The Soul Collector

“Everyone, get ready for the blast!” Eric yells out.

Dane scans their surroundings. He sees everyone in their places, everyone safe. He turns back to Eric and gives him a thumbs up.

BOOM!

Anthony grabs his chest. He feels the explosion from the charges in his heart. It hurts for a moment, like sitting too close to a fireworks display. Then, the pain is gone, but the memory lingers. He looks over to Winona who is crouching beside him. She has a smile that is about to turn into a laugh. Anthony realizes he’s still holding his chest and quickly returns his hand to his side.

The sound of dirt and rocks showering down around them continues. Anthony looks up for a moment. His goggles are foggy, but he can still make out the thick tree line 50 feet ahead of him. Tall, beautiful oaks that extend into a deep forest. The sun is setting behind the tops of the oaks, the orange and purple colors in the sky are a contrast to the deep greens of the leaves. It makes the trees look more ominous. Like they harbor secrets. The fear the trees instill in Anthony is combined with their beauty. This relatively untouched area is truly beautiful… aside from the destruction they’re currently causing.

The clearing they sit in is all smooth dirt… and more dirt and rocks showers down onto it. Off to Anthony’s right, also in the huge clearing, behind one truck, crouches Dane and Julio. They both stare at their feet to avoid anything hitting them in the face. Past them, the other truck. Shawna crouches next to it, also staring at her own feet. Next to her crouches Glenn, who blatantly stares at her cleavage. One more reason to despise this guy.

Anthony can’t help but to look past them, past the trees, to that spot where his eyes continually gravitate this evening. That mountain of rocks with the large circular opening. The inside… pitch black. A stereotypical looking cave. But the nature of the lone cave sticking out amongst all these trees is unsettling. The opening is too close to perfect. Anthony wonders how nature could create that.

“We’re clear!” Eric shouts from behind everyone. Anthony realizes the dirt and rocks have stopped falling and pulls himself up.

Everyone else gets out from their hiding places. Eric is the first to wander to the hole. Everyone follows. They all steadily lower themselves into the large hole they had previously been digging. In the center of it, a hole within the hole. A deeper hole they just created with their blast.

“Looks like it went pretty deep.” Eric says.

Glenn pushes his way past Julio and Dane in order to get a closer look. They were all going to see the hole. Did he feel the need to see it before everyone else because he’s leading the project?

“Great! That was well worth it!” Glenn exclaims applauding. No one joins him. “Let’s get in and start digging, people!”

“Do we want to think about using another charge to make it easier for us to get down there?” Julio asks.

Everyone looks to the hole, which goes down diagonally into the Earth. It’s a steep slope, but one that people could traverse. Two people could fit comfortably down there. Three would be pushing it.

“Martinez, you do your job, I’ll do mine.” Glenn throws a shovel towards Julio, and he catches it.

“It’s Rodriguez.” Julio corrects.

“I don’t care what it is. As long as you can dig. Now, we can’t be doing multiple charges too close to one another, it will make too much noise.” Glenn explains with an annoyed tone.

“And then someone might catch onto what we’re doing…” Shawna mutters as she grabs a shovel.

“That’s right.” Glenn says loudly. “You all knew the deal when you signed up. You don’t tell anyone what we’re doing here. We don’t call attention to ourselves. And I pay you very well. The job is to dig. Not to strategize. That’s only for me and Winona. So, Eric and Dane, you two head down into the hole. Everyone else, work around this opening and widen it up so we can fit more of us down there.”

The discussion ends there as Glenn strolls back towards the trucks. Eric and Dane slowly lower themselves down this dark new hole in the middle of the South Dakota forest. The large hole continues into the soil like a tunnel. It’s almost perfectly rounded. It goes so deep that Eric and Dane eventually disappear into darkness as they move through it.

Anthony, Shawna and Julio begin digging around the opening of the hole, widening it up. Winona fetches a shovel and joins them.

“You don’t have to dig too, do you?” Anthony asks as he flings loose dirt far from the opening.

“Might as well.” Winona chuckles. “What else am I going to do?”

“Oh, you don’t want to hang out with Glenn?” Julio’s voice is dripping with sarcasm. They all laugh.

“So, he really just hired you as an advisor?” Shawna asks Winona.

“Yeah. A lot of the stuff he is going off is in Sioux.” Winona responds. “He needed a translator. What about you guys? Why the job digging?”

“In school and needed some easy cash.” Shawna responds.

“Same.” Julio keeps digging.

Anthony stays silent as he keeps digging. He hopes he won’t have to answer. Then, he realizes everyone is looking at him.

“I have a day job but uh…” Anthony shovels more dirt and hardly looks up. “My mom got laid off and I’m just trying to help her out.”

“No Dad in the picture?” Winona asks. She immediately bites her lip, regretting getting too personal with someone she’s just met.

Anthony stops for a moment and looks up at her. He normally gets offended by these types of probing questions. But he can see kindness in Winona’s caramel-colored eyes. A slight gust of wind has her dark, straight hair fluttering delicately. He can tell she is just curious… and friendly.

“Dad left when I was six.” Anthony says in a soft way, almost as if he was apologizing for having to divulge this information to the group.

He looks back down and continues shoveling. Everyone follows suit. No one says a word. They continue digging silently for a while. They keep making progress on the opening of the tunnel. Anthony stops for a moment and takes a breath. He and Winona lock eyes.

“Whoa! You guys got to come look at this!” Eric’s voice echoes from deep inside the tunnel.

Glenn looks over from the truck. He rushes over and shoves past Julio, even though there was a clear path around him. Glenn hurriedly enters the hole, almost slipping and falling. Julio and Shawna follow. Anthony and Winona step down into the hole next.

Some of the dirt is loose as they walk through. The two keep sliding as they step carefully, descending into darkness. Faint light from flashlights ahead. Anthony remembers he has a flashlight and turns it on. All light from the sky is gone… in fact as Anthony turns back, he can’t see the sky at all. Behind him, just a tunnel of dirt they’re moving through. Ahead of them, more dirt. Up ahead, the backs of Julio and Shawna moving down the thirty-degree angle.

Winona steps in loose dirt and slides, losing her footing. Anthony grabs her to stop her from falling but he loses his footing and they both fall. Winona lands in his arms.

“Sorry, I was trying to stop you from falling.” Anthony says, embarrassed.

“Oh, I thought you were just falling with me so I wouldn’t be embarrassed.” Winona smirks.

Her hand is holding Anthony’s forearm as he still grips her tightly. She strokes his arm with her thumb slowly and Anthony realizes how tightly he’s still holding her and loosens his grip as they get up.

“Oh my God!” They hear Glenn up ahead.

Anthony and Winona rush through the tunnel. After another 30 feet or so they catch up to the group. Everyone is collected in a wide area in the tunnel, about as big as a small café. It feels like a room someone made once upon a time. On the far side of this room, it is a dirt wall all the way across except for a hole nine feet wide by nine feet tall. The hole seems to lead into another large opening, maybe another room. But it has vertical bars fitted into it, each about a foot apart. It looks like a prison cell.

“This has to be it! We found it!” Glenn is so excited while everyone else feels confusion and uneasiness.

“There’s something written here in the rock.” Eric shines his flashlight on a large rock next to the hole.

Glenn waves Winona over. The writing is in Sioux. Winona squints and reads as Eric steadies his flashlight on the writing.

“So, it basically says that… that they have locked the evil up in here.” Winona translates. “And it should be left alone. No one should attempt to open this.”

“Alright, then let’s get the hell out of here.” Dane is already looking back the way they came.

“What? This is what we’re here for!” Glenn is getting angry. “Look, it’s not some actual evil thing. I’ll explain to you guys since we’re here. We’re searching for, what I believe to be a previously undiscovered element. One that is rich in these parts and could be extremely valuable. And this is part of what I had Winona translate for me.”

“Right.” Winona takes over. “The Sioux had discovered materials that they thought had magical properties… this was back in the 1600’s… 1700’s… it seems like it was some element from their descriptions. But they were afraid of its look, its powers, so they hid it away, thinking it was a powerful magic. But this doesn’t feel like that. I think this is something else, Glenn.”

“No. This is it!” Glenn insists. “They thought the elements were evil magic, so they locked it up down here.”

“They didn’t use the word evil ever in describing the element.” Winona recalls. “I don’t know how everyone else feels about supernatural things, but I don’t think we should be here. This hole has bars on it for a reason.”

“But these aren’t even metal bars!” Glenn grasps one of the bars firmly and shakes it. “It’s wood! Look, if there was something locked in here… you think wood is going to keep it in there.”

Glenn motions to Eric and Dane with their axes on their belts. They unclip them and get to work, swinging away at the wooden bars. Glenn stands off to the side. Anthony notices Winona backing up slowly towards the way they came from. He starts to move in sync with her. He doesn’t feel right about this. And seeing the terrified look in Winona’s eyes… he feels even worse.

A sinking feeling in his stomach has him swallow hard. He backs into the dirt wall behind him and feels the cool dirt on his arms and hands. Anthony looks to Winona. He searches her caramel eyes for an answer, a message… there is nothing but terror in them.

The air, previously still, begins to move ever so slightly in the large room. A slow breeze is pushing past the bars… and into everyone. The air becomes warm, and it stinks of sulfur. The stench makes Anthony’s stomach turn even more.

Julio and Shawna begin to back up as well. They glance back and see Winona moving towards the tunnel and use that as a good point of reference.

Eric chops through one of the wooden bars and clears a larger opening. Dane chops through one himself. More warm air circulates through the room. Stinking sulfur infiltrates Anthony’s nose and he immediately stops inhaling. The air stinks so badly, it even enters his eyes and makes them sting.

Eric chops down another wooden bar. Anthony moves next to Winona who has stopped just next to the tunnel. Dane chops through a wooden bar and stops for a moment to wipe sweat from his brow. Eric continues chopping away.

“Guys.” Winona says with a shaky voice. “I really think we need to stop and turn back, now.”

Glenn looks to see Winona, Anthony, Julio and Shawna all close to the tunnel opening.

“This was the goal!” Glenn is aggravated. “To get here. And I’m paying you all for this, so you’re going to keep helping. Everyone’s going in there and is going to be hauling that stuff out!”

Eric keeps chopping away and slices through another wooden bar. Several of them have been destroyed and now there is a huge opening. A rumbling emits from deep within the hole and more warm air pushes into the room. Dane stands back near Glenn, clipping his axe back to his belt. Eric peers into the room with his flashlight.

“I can’t even see anything in here.” Eric says. He pulls his head back out and looks to Glenn.

“Okay, so let’s go in and scope out the area.” Glenn says, readying his flashlight. “Once we have a good read on what it’s like in there, we’ll send for the rest of you to come in.”

A deep rumbling emits again, this time it sounds closer to the opening. Eric is trying to conceal his concern as best as he can. Glenn is overtaken with joy and doesn’t have any worries. He folds the ankles of his pants up over his shins.

“No matter what the Sioux may have believed in…” Shawna starts. “No matter what we may find to be unrealistic… I just don’t think they would have put bars there if it was just a… just some mineral…”

She trails off as Glenn glances back at her. He is fed up with this. He squares his body up so that he is facing directly at Shawna, using his body as intimidation. Eric stays by the opening, looking back at everyone, his concern now on full display.

Another rumbling from the past the opening, now so close that the floor shakes slightly.

“I knew it was a mistake to hire women.” Glenn sneers. “You all want to be treated like equals but when it comes down to it, we’re not the same.”

Suddenly, a dark green hand, almost the size of a human body, reaches quickly in through the opening and grabs Eric. Gnarled and clawed fingers wrap tightly around his body. Eric screams and tries to leap away. The hand, smooth and almost slimy like a snake’s skin, pins him to the ground. Everyone screams in horror. Eric groans and writhes, trying to escape.

Appearing on the other side of the opening, a horrific face of a massive beast. A head almost six feet high, slimy skin, so dark green it’s almost black. A gaping mouth with over 50 jagged teeth, all 10 inches long. Two slits for nostrils underneath a beak-like point of a nose. And two horrifying eyes, yellow-green corneas with thin black slits for pupils.

The hand of the beast drags Eric across the floor as he claws and scrapes his hands on the dirt, trying to break free. The beast grunts and warm air with an awful stench blasts into the room. Eric is lifted off the dirt and pulled through the opening and past the wall where they can no longer see him or the face of the beast. All they see is its massive chest, just beyond the opening. A sickening crunching of bones and muffled screams send shivers through everyone’s spines. A loud crack. The screams stop. A limb falls past the opening. A waterfall of blood follows the limb.

The beast roars a slightly high-pitched noise with a warbling to it. A bright white light flashes in the room past the opening, like that of a flood light. For a moment, a blue hue takes over the light, and then it returns to pure white. Then, the light disappears. The beast’s head reappears in the opening and its horrific eyes stare in at everyone. Blood drops from its jaw. It lets out an agitated grunt. Its clawed hands grip the opening of the hole.

Dane quickly unclips his axe and swings it at the beast’s hand and slices a finger. It pulls its hand back and roars in pain. Everyone sprints out of the room and clamors through the opening of the tunnel.

Winona and Anthony are at the front of the pack, running and climbing. On hands and feet, pulling themselves up the narrow tunnel. Dirt is flying everywhere. Behind them, Anthony hears Shawna grunt and then hears a thud. He looks back and Glenn has just shoved past her. Julio helps Shawna back up.

Glenn continues pushing through the tunnel and approaches Winona and Anthony. He grabs Anthony’s arm and shoves him in the midsection, pushing him into the wall of the tunnel. He pulls himself past Anthony. He then shoves Winona aside and pushes past her.

Anthony and Winona pull themselves up. They look back and Shawna and Julio are right behind them. Dane another five feet behind them. The tunnel rumbles and they lose their footing and fall. An angry roar emanates from below and hot air blasts past them through the tunnel. They pull themselves back up and keep sprinting ahead. Glenn is already out of sight.

“Keep going! I think it’s right behind me!” Dane screams out.

Winona reaches the opening to the tunnel and pulls herself out. She turns back as Anthony reaches the opening and she grabs his hands and pulls him out. Shawna and Julio emerge next. The four of them wait for a moment as they see Dane pulling himself out next. Everyone sprints towards the trucks.

Up ahead, Glenn is sprinting for the truck that’s farther away. He slams his body into the driver’s side door. He searches desperately in his pocket.

“Where are the keys?!” He screams.

Anthony and Winona reach the truck closer to the tunnel. They spin and turn back to see Shawna and Julio racing right for them. Dane is face down on the ground right in front of the opening of the tunnel. He scrapes himself off the dirt and scurries to his feet.

“Who has the keys?!” Shawna screams in a panic.

“Dane has them!” Winona points to him as he is stumbling to his feet.

Rumbling beneath them intensifies and suddenly the Earth surrounding the tunnel explodes! Dirt, rocks and soil all burst into a million pieces and fly into the air. The blast of dirt slams into Dane and knocks him off his feet. Emerging from inside the tunnel, amongst the explosion of dirt, is the beast.

It pulls itself from beneath the surface. Anthony, Winona, Shawna and Julio dash to the other side of the truck and duck behind it for cover. Glenn is panicked over by the other truck. He jumps into the bed of the truck and lays flat. Anthony peeks out from the side of the truck they hide behind.

The beast is standing fully erect, just a few feet from Dane. It stands 30 feet tall, from its dark green, clawed feet to the top of its head. It has claws on its toes and fingers like that of a bear, sharp and sturdy, made for tearing flesh apart. Its skin looks even more reptilian in the fast-vanishing daylight. Its teeth are razor sharp and gleam in the blend of sunset sky and moonlight.

It stands like a human or an ape would, but with a slight hunch to its back. Its neck is similarly proportioned as a human would have. But from within its throat, behind the dark skin, a soft, light blue light glows. As if a flashlight were on inside its throat.

Dane scrambles back to his feet. He looks to the trucks and takes off towards the nearer truck. The beast sees him running and lets out a sharp roar. It swings its arm down and snatches Dane in its massive hand. The beast lifts Dane up to its open mouth and without hesitation, bites straight into his neck.

Everyone trembles with fear on the other side of the truck, holding their hands over their mouths to quiet their gasps and sobbing. Anthony is frozen, still watching.

The beast pulls Dane’s headless body slightly away from its teeth. And then, it’s yellow-green eyes flash to a magnificent white. White light emanates from its eyes into the air, just above Dane’s body. In the glow of the white light, a pale blue light rises from inside Dane’s body.

“What is that?” Anthony says in a hushed tone.

Winona peeks from around the truck. They watch on horrified, as the pale blue light in the shape of a body exits out of Dane and continues to rise higher into the sky. Its only visible in the white light from the beast’s eyes. The beast opens its mouth and inhales. The pale blue body is sucked into its mouth and swallowed down its throat. The beast closes its mouth. The blue light shining from its throat grows brighter.

“Oh my God!” Winona gasps and then covers her mouth.

The beast drops Dane’s lifeless body into the dirt. Its eyes return to their yellow-green color. The beast begins stomping towards the trucks. Anthony and Winona duck back behind the truck. The beast walks towards the truck. It places a foot down next to the truck, five feet away. It stops.

Shawna and Julio have their hands over their mouths, breathing rapidly. Winona slams her eyes shut. Anthony is frozen still.

The beast sniffs the air, its neck craned back. It snorts. It grunts.

A whimper.

The beast lets out a short roar.

Silence.

Anthony’s lips are pressed together so tightly it hurts. His hands are gripping the soil. Dirt squeezes through his fingers. He waits. The beast is still looming over them.

Boom!

The beast takes a step.

Boom!

Another step.

Anthony sees the beast making its way towards the other truck, where Glenn is. He quickly taps Winona and Shawna and Julio as the beast could now see them if it just turned its head. They scramble around to the front side of the truck and hide.

Another whimper. It’s Glenn.

The beast looks down at the truck and sees Glenn laying in the bed. It grunts. Its mouth hangs open. Saliva and blood drip from its jaw.

It reaches down and snatches Glenn out of the bed of the truck. It holds him tightly in its arm and stomps off. Anthony and Winona watch horrified as the beast carries Glenn towards the cave in the distance.

Glenn fights and squirms but cannot free himself from the grip of this massive monster. It approaches the cave and climbs right into the opening. The beast digs a hole in the ground with its free hand and positions Glenn right over it.

Glenn writhes and screams. The beast lunges its head forwards and takes a bite into Glenn, snapping him into two pieces at the chest. It swallows. It holds Glenn’s body over the hole.

Its eyes flash bright white once again and the light shines out over Glenn’s body. A pale blue light in the shape of Glenn’s body rises slowly out of his body. It then quickly sinks down into the hole and disappears into the Earth. The beast throws Glenn’s body aside and opens its mouth. The pale blue lights collected in its throat escape and are slowly exhaled into the hole and disappear into the Earth.

The remaining four watch on from behind the truck, horrified.

“What the hell is that thing?” Julio asks in a hushed tone, even though the beast is several hundred feet away from them.

“Some of the Sioux tell stories about this.” Winona says, her eyes never blinking. “Some would tell it as truth. They call him The Soul Collector. He is a soldier of the devil’s army. His job is to collect souls and deliver them to Satan. Those souls destined to go to Hell, he expedites the process. Those souls destined to go to Heaven, he reverses the course. He helps to build Satan’s army… for an uprising.”

“We need to get out of here.” Anthony says quickly as they all watch the beast begin to cover the hole in the cave.

“Glenn had one of the sets of keys.” Shawna says defeated. Then, she looks over at Dane’s lifeless body. “Dane had the other set!”

“But then what?” Winona says. “We drive off. You don’t think that thing can catch us? And even if it doesn’t… it’s released into the world again. The Sioux had trapped it down there for a reason.”

“So, what are we going to do?!” Julio panics as he looks back at the beast.

The beast exits the cave and slowly lumbers back towards the clearing. Julio sprints off towards Dane’s body. The beast sees Julio running across the clearing. Everyone watches the beast. It stops in its tracks and lets out an angered roar. It starts in a direct path towards Julio, moving right for some oak trees. It stops just before the tree. The sky is getting dark, but an orange flicker emanates around the beast for a moment and then vanishes. It lets out an agitated grunt, backs up, and then moves around the trees.

The beast gets into a cleared pathway between all the trees and heads back towards the site. As it lumbers along the pathway, its head is even with the tops of the oaks.

“The trees!” Anthony says suddenly. “The wood! It’s got to be the wood! It’s scared of the wood… or it’s a weakness.”

“That’s why they used wooden bars down there!” Winona realizes Anthony must be right.

Winona and Shawna look into the bed of the truck next to them. There are two axes. They each grab one. Anthony watches Julio as he squats down next to Dane’s body, frantically searching his pockets for the keys. The beast lets out a bellow as it closes in on Julio, 100 feet away.

“Julio!” Anthony calls out. “Get his axe! The wood! We need to surround it with wood!”

Julio reaches down and grabs the axe. He finds the keys in the dirt and scoops those up too. He hurls the keys over to Anthony and stands up wielding the axe.

“No, Julio! The trees!” Anthony shouts in a futile attempt as the beast roars loudly.

Winona and Shawna have moved over to the tree line behind the truck and have begun chopping away at two trees. Julio grips the axe firmly as the beast rushes at him. Julio swings the axe up just as the beast reaches out for him and he slices one of its fingers. The beast shrieks and recoils.

“Julio! Run for the trees!” Anthony screams.

Julio takes off for the trees 300 feet away on the opposite side of the clearing. Anthony looks over to Shawna and Winona chopping away at two 35-foot-tall trees. Pieces of sharp wood have broken off from the trees and lay in the dirt. Anthony sprints over towards them. He stops at the base of the trees and scoops up four pieces of wood.

The beast cranes its neck back and lets out a massive roar into the sky, shaking the ground and the trees. The stars in the cobalt blue sky seem to quiver. The beast stomps off towards Julio. Julio is racing towards the oaks, still 150 feet away. The beast and its long legs move quickly, closing the gap. Anthony chases after it in a futile attempt. His feet pound the dirt with quickness and urgency… but the beast covers 15 feet with each step it takes.

Julio is closing in on the tree line. Just 40 feet away. His chest is heaving, his legs are on fire. He pushes himself closer to the trees. 20 feet away. And then the massive hand with the gnarled claws snaps him up off the dirt. It lifts him into the air. Julio is turned around to face the evil. Evil teeth and evil eyes on a face of pure, raw evil.

Anthony continues to close in on the beast. It holds Julio directly in front of its face. Its lower jaw slowly drops. Blood drips from its lips and onto the ground. Anthony is too far. He can’t waste another second. He grips one of the pieces of wood in his hand, while still running full speed, he cocks his arm back and launches the wood like a baseball. It sails through the air and makes impact right into the beast’s side.

A small explosion of fire and smoke emanates from the beast’s skin, and it roars in pain, dropping Julio. He falls 30 feet to the ground, landing awkwardly on one leg with a loud CRACK! He screams in agony.

The fire dissipates from the beast’s skin, but a red gash is present. Its skin sizzles and smoke whisps away from the wound. The beast turns in the direction of Anthony and its pupils dilate with rage. It cocks its head back and lets out a horrifying roar. Anthony doesn’t hesitate and runs back towards Winona and Shawna. They continue to chop away at the trees furiously.

The beast lunges forward and chases after Anthony. Anthony looks ahead… he is a good 100 feet away from the trees. This massive, 30-foot monster is just about 50 feet behind him. Already out of breath, he musters up every ounce of energy he has and redirects it into his thighs, his calves, his feet, and he races through the clearing.

The dirt beneath him shakes as he runs… the massive feet of the beast pounding the Earth. Anthony turns back to see the beast closing in on him. He isn’t going to make it in a pure foot race. He clutches a piece of wood, turns his upper body and throws it back towards the beast as he keeps running. The wood sails right past the beast’s head. He clutches another piece in his hand. He squeezes it hard, trying to eliminate all the sweat and moisture from his palm. The sharp wood digs into his hand. The beast is getting closer. Anthony can feel it’s hot and putrid breath blowing on his neck and back.

Anthony spins around again… the beast a mere 10 feet from him. He whips the piece of wood towards the beast. It slams into its cheek and another small explosion of fire bursts from its skin. It groans in pain and slows down for a second. Anthony rushes on towards the sound of the axes ahead, chopping, chopping away at the trees.

Winona and Shawna are pouring sweat, their backs ablaze with pain as they swing over and over at the trees. Their axes hacking deeper into the thick oak trees. They both grimace through the pain. Their muscles are tensing, they are aching. The beast roars mightily and lunges forward towards Anthony once again.

“Keep going, Shawna! We’re almost there!” Winona screams out.

They keep slicing away at the trees. Anthony races for them… another 40 feet separates him from the trees. He holds only one piece of wood in his hand. He grasps it so tightly; it feels like it might crack in two. He turns around, arm cocked back, ready to throw the piece of wood in a last-ditch effort… when the hand of the beast swings at him and slams into his body.

The palm of the beast’s hand impacting Anthony’s side feels like a car crashing into his body. The fingers wrap around him and grip him tight. Anthony lets out a moan of pain and he gets jerked upwards and lifted off the ground. He sees the piece of wood fall from his hand and flutter to the ground.

The beast holds his body several feet above the ground, lifting him slowly, savoring the moment. A low grumbling emanates from deep within its throat. It exhales slowly and the disgusting stench of centuries of imprisonment washes over Anthony’s face. He’d cough if he had any breath in his lungs. He gasps, trying to fill his lungs with anything.

Behind him the sounds of the trees cracking… slowly. Winona and Shawna swing away furiously. Anthony looks up at this monster, seeing it up close. It is horrifying. But if he must die so that no one else will see this horrifying face, so be it. This monster doesn’t even realize it’s standing right in the crosshairs of these two trees behind Anthony that are about to fall over. He has at least gotten the beast into the perfect spot in the clearing.

The beast lets out a massive roar in Anthony’s face. The smell is putrid. Blood and saliva and bits of human flesh are flung from its mouth in his direction. Anthony pulls his hand up to cover his face when something rough scratches his nose. In his hand, a small piece of wood still left. It really did snap into two pieces in his hand!

Without hesitation he lifts his arm into the air and jabs the piece of wood down as hard as he can into the beast’s hand. It stabs into its dark green flesh and sticks there as flames burst from inside of it. The beast grunts in surprised pain and its hand opens. Anthony drops from about nine feet in the air and crashes to the ground. The beast stands over him, grasping its hand as flames continue to burn from its flesh.

The sound of the trees cracking from behind Anthony grows louder.

“Anthony! Move!” Winona screams out.

Anthony turns back and sees one tree plummeting towards him. He leaps to his feet and dives out of the way. The massive oak tree falls right towards the beast and smashes into its side. Large flames ignite all over its skin and rip through its body. It shrieks into the sky as one half of its body burns. The flames dance on its skin and reach for the sky.

The next tree lets out a large crack. Shawna smacks it again with her axe. Again. Again.

CRACK!

The second oak tree falls towards the beast and slams right into him. It knocks the beast backwards while simultaneously igniting it with more flames. The flames spread all across its body as it collapses to the ground lifelessly.

The flames burn on. They spread to the trees laying on top of the beast. They eat away at the dark green flesh they engulf. And the beast lays there… unmoving… being engulfed by the fire. A thick dark smoke dances into the sky. It billows away, disappearing into the night sky just above the tops of the oak trees. The oak trees and their secrets. Their dark secrets.