mirror of https://github.com/nealey/Horrors2
145 lines
4.3 KiB
TeX
145 lines
4.3 KiB
TeX
\chapauth{LesterGroans}
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\chapter[Dream Hyena]{Dream Hyena: A Bavarius Tale}
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Luke Bavarius checked his watch and rolled his eyes as the radio
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vomited some Stones track that the kids listened to these days. He
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tapped his foot mindlessly on the gas pedal and honked his horn
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again.
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``Dammit, woman,'' he mumbled to himself. His ex-wife had promised to
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have their kid waiting for them when he got there. It would be the
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first time he'd see the little brat in weeks. It was hard being a
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cop, even harder having a home life when you were one.
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Bavarius grunted like an ape and got out of his Camaro, rounding it
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to the suburban sidewalk and up the stone walkway to Carrie
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Bavarius's bungalow. He knocked on the door.
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``Let's go, champ. Kids who are late don't get ice cream,'' Bavarius
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called through the door. Still no answer.
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A thick, meaty thumping came from inside, like a pudding-stuffed
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side of beef was being smacked against a milk bag. Bavarius
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furrowed his expansive brow and rubbed his chin, stubbled and
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gritty like the streets he swore to protect.
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He kicked the door in, it splintered against the far wall. His
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Baretta was out faster than a synapse as he lunged into the
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foyer.
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There were smears of body ketchup leading down the hall. Bavarius's
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eyes narrowed, he started to sweat.
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``Carrie?! Lukie Junior?!'' He called out, steadying his firing hand
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as he moved down the hall. The walls were streaked with scratch
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marks. There were gouges in the wall up to an inch deep -- two
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inches in some places. Three inches in others.
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As he passed a four inch deep scratch mark he rounded the corner
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and there, at the end of the hall, was a thing that could only be
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described as a dream hyena. It was on two legs, a scorpion tail
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jutting from its distended, mangy belly, wiggling towards Bavarius.
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Its jaw hung loose, almost broken, vomiting sickly metal smelling
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saliva onto the floor, ruining the hardwood. Its eyes were gone, in
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their place were throbbing boils of pus, what looked like a
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cockroach had been stuck in the festering eye-wound, its leg
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twitching out the side of it.
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The sharp scorpion tail had made fast work of Carrie, dicing her
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body into so many pieces. Her entrails hung from sconces, the dream
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hyena was wearing her hands on the top of its heads like the horns
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of Pan.
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Bavarius gulped, his adam's apple bobbing. He took a stance and
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made sure his voice was steady before calling out, ``You're under
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arrest!''
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The dream hyena didn't respond. It lurched forward, its legs moving
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awkwardly, its clawed hands dicking gouges into the wall, the pads
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of its feet squeaking on the glugging, bubbling blood bile that
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spewed from Carrie's severed throat. It was already scabbing in
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gobs around her neck{\ldots} not the kind of necklace she used to pester
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Luke for, that's for sure.
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``Where's Lukie?'' Bavarius asked, holding his ground as the thing
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lurched again, the umbilical scorpion tail wiggling hypnotically.
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Bavarius smirked, ``You don't scare me{\ldots} bringing in punks like you
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is my Baretta and butta!''
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He opened fire, ripping apart the dream hyena's belly. It hissed as
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it vomited disgusting, rotten entrails and a thick gaseous smell
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like someone had run over a dead raccoon in a lawnmower.
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The dream hyena fell to the floor and darkness flooded over
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Bavarius. He blinked, stepping back, dropping his gun. What was
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going on?
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When he opened his eyes he looked at the floor in front of him.
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Little Lukie Bavarius lay holding in his guts as they tried to
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snake out of his grasp like loose Swedish sausages.
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Bavarius's neck was thick with corded veins, his eyes so wide they
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almost blew out of their sockets. He dropped down beside Lukie,
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cradling him in his arms, hearing the plopping splash of more guts
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tumbling from Lukie's belly.
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``Daddy?'' Lukie looked up, his pale face round and innocent. He
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looked so wise now. ``I just wanted to see you more, daddy? Y-You
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always said you were too busy finding the bad men{\ldots} I-I thought
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maybe you'd come if you had one to find here{\ldots}''
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Lukie's lower half tore off like wet tissue as Bavarius tried to
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pick him up. He held his son's top half like a broken pi\~nata and
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sobbed into his son's collar.
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This was a helluva thing.
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\begin{figure}[b]
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\includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{art/Ghost_Hat-Dream_Hyena.jpg}
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\caption{{\em Dream Hyena} by Ghost Hat}
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\end{figure}
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