Hellhound

Part One

Dean didn’t normally come into town and hang around the smokey bars and dark pubs with his mates. But tonight he had decided to make an exception. One of his best mates was apparently doing it pretty tough after breaking up with his on again, off again girlfriend, and wanted to drown his sorrows with alcohol, cigarettes and loud music. Personally, Dean hated this kind of atmosphere, and avoided it whenever he could. But he would rather avoid all the phone calls and text messages he would receive if he didn’t show up. They were all sitting in the corner of a small, crowded bar named Launch. The air surrounding them was thick with smoke and lasers, and the music was loud and so full of bass he could feel it pulsating through his entire body. He could just hear his mate’s voices over the music and they all seemed to be having a good time. He would much prefer being back up the Mountain at home, working in his Dads old shed or maybe on the old car he was refurbishing. He nearly had all the parts and all that was on his mind lately was getting it finished and on the road. He was getting tired of riding his motorbike all the time, especially when it rained. It stormed a lot in the Mountains due to being higher up in the cloud cover.

Dean had inherited his house from his parents and his only sister after all three of them were killed twelve years ago in a car accident. He was only sixteen when it happened, his sister had been eighteen, and he had lived on his own ever since. His parents had always travelled a lot, and loved sports; including a lot of adrenaline fuelled activities such as bungee jumping, paragliding and hunting. His father had always been a kind and caring person, who could always tell when something was bothering Dean, and would always have the best advice. And a few good Dad jokes too. His mother on the other hand, had been more of a tough love kind of person, but she had a warm heart and had always given the best hugs. She had raised Dean the way she had been raised, but she had done so with a little more tenderness than her parents had with her. His sister, Lana, had been a bit of a trouble maker throughout her teenager years. She hated school and always skipped classes and hung out with the wrong crowd. Lana and Dean had been close, but he was always telling her that she needed to treat their parents with more respect. She was tall and lean and was always working out, and she had the most brilliant green eyes. Dean always joked that they helped her see better in the dark. They had all decided to go away on a hunting trip, but Dean was made to stay behind and watch the house – “Good practice for when you move out” his Dad had joked before they had left. They were making their way home after 3 days when a huge storm hit and their car skidded out on some black ice. The car had wrapped itself around a tree and they were all pronounced dead.

Dean would never forget the visit he got from the police that morning. It gave him chills just thinking about it. But his parents had left him the family home, and it was located in a small town out in the bush named Spring Oak. It was about ten kilometres away from the next town of Red Bank, and about seventy kilometres away from the main town of Woodlock, which was where he was now. It wasn’t the prettiest looking town, but it was the biggest and closest to all the other towns around the mountains, so it was the main watering hole for everyone between the ages of eighteen and thirty five.

He was still daydreaming about the car in his shed when someone punched him in the arm. He turned around and saw Matt looking at him. Matt was the same age as Dean and one of his closest friends. He was much shorter than Dean. He had short brown hair and a slightly turned up nose. He’d been the class clown at school, and always gotten into trouble. But he was a good and loyal friend. And Dean couldn’t help but love him. After all, they were like brothers. Matt had spent a lot of time at his place after his parents had died. But right now he was gawking at Dean with a stupid grin on his face.

“What is it?” Dean yelled over the music.

“Group of pretty ladies just walked in! I think it’s about time you grabbed us all a new drink!” Matt yelled back, nodding towards the bar, very obviously hinting that he wanted Dean to swoop in and lure all the girls over to them. Dean looked towards the bar and he could make out the group of girls Matt was referring too. They were all hovering around the bar, talking and laughing while they waited to get drinks. Dean thought about his love life – or lack thereof. He had never had a girlfriend before, but he had had his share of one night stands when he was eighteen and stupid. Matt and the others were all staring at the girls, in their colourful dresses and skyscraper heels, but one in particular caught Dean’s eye, and he couldn’t help but stare at her. She was quite tall, maybe around five foot eight compared to his six foot five. She had brown, reddish hair that sat just on top of her shoulders, cut so jagged that no two hairs were the same length. His eyes drifted down to what she was wearing, and was surprised that she wasn’t in a dress and heels like all her friends. Instead, she was wearing a long sleeved white collared shirt in a flowing kind of material, which was tucked into her skin tight jeans which showed off her curves and long legs. She was also wearing cowboy boots with a slight heel. His eyes travelled back up to her face. She had big, blue eyes and a slender nose, full pink lips and incredible cheekbones. He had never seen anyone like her before. He wanted to go and talk to her, but he hadn’t spoken to a girl in almost eight years. Well, not including his closest neighbour Mary who was old enough to be his Grandmother. He decided there was only one way to talk to her. He tried to think of what to say without seeming like a complete lunatic. He picked up his drink, downed it in one gulp, and made his way over to the bar.