horrors2

rinski.The_Monste.tex

  1\chapauth{rinski}
  2\chapter{The Monsters in the Night}
  3
  4
  5Some would say I have seen it all. They luckily don't know
  6the half of it. I have both seen it all and then I have
  7additionally seen some more things. Unspeakably horrible things.
  8Things that would shatter your mind like a car wreck. For me,
  9it's just part of the job. You see, I am a monster hunter.
 10The name's Luke Bavarius. And I love my job. Because I hate
 11monsters.
 12
 13
 14
 15I was at my office desk. I poured a cup of dark coffee. I
 16accidentally burned the coffee, making my office smelled like a
 17raging inferno. I drank the acrid blackness anyway. It tasted like
 18a punch in the throat. But it's pungency and aroma would keep
 19me awake. Awake through a night as black as coffee itself. I needed
 20it: I felt tired and dizzy for some reason. I put my feet up on the
 21desk. I took another sip of bitter liquid. Then the phone
 22rang.
 23
 24
 25
 26My son's voice echoed through the cold, lifeless plastic of
 27the phone's receiver. I have three sons. They are volunteer
 28fire fighters. Usually they can't make calls while
 29volunteering. The call was therefore perplexing.
 30
 31
 32
 33``Dad? Dad, you are in terrible danger!''
 34
 35``Terrible danger? Me?'' I scoffed at his
 36insinuation.
 37
 38``Son, don't you understand? I have seen it all. What
 39dangerous fate could possibly surprise me?''
 40
 41
 42
 43Before anything else could even happen, a smash caught my
 44awareness. A window vomited glass fragments from its mahogany
 45frame. A terrible entity was intruding through a now-broken window!
 46Glass hit the ground like shells from my Baretta. Speaking of
 47which, I withdrew my steel companion from its sheath. Time to
 48investigate.
 49
 50
 51
 52The commotion was caused by a horrid foe indeed. It was a seething
 53mass of tentacles attached to a pair of sickening butterfly wings.
 54Parts of it glowed like certain eels can glow.
 55
 56
 57
 58``Son? I'm gonna have to put you on hold!'' I
 59predicted, stabbing the ``hold'' button with my left
 60index finger. I unholstered out my Baretta and flicked off the
 61safety because there was nothing safe about the situation.
 62
 63
 64
 65Before the fight had begun, it was over. A mere twenty bullets
 66reduced the monster to a twitching heap of calamari. The
 67bullet-riddled monster could have made swiss cheese jealous. An
 68acrid stench filled the office. The stinks of vomit and blood and
 69putrid smoke and diherria mingled in an unholy potpurri. Its
 70pungency induced nausea. My eyes watered protective tears. The
 71atmosphere of my office was now more stench than oxygen, making
 72respiration difficult.
 73
 74
 75
 76I coughed. I holstered my Baretta in its sheath. I picked up the
 77phone.
 78
 79``Dad, you have got to get out of your office because you are
 80in terrible danger!''
 81
 82
 83
 84{\em Smash!} Another creature erupted into my office. The window
 85atomized. Glass fragments splashed the floor like razor sharp
 86raindrops.
 87
 88
 89
 90``I appreciate your concern, son. But your ol' D-A-D can
 91handle a few monsters. I am a monster hunter by trade. And the hunt
 92is on.'' I hung up the phone with confidence.
 93
 94
 95
 96This monster was no ordinary panther. It was covered in poison
 97quills that rustled like amber waves of death. Its face was that of
 98the common fly. Its arms were like a nefarious---suddenly, the
 99beast attacked, interrupting my mental registration of its
100descriptive traits. No matter. My index finger instinctively
101triggered the Beretta's firing mechanism. A steel barrage
102sonic boomed towards the fiend. Soon it was just another lifeless
103object cluttering up my office floor. Blood gushed from its wounds
104like a Nile River of rusty fluid, courtesy of Luke Bavarius.
105
106
107
108The stench staggered. I coughed, gritting back vomit.
109
110
111
112Suddenly, a cacophony of smashes erupted. My remaining windows
113exploded in a crystalline supernova. The air was thick with a
114dangerous confetti of glass shards and monsters. Eight more
115monsters had broken in, causing this turmoil.
116
117
118
119``My property value has gone `out the
120window.''' I said with gallows humor.
121
122
123
124The odor elevated to a living nightmare about burning corpses. It
125consumed my senses. I vomited. Twice. Some came out my nose. My
126eyes burned. Tears stained my face with anguish and despair. I
127faced my impeding annihilation with eternal sadness and morbid
128frustration.
129
130
131
132``{\bf N-n-noooo-o!}'' I puked out sobs and some of the coffee from
133before. I shot blindly, managing to kill one last monster. The remainder
134closed on me like a curtain of death. Knowing I was done for, I vomited
135one last time. Then passed out.
136
137
138
139I awoke later with a start in a hospital. I coughed. The cough
140tasted like ash and my mouth felt like a chimney. I called to a
141nurse, ``Nurse what is going on?''
142
143
144
145``I don't know how to tell you this, Luke{\ldots} but
146there was a fire in your office. You inhaled the smoke and
147hallucinated. Your son called to warn you, but by that point you
148were virtually insane from fumes. Your other two sons were the
149first ones one the scene. You{\ldots}''
150
151
152
153Suddenly, she was sobbing. I sobbed too. For I had known all
154along.
155
156
157
158``Y-you murd-urdered th-them with-with your Barett-etta. Then
159your third son showed up with more firefighters and you killed him
160too.''
161
162
163
164I thought I had seen it all. But none of the horrid monstrosities I
165had seen could have prepared me. Not for this. Not for a
166realization that hit me like the weight of a neutron star full of
167freight trains that were carrying my murdered sons. I was the only
168monster in this tale.
169
170
171
172When I heard the news, my mind shattered like a car wreck. And I
173screamed and screamed and screamed{\ldots}
174
175
176 
177
178
179
180
181
182
183\illustration{Tripplejol}{Monsters in the Night}{art/Tripplejol-Monsters_Night.png}