Monsters Beyond the Gate

Chapter Three: Don't look away

I was shaken from the sudden vision of my childhood, a thing that I did my best to avoid thinking about. Of course there was the good memories with my Mom, listening to her sing in the kitchen while she baked my favorite cookies; peanut butter with a hint of cinnamon, or the warm, sunny days we spent exploring in the woods near our home. I could remember her laugh...a sound I thought back then could cure any illness. Lips that could kiss away pain from a bruised elbow, or scraped knee.

Tears filled my eyes as I took Fisher's tiny hand in my own and continued to trudge towards the gate. I readjusted the basket tucked under my other arm that was full of dinner for the gaurds.
As daughter to the mayor, stepmother saw it only fit that I bring our brave gaurds one full meal each day.
"It's good for moral," I could hear her say in the back of my head.
My feet ached from the long miles of walking. I spent most of my day doing this and it would probably be almost dark by the time I reached the gate.

The smell of hot roast beef sandwiches wafted up from within the basket and my stomach grumbled angrily at me.

"Why should you eat before our hard working gaurds?" Stepmother had sneered, "You can eat once you get back. Now hurry, and don't forget your brother's coat!"

Stepmother insisted that I bring Fisher with me even though she knew he'd slow me down. I couldn't understand it. Why did she act so irritated with him when he was her own flesh and blood?

"That woman is not cut out to be a mother," Liyra had said to me one afternoon when I'd stopped at her small cottage for some tea.

Liyra was an old woman who lived a mile or so from the gate. She was a kind woman who seemed to enjoy my company as much as I did hers.

Most of the townspeople feared her. They thought it was rather strange that she chose to live so close to the gate and so far from any other people.

She'd only shrugged when I mentioned it to her. "I don't like the riff raff or petty drama. The townsfolk are always whispering about someone or cowering in fear of what lies beyond that gate," Liyra would say. Her eyes would twinkle; one an unnerving blue and the other completely white, clouded with a cataract.

She was a hard woman not to be fascinated by.

Fisher liked her too, and would often ask to stop and visit. Liyra would hold him in her lap and rock him to sleep while we sipped our tea.

I smiled at the happy memories and wiped away some stray tears.

We walked and walked until the sun started to dip into the earth. I cursed myself for getting such a late start that morning.

"Are we almost there?" Fisher groaned.

"Almost, Fish. I can see Liyra's cottage from here," I said softly.

Fisher's eyes lit up. "Can we stop?"

I gnawed my lower lip. "No, not today, Fish."

Fisher pouted, but didn't say anything. He was an incredibly well behaved child for only being four.

"Is Daddy gonna be home when we get there?" He asked after a bout of silence.

I frowned at my feet. Our Dad had been staying later and later at the town hall, working tirelessly over stacks of papers and complaints. Some nights he didn't even come home. I didn't exactly blame him...when he came home it was only to hear stepmother's rampant complaining.

I missed him though. Or more precisely, I missed the man he was before Mom disappeared and our world went to hell.

"I see it! I see the gate!" Fisher squealed excitedly, as he did every time he saw it after a long day of walking.

I thought of the gaurds at the gate, waiting for us with hungry bellies. There would be four of them at this section of the gate, which was the opening.

The gate itself was built of reinforced steel and stood about twenty feet high. There were ladders on this side that led up to the very top where the gaurds stood, looking over into the vast, dark forest. They held sniper rifles and had the sharpest eyes to detect any movement within, whether it be a giant wolf, or a rogue group of humans.

Their motto: shoot first, ask questions later.

Tom, Carter, Zacheous, and Kirk were the gaurds who always manned the very front gate. They were our best gaurds. For the most part they were good guys, but Tom's roaming eyes and Zacheous' handsy tendencies made me dread the daily visits.

"Oh, you can't blame them, Adeline. You're the only girl they see for weeks on end, aside from that old bat, Liyra," Stepmother had said when I complained to her.

It was true, apart from Liyra who visited them with baked goods every so often, I was the only female they'd come into contact with for weeks. The four of them practically lived at the gate, day and night. There were two little houses built for them. Right near the gate, equipped with kitchens, bathrooms and other necessities to hold them over.

Every so often they were allowed to come back to town and have a substitute gaurd take their place for a few days, but I think the men rather liked it out there.

We'd finally reached Liyra's cottage, and I half expected her to be out in her front garden, tending her beloved flowers. She liked to wait until this time a day to go out since the sun was low and it wasn't too hot out. I craned my neck, ready to wave, but to my surprise there was no sight of her.

I slowed my pace, wondering if I should stop in to check on her, but then I thought better of it. The gaurds would already be aggravated enough by the fact I was running late today. It wouldn't be wise to make them wait any longer. I decided I could see her after I delivered the food.

Fisher and I reached the gate much sooner than I'd hoped, probably due to my speed walking. I don't know why I felt so worried about Liyra, but I was getting anxious that something was terribly wrong.

I peered up at the top of the gate.

"Hey up there! I have your dinner!" I called hoarsly, throat dry from the long walk.

I was greeted with silence.

"Hello?"

More silence.

My very first thought was that they were playing some sort of joke on me. They'd done it before. Pretended not to answer and then jumped out to scare me sensless.

Anger burned deep inside of my chest.

"Fish, you stay down here. I'm going to climb uptop."

I handed him the basket of food. He settled down in the grass and started picking at a patch of dandelions.

I grabbed the cold metal bars of the ladder and began climbing my way up to the gaurd tower at the top.

"Guys, this isn't funny," I grumbled, pulling myself onto the platform.

I felt my heart squeez when my eyes were greeted by a whole lot of empty space and a splash of red blood leading over the edge of the guard tower towards the forest.

"Um, Carter? Tom?" My voice cracked with fear.
My knees began to tremble as I approached the edge. I held my breath, afraid of what I might see.

Pure horror ran through every inch of my body. Below was a gruesome sight of bloody limbs and intestines scattered near the opening of the forest. An even thicker trail of blood led inside.

I wanted to scream, but I couldn't make a sound.

"Adeline! ADELINE!" I heard my name being screamed from below.
I ran back to the ladder, recognizing the voice as Liyra's.

I saw her moving as fast as her withered body would carry her towards me. She was waving her arms frantically and pointed towards a spot at the bottom of the gate.

An empty spot where only a basket was left sitting.