Cellar Dweller's (2) As another night falls on the town, a gentle breeze flaps the upstairs curtains of the abandoned house. The house is dark and smells of mildew, as the weathered sofas sit ripped and torn on the floor below. On the walls, hang old pictures with broken frames, leaving the glass to sit on the floor below. While once filled with loved ones scurrying about, the house sits in a dead quiet. Just when the house looks to be empty; the awakening beast in the cellar disturbs the quiet. As it observes the bones of the dead men, it sees no left over meat from the kill the night before. The beast slams the bones against the wall in a hungered rage. This rage is only fueled by its desire to feed. As if unafraid of anything the town can offer, the beast makes it's way up the stairs and into the unsuspecting town. A block away from true raging horror, a group of teens party at a nearby farmhouse. Inside the house, the music is loud and rhythmic, as the teens dance and drink. A long table in a corner is full of chips, dip and snacks of all kinds. Coolers of beer sit iced under the table, for a night full of partying. They yell and laugh as their bodies get loose and their words get braver from the alcohol. They sit and play drinking games, until they can barely stand. One of the teens, finding the bathroom full, goes outside to answer natures call. The teen stumbles through the front door, walks out to the yard, and stops at a wall of nearby bushes. There he stands, as the bush consumes the liquid from his bladder. He stands and laughs as the party continues inside. As the beast approaches the house, it spots the teen on the other side of the bush. Like a cat after an unsuspecting field mouse, it draws closer. The beast stands in front of the boy, as it's mouth waters for blood and flesh. As the teen stands there, he starts to feel the heat from its breath and hears the heavy breathing from it's vice like bite. A light flashes from the house, which momentarily shines on the bush before him. As the teen’s eyes focus on the bush, his body is suddenly filled with fear. He finds himself staring straight into the eyes of death. The beast’s eyes are red and demon like. Its nose is long and extends down to expose a mouthful of sharp teeth. As his heart pounds a million beats a minute, the teen frantically tries to back away. Suddenly the bushes separate, as the beast leaps at him slashing and tearing his flesh. The teen can do nothing but scream, as he's struck continuously. With a quick stab of its razor sharp claws, the beast penetrates the boy’s stomach exposing the tips of its nails on the other side of the boy’s back. As the teen tries to scream for help, his mouth quickly fills with blood. The beast swings him around like a rag doll, slamming his helpless body to the ground with a bone-breaking thud. As the boy’s last breath is taken, the beast slams his hand down on the boy’s head shattering his skull. Inside the house the party continues, as the unsuspecting teens gorge themselves with beer and snacks. Chants of drunken laughter fill the kitchen, as a chugging contest starts to take place. One of the boys known as satchel ass, because he wears baggy pants, sits at one end of an oval table. On the other end, is a red headed freckled faced kid named Roger. As the two boys sit across from one another, the other four teens begin to open several cans of beer and line them up in front of them. Now with 5 beers sitting in front of each of them, the contest begins. " On your mark," " Get set, " " Go," yells one of the teens to start the race. The two boys start snatching beers and downing them as fast as they can. They finish the first easy enough and even the second, but the third proves two much for poor Roger. With foaming beer running down his shirt, he turns behind him and begins heaving. As satchel ass raises his hand in victory, one of the girls notices the seventh member of the party was still missing. " Hey, where's Mr. I got to go pee," she asks in a joking way as she turns to check on him. The girl approaches the front door, as the others continue to laugh at their puking friend. While outside mauling the boy’s limp body, the beast crouches behind a parked car and continues to feed. It's ears suddenly perk up, as it looks above the car and sees the girl opening the front door. Welcoming the sight of fresh meat, the beast leaps over the car and charges at her. The others hear the blood-curling scream, as woman and beast come crashing inside. They land just in the front room, as the girl continues to scream. With a quick swipe at the girl’s throat the beast separates the girls head from her body. As the laughter in the kitchen turns quiet, the now decapitated head of the girl rolls in front of them. They give a sobering scream, as they head for the back of the house. Just as they reach what appears to be the safety of the rear door, it explodes in their face as a second demon from hell roars from outside. The teens have no where to go, as the second beast enters just as hungry as the first. One after the other the teens are viciously attacked. The two monsters massacre the teens, as the dwelling is turned into a slaughterhouse. When the last one falls to the ground, the beasts have a meal of the bodies. Part Three As the sun rises to start a new day, the town folks prepare for a night of ghosts and goblins. The streets start to fill with cobweb spray and pumpkin heads, as everyone is busy setting the Halloween mood. Tommy and his dad slice and carve, as a scary face starts to emerge from their jack-o-lantern. His mother wastes no time, as she takes the meat from the pumpkin and prepares to make a few pies. As the finishing touches are made on the hallow pumpkin, Billy makes his way from across the street. Loaded in his arms he carry's some old clothes of his dads, so they can make a scarecrow. " That's cool," he says as he drops the clothes on the porch. "Yeah, we're going to have the scariest pumpkin on the block, " Tommy brags as his dad places the top on. With the pumpkin placed in a safe place, the boys start raking leaves from around the big tree out front. The boys rake endlessly, as they finally have a big pile. Then they take the clothes that Billy brought over and start to pack them full. With holes tied in the ends, they take the packed clothes to a chair and start to make their scarecrow. Satisfied with a job well done, they run up to Tommy's room for an evening full of video games. Back at the police station, Sgt. Conners coordinates with a nearby sheriff over the night’s security. " I think one of my deputies with two of your men, should be just fine," the sheriff states. " Yeah, that gives us five groups and should set up a nice perimeter," the Sgt. replies back. " I just hope we're not over reacting," he admits as the phone rings. The Sgt.’s puzzled look turns somewhat numb, as he listens to a strange report. “ Are you sure about that? ” he asks. “ All right, don’t touch anything till I get there, ” he adds as he hangs the phone up. With a worried look, he quickly asks for the sheriff’s company as he heads out the door. "What's wrong," the sheriff asks. " I'll tell you on the way," he yells as he runs for the car. As they hurry away from the police station, the Sgt. explains. His report is disturbing to the sheriff, as they race to the farmhouse. Tommy’s mom is just pulling a fresh pie from the oven, when the Sgt. races by with sirens screaming. " What do you suppose that's all about, " she asks her husband as he runs to the front door " Beats me, but he sure is in a hurry, " he replies. Tim runs out the door to see where the Sgt. is heading, when he meets Dave out in the street. “Come on let’s see if we can help,” he tells his friend. The two men climb in the car and are off. As they arrive at the farm, they notice the sheriff is very excited as he talks on the radio. Through the car window, they see a stained sheet covering something in front of them, as the Sgt. walks out of the house. He walks over to their car and leans on the door. " Boys we got a real problem," he admits in a worried voice. " We've got seven slaughtered teens and a ruthless killer on the loose," he tells the men. “Mind if we take a look?” Dave asks. “No go ahead if you can stomach it, just don’t touch anything” replies the Sgt. Tim and Dave step out of the car, as the Sgt. walks over to the sheriff. “I got three other counties on the way.” the sheriff starts. " Better call the boys at the office," he says as he looks at the house. " We got a hell of a mess to clean up." As Tim and Dave walk up to the house, they quickly retreat from the terrible smell of death. Tim covers his mouth and enters the front door. He is horrified at what he sees, as he looks around the floor leading into the kitchen. He sees the bones from the teenagers are almost meatless as his foot kicks something solid across the floor. The girls severed head rolls across the floor, coming to rest against the wall. Tim looks down and notices her last scream still frozen on her face. As he fells a sickening felling in his gut, he runs from the house once again. He takes a moment to get some fresh air, as the sounds of sirens ring once again. Several cars start showing up, as the other officers arrive to assist in the clean up. Together, the men spend a couple of hours carrying bag after bag of mutilated leftovers from the house. As the investigator photographs the shredded body of the teen by the car, the sheriff wipes his brow with his handkerchief and suddenly remembers the night of trick or treat. . Deep down in the dwelling of the beasts, a large figure awakes. The beast is about six feet tall and solid with tree trunk like arms. As it slowly moves into the evenings last light, it's features are exposed. Its face is almost wolfing like with a large set of fanged teeth. Long dark hair droops down its large head, covering a muscular back. As it looks around it's domain, its body is somewhat scaly like a reptile with leather looking skin, a powerful chest and six pack stomach. Its hands are huge and strong, right down to the tips of its deadly sharp claws. Its legs are equally as powerful and scaly, as it kicks a pile of bones across the room and gives out an ear-piercing roar. The second beast awakes just as impressive as the first. It rises to its feet and joins the other in one last roar that fills the house. Raging for blood and flesh, they start up the cellar steps, and into the night. With Halloween upon them, the boys throw their costumes on and run around the living room. Ann and Paula are busy in the kitchen, as they talk and prepare the treats for the little goblins of the night. " They've been gone along time," Ann says as she awaits her husbands return. " I sure hope everything's all right," she adds as she walks to the front door. " It's probably just something to do with Halloween," Paula replies as she tries to comfort her friend. " Yeah that's what worries me," Ann admits. Just then, the boys excitedly run into the room. "Come on mom let’s go," Tommy yells as he grabs his candy bucket. "You kids go on ahead, we're going to give your fathers a few more minutes," she replies as the boys run out the door. They run down the block and are out of sight, unaware of the danger, as evil climbs the steps of the old house. Part Four The mood at the farmhouse is one of both confusion and denial as the guys regroup and discuss what they just witnessed. The sheriff walks over to the group of concerned men, gathers his thoughts, and takes a deep breath before speaking. " I don't have to tell you fellows what tonight is.” “As I speak, your children are walking the streets and going door to door as some thing or things is killing- NO SLAUGHTERING, at will," he says as he raises his voice. " Now I don't know about you, but I think we have to put a stop to this tonight. The plan we discussed at the station is obviously not going to work. "I made a few phone calls and I've got twenty more men with high-powered rifles on the way. "As a matter of fact, they should be here in about an hour or so. Now, we have to stay in-groups of at least four. Each group will have at least one radio to keep in contact with the others. Will fan out in sectors till the others arrive and then go through this town with a fine toothed comb,” he says as he finishes. Everyone was quiet for a minute. Tim then spoke up and replied, " That sounds like a plan to me sheriff. “But first I'm going home and get my crossbow and explain to the wife what's going on." Dave agreed as the two men were off in a flash. As they sped away, the others started making groups and began to patrol the town. When the two men arrived back at the house, the women could tell right away that something was wrong. Dave explained everything to them, as Tim got his crossbow and bag of arrows out of the bedroom. When he returned, the women were teary eyed and very afraid. " My god Tim, the boys are out there somewhere," she said as she hugged him in worry. Tim reassured his wife that the boys would be found and they walked out the door. As they got out to the road, they met up with the Sgt. and two others from the block. " I guess this will be our sector guys. The sheriff just got word the others are about a couple of miles away." the Sgt. explained as they started their patrol. Tim was somewhat relieved at the sounds of extra help so close. But his thoughts wondered elsewhere, as he thought about the carnage at the farmhouse, and the fact that his own son was out here somewhere. As if trying to clear his mind, Tim inspected his crossbow as they disappeared down the street. The boys ran from house to house like two deer's running in a field. Through the night they saw varieties of aliens, pirates and goblins, as there buckets quickly started filling. The boys got candy corn, suckers, candy bars, and loads of other stuff, that would make any dentist grimace at the thought. As the boys were leaving a big corner house, they noticed a group of officers ordering everyone back to their houses. “ Trick or treats not over yet, is it Tommy?” Billy asked almost disappointed. " No I don't think so," Tommy replied. " But let’s not take any chances. "Come on, will go over to the next block," he added as the boys ran behind the house. But they quickly noticed that all the streets were slowly starting to thin out. “Wonder what’s going on?” Tommy asked, as he looked puzzled. " It must be ending early, I guess," Billy answered. " So you know what that means, right, " Billy continued with a smile. " We get to magically make this candy disappear. Come on Tommy, I know just the place," he finished as the boys ran down the street. They cut through yards and climbed fences as they continued to run. Billy finally stopped at the back door of the old house. "In here Tommy, no one will find us in here." he said to his friend. But Tommy was too petrified to enter. He remembered the stories he heard about the house being haunted, and slowly backed up. " Oh come on chicken," Billy teased his friend. “No way.” Tommy began. “Any house but that one.” “Let’s go to your house instead." Billy agreed with his friend and off they went. Part Five Back at Tommy's house, the two women were pacing back and forth. It had been about two hours since the guys left and darkness had already settled in. To block anyone’s view of the inside, they decided to close all the blinds but the front, in case the kids walked by. Closing the ones upstairs, Ann looked out into the street at an eerie quiet. Where her street was once full of happy trick or treating kids, it now stood deathly still. The hair stood up on her neck, as she thought of those poor kids that we're killed at the farmhouse. Finally after pulling the last blind, she made her way back down the mauve colored carpet on the stairs. Paula was just finishing up in the kitchen, as Ann arrived. “Of all nights for something like this to happen,” she said. "It's spooky enough on Halloween without some, some." She buried her hands in her face and began to cry, as Paula pulled down the kitchen blind. " Look, I'm sure everything will be o.k. I don't think the guys are going to let anything happen to those boys or us. Now c'mon, sit down and I'll make you a cup of hot coffee." she said in comfort. As she starts making the coffee, Rufus started to growl from the other room. The dog’s growl was soft, but determined as his ears stood straight up. He looked around the room, as if something had spooked him. Just as the women joined the dog in the living room, a huge shadow passed by the kitchen window. The dog welcomed the sight of the two women, and started wagging his tail at the sight of them. Not hearing the growls of the dog inside, the beasts disappeared into the night.
Copyright © 2003 Robert E Tadlock |