Of Men and Beasts

Part 1

It was long after dark when the widowed farmer Gustav Muller found himself roused from his sleep by the barking of his dogs outside. As he forced his weary bones from his bed, he hurriedly lit a candle and listened intently. He quickly recognized the distress in the dogs' howls and snarls and knew that this meant there was some kind of trouble; either a prowler or predator intruding on his property. Without a second thought, he quickly pulled on his clothes and retrieved his musket, which was never far from his side. After loading the weapon and lighting a lantern, he began to make his way towards the door of his small home, only to be stopped by a shadowy figure in the corridor.

"Papa?" his young daughter's soft voice called out in the darkness as she stood there in her nightgown, her wide eyes and bewildered expression illuminated by the small candle that she carried. "What is the matter, Papa? Where are you going?" 

"Go back to bed, Frieda my dearest," the farmer said as he gently reached out a rough hand to caress the girl's smooth pink cheek. "Keep the door locked. I will be back soon." Before she could ask another question, Gustav headed out into the darkness with his lantern in one hand and his musket tightly clutched in the other.

It didn't take long for the farmer's suspicions to be confirmed. His cattle and sheep were clearly extremely agitated, braying and stamping at the ground. But as concerning as this was, it wasn't nearly as disturbing as the sudden and clear change he heard in the sounds of his dogs. "Bruno?! Fritz?!" he called out to the hounds as he continued making his way around the dark farm. Normally, the dogs would come running to him upon hearing him call their names, but instead, all he heard was their distant whining and whimpering.

Following the sounds, Gustav soon came to the small shed out in one of the pastures. As he held up his lantern, he found the dogs crouched and hunkered down under it, eyes wide with terror and trembling violently as they continued to whimper. "What is it?! What is wrong with you?! Come here!" he demanded, but the dogs refused to budge. In all of the time he'd had the large dogs, he'd had plenty of wolves prowl their way onto his property, and even the occasional night traveler or two, but never had his faithful hounds ever behaved like this. He had specially trained them to fear neither man nor beast, yet now, they were utterly petrified. 

Before he had a chance to puzzle over the situation any further, however, a loud, bloodcurdling scream came erupting from the house. "Frieda!" the farmer cried out as he turned and quickly began running as fast as he could back to the house. He continued to call out his daughter's name over her ungodly shrieking as he ran, fumbling to cock his musket. At last, he stormed into the house, musket at the ready, but what he saw before him made his blood run cold and his heart stop in his chest.

On the floor lay Frieda, her white nightgown stained with crimson red as her limp body writhed and spasmed. A thick stream of blood was flowing from a gaping wound in her throat. But as horrifying as this sight was, it was nothing compared to what stood over the unfortunate girl. An enormous, hulking beast, easily as large as a horse, covered in thick, black fur which accentuated every heaving muscle in its body. Its enormous white fangs stood out against the darkness of its long snout, stained with red blood that dripped from its jaws. Its silver eyes were wide and wild and almost seemed to glisten like shining metal as they gazed back at the terrified and dazed farmer.   

When Gustav finally found the ability to move, he quickly aimed and pointed his musket at the animal's head with trembling hands, but the creature was quicker as it growled and raised a gigantic paw, knocking the musket to the ground and the farmer along with it just as the bullet fired into a nearby wall, grazing through one of the beast's large ears as it did. Now utterly defenseless, the farmer could do nothing but cry out in desperation and agony. "Help! Help! A beast of Hell has killed my daughter!" he bellowed. Soon enough, frantic voices from the nearby neighbors could be heard outside, rushing to the house in response to the commotion. The creature's eyes widened as the voices drew nearer. It then turned its gaze back down to Frieda, who was now laying utterly still. After staring at her for but a brief moment, it threw its head back and let out a long, forlorn howl that pierced the night air before running off out of the house and into the night.