Book 1: The Siege of Fort Vagabond

Prologue Part 4: Escalation

With a swipe of his hand he slapped the panic button on his phone that sent an automated message and a GPS signal on his phone through the agreed emergency line to his father in town. They’d have to get creative while they waited for help.

The next thing Bohdan knew, two things happened at once. First he saw a flash of movement as the Bigfoot monster disappeared into a blur of red eyes and speed rushing towards them on all fours, and second later a blood curdling inhuman demon screech yelled at them in Apache from the basement of the Country Club. That native banshee whale was almost enough to panic the boys into running the other direction, or scattering in general. This time Charlie stepped up before Bohdan could.

“Run for the castle you idiots! Bernhard we’re holding that monkey whore back,” Charlie didn’t have to say Bohdan’s name. They both knew he was already drawing on the beast. Soon the sky lit up flashes and blasts as the .308, and two Glocks sent led toward the ape man acting out his best flash routine on them. 

The thing slowed, and zigzagged to avoid the shots. Bohdan caught himself having to lead the thing way farther than his instincts insisted to get shots on target. His nine mil only elicited yelps out of the beast, but they got full on human like hollers that shook their insides when Johan landed a .308 Winchester on the galloping hide.

The wildman didn’t stop coming though. The three boys backed up while still shooting though at a much faster pace than any drills they performed on the range, something that Bohdan knew he was going to remedy if he ever got out of this mess. At the last second, and right when they heard Goggles give out a cry of triumph as he finally got a side door open to the country club, disaster almost took them.

The bigfoot took an unexpected cut, and ran full out at the firing line. To make matters worse something threw rocks at them from the roof of the country club making Johan miss his shot. The Game Warden Captain’s son panicked while pulling the bolt action getting the lever caught. Both Glocks weren’t even tickling the thing now, but Bohdan wasn’t going to let the creature turn them into monkey food that easily.

With a snap he turned on the industrial laser he’d pulled with his sidearm. The green beam was powerful enough to light wood on fire and cut paper in an instant. He shined it right into that rat faced ingrate’s beating red demon eyes. The resulting bellow of pain must have rattled kidney stones loose in the old folks home three counties over, but one big red eye sizzled and the beast covered its face and veered off. Then something outrageous and even more unexpected happened.

As Bohdan watched the beast changed into a shadow from the waist down, and then into nothing but a one red eyed monkey man head screeching through the forest with a shadowy wake following it like smoke. Well, if he wasn’t convinced there was something even weirder about that Booger than a normal bigfoot Bohdan was now.

“Everyone get inside before it comes back for round two,” cried Charlie as he and Bohdan ushered the now dumbfounded boys into the haunted country club. Yeah, things were way crazier here than any of them had expected.

Gregory slammed the door behind them panting. The lights were still out, but they had been expecting a ghost hunt so they were all breaking out flashlights in a moment. Looking at each face Bohdan knew none of them knew how to handle what they’d just seen.

“So,” Hadrian asked in a joking manner,” Any of you read the book of Enoch?” 

“Not now Brainiac! No one wants to talk about theology right now,” growled a slightly hyperventilating Harald who was doubling over and sucking in breaths,” I’m never leaving the house without a shotgun again.”

“He’s trying to tell you all that the monkey man demon outside is connected to the poltergeist nonsense in here,” Bohdan said while exchanging his mag on his Glock. “Also, that thing swallowed four to five shots center mass from the .308. Shotty would’ve just made it mad till the thing was on top of you.”

“Yeah, but I’d feel better about it!” Shouted Harald back at Bohdan. That’s right. Dad had told him not to be too vocal about facts when people are dealing with stressful situations. Like having your world view shattered, or being chased through the night by a nephilim monster ghost demon with apache war drums beating in the distance. Time for a different tact.

“Harald, just get you one of these lasers Bohdan used instead. Don’t matter how big they are, their eyes are always vulnerable.” Charlie laughed while slapping Harald’s back. Bohdan cocked his head in surprise at the red headed football captain. He’d gone from zero to a hundred in a few moments.

“Greg, where were we supposed to set up our investigation? I don’t think any of us feel like making a break for the jeeps and dirtbikes,” Charlie asked even as an animalistic cry that was straight out of Jurassic Park echoed throughout the valley as dozens of pairs of red eyes popped up in the wood line all while the Apache drums droned on.

“This way, and if you call me Greg again I’ll feed you to the monkey ghost myself,” growled Goggles as he shoved past a bemused Charlie. Goggles seemed like a more annoying nickname to Bohdan, but survival and cleansing so they didn’t have to spend all night clustered in a circle with guns pointing out trumped any curiosity he had on the subject. His father would be gathering the militia and cussing up a storm right about now, but they’d take time to rally. Bohdan felt like being more proactive than just waiting to be saved.

After a few turns in the opulent nautical themed castle country club they soon came to a solid wood bar complete with fake portholes looking out to paintings of the Bahamas or swimsuit filled beaches. This went on into an steady pattern until they came to an area strewn about with rubble blocked off with caution tape. At the center of the carnage was a set of elevator doors covered in symbols.

“We uncovered this during some renovations. That’s when things got out of hand. Ghosts we’ve had for generations, but this is ridiculous. Magic elevators appearing in the wall? Ghost demon monsters in the woods? Apache ghost warriors screaming from the roof and basement? That was beyond the pale for all of us.” Goggles said while walking up to the device and slapping a button.

The doors grinded then whisked open making the entire crowd jump. Soon bricks and bottles were flying in the air all on their own, and the air was thick with the sense of evil and dread that it was all Bohdan could do to keep his head protected from the flying objects. The aurora seemed to drain your very will to live. Soon the pack of boys had been driven into the elevator where the doors shut ominously, and the resounding dings of the box descending into the depths of the Country Club’s secret basements was all they heard.

The Story Will Continue Every Saturday.

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