Monsters Beyond the Gate

Chapter One: The awakening

"An old Cherokee told his grandson, "My son, there is a battle between two wolves inside us all.

One is anger, jealousy, greed resentment, inferiority, lies, and ego. The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy and truth."

The boy thought about it and asked, "Grandfather, which wolf wins?"

The old man quietly replied, "The one you feed."

-unknown author

Each night I dreamt of yellow eyes. They appeared everywhere: beneath my quaint, twin bed, peering at me from my dark closet, glowing from deep within the woods outside of my bedroom window. This was always followed by a flash of black fur, or the sound of a growl that sent a pain, similar to a thousand stabbing needles, through my stomach.

And each morning I'd awaken to a peircing silence and the sensation of the yellow eyes still watching me. I could imagine the dark pupils dilating with my every breath. Waiting patiently for something to happen that I didn't quite understand.

My palms would ache. By the pale, dawn light I could see the tiny, half-moon looking gouges imprinted on the tender flesh. I'd forgotten, again, to trim my nails so it wouldn't happen.
It was an excusable thing to forget though since there were far more important matters to worry about. Important matters like the Monsters outside the gate...

I shuttered when I thought about the terrifying beasts that roamed the forests and hills on the other side. The thought made me feel like a small, helpless child, much like my four year old half brother, Fisher.

I pictured Fisher, sound asleep under a mountain of blankets, in the bedroom that sat right beside mine. I closed my eyes and pretended that I could hear his gentle breathing. There was probably a trail of drool at the corner of his mouth, accompanied by the little smile he often wore even while in his deep comatose state.

I wondered what world he was seeing behind the closed lids that shielded his piercing, gray eyes. Was it bright and filled with magic that dazzled and made him giggle? Or was he on one of our many adventures, scouring the forest beside our house and playing in the creek that boarded our land? Either way, I hoped it was a happy dream.

"Wake up, Adeline," My stepmother's harsh voice snapped from the other side of my bedroom door, "it's time for your chores."

I groaned, inwardly.

It was time to go to the gate.