.

"No. I wish."

"Then what?"

I took a deep breath. "Giant spiders."

The man behind the desk suddenly seemed to be aware we were there. He and the chief exchanged glances and then broke out into an uncontrollable laughter.

"Giant spiders?" he asked. "I suppose next you'll tell me there are creatures that multiply when you throw water on them?"

"I wish I was joking but you have to believe me," I told him.

"The only thing that I have to do is get you out of my station."

"He's not lying," Roy tried.

"Are you his dad? You shouldn't encourage this."

"I'm not this little snot's dad."

"Little snot?" I was offended. "What the hell?"

"You kind of are."

"I am, aren't I?"

The chief was staring at us.

"You two can leave now," he told us.

There was an ear-piercing scream that came from down the street. Everyone poured out of the station so we could see why. I tried to warn them. I tried to tell them that they were coming but it was too late. There was a large group of spiders heading right down the street.

There really wasn't a need to try to convince the police any longer because they could see the truth heading right for us.

"Still don't believe me?" I asked the chief. He didn't say anything. He was too dumbfounded to even move.

"I think we need to barricade ourselves somewhere," Roy pointed out.

"What about all the people?" the chief finally spoke.

"Don't have time right now," I said. "Get in."

We all ran back inside and closed the door.

"Do you guys have some sort of bomb shelter or something?" I asked.

"Not here," the chief informed me. "There is one at the Town Hall."

"Crap. We'll need to get there. We can get as many people as we can."

"What are we supposed to do?"

"Grab a big gun and fire at as many spiders as you can. I need a megaphone."

One of the officers ran over to a cabinet and grabbed one. He then ran it back over to me.

"Let me do it," the chief offered with a shaky voice.

"No," I stopped him. "This is going to attract their attention and I would rather they come after me."

"What makes you so special?"

"Trust me."

We stood at the doors, ready to go out.

"What are you waiting for?" Roy asked me, annoyed.

"I'm scared," I admitted.

"Stop being such a pansy-ass and get out there."

Not that I was suddenly excited or motivated by his words of encouragement, but I pushed the door open. I had the megaphone in one hand and one of my guns in the other.

"GET TO THE TOWN HALL!" I shouted through the microphone. "GET TO THE TOWN HALL!"

Sure enough the spiders started coming after me.

"What are you doing?" I asked Roy as I took a couple of shots, crippling one of the spiders. He was standing right next to me.

"I'm going to help you," he told me.

"Help by getting those people to safety."

He looked back and forth between the spiders—they were only a hundred yards away at that point—and I. "Good idea." He ran.

"Who's the pansy?!"

The first spider reached me and I took a swing at it. It moved so fast that I hit nothing but air. I recovered quickly, however, and chopped right through its head.

One after another they came and I did a combination of shooting and chopping while flashing my beam of light every now and then. I was winning.

"This isn't so bad," I said out loud to the monsters I was slaying.

There was a loud thumping noise, louder than the spiders were making.

"What the hell is that?" I asked myself.

I wish I didn't ask the question and just ran. There was a spider heading towards me whose body was as big as a Hummer.

I thought I was in bad shape with the "little spiders," but now I had to deal with one that looked like it could it could swallow me whole. Plus it was moving ridiculously fast. I took a couple shots at it but it kept coming. What good was it if even a headshot wouldn't kill this thing? Maybe they have small brains? I didn't plan on sticking around to ask it.

I took off with spiders on my tail. The large one was still far enough back but it was only a matter of time before it caught up to me. I couldn't go into the Town Hall with that thing following me. It would probably knock the building right over like it wasn't even there.

One of the spiders got close to me so I cut one side of its legs off and then shot the center-most spot of its head as I could. While I was spinning I tried to hit the big one in the head again but I missed.

"Help!" I heard someone shout.

"Crap," I muttered to myself. "Stay quiet."

"Help!" they yelled again. It sounded like a little kid. I couldn't tell where they were yet.

I put the megaphone in front of my mouth. "Call for help one more time but then shut up."

"Help! Please!"

They were right behind one of the buildings. I ran around it and found a little girl being wrapped up by one of the spiders. I almost puked again. With speed and precision I chopped the webbing between the spider and the girl mid-stream and then sliced through the spiders head.

The girl was covered head to toe in webs at that point and looked like she was struggling to breath. I freed her as quickly as I could.

"Thank you," she choked as she hugged me.

"No time for that," I said. She screamed as more spiders approached us. I started running again with the girl still screaming.

I wasn't sure how long I could run away from the spiders before they would catch the both of us. And with the girl in my arms I couldn't do what I needed to. There was one thing I could do.

I pulled the girl down so I could look at her.

"You're going to hate me for a second," I told her. "But you'll thank me later."

Without waiting for her to say anything I threw her up into the air, spun around and started shooting like a madman. I took out the first couple of spiders that were closest but then I concentrated all of my fire on the big one, hitting it right in the head. At first it was unaffected and kept coming but then it dropped. I stopped shooting, stuck my arms out and caught the girl. She looked even more terrified.

"See?" I said, showing her what I just did. "We're safe for a second. We need to get to the Town Hall, though."

I started back toward the building Roy had brought all of the police and anyone else they could. None of the spiders attacked us.

"Where are they?" I asked myself.

The girl tried to whimper something but she was still too shocked to say anything coherent.

"I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth," I said. "Let's go."

We reached the Town Hall and just as I opened the door I turned and saw what the girl was whimpering about. All of the spiders were heading into the woods, and they were dragging people wrapped in webs behind them.

I was going to chase after them but there were too many and I needed to get the girl safely inside. We walked through the front door which was busted open. I expected to be attacked by a spider or two but we weren't. I realized that I didn't know where the shelter was, and it wasn't like it was written on the wall or anything.

"I don't suppose you know where the bomb shelter is?" I asked the little girl.

She nodded her head.

"No," she said with a mousy voice.

"That's okay," I assured her. "We'll find it."

"What's happening?"

"I'm not really sure."

"Are you going to save us?"

I'm not sure what it was; maybe it was the look on her face or the innocence of her voice, but I was going to save them. I didn't care what it took or what I had to do, I was going to make sure that I saved them all.

"Yes," I said.

She shook her head but I could still see some doubt in her eyes.

I walked around the entire first floor of the building until I finally found a way to the basement. There were file cabinets and boxes everywhere. It looked like it was all organized but there were so many.

After taking a minute to scan the room I could see that there was a section of boxes that looked like they had been moved. When I got over to them I could see they used to be blocking a door. I knocked. I could hear some muffled screams.

"It's me!" I shouted.

"Who?!" a muffled voice asked. It sounded like the chief.

"The kid who tried to warn you about the spiders."

There was a three second wait and then the door opened up in front of me.

"Kylee!" a woman shouted when she saw me with the girl.

"Mommy!" the girl yelled back. She jumped out of my arms and ran to her mom. The two of them hugged while the mother wept. I felt a sudden longing feeling.

The mother walked up to me and gave me a big hug.

"Thank you," she cried.

"No problem," I said, without anything better to say.

I looked around the crowd of people, which was bigger than I expected, but I couldn't find Roy.

"Where's Roy?" I asked the chief.

"Who?" I would have figured he would be smart enough to think I would be looking for the guy I had showed up with.

"The other guy that I was with."

All of the color drained from the chief's face and it didn't take much for me to figure out why.

"Did that dumbass get captured?" I was actually annoyed.

The chief nodded his head. "Right before we got in the building one of the spiders grabbed him."

"How did this guy do any hunting before he was with me."

"What?"

"Never mind."

I headed back out of the shelter.

"Where are you going?" someone asked me.

I turned around. "I'm going to save them."

I left the building and headed for the woods.

I was walking through the woods, taking more time than I should have been, heading toward my impending doom. That might seem a bit dramatic to you, especially since I'm telling you about this now so you know I will make it through alive, but I want you to do something for me: think of your worst fear. Now I want you to imagine that fear being thrown right into your face. How would you feel?

There was a large trail of webs left behind from all of the people being dragged so it wasn't that hard to figure out where they were. I wasn't really sure what I was going to run into when I got there. Maybe a giant web with people and animals decorating it like a terrifying Christmas tree. That's exactly what I did find.

It was horrifying. Everyone was wriggling and moaning, screaming even. It was a hard thing to look at considering how many of them there were. Not to mention all of the spiders crawling around the webs. It was like my worst my nightmare lived next to a nuclear power plant. Oh, also, there were three more of those large ones, which really confused me because I thought the huge one I saw earlier was the mother or queen or whatever you call it. Guess not.

I looked through the crowd of soon-to-be-dead people and there was no way of telling which one was Roy. It was going to be tough to find him.

There was a rustle in the bushes off to the right. I knew that my cover was blown and any second the spiders were going to converge on me. I had to act quickly. I jumped to the bushes in a single bound—no I can't jump over buildings—which was somewhere around fifteen feet. I didn't even know I could do that. It's amazing what you can learn about yourself when fear is driving you.

When my feet touched ground I swung at the bushes with my axe but I twisted my hand at the last second and missed the target. That's because it was the police chief.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"These are my people," he explained. "I took an oath to protect them and that is exactly what I intend to do."

I respected him for that. It was stupid and he was probably going to end up dead but he was brave. He was going to try to save everyone even if it meant his death.

"What do you intend to do?" I asked him.

"I'm going to shoot them with this shotgun," he said, holding up his weapon.

"Do you really expect to take them out with just a shotgun?"

"Do you really expect to take them out with a couple of axes?"

He made a fair point. The only difference was that I had super strength and speed to go with it. Plus I had two really powerful pistols.

"Touché," I said.

We looked at each other for a second. It was clear there was nothing I could say to him to convince him to go away so I didn't bother trying. I could knock him out but that would leave him helpless.

"Okay," I said. "Just stay out of the way and stay sharp. What about the rest of your group?"

"I couldn't ask them to help me," he said.

I nodded my head.

"Are we going to just charge in?" the chief asked me.

"That wouldn't be smart," I informed him.

"What then?"

"I really don't know."

I stopped talking. Every time I think things have gotten worse it only gets worse from there. I found out the other spiders definitely weren't the mothers. A spider slowly came out of the woods. It was even bigger than a tank.

I was shocked to put it lightly. Every time I turned around these things kept getting bigger and bigger. I wasn't really sure how I was supposed to kill that thing and all of the small ones around it, keep the chief safe, and save everyone else. I have been in some pretty crappy situations before but this one takes the cake. Except for when my parents were killed.

"How are we supposed to kill that?" the chief asked me.

"Cut through its head," I informed him. "I'm more worried about what to do with the rest of them after we kill it. There are quite a bit more than I am used to handling."

"You've dealt with these things before?"

"No. Other monsters, but not these ones."

"You don't think we'll make it out of this alive do you?"

"Probably not. Doesn't mean we're not going to try." I gave him a light slap on the back.

I was thinking about how I wanted to approach the situation and time was running short. The spiders were going to start eating the people any second.

"You don't have any grenades on you do you?" I asked the chief. I never did learn his name. I won't bother giving him a fake one either because it isn't really that important. So, don't worry about it.

"No, I don't," he replied. He looked at me like I was crazy. Maybe I am.

"I didn't think so. Listen. I'm going to need you to close your eyes for me in a second and I'm going to flash a very bright light. Then I want you to start shooting as many of them as you can. If you don't close your eyes you are going to get very confused and forget where you are. Do you understand me?"

"No."

"Okay, perfect."

I stood up and built up as much courage as I could muster.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Not really," he admitted.

"Me either." I took in a deep breath. "Now!"

I let out my beam of light, confusing all of the spiders and charged right for the big one. For the longest time none of the spiders moved a muscle, but, before I could reach the big one, they started running around like a bunch of crazy, blind spiders. The large spider I was intent on killing still didn't move and I don't think it could see me coming. When I was ten yards away from it I leapt into the air with my axes held above my head, ready to chop down. Before I could reach the monster one of the small spiders hit me and tackled me to the ground.

My insides turned over and over, threatening to spit out whatever was in my stomach. It was hairy and so disgusting. As we rolled on the ground I kicked the thing off of me and sent it straight into a tree. Without hesitation I fired at the thing so it wouldn't get back up.

I could hear the chief in the background firing his gun. I looked over and saw for the moment that he was okay, but who knew how long that was going to last? The big spider was wide open again.

I charged at it, chopping spiders that came at me on the way, and this time it saw me coming. It backed up a little bit like it was getting ready to attack me. I took out my guns again and shot at it like my life depended on it, which it did. I hit it but it still stood there, jerking with each shot. When I got close enough I tried to reach up and chop its head off but it jumped to the side. It tried to shoot web at me but I moved out of the way just in time. I think I wasn't going to appreciate Spider-man after this.

The spider jabbed at me with its leg but I dove to the right. As I came back up I tried to cut its leg off but it pulled it back quickly, so I missed. It tried to stab at me again with another leg but I moved again and this time I was able to cut off its leg. It let out this hideous squeal—I didn't know spiders could make sounds like that—and started to go crazy. It got stupid. The spider frantically tried to step on me until I cut all of its legs off. I then ended it with not two, but three chops to the head.

I turned around to check on the chief but felt a push and I was then pinned to the web. One of the spiders hit me with some webbing and I couldn't move, at all. I looked through my peripheral vision and saw a bunch of them coming at me. I was dead. That's what I thought but then someone showed up. Can you guess who it was?

If you haven't figured it out yet it was the man in the trench coat. Whenever I've come real close to death he has always shown up to save me, and I don't know why. I had a feeling I wouldn't like the reason.

The spiders were still crawling towards me but the man was a lot quicker than they were, which disturbed me a lot, and was able to cut them off. I couldn't see what he had for a weapon but he started killing the spiders like they were nothing, one after another. I hoped the chief was okay.

It was hard to see but out of the corner of my eye I could see some of the small ones running away and the man wasn't chasing them. Instead he stuck around to kill the ones that stayed behind. Then there was nothing but the sound of frightened moans and crying.

I felt something tugging at the web around me. Eventually the web gave way and I fell to the ground. The man, who was standing right above me, put his foot on my chest.

"Why do you keep saving me?" I asked him.

"I've told you," he said flatly.

"Why?"

He didn't say anything but just pushed on my chest with his foot, threatening to break my ribs. It hurt a little bit.

"Listen," he began. "The time has come. These creatures were ancient, not seen in thousands of years. It is a sign, Wes Parker. You will find out very soon what I have planned for you." He pushed a little bit harder. "Very soon."

He then stepped back and disappeared.

Shit. There's no better word for it. I was screwed. I don't know how or why but I was definitely screwed.

I walked around and started cutting everyone down from the webs. Eventually I found Roy.

"Took you long enough," he complained.

I punched him in the face. "Maybe if you stopped getting caught I wouldn't have to keep saving your ass."

He got up and tried to punch me back but I blocked him and then pulled him into a hold. He struggled for a second.

"Are you done?" I asked him.

"Yeah," He replied.

I let go of him and he rubbed his face.

"Did that guy show up again?" Roy asked me.

"Yeah," I told him.

"What did he want?"

"To let me know that the end was near."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"I don't know." I started cutting more people down. "He didn't kill all of the spiders, so we need to go looking for them."

"You want to go through that again?"

"We don't have a choice."

He shrugged his shoulders, knowing that I was right.

I looked around for the chief and I did find him, but only part of him. I'll spare you the details.

Guess who else showed up: Kelly with the rest of her team.

"You're right on time," I spat.

"We got here as fast as we could," she explained.

"How do you move around so quickly?"

"Good travel agent."

I flashed the most sarcastic smile that I could.

"They all dead?" she asked me.

"No," I told her. "Some of them got away."

She nodded her head. "We'll find them. We'll clean up your mess too. Get out of here."

"You're not going to try and take me in?"

"Is there any point in trying?"

"Well said. See ya."

Roy and I left as quickly as we could. I found out later that she didn't find the spiders, which meant that we had a new monster to worry about when we were hunting. It didn't matter anyway. What came next was the worst the world has ever seen.

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Here's the First Part of the Next Story:

From the Ashes
Chapter One

My life was going to change. I had no idea it was coming but there was something big that was about to happen and things would never be the same. I guess I'm getting ahead of myself again. I tend to do that sometimes but I'm sure you've noticed that.

I don't remember what town we were in. I'm not even sure if it was New Jersey or Delaware. It was probably New Jersey because who ever goes to Delaware? Anyway, I don't remember because soon it would become very insignificant. There was a case of an animal attack, which may seem pretty normal, but the woman was torn apart. Not something you run into all the time so it was worth checking out.

We posed as Fish and Game, which was okay for us because Roy was old and I just acted as an intern. Reluctantly, we walked into the local police station to get some answers. We spoke to one of the deputies.

"It was horrible," he told us with emptiness in his eyes. We saw the pictures so I could understand why this guy was shaken up about it. It was nothing I haven't seen before so I didn't lose my lunch or anything. I'm not insensitive; I've just been desensitized to that kind of thing, drawback of being a paladin. Sorry.

"I've never seen anything like it," he continued. "There have been animal attacks before, maybe one or two deaths but nothing like this. It was like something you see in a horror movie, ya know?"

I did know, because it was probably just like a horror movie.

"No one saw anything?" I asked.

"No," the deputy reassured me. "And the tracks looked like a wolf I was told but that's a big wolf."

It did look like a wolf, but too big. You know what that means boys and girls? You guessed it, a werewolf.

"Do you guys see this a lot?" the deputy asked Roy. He didn't really look at me much. Probably figured that I didn't know anything. What a jerk. He had no idea what I do and don't know. I know more than Roy does.

"Very rarely," Roy replied.

"What do you think it is?"

"Probably a bear."

"Really? Didn't look like a bear attack. You're the expert on that, though, so what do I know?"

"We'll go poke around the area and see what we can find."

"I hope it's nothing serious."

"I'm sure it isn't." It is.

Roy and I stood up, as did the deputy.

"Did you need me to take you guys there?" the deputy asked us.

"We can get there," I assured him.

"Okay then."

We shook hands and headed for the front door.

"Lieutenant!" someone shouted.

"Yeah?" the lieutenant shouted back.

"There was another animal attack."

"Last night?"

"No, right now. Someone could hear it happen."

Roy and I stopped dead in our tracks.

"Right now?" the lieutenant asked.

"Yeah," the guy replied.

"Let's get down there right now. You two." He pointed at us. "Come with us."

Roy and I nodded our heads. We looked at each other and he was just as confused as I was. A werewolf attacked a person in broad daylight. That never happened. I told you, this is serious...

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