The moon was beautiful tonight. Like a great glowing eye, it gazed down upon the land below and cast it in pale light and shadow. The animals that dwelled within the woods at this haunting hour danced in its glory, and others hurried to cover so they might rest in it before the morning sun. The air was cool, and the breeze was just right to comfort a weary hunter; carrying the soft sent of prey to their noses. Among the trees and within the shadows that the moon provided, hunters were prowling. This was the hour of darkness…and of hunters.
The low moan that reverberated through the forest was a haunting sound to man and beast. It was a hunting call…a growl of hunger and of ferocity. The throaty snarl was not of any creature of nature, but rather a beast that had clawed its way from the deepest nightmares of mankind. It let out a long and hungry groan of savage rage as the rest of the forest quaked in terror. Animals that heard its cries scrambled to get away…but the beasts of the night that knew its cry all began to emerge and join their dark brother.
In the pale glow of the moonlit night, they could be seen in a clearing. They gathered together like pack animals, but they were not wolves or dogs…these were haunting visages that stalked the minds of men. They walked on two legs and their bodies did appear like those of a human…they had hair and even wore clothes, or rather what remained of clothing. They possessed all the common characteristics of a typical man…and yet, they could not be any further from humans.
They shambled on two legs, and when they saw prey, they would hunker down on their arms and feet and run like a nightmarish hound, snarling and spitting. It’s jaws hung open constantly, showing off its teeth, which were just rows of jagged, razor sharp fangs, meant for the soul purpose of ripping flesh from bone…but they need not chew, for they could swallow mouthfuls of bloody flesh whole. Their arms and legs were caked in a layer of red blood, from all the carcasses and bodies they had mutilated and tore into. And their eyes…their eyes like empty white plates, were beady and hungry. There was no humanity in them, though perhaps there might have been at one point. On this cold and haunting night; in this hour of hunters, these beasts were not hunters that belonged…they were not natural. Neither man nor animal…they were ghouls.
There were four of them this night…ravenous and groaning over a dead bear and her cubs. Ghouls are indiscriminate killers. They do not discern between man and animal…only flesh. They will eat what they can catch. And while they are slow and sluggish on only two legs, when on all fours, they are formidable. Worse yet, they are strong. When a ghoul senses prey, it will run tirelessly to catch it, and once caught, the ghoul will fearlessly and mercilessly use its claw like hands and teeth to gore its food and bring it down. A single ghoul is easily a match for two men in terms of strength alone, but it is the savage and ferocious manner in which it kills that makes it so terrifying…it is a true nightmarish creature.
But not to me.
I watched them feed and only stared. The moon illuminated every gore filled expression on their twisted faces. They had no idea I was even there…and they wouldn’t until I wanted them too. The moon basked me in its glory and I inhaled deeply, taking in the smell and sensation of the night. I felt strength rush through me with the blowing of the wind and I pulled the long bow that I had strapped over my shoulder. I removed an arrow from my quiver and brushed two fingers over the arrowhead. I sighed softly and notched the arrow to the string with the softest of twangs. I then raised the bow and drew back, carefully. When the arrow was pulled back to my ear, I glared down at the nearest ghoul, it’s back to me, and it’s face buried in the chest of the bear.
*twang*
With a musical twang, I released the arrow and, with the precision and speed of a bolt of lighting, the arrow found its target. Much like a classical zombie, ghouls can be killed with a direct blow the head or heart. The arrow went through the back of the beasts head and the tip stuck out from it’s nose. The ghoul grunted and fell face first into the bears guts, lifeless and dead. The other two ghouls, now aware of the danger, rose to their feet and began sniffing and scanning for me. Ghouls were tenacious creatures and would find me soon. No point delaying. I had to dispatch them swiftly. I drew another arrow and shot it at the second ghoul. Again, the arrow entered through it’s temple and out the back of it’s head. It stood stock still for a moment before dropping like a heap of potatoes, crumpled on the ground. The third ghoul let out a long growl and began lumbering in my direction. It didn’t drop on all fours to attack…clearly it didn’t know where I was. I simply smiled and waited until it was closer. I reached into my sheath strapped to the back of my belt and pulled out a combat knife and waited.
“Just a little closer.” I whispered. “Just a little bit….” It was agony to wait…but wait I did. A predator cannot pounce until the moment is right. Plus, if I timed this wrong, I’d either be hurt by the drop, or in the jaws of an angry ghoul. At last it stopped just under the tree I was hiding in. I dropped down and held my dagger downwards. With a sickening thud, I landed knees first on top of the ghoul, and plunged my knife into its heart. The ghoul let out a shriek of shock and pain as its life slipped away. It roared and tried to thrash at me with its wild claws, but I was just out of its reach now. After it fought fiercely to get me for a good 20 seconds, its movements finally began to slow and it lay back, dead. I stood up and couldn’t hold back the confident smile upon my face.
I pulled the dagger out of its chest and cleaned it with a cloth in my pocket. As I wiped it clean, I approached the arrows I’d fired into the two other ghouls and yanked them out. I knelt down, my jeans hugging my legs and my leather jacket squeaking slightly as I inspected the wounds carefully. I had to be careful here; the ghoul claws are toxic, and their bite has the potential to turn humans into ghouls too. It’s best to not get too close. In fact, it was reckless to drop down on that third one the way I did…but I couldn’t help it. The thrill had taken hold. It had happened before too. Many times, while bathed in the light of a moon, and watching the creatures move below, I felt an overwhelming urge to move or to act…like a confidence I couldn’t shake or explain. I always assumed it was just the thrill of the hunt coming out.
I began to remove the arrows, when I suddenly realized something…something shocking. I had seen four ghouls earlier…but these were only three of them. Where was the fourth?
“RAAAAH!”
The ghoul came rushing from behind me, darting on all fours and its jaw hanging open in hunger. I spun around and dove out of the way, just in time for it to crash into the carcass of the bear I’d been standing in front of moments before. I whipped out the pistol in my holster and turned, aiming it at the ghoul’s head. The creature let out a shriek and charged again.
*POW*
I missed the shot, my hand was shaking slightly. I side stepped the animal and tried to take aim again. The creature lashed out at me and I shot my booted foot at it, kicking it in the jaw. It fumbled a moment, dazed, but kept on coming all the same.
*POW*
This time the bullet found its mark, going right through the monsters eye as it fell to the grass in a heap, blood oozing from its wound. I lowered my gun and I slumped back, falling on my back and laying down, letting the chilled grass ease my quivering body into relaxation.
“Wow, that was way too close…hehehe…but fun.” I couldn’t stop the giggles that escaped my chest. Though I knew I’d been in real danger…though I was mentally kicking myself for letting that fourth ghoul slip my notice…and though I’d, once again, let my bizarre confidence make me behave recklessly again, I’d somehow survived, and now I was alive, breathing heavily, and feeling positively ecstatic. This was what I craved at night…the sensation of the hunt. I loved hunting. Not for bears or deer….but for monsters.
Oh yes, monsters are real. Very real. They aren’t as numerous as they were hundreds of years ago, but they’re still around. Some folks know about them…and they’re trained in how to combat and kill them. Ever since my Dad told me about monsters and started teaching me how to defend myself from them, I started taking the fight to the monsters…and I had to admit…if this is what it felt like to be the predator, then I never EVER want to go back to being prey.
I checked my watch to see the time and groaned. “3 in the morning? Dad’s gonna kill me when I get home.” I stared up at the moon above me and my disgruntled expression slowly changed to a content grin. “Eh…it was worth it…don’t you think?” The moon didn’t answer my question…and yet there were those rare nights where, when the moon was full and luminous, I felt like it did talk to me…speaking a gentle and urging voice. I wonder why I felt that way. Just one of those weird quirks again, maybe.
“If only we could have a conversation for real.” I muttered. “The stories we could share…” I lay on the grass a while, closing my eyes and letting the night sky blanket me in its chilly embrace. It wouldn’t last of course…but I loved it all the same.
After a long time of laying in the grass, I finally sat up and looked around at the bodies of the ghouls. The last one was turning to dust before my eyes. Ghouls decayed quickly after death, leaving nothing behind. While they weren’t difficult for the average monster hunter to dispatch, there were far worse implications that came along with ghoul sightings. Ghouls weren’t just random occurrences, and unlike zombies which were often the result of accidental voodoo or, in rare cases, a bizarre virus, ghouls were always intentionally created. They were a work of dark magic or vampiric influence. There was something in these woods that had made these ghouls…and that something wouldn’t be so easily killed. A piece of me sincerely wanted to begin investigating, but staying out too much later wasn’t a good idea. Dad would be worried sick if he woke up to find I’d snuck out. And worse…I had school tomorrow.
“Damn it…another night then.”
It didn’t take me too long to find my way back onto the hiking trail. The woods I hunted in were part of a natural park a few miles from my house. As long as I was careful, I could slip in after dark and hunt at my leisure. I’d left my motorbike at the parking lot outside the nature trail. I made my way too it and climbed on, mounting the machine and firing it up. As I turned it to get onto the road and head home, I paused a second and looked back at the forest. I’d felt something in that instant…a strange and eerie presence, like something was watching me. But as I looked, the feeling ebbed away. It must’ve been my imagination, I rationalized. I then turned the bike onto the road and tore off for home, putting those thoughts aside, and instead focusing on the wonderful feeling of the night are on my face and hair. After all…it wouldn’t feel this wonderful at school. There I was just another face in the crowd. But here? Here I was a huntress…I was Rebecca Anderson.
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