Page 35 of Tenebrous

“How many innocent people have you put down there to protect this thing?”

There have to be hundreds of bodies here. Victims spanning back decades. Was this everyone Earl and his predecessors killed? Miners that drowned in the flood from the 1800s?

How long has this creature been alive?

My gaze drifts across the chamber once more, taking in the sheer scale of it. The bones closest to me are little more than dust picked clean by time. Others still wear scraps of clothing. Some are so old they've become part of the cave itself, fused to the stone with those same glowing mineral deposits.

Slowly, I drag myself closer to inspect a skeleton when something about it catches my eye. The movement sends fiery pain shooting through my leg, but I barely notice, all of my attention focused on the heavy coat still clinging to the gooey corpse… and the words SECURITY: DENNIS emblazoned on the front pocket.

A chill shoots up my spine.

Could this… Could it really be Dennis? The Dennis, who went missing two months ago?

There's really no way to tell, not with all the oozing flesh and a bullet hole in the side of its skull. Baggy denim hangs off the legs in tatters and for half a second, I consider searching them for a wallet, but the pile of bones beside it stops me short. A cold feeling settles into my stomach as I begin to look around, studying each one.

Another skull has a crack in the side and rusted handcuffs hanging off its wrists. There are ankles tied with rope, necks that look snapped, some with too many bullet holes to count. Limbs broken in ways that seem fatal.

My pulse quickens. Not all of these people were eaten, from what I can tell. Some of them were straight up tortured or executed.

“One life every so often in exchange for keeping the many safe.” Earl had said. “That's the price we pay.”

A dull thump echoes off the sparkling walls, followed by stone scraping against stone. I jolt, heart lurching into my throat, and I scramble for a hiding spot.

Across the cavern, partially obstructed by a cluster of glowing rock formations, another tunnel opens into the pit. And standing inside it, is the monster.

Iridescent turquoise light catches on its dark, broad shoulders as it steps carefully into the chamber. For one brief, horrifying moment, I think it's carrying another body, but then recognition slams into me.

Gale. My uncle hangs limp in its grasp.

The creature crosses partway into the chamber before slowing down, and one massive hand supports Gale's shoulders while the other steadies his legs. To my complete and utter confusion, the thing lowers my uncle's body to the ground before gently leaning it against the wall.

Not thrown, or dropped. Placed. Neatly.

The distinction unsettles me more than it should.

Briefly, the monster remains there, crouched beside the corpse with its head bowed. A heavy sigh heaves its massive shoulders, and it almost sounds like it's… sad?

No.

I immediately reject that thought because monsters don't mourn. It wanted me to eat my fucking uncle, for Christ's sake. Judging from the teeth marks I see on some of these bones, I'm guessing Gale wasn't the first human whose flesh it's tasted.

But yet… it doesn't touch the body again.

Instead, the creature reaches down and removes the shovel still trapped beneath my uncle's arm before setting it beside him. Then it stretches to its full height, those large horns tilting sideways when it cocks its head.

I realize far too late that the thing is sniffing the air when it slowly turns its gaze toward me.

My blood turns to ice.

Golden, glowing eyes watch me closely, unnatural against the moss-glow. I suddenly become very aware of how exposed I am sitting among the bones, how small my body is compared to its hulking frame. Those fists alone could pummel me into dust.

But it doesn’t move. Instead, it just stares at me for a long moment, then drops its attention to the blood-soaked bandage on my thigh. A rumbling, almost irritated growl vibrates through the chamber when it spots the steep incline I just tumbled down, and even though part of my brain screams at me to run, there's another side that desperately wants to understand how the fuck I seem to understand what this creature's growls mean?

“What is this place?” I rasp, my weak voice easily lost amongst the cushioning moss.

Judging by the way it stills, though, it seems to have heard me fine. After several silent moments, the monster begins to cross through the bone pit, stepping carefully around the scattered remains. Not once does it crush a skull beneath its feet or kick aside a body. Every movement is strategic, as though it knows exactly where each skeleton rests.

I'm too mesmerized watching its big feet to notice the distance shrinking between us. The creature suddenly stops a mere few inches away, and when it crouches down to reach for me, I recoil on instinct. “Don't touch me!”