The Trap Beast Horror

The sky is pitch black with stars shining through the darkness of night. A car is speeding down a country road with two armed men with nervous looks on their faces. The passenger was a man barely in his thirties, wearing a brown jacket, dark brown hair, and athletic build. He was clutching his scoped hunting rifle trembling, while the driver had sweat appearing on his brow doing his best to keep calm on the surface though his fears were running rampant internally. The driver was in his mid to late forties, wearing glasses and black jacket, scruffy facial hair, with brownish blonde hair and slender build. The passenger looked over to the driver opening his mouth struggling at first, but managed to get the words out. 

“Do you think we will make it in time? I mean Stanley is there”, he asked, unable to hide the shakiness in his voice.

“No, we won’t. Stanley is just a Detector. Just keep that rifle steady the best you can when we get there, in case anyone is still alive. Despite your mind rushing a million miles a second, think first before you act, because if you don’t someone else could get killed. You understand me Mason”, said the driver, speaking in a cool calm tone masking his fear.

“Understood Harlow”, said Mason, resting his head against the barrel of his rifle, closing his eyes as though praying.

“If praying makes you feel better, do it. Just remember you were trained for this. So, do your job, take a deep breath, and aim straight. Do that and you’ll make it to my age”, Harlow said, trying to ease the stressful tensions in the car.

Harlow took a turn on the road, which brought them on a dirt grassy trail leading them to a farmhouse on a hill. The two men noticed the farmhouse lights were on as they got closer to the property. They pulled up a few feet from the property when suddenly, a person was thrown out of the second story bedroom windows landing to the ground a few feet from the two men’s vehicle. They quickly got out with Mason taking aim at the farmhouse, while Harlow rushed to the back seat opening the passenger door.

“Mason! Check on the injured I’ll be right behind you”, Harlow yelled, as he quickly reached in and pulled out a scoped Winchester rifle.

Mason ran over to check on the man laying on the ground. When he reached the person the man’s face was horribly disfigured from swelling and bruising noticing two puncture marks on his neck. He quickly noticed the man wasn’t breathing as blood dripped from the man’s neck drenching his collar and shirt in blood.

“Harlow! It’s Stanley! He’s dead, it got him in the neck”, yelled Mason, while Harlow ran over to see for himself as he recognized the dead man.

“Shit!”, said Harlow, as he had to take a second to get his mind back on track. “Alright, focus on the task at hand. Let’s get in there and save who we can, while also neutralizing the anomaly”, Harlow continued.

Harlow and Mason started making their way towards the front door of the house as they both heard screams coming from within. The front door was unlocked and Harlow went inside first, keeping his weapon steady when he noticed a teenage girl and young boy hiding underneath the table of the dining room in a state of terror with tears streaming down their faces.

“Mason! Get these kids out of here”, Harlow said, in a commanding tone.

“Roger that”, said Mason, as he made his way over to the dining room. “Hey, I know you’re both scared, but we’re here to help. We’ll take you somewhere safe I promise. You just have to come with me okay”, said Mason, reaching his hand underneath the table to the kids.

The teenager reached out and grabbed Mason’s hand as he held her hand gently. Mason was able to escort both the girl and the boy back to the car to get away from the situation. Harlow continued making his way throughout the first floor of the house checking for anyone that might be hiding when he heard loud bangs and screams coming from the second floor.

Harlow ran over to the staircase looking up at an image that made his blood run cold. There was a man that appeared to be hovering in midair with blood running down his eyes, nose, and mouth with a look of death on his bluish pale face as it started to deform and swell just like Stanley. When Harlow looked closer he noticed elongated fingers wrapped around the dead man’s neck as a screech could be heard when suddenly the body was flung down the stairs towards him. Harlow barely had time to leap out of the way when the body hit the bottom of the stairs. Harlow could hear something moving quickly at the top of the steps as he got back to his feet readying his weapon for the fight ahead. Harlow rushed up the stairs moving to where he heard the sounds of rustling in one of the bedrooms. Right when he was about to kick the door down a window could be heard smashed as he followed through busting open the door noticing a long scaly tail slithering out the window.

Harlow rushed back down the stairs, while hearing gunshots coming from Mason’s rifle out front. When Harlow made it out the front door he saw Mason open firing on a being that could only be described out of a nightmare. The creature had translucent scaly skin with a snake’s body making up most of the abominations form until you got to the upper body. It had a gaunt humanoid upper half with long skinny arms and bald head with dewlaps in the place of its ears. When Mason fired upon the monster missing his shot due to the creature’s incredible speed nearly upon him the dewlaps extended like two pale translucent wings as its jaw extended flashing needle sharp teeth. Mason was filled with horror and dread when he tried firing his next shot only for a click to go off revealing his gun jammed. The children were screaming horrified in the car as the monster grabbed Mason holding his arms against his body, unable to get loose as it bit down on his neck. Harlow took aim keeping his rifle perfectly steady and fired as the bullet went into the monster’s upper back. It wailed in pain releasing Mason from its grip and its jaws, while Harlow fired again hitting the monster in the lower back. The creature turned its attention to Harlow, but before it could attack a bullet blasted through the front of its skull. Blood trickled down the bullet holes as the creature fell to the ground lifeless. Harlow lowered his weapon and ran over to Mason checking to see if his partner was still alive, but when he got close enough it was clear he was deformed and swollen like the other victims. Harlow got down to his knees by Mason’s body closing his partner’s eyes, then looked over to the car to see the teenager making her way out of the vehicle holding her little brother.

“I’m sorry to you both. I can only imagine what must be going through your heads right now. But I promise you’ll be taken care of. We’ll help you through this dark time any way we can. Would you mind telling me your name young lady”, asked Harlow, as he looked back at his dead partner.

“My name is Sherry. What happened to our mom? Why did she…”, asked Sherry, unable to finish with tears still streaming down her face still holding her little brother tightly.

“Sherry, if I had all the answers. I would tell you. I’m just a Neutralizer. I take care of the problem as I’m ordered nothing more”, said Harlow, with a sad look on his face, but he looked down to the boy who was crying. “What’s his name?”, Harlow asked.

“His name is Thomas”, said Sherry, wiping away her tears.

“Hey Thomas, my name is Harlow. You were very brave to protect your sister. You’ll have to be strong for her now. Can you pinky swear you’ll continue to protect her”, said Harlow, as he lifted his sticking out his pinky as the boy wrapped his finger around Harlow’s in agreement. “Good boy, Sherry, I’m going to call my people to come here and take care of everything. I’ll stay right here with you both in the meantime”, Harlow continued, as he got to his feet and pulled out his phone.

“Thanks Harlow”, said Sherry, as Harlow escorted them back to the house to wait for his people to arrive, while he dialed a number on his phone.

“Hey. It’s Harlow. Yeah the job is done, but it’s bad. Really bad. We have several casualties. Yes, the anomaly was neutralized. Make sure to have special operations accompany the clean up crew. We will also need child services. Two kids lost their parents tonight”, said Harlow, as he remained at the front to speak with his people, while the kids went into the house.

Hours went by as the morning sun was rising when a large number of various vans and SUVs arrived on the property. Men and women wearing white coveralls and medical masks exit their vans carrying silver briefcases and equipment boxes, while a group of men and women in black suits approach the house. Harlow noticed them looking out the dining room window and got up to head to the front door to greet them.

“Hey, if you’re with special operations the kids are up in the daughters room sleeping. The girl’s name is Sherry and the boy’s name is Thomas, be gentle with them, please”, explained Harlow, with a tired tone in his voice.

“This is our job sir, we will make sure they are well taken care of after they’ve finished their rest”, said one of the women.

“HARLOW”, shouted a man in a suit making his way to the house.

Harlow recognized the man as the special operations group made their way into the house into the dining room, while Harlow squeezed past them to meet with the man who called his name.

“Darwin. Didn’t expect to see my director this morning. I take it they sent you here to get my report”, said Harlow, sticking out his hand to shake Darwin’s.

“Well, that’s one reason I’m out here. Let’s find a quiet place to talk huh”, said Darwin, shaking Harlow’s hand as they made their way away from the chaos of all the agents, medical examiners, and researchers doing their work. Going around to the back of the house.

Darwin was tall with a thin build, light brown skinned man, wearing a navy blue suit with an American flag pin on his collar. His hair was a military cut with a goatee, looking no older than 45 years old. Darwin pulled out a cigarette lighting it and started taking a few puffs, while Harlow took a seat on the back porch.

“Quite, the sight isn’t it”, asked Harlow, in a frustrated tone.

“I already know what you’re going to say”, said Darwin, looking at Harlow with empathy.

“I told you Stanley wasn’t ready. He needed more time to learn the ropes and get a better feel for his position. I know it’s never a good time to bring this shit up. But this was a disaster”, Harlow continued, looking at Darwin with a scowl.

“You really think I thought he was ready? Harlow, I’m the one who told the board this was going to end badly. But you and I both know how it goes when people in the high seats allow their egos to blind rational thinking. People who’ve never been in the field, but simply have the deep pockets to keep the lights on call the shots. It’s just the way it is. You and I follow the orders. Even though they can be complete dogshit”, said Darwin, just as frustrated with the situation.

“You realize how long I’ve been doing this”, asked Harlow in somber tone, looking out at the fields with the sun rising.

“Longer than necessary. I know”, said Darwin, with a look of empathy coming over his face.

“Yeah….longer than necessary. I only have a little bit of time left doing this. Mason is now the third partner I’ve lost in 18 months. Can you believe that? 18 fucking months”, said Harlow, as the words struck more the second time he said it.

“Why don’t you take some time off Harlow? Go spend time with family and get your head clear. After this morning’s events you certainly need it. Maybe during your break it’ll give you time to think on what it is you want to do. Like you said you only have a little bit of time left doing this. Seven months left and you get your pension. Or you quit and get nothing”, said Darwin, as he took another puff from his cigarette.

“Yeah yeah I know how all this shit goes. I’ll take you up on that offer. I could use a break with the family”, said Harlow, looking at the sunrise.

Both men took a moment to watch the sunrise when a woman in a black suit came from around the house to approach the men.

“Director sir, sorry to interrupt, but we believe we found the cause of the situation here”, said the woman in a serious tone.

“Understood, Agent Cartwright. Harlow, care to join us”, asked Darwin, throwing his cigarette to the ground before, looking over to Harlow who was still glaring at the sunrise.

“Sure. Might as well see this whole thing through”, said Harlow, turning away from the sunrise as they made their way back into the house.

Before Harlow entered the house through the front door he noticed the kids being escorted into a black van to be taken away from the property. He had a look of sadness, but felt relief for the kids being safe and that his organization will make sure they get the help they need. Harlow then entered the house following Agent Cartwright and Darwin up the stairs and into the parents bedroom. A couple of the researchers in white overalls were taking pictures and looking over something out of view on the cosmetic desk.

“Alright, everyone clear out of the room please except for Dr. Lindwell. Let’s go. Get out”, announced Darwin in a commanding tone.

All the researchers cleared out of the room leaving Darwin, Harlow, Agent Cartwright, and one of the researchers covered in the white overalls and medical masks. After a few moments and everyone was out of the room Darwin once again spoke.

“Alright doctor, explain to me as best you can what happened here”, said Darwin, in a calm serious tone as they all gather around a small jade statue of a snake wrapped around a meditating buddha under a cherry blossom tree.

“Well Director Willis, I’m not an expert in Chinese mythology, but this little statue is a Yaoguai shrine. Now there’s still no exact answer on how this affected Mrs. Burch, but if you look closely at the teeth of the snake there are small traces of blood. Somehow, this statue corrupted the physiology of Mrs. Burch turning her into the anomaly Neutralizer McKn was able to neutralize”, explained Dr. Lindwell.

“Alright, Agent Cartwright please get a special container, so we can have this brought to the lab”, Darwin commanded.

“Copy that sir”, said Agent Cartwright before exiting the room.

“Doctor, keep looking over the item until we can get in touch with one of our specialists to assist you with this and update me whenever we learn more”, said Darwin, in a professional tone. “Harlow, let’s head out, so the doc can continue his work”, said Darwin, as he and Harlow both left the room to head back outside the house.

“You think there could be more to this than a simple twist of irony”, asked Harlow in a curious tone.

“In our line of work anything is possible. This could’ve been a case of terrible luck coming across a corrupted item or it was sold to them intentionally”, said Darwin, in a suspicious tone.

“Well, keep me posted. And if something is going on and someone is intentionally giving or selling things to people turning them into anomalies. Don’t keep me in the dark about it”, said Harlow, noticing Agent Cartwright holding a metal briefcase walking back into the house.

“I’ll give you a month. When you come back, be ready to work and we should have a replacement ready. And before you say anything. No this isn’t up for debate, rules are rules and you will have a new partner. Understood”, said Darwin, in his commanding tone.

“You’re the boss Darwin. Give Mason’s family my condolences”, said Harlow, before walking towards his car.

“You know you should be at the funeral, it may give the family closure”, said Darwin in an empathetic tone.

“They’re not going to want the man who failed to protect their loved one to attend. I’ll send flowers, but it’s best if I stay away. See you in a month sir”, Harlow turning his back on Darwin continuing towards the car. He then pulled out his phone dialing a number and spoke. “Hey sweetie, you sleep okay? Everything’s ....”, Harlow paused, thinking of Mason. “Well, good news, I got a month off. Yeah. I’ll see you soon. Miss you and the kids”, he said before hanging up. Started the car engine and left the site.

…..3 Weeks Later