The Chronicles of Beast and Man

THE CHRONICLES

OF BEAST AND MAN

By

J. Charles Ralston

Copyrigh
t
©
2016 by J. Charles Ralston

All Rights Reserved.

(
previously published as The Beast)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My thanks to these fine individuals who without, these stories might have never been completely finished.

Josie Huggins

Warren J. Miller

Lyrics from The Beast in Me by Nick Lowe copyright 1994 UpStart Records

H.P. Lovecraft quote from Supernatural Horror in Literature copyright 1935

Edgar Allan Poe quote from The Raven 1845

Also available By J. Charles Ralston (on Kindle)

Hextilda’s Rage

Maidens of Doom (novella)

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to a person (living or dead), place, or incident is entirely coincidental.

              This book is recommended for mature readers. In contains sexual situations, language and violence.

In memory of my Father…
 

THE CHRONICLES OF BEAST AND MAN

“The beast in me

Is caged by frail and fragile bars

Restless by day

And by night rants and rages at the stars.”

-
        
Johnny Cash

Hancock County Journal, Tuesday, July 18
th
2000

Body of unknown man found

The Hancock County police are asking anyone with information about a mysterious murder to reach them. The victim found on the morning of July 17
th
. Sheriff Bay only stated that the individual was dressed in jeans and an over coat (dark blue). If you have any information which might be helpful to solving this unsolved crime please contact the La Harpe police department or the Hancock County police department as soon as possible.

PART ONE

August 20
th
2005

Z
ero awoke to see that the sun had long since gone down. A cool summer breeze had now made its way across the open farmyard he called home. He got up from his spot, arched his back, and moved his front paws a little. This was his usual routine; once he was back up he would get his tail moving again. Zero started to move toward his nice, tall bowl of kibble; it was then that he heard the sound of his chain hit the ground. Zero lived his life in the wide open country, and could never understand why his owners felt the need to put a chain on him at night. He, of course, never complained about their decision to do so. Other than the chain, Zero had nothing to complain about. His owners provided him with plenty of food, water, and wide open spaces for him to run.

Zero began chomping away at his food, enjoying each savory morsel that crunched under his strong jaws. A strange sense took his attention away from his food bowl as he studied everything around him. Beside him was the same oak tree that was always there. Behind him was the big red barn. There used to be two horses that called it home, but that was several years ago. Zero brought his eyes forward to see the farm house and the one light pole beside it. Not a single light in the house was on; his owners must be fast asleep. He knew that the sooner his owner’s turned the lights in the house off, the sooner he would be let off the chain in the morning.

With that thought in his mind, Zero returned to eating his kibble. That was until he heard something; the sound of something moving in the distance.

Could it be his owner?

Why would his owner be out in the dark?

Zero lowered his tail and brought his head forward. He began to sniff the air for his owner’s scent, or the scent of an intruder.

He could smell nothing.

Just as Zero was about to return to his meal he heard several twigs snapping. Then followed a vile smell, the smell of...an enemy.

There was definitely something out in the darkness that should not be.

It was near and moving in closer; he could sense its presence.

He pressed his teeth together hard and began to growl.

There was no growl in return, in fact there was nothing at all.

He growled louder this time, but there was still no reply.

Perhaps, Zero was simply being foolish and there had been nothing out there at all.

              Out of the darkness a wicked and savage beast charged toward him. Zero had no time to react; the beast was far too fast.

Its jaws opened wide, revealing its sharp teeth.

The beast’s huge arms wrapped around Zero’s plump body. A terrible pain surged out from the side of his neck when the creature bit down hard. Its teeth pushed deep down into his flesh, drawing blood in an instant. The beast was so much bigger than Zero, he was utterly helpless. The last thing Zero heard was the sound of his flesh being torn from his body. The hopeless dog’s body dropped down and landed hard in a thick puddle of blood and dirt.

Pleased with the easiness in killing his prey, the creature continued to feast.

It ripped its huge claws through the flesh with the greatest of ease. Blood flew about and splattered all over the face of the hungry beast.

It gazed upward and let out a primitive howl that could be heard a mile away.

The beast then shoved its snout into the belly of the canine and began to feast once again.

It took a great deal of time, but once it was satisfied, it stepped away from the body of its prey and sprinted away into the darkness. Another full moon had come, and now that creature had fed, it could go back home to hide. That is, until the next full moon.

.

.

F
ive minutes after six?

“Why in the world am I awake at five minutes after six?” Rod Truex asked himself as he studied his alarm clock, which wouldn't be going off until six thirty.

Then he heard the awful loud banging on his front door.

Oh God, who the hell is that?
Rod asked himself as he got up from his bed and put a t-shirt and jeans on.

The mystery guest began knocking again before Rod could even get out of the bedroom.

“I’m coming, I am coming!” Rod insisted.

What in the hell could be so damn important that they would want to wake me up this damn early?

As Rod walked toward the front door he glanced over at his pistol still resting in his holster from the day before. As the Sheriff in Medusa, Rod had made a couple of enemies. Perhaps this was one of those little enemies making an early morning revenge house call. Rod almost laughed out loud at that thought. Medusa was a small town with small town crimes. Nothing that anyone would kill anyone over. Not usually, anyway.

Rod cracked the door open and peaked out.

Standing outside was his friend Dusty Welker, and the look on Dusty's face was unusual to say the least. It was a bitter and beat down look.

“What's going on Dusty?” Rod asked.

Dusty motioned to come in. Rod of course did not refuse his longtime friend's request.

All the anger that Rod had just felt, caused by someone waking him up a little early was instantly gone. He was now only curious to know what had happened to his friend, and how he could help fix the problem.

During the night Rod hadn't received any phone calls and never heard his pager go off. One of those two things would have happened had there been a serious emergency. This was especially true if anyone close to Dusty had been involved. Someone would have contacted him.

Dusty walked into the house and headed straight for the kitchen and dropped down in a chair.

“I'm not going to beat around the bush. I'm just going to come right out and say it. Something killed Zero.” Dusty spoke with an expression of sadness, fear, and anger all at once.

Zero was the Welker family's yellow lab. Rod could remember when they got the dog. It couldn’t have been more than five years ago. Rod remembered that Dusty's daughters loved the dog a great deal.

“It's awful Rod, just awful.” Dusty continued.

“Coyotes?” Rod asked.

“No boss, I don't think so.” Dusty called Rod boss, not only because he was the Sheriff, but because he had called him boss since they were in high school. Everyone always kind of looked to Rod as if he were the boss. He somehow always had control over the situation, no matter what. Everyone knew it, and everyone for the most part was fine with that.

“If it wasn't coyotes, what do you think it was; bob cats?”

There were reported bob cat sightings in the area, but one hadn’t been reported in years. Rod himself had never seen one, but was willing to consider the idea.

“I really don't know; he was ripped apart Rod.” Dusty said, while caressing his forehead with his fingertips.

All of a sudden Rod's alarm clock back in the bedroom began going off. Rod had to excuse himself long enough to go back and turn it off. Once the minor distraction was dealt with, Rod returned to the kitchen, and continued his conversation with his friend.

“What do you mean ripped apart?”

“I mean just that. He had been ripped apart, there was blood everywhere. I had to use the hose to clean it up so my daughters wouldn’t see anything later.” Dusty said, as he began to sob.

They had been friends since grade school; Rod had been through a lot with Dusty.
He was Dusty’s best man when he married his wife, Edith. He was there when both of Dusty’s daughters were born. Never once had Rod seen Dusty cry. Not once. Needless to say, this was out of the ordinary.

“Did you bury him yet?” Rod asked in a soft voice, trying to be sensitive to the situation.

“No, but I thought I’d take care of it on my lunch break.” Dusty answered.

Besides owning a family farm, Dusty also worked part-time at a farm supply store.

“I’ll tell you what. I’ll be at your house a little before noon. I’ll bring a shovel, help you dig a hole up, and then I’ll take a look at him.” Rod told Dusty, hoping that it might comfort his friend.

-

After Dusty left, Rod went on about his day as usual. He had his regular breakfast of eggs (over easy), bacon, and sausage served up between two slices of whole wheat bread. Once he was done eating, he began cleaning off his plate and frying pan. Doing mindless tasks like this made him wonder if he was destined to live his life alone. He didn't feel incapable of having a relationship; he had had several in the past
.
But it always seemed like he let the right woman slip through his fingers. The phrase 'You don't know a good thing until it's gone', definitely made a lot of sense to Rod Truex. He had been in good relationships that lasted a fair amount of time; that is until Rod did what he always does. He would find some way to sabotage the relationship, or flat out end it.

The reasons that he had to end relationships always made sense at the time, but always came back to give him this
vast
empty feeling. Rod had very few regrets in his life, but the fact that he could not find companionship bothered him a great deal.

Rod then moved from the kitchen and went back to the bedroom. He put on his uniform and headed out the door.

The sun was shining especially strong that morning and created a glare that forced Rod to wear his sunglasses to shield his eyes. He slid into his Ford F-150 patrol vehicle as fast as he could
.
Several people in Medusa had made remarks about his “fancy” police truck behind his back. The other two police vehicles used by the Medusa police department were Ford Crown Victorians. One was used primarily by Deputy Thomas Dolgen, and the other was shared between the night shift and Deputy Chester Knox. Both of the vehicles were nice, but neither one was as nice as Rod's F-150.