In the 17th Chapter of St Luke it is written: "the Kingdom of God is within man" - not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people have the power! - Charlie Chaplin
Spring 1993
The worms were back, driven by the rain out of their homes beneath the earth to present themselves in front of Eli's face as he found himself lying on the ground once again. He watched as they wriggled and writhed through the grass, searching for a Noah's Ark to come save them he imagined, but God already had his two worms. He rolled onto his back and stared up at the storm clouds, an outline of a grinning raccoon just above him, staring down as he lay there.
"That was a hell of a fall you ok man?" Noah asked as he reached forward, helping Eli back up with a heave. His clothes and bike were drenched in mud and he removed his shirt and twisted it into the ditch near where he had wrecked, muddy water dripping down into the small stream. They had been biking back to Noah's house, taking a shortcut when the rain had unexpectedly started, quickly churning the dirt trail into mud. Of course they had tried riding along it anyway and Eli had been the first to fall, taking a turn just barely too fast.
"Yeah I'm good, let's get going before your mom gets pissed." He responded, and brushing himself off they both continued along the trail, more carefully than before. The Noah from two years ago was long gone. The Noah that rode ahead of him, hunched in against the pelting rain, he was someone new, kinder, a good-natured product of maturing with age. It just kind of happened one day, some time in the first few weeks of eighth grade, when Eli was lacking in friends and Noah had finally let go of that scumbag fox Josh and his abusive dad. They worked on a project in class here and there, began sitting at lunch, making jokes, and now here they were. Noah's company would always be far more enjoyable than staying at home with his dad anyways.
Stopping in front of his house, a single story suburban house that fit in with every other house on the block, they left the bikes on the cracked driveway before rushing inside.
"Hey! Take off your shoes, I just cleaned the floor!" Noah's mom yelled as they ran past her and into the living room, a pair of muddy footprints and water left in their wake. Sitting on the floor in front of the TV, Noah pulled something out of his bag.
"Check this out." Was all he said before he took the cartridge out of it's case and put it in the console. A moment later the title screen of the newest game flashed across the game.
"How'd you get this, it just came out?" He asked as Noah sat smugly in front of him.
"Turns out Dad's money from the divorce is good for something. Lets play." He said, and handing a controller to Eli they sat, hunched in front of the harsh light of the screen well into the dark. The room bathed in flashing light, their outlines the only visible feature as they focused intently on beating each other's scores. That was until Noah's mom came to tell them it was time to go to sleep, at which point Eli convinced her to let him sleep over. It was the best night Eli could remember having in a while. One of those timeless nights that lasts forever in memory, invoking a feeling of nostalgia for a life time every time it's recalled.
Unfortunately for Eli, this memory would be tainted by the police interview a month from that night, shifting uncomfortably in the plastic interrogation chair as he lied to them about the whereabouts of that racoon. The body would never be found. He was delicious.
Summer 1996
The basement air was heavy, laden with layers of odor and a dust which settled heavily into the trio's lungs, making him stifle a cough. Eli could hear it now, the pounding of all their hearts as their footsteps echoed off the cobweb covered concrete ceiling. It felt more like a tomb than a basement, right until the moment they reached the bottom, the corridor stretching into the infinite darkness ahead of them. Terrified, they pushed forward until reaching the first door on the right, a heavy steel door which Campbell strained against, the creak making them all hold their breath as Anthony hesitantly passed his flashlight over the contents of the room, ushering away the darkness.
YOU ARE READING
Here There Be Monsters (OLD VERSION)
Teen FictionTHIS IS AN OLD VERSION OF THE STORY, PLEASE GO READ THE REWRITE After a devastating attack from his own father leaves 16-year-old wolf Eli physically and mentally broken, he's left to live with his only remaining living relative, his uncle, in the f...
