The Darkness 4: Bladenboro Beast

It had been a week since me and Cee and I had our encounter with Big Foot. And since then Cee had quickly fallen ill like the rest of our group. They recently had taken a turn for the worst and their symptoms now included coughing up blood and violent convulsions. The symptoms had become so severe that they had seemingly permanently changed into wolves. Because of that me and C.D. had to chain them up in a underground bunker in the woods to protect our existence. I later found out that Samuel the vampire had wiped Big Foot's memory clear of the altercation between us in for the same reason. Big Foot was watched and had exhibited same symptoms as my group. When I heard that I remembered seeing dried blood around his nose and under his neck during the fight. It was all nerve wrecking. The sickness, whatever it was, was hitting hard. Not being able to use my power to the fullest was a risk factor that I had to take full notice to. My only fear was if the sickness was going to reach C.D., who had strangely not been affected at all, and how I should take action. I had to do something soon because the lives of my friends were at stake.

With our neighborhood so close to the woods I decided that me and C.D. should stay at our grandma's farm on the opposite end of town. It would've worked better for us until I could figure out a way to cure the sickness or at least what it was. The farm was big on a hill overlooking the huge duck pond that was a town landmark. It was surrounded by tall dense cypress trees on the sides, behind it was miles of hay fields, and the pond in front. Me and C.D. spent a few days helping our grandma tend to the animals and take care of chores around the farm then when night came I would leave to handle business. For the time we were there nothing happened. We allowed the freedom we needed without any distractions or detours. But that only lasted so long. One night, me and C.D. could sense the animals on the farm were becoming restless and uneasy. There was something disturbing them. We left the house to investigate what was upsetting the animals. Immediately when we got out into the cold night we could feel the sense the fear of the animals on the farm. Almost like the fear of prey when the predator was around and it wasn't because of us. The animals had never been scared of of us. Everything out was cold and dull, it almost seemed to be eerie grey, black, and white from the frost in the winter air. Like an episode of the twilight zone, ever thing seemed cold and surreal. As we walked toward the horse stables, I noticed the chickens hid in the far end of their pens, away from the door. There was feathers everywhere and the wire to their pens were bent inward like something was trying to get in. "Stay behind me. And keep an eye out behind us." I told C.D. We became aggravated that something was one our grandma's farm and endangering it's animals. We got into the barn with the horse stables. The large animals were whining and whimpering; they were more spooked than the chickens. The tension with the animals was intense. There was no sign of anything being there but me and C.D. looked around anyways. As we searched the barn, the horses on the left side of the barn stayed toward the right said of their stable. They kept nudging and headbutting the door as if they wanted to be free. With nothing in the barn we left to check on the cow. As I stepped out of the barn I seen tracks in the hay, leading around the side. It made sense. "It’s on the other side of the right side of the barn." I told C.D. "How do you know?" He asked. "The horses were moving away from that side. That means it is on the other side of the wall." I said as I pointed out the tracks. He looked at me and readied himself. Together, we walked around the side of the barn. We crept through the cypress trees silently. Soon enough I could hear low growling and smell the scent of raw flesh over the smell of the cypress. It was just on the other side of the tree in front of us. Instead of nervousness I was overcome by anger; whatever was here shouldn't have been. Not on my grandma's farm. Before, made any moves I turned and looked at my nephew who stayed closer. He nodded at me and I nodded back; we were both ready. Instantly we turned the corner and faced the intruder.

February 20th 11:30PM; 7 days before the Full Moon

Standing over a decapitated goat was the Bladenboro Beast. The beast was 5 feet long, thin black brown fur, and bright green eyes. It had the body of a muscular bulldog but was three times the size, ears like a bobcat, and all of its teeth were as sharp as canines. A strange mix of what seemed to be a bear, bulldog and bobcat. The savage beast had killed my grandma's goat violently. There was blood stains everywhere and the body and head were drained. The Beast was feasting on the blood and we interrupted it's meal. It's wild eyes met ours as it licked the blood from it's chops. I morphed into my wolf form. Feral power overcame me as my claws, fangs, muzzle, and tail grew. My fur sprouted, knees reversed directions, bones shifted inside my body, and I fell forward onto my paws. Behind me my nephew did the same. He was a small black wolf with long fur. We both growled. The beast let out a bizarre hissing growl and its fur stood on end as it had to face us.

The Bladenboro Beast. A creature responsible for a string of deaths of farm animals in Bladenboro North Carolina in the winters of 1953 and 1954. The animals were mangled, decapitated, and their blood sucked dry. The vampiric way and amount of killings immediately caught attention of the towns people. There was a huge hunt for beast that ended up in the pointless killing of dozens of innocent bob cats, leopards, and mountain lions; none were the beast. What the people of Bladenboro didn't realize was that it wasn't just one of the beast but many.

I lunged out and at the beast. It hopped back and swiped at me. The freezing cold air, the smell of raw flesh, the sound of the animals becoming increasingly distressed; none of this matter, none of it distracted me. My only objective was the Beast. I pounced and we began, wrestling, biting and clawing at each other. All that went through my head was that the Beast had intruded on my grandmother's farm. I was fueled by the feral anger within. The rage of an animal to have it's territory invaded. The Beast was stronger than me and managed to gained the upper handed and kicked me away. C.D. jumped and bit onto the back of it's neck. The small wolf hung on without fail as The Beast began bucking and rolling around trying to free himself. C.D. jumped off just I returned to the fray by rushing in, grabbing the Beast by the tail and slamming him into a tree. When I released it, it doubled over and clawed my face. I moved back, making space between us. It began licked my blood from it's claws. C.D. met at my side, fangs showing and snarling; our eyes never left The Beast. It licked the blood like a cat grooming itself; it seemed to enjoy the taste of my blood. For the short time it took it to finish grooming itself, I slowly crept within a few feet of it. C.D. snarled, The Beast's eyes shifted up, met with mine and I attacked. My fangs sank into it's shoulder and we went tumbling down the hill. Faster and faster we rolled, we continued fighting like the savage animals we were, leaving a trail of blood and fur down the hill. Every attack I made on him was a attempt for its life. We hit the bottom of the hill and impact separated us. I rolled over and my scrambled to my feet. The Beast was already steady before me and began a slashing fury just as I got up. Narrowly dodging each attack, I was being pushed further and further back. C.D. slowly crept up behind the Beast while he was trying to attack me. Finally, I stopped, snapped back, and let out a enraged roar. C.D. took advantage of the noise, closed the distance, and savagely ripped off the Beast's tail. It let out a horrendous pain filled howl. It turned back and lashed out but C.D. was gone. It panicked and trailed in circles in confusion. It's blood squirted everywhere as it continued its panicked frenzy. I took my chance, grabbed The Beast by its back leg and tossed it into the pond. Somewhere in the distance ducks were awoken from their slumber by the ruckus. The Beast had disappeared under the water and everything went silence. I walked over to edge of the water and surveyed the area. That couldn't have been it. I barked at C.D. and he changed into his werewolf form as I paced along the sticky mud bank watching the surface of the water. Everything in the cold night seems to go back to being serene and silent. The ducks had calmed down and now the only movement was the pond grass from the wind and us. There was a splash in the bushes a few feet away from me. My head snapped over to the bushes. With me distracted the Beast reemerged. It erupted from the water in front of me and lunged out at me. C.D. intercepted it in midair and knocked The Beast from it's path. I ran in and met it as it hit the mud. I pinned it down and ripped away at its throat. The taste of it's blood enraged me; I began biting and ripping deeper and deeper. Blood and flesh was flung everywhere. I didn't stop until I had completely beheaded the Beast. I let out a howl as C.D. joined my side. We rejoiced in our victory