Roads To Hell: A Horror Anthology

Part 1 - Night Beast

(c) Sam Castle 2015

All rights reserved.

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Author's Note: Please note that I follow Australian editorial guidelines for spelling, grammar, punctuation and formatting.

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Alex did not let anything disturb his sleep. He had nurtured a strange ability to sleep through the loudest and most urgent sounds, from his alarm clock to his sisters obscenely loud dance-trance-rave music. He took pride in this great talent, often while he lay sprawled, dozing in his forever unmade bed at 2:30 in the afternoon.

So it was with sleepy confusion that Alex opened his eyes on the last night of his school holidays. His room was dark, filled with oddly shaped shadows and the sounds of his deep, deep breathing whistling through his parted lips. Before his eyelids succumbed to his exhaustion, the teenager noted blearily that it was barely four o'clock in the morning and he would not be awakened by his shrieking alarm (or shrieking mother) for another four hours.

A moment of blissful numbness and then the sweet coma of sleep was ripped away from him by a single sound - a deep, hollow bark - coming from somewhere inside the house.

"The fuck..." he mumbled, annoyed but mostly incoherent.

Again, the sound echoed up through the layers of wood and dust and carpeting, calling to him. The bark of a dog is not a greatly strange sound, except that there was no dog in Alex's household. They owned a cranky, aging cat, who lived in the garage directly beneath Alex's room.

What's down there? A stray dog? Just a stupid mutt, but the cat's no challenge for a mouse. And if it dies, Kate will cry and cry and cry, and I'll never hear the end of it. Fuck.

Expecting nothing other than a hungry, wild dog barking at the back door, Alex rolled out of bed and stumbled towards the stairs. With each unsteady step the floor groaned in protest and Alex would pause. With each hesitation, the dog barked, urging him forward.

As the teen edged slowly down the stairs, carefully feeling the edge of the step before moving forward, he strained his ears for the sound of the animal. The bark was muffled and distant. The cry of the stray had moved further away, into the garage. Alex felt cold, smooth tiles against his toes, he had reached the bottom floor and the garage door was just one step to his right. He blinked hard, trying to see through the darkness.

There was an odd silence.

After minutes of repetitive barking, the air was heavy with a pregnant pause, as if the house was drawing its breath in a deep gasp. He moved towards the garage, placed his ear on the door. Waited.

Even the senile, old cat had paused in its continuous caterwauling, which was a blessing since-

The dog barked.

Definitely from inside the garage this time. How the fuck did it get in there?

Alex wrapped a long-fingered hand tentatively around the handle and slowly, cautiously opened the door. The darkness seemed to make the room endless and empty, and Alex began to feel truly alone in his home, surrounded by the dark. Quickly, he shattered the nightmarish illusion by flicking the lights on. The bulbs flickered, and then steadied, illuminating a squalid mess of car parts, toys, cat food, skateboards and cat shit. But no dog.

He stepped into the room, quietly closing the door behind him - That mutt better not fucking run off! - and squinted into the searing light. Checked underneath the car and behind the foosball table for the annoying animal. No trace of it.

"Jack!" he cooed to his pet, "Come 'ere boy...Ja-ack..."

The cat was also missing, not found in any of his favourite places, including the litter box. Probably outside, waiting for moths to fly into his open, toothless mouth or near the air conditioner unit, which heated up if used for too long.

The dog barked again, more urgent this time.

The dog! Outside now? Fine, you motherfucker, I'll show you what happens to strays that wake me up in the middle of the night!

Alex skipped over his old skateboard, broken into pieces now, and various small, round presents that ol' Jack had left lying out the open. He opened the door at the far end of the garage. The oppressive cloak of night pressed upon him; the smell of cold night air, chilling winter breeze, coppery - What is-? Is that blood? - and the shaft of light bursting around his pallid, lanky form, illuminated a large hulking beast, an animal.

He drew in a breath so fast it caught in his throat. The beast-thing turned its heavy head and its jagged maw seemed to grin at him, seemed to laugh at him as he stood frozen in fear. Pale, dirty fur matted with blood and sprinkled with pre-dawn dew. Shaggy hair hung in clumps over yellow eyes. At its feet, Alex saw the ripped and dismembered body of his cat; a sob heaved in his chest and tears stung his eyes.

Poor guy...I'm sorry, I should've taken better care of you. I should've washed you when you couldn't do it yourself any longer and I should have, I should've - ah, you didn't deserve this, mate!

The monster rose on its hind legs, more human in the way they moved, and stalked towards the terrified boy. Alex stared at its eyes and it stared right back. Daring him to move. Daring him to make the meal just that little tastier - blood flavoured with adrenaline. Alex kept staring even as he felt the hot, white fog caused by its laboured breath fan onto his face. Then, with a sickening lurch of his heart, his mind broke and he sprang into action! Whirled, scrambled to get inside the garage - the safety and comfort of family territory!

The beast rushed and opened its jaws wide, roaring and panting. Teeth sunk into supple flesh. Alex's scream died and gurgled, blood rushing from his body into the waiting mouth of the Beast.

In the morning, Kate gulped the last of her breakfast, checked the time and grabbed her school bag in a single moment. Her mother kissed her on the cheek as she ran out the door in a race to beat her bus to the stop. Her brother was likely still abed, the lazy fuck.

She paused, "Did you hear something last night, Mum?"

"No, darling. Why?"

The girl shrugged, "Must have been just me. Thought I heard a dog barking."

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Please vote if you liked this chapter. Any feedback or constructive criticism is much appreciated! - Sam Castle

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental.