Creatures ok anthology, p.12
Creatures of the Dark Anthology, page 12
He raised the weapon at Oscar, his finger sailing towards the trigger as his eyes widened but he was too late. Oscar wrenched the rifle up just as he pulled the trigger and the bullet soared away into the clouds.
He yanked on the gun, wrestling it from the man's grasp and swung it like a bat, caving in his skull. He screamed his victory to the sky and all the Creepers left alive turned to him with wild eyes.
Oscar brought the gun down over his knee, cleaving it in two with a grunt of effort. He threw the pieces aside and bellowed again as he ran after the humans who were trying to flee.
Death called for his assistance and he wasn't going to say no. The Creepers watched him with wide eyes for several seconds then one shrieked its approval. And another. And another. They ran to him, swarming around him as they chased down all the remaining humans.
Oscar was free and better still, he was a king.
Chapter Eight
Twenty-nine years old
Oscar sat staring over the valley as the line of smoke twisted towards the sky. He curled his lip, frowning at the symbol of intruders.
He had spent years maintaining the perimeter around this land, building somewhere free of humans where the Creepers under his command could live and prosper.
From time to time humans unlucky or stupid enough ventured into his territory like this. They were always dealt with harshly and quickly.
He watched the smoke with interest, trying to imagine the looks on the humans’ faces when his clan arrived to dispatch them.
Perhaps he should have gone himself but they'd not long come back from a raid on an outlying farm and his bloodlust had been sated for a while. He'd let the others have their fun. He would have his again soon enough.
He leant back against the rocky shelf he'd taken to thinking of as his throne. All kings needed a throne after all and he doubted many had a view like his. His territory stretched out before him, the mountainous region lined with valleys and rivers and totally free of humans.
After years of being trapped in the barn he never wanted to be closed within walls again. The cold air gusted around him, battering against his bare skin and lifting his dark hair but he didn't mind. It made him feel alive.
He waited for one of his Creepers to return with a report for him. Their knowledge of language was limited at best but he'd never been much of a talker. Over the years he'd worked with them, training them to communicate in different ways so that they could be more organised. It had worked, the bond he'd formed between his clan was iron. Though he occasionally had to accept a challenge for his position, he had never come close to being beaten.
Eventually a faint rustling drew his attention to the trail behind him and he turned as Skit approached. The Creepers had no use for names but Oscar had christened each of them in his mind, if for no other reason than to keep track of them. Skit was one of his clan who had a better grasp of language, making him an obvious choice for a scout.
“Humans in the wind,” Skit said angrily. “Running free with sticks of fire.” He made a gun with his fingers and pretended to shoot it at Oscar then laughed. “Coming?” He started to turn away, prancing back towards the trail, knowing his king would follow.
Oscar let out a growl of irritation. He hated guns. Pathetic humans always carried them, all too aware of their inferiority to risk a fair fight with anything that lurked beneath the trees.
“Where?” he growled as he got to his feet, following Skit down the mountain.
“Hiding, hiding in the underneath.”
Oscar frowned. The underneath was some sort of old human dwelling built into the ground beneath the valley. The doors were locked and there was no way to open them. He'd tried many times, wanting to make sure no humans lurked within. Perhaps they had been there all along, and now they had let themselves be known. That didn't explain how he would get in after them though.
“The door was open and someone was home, waiting down there all alone,” Skit sang as he scurried down the trail. A lot of the Creepers like to sing or speak in rhyme. Oscar guessed it was just a sign of their minds coming unhinged. They found pleasure in the darkest of things. In that at least they weren't so different to him.
“You were in the underneath?” he asked.
“Under and over, inside and out.” Skit laughed then sprinted away. That was all the confirmation he needed.
Oscar broke into a run, bellowing a cry that echoed across the valley to summon any of his clan who lingered nearby.
If the humans had left the door open to the underneath then they would have to escape it somehow. There was only one sure way out of that valley, especially for creatures so useless as humans. He roared again, calling his clan closer as he raced for the bridge and thunder broke overhead.
A storm was building in the skies and he would lead one on the land.
As he reached the foot of the trail, he overtook Skit. Oscar was the fastest and strongest of his clan and he made sure they never forgot it. He held his place as their king because he was the best and they followed him because they never doubted it.
Rain broke loose of the clouds as thunder rumbled again. It washed over his bare skin leaving icy trails which soaked through his thin shorts and plastered his long hair to his skull. It didn't bother him. Every raindrop was a reminder that he was alive, free from the chains that used to bind him.
Excited shrieking started to sound from the trees nearby as his clan approached. He called back, adding his voice to their song as they raced towards the bridge.
Tyne leapt through the trees beside him, baring her teeth in what could almost pass for a smile as she spotted her king. Her pale, naked body shone with the rain as lightning flickered overhead.
She shrieked in excitement, pointing ahead of them and waving her arms. The humans were close.
Oscar roared again, egging his clan on. He could almost smell the humans ahead of them now. Sometimes he wondered if the true Creepers really could. They certainly seemed to use their noses more than he did and he wondered if the effects of their contamination included a heightened sense of smell.
He burst through the trees at the edge of the valley and his clan were suddenly all around him. At least thirty of them had made it to the bridge with him and they raced towards it in a blood frenzy as they spotted the four humans waiting on the far side.
Tyne shrieked in excitement, the noise echoing across the valley. The rest of the clan joined her, the sound of their screams twisting into a terrifying song that should have been more than enough to send any human’s heart racing.
"Come and get us!" a male human roared as the first of the clan, led by Tyne made it onto the rusty metal bridge.
Oscar stopped running, his instincts warning him not to set foot on the bridge. He raised an arm, commanding those behind him to stop too. Some of them did but others were too far into the bloodlust, unable to follow the command of their king.
A deafening boom erupted as a fireball engulfed the bridge, the force of it sending Oscar to one knee and throwing most of his remaining clan to the ground. Rage flooded through him as the humans celebrated their victory and more than ten of his clan plummeted to their deaths.
He stood quickly before the smoke could clear and they could see him on his knees. Those humans didn't know what they had started. He would kill them all.
The rest of the clan started howling, screaming their anger and frustration across the abyss. Oscar stood in the middle of them all, unmoving as he surveyed his quarry. In the centre of the four humans stood a ghost. Her long, white-blonde hair twisted about her in the wind and his heart beat faster as he breathed her name. “Orla.”
It couldn't be her. He'd killed her himself. He shook his head, removing some of the water from his long hair as he cleared his head, that girl wasn't Orla. But she would die like her soon enough.
He raised a hand and pointed at the four figures beyond the destroyed bridge, marking them all out for death.
"You're dead already," he snarled. "It's just a matter of time."
He turned away from the humans and gestured for his clan to follow as he headed back into the trees. Without the bridge, they would have to run over a mile to the next crossing where a crude, rope bridge spanned the valley. The humans would have a strong head start but he was determined to track them down.
Chapter Nine
Twenty-nine years old
Creepers swarmed through the forest all around him, screaming with excitement as they raced on. They were a pack on the hunt and their prey would not escape.
Oscar let out roar after roar as they ran, calling more of his clan to join them. His cries echoed through the trees, carrying to all the dark places where his Creepers lurked.
As they reached the rope bridge, they swarmed across it like ants, the fragile construction swaying and groaning under their weight. Oscar planted himself in front of it, blocking the rest from following with a snarl as he waited for the bridge to clear. If they destroyed this crossing there wasn't another for miles and the valley would take too long to descend and climb without it.
As half of his gathered clan raced ahead, he stepped onto the bridge, a low growl warning the others to wait for him to cross before they followed. The bridge swayed beneath him and he leant forward to balance as he ran across it. His bare feet hit the mud on the far side and he let out a bellow to the wind, calling his clan forward again. They ran to their king, shrieking in excitement as the hunt resumed.
A huge rock towered to his right and he waved his clan on as he turned to scale it. His dirty fingernails found purchase in the sheer rock face and he heaved himself skyward, clinging on like a spider. His muscles bulged as he climbed, straining under the effort of lifting his huge body.
He hoisted himself up onto the summit, squinting through the rain at the forest below. It was impossible to spot the humans between the dense trees but he waited, looking for signs of their passage.
A flock of birds took flight to the south, cartwheeling away from the trees with squawks of protest. He smiled as he zeroed in on the spot, waiting for confirmation of their presence. Eventually more birds took off from the trees nearby and he roared for his clan to run on.
They were further away than he had expected and he doubted they'd arrived on foot. At his last raid they had destroyed a farmhouse, taking supplies and killing everything that had lived there. He'd even stolen a tractor from them, causing a riot in his clan as they danced around the roaring metal beast in victory. He hadn't thought much of the tractor since he'd abandoned it at the end of an old trail which led into the forest but he turned for it then, leaping from the rock to land in the mud with another cry of excitement.
He directed his Creepers south, straight towards the fleeing humans while sprinting in a more westerly direction himself.
The trees swept past him, his feet finding familiar trails between them that no other eyes could spot.
It didn't take long for him to reach the trail where they'd abandoned the huge yellow tractor. They'd smashed its windows and there were several dents in the paintwork where he'd rammed it into trees on their joyride back from the farmhouse but it should still be able to drive just fine. So long as the battery still held a charge.
Oscar leapt into the cab and twisted the key. The tractor roared to life and he laughed as he revved the engine, angling it through the forest towards the fleeing humans.
There was only one trail wide enough for them to have driven a car down nearby and he crashed through the undergrowth towards it. The tractor bounced over the lumpy terrain, easily forging a path over saplings and small shrubs.
Elf appeared running through the trees ahead of him, waving his long arms to Oscar’s right. Oscar spun the tractor that way, driving straight towards the other trail as Elf screamed in encouragement.
The tractor burst through the trees just as the humans’ truck rounded a corner on the trail. Oscar howled with excitement as he pressed his foot down, taking them by surprise and ramming into them.
A huge crash split the air and the truck flipped up and away, careering into a tree before spinning to a halt in a clearing on its roof. His moment watching the truck was rewarded by a splintering crash as he slammed into a huge tree which spun him around and flipped the tractor up onto its side. He was thrown against the roof as he tumbled from his seat and his head spun as he slammed back down, landing in a heap.
He tasted blood and spat to remove it from his mouth. The tractor was laying on its side and he had to clamber up through the broken window to escape it.
Only a few members of his clan had made it to the crash site and they waited close to him, fighting to contain themselves until he gave them permission to attack. Oscar waved them forward and they raced towards the clearing where the humans’ truck had landed.
He rolled his neck back and forth, feeling his shoulder pop as he rotated it. He jumped from the cab, landing in the soft mud beside the wreckage of the tractor.
The rain was slowing down as the storm passed and only a few drops continued to fall from the trees above. Oscar pushed his wet hair back from his face and stalked towards the clearing, keeping his eyes open for any sign of the humans.
Elf was jumping up and down on the belly of the truck and singing excitedly. Oscar paused as he reached the edge of the clearing. He remained just outside it, frowning around at his clan as they searched for their prey.
“Gone, gone, gone,” Tito muttered as he spotted his king. “Hiding, sneaking, running.”
“Then burn them out,” Oscar growled. They wouldn't be able to hide for long if the forest was on fire around them.
"Burn bushes!" Tito screamed as he sprinted back into the clearing, obviously planning on doing just that.
Oscar remained where he was, scanning the trees around the clearing for a sign of the humans. They couldn't have gone far and judging by the blood splatters around the destroyed truck, at least one of them was injured. Humans were all kinds of things but they were generally loyal too. If one of their group was hurt, the others were probably staying with them.
Elf managed to break some of the pipes in the truck’s belly and the others rushed to help him use the oil to start some fires. The damp vegetation resisted the flames but the clan worked quickly to add more fuel to them.
More Creepers began to arrive as the smoke drew them to the crash site, his clan rushing around the clearing excitedly as they hunted.
Oscar watched and waited, seconds turning into minutes as he frowned at the trees.
An excited cry went up, quickly joined by another and another as the clan found something. They all turned, rushing towards the source of the excitement, wanting to get their own share of blood. Oscar strode towards them, snarling as the smaller Creepers got too close to him.
A flash of white-blonde hair showed between the crush of bodies and he growled as he forced his way in. “Orla.”
Blood flew as some of the clan were cut down, the human girl grunting with effort as she fought, swinging a huge blade with deadly precision.
Oscar slipped between the bodies until he was behind her and waited for the perfect moment. She leapt forward, spearing her blade through Elf’s chest and Oscar pounced, grabbing her by her hair. He lifted her high and grabbed her wrist, digging his filthy fingernails into her skin until she released the blade with a curse.
His clan swarmed forward hoping to finish her but he glared at them, baring his teeth and forcing them back.
He lifted her up again, staring into her face just to be sure. She tried to swing a fist at him but he knocked it aside, catching her by the throat. Not Orla. This girl had wide, green eyes and full lips. She wasn't a ghost. Just someone with Orla’s hair. Nothing more.
His hand fell from her throat and he growled at the Creepers closest to him as he kicked her feet out from under her, eliciting a scream from her lips. He stooped low, grabbing her machete and dragged her forward, using her perfect hair like a rope as she slid through the mud, kicking against his efforts.
His clan moved aside as he glared at them and he forced her into the centre of the clearing. "Come out now, or we kill her!" he shouted, looking towards the surrounding trees expectantly.
The girl struggled against him, screaming abuse as he pressed her own blade to her neck. He ignored her, searching for her friends. The male would be close, hoping to save her.
"Come for your woman!" Oscar cried, dragging her around in a circle as she kicked at the mud to keep the sharp blade from cutting into her neck.
His clan cackled at the display, their laughter ringing around the clearing as the girl struggled in his grasp. He kept looking at her hair. Something stirred in his chest at the sight of it and he wondered briefly if he could keep the silver haired girl. He dismissed the notion angrily, shaking her even harder. That was a dream that had died a long time ago.
Movement caught his attention above his head and he looked up just as the human man swung out of the trees. He landed in a crouch a few meters away and stood slowly, glaring at Oscar angrily. He was tall and strong, with dark hair and eyes. He held himself like a fighter, unwilling to show the slightest sign of weakness.
"What do you want?" he demanded. There was no fear in his eyes, only hate.
"Death," Oscar replied with a grin. It was all he ever wanted.
The rest of the clan began to edge closer to the male but they didn't dare strike without permission. He regarded them with contempt before responding.
"Are you scared to fight me alone? Or do you need all of these-" he seemed not to have a word for the rest of the clan and just waved a hand at them dismissively, "-to help you?"
Oscar fought back a bark of laughter. He didn't need to prove he could kill a human. He had killed more of them than he could count. "So long as you die, I win." He tugged on the girl's hair and pressed the machete to her throat, drawing a thin line of blood.
