The Devil's Daughter by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 27

The afternoon was drawing to a close, and as the people of Gura Haith began to retire, Bradley and Janet continued to play in the approaching darkness. Losing track of time, they bowed to their urges, as Bradley pushed himself into Janet's needy body. He had never been an especially gifted lover but it had been some time since they indulged themselves in one another and upon penetration, Janet suddenly threw herself back, gasping in a fit of passion. Like waves lapping against an ocean shore, Bradley continued, withdrawing slightly, then bursting back into Janet's warm, moist body - over and over again. But, he was suddenly stopped by a faint sound coming from the woods. With sweat running down his face, he paused to identify what may have gone unheard to others. “Did you hear that?” he whispered. Janet was too caught up in her urges to stop, and reaching around, grabbed him by his backside and pulled him in deeper.

“It was just the wind,” she replied. “Please, I'm almost there.”

His fear came creeping back but was enough to keep him from his own release and with his excitement quickly mounting, Bradley sped his pace as he continued pushing himself into Janet's sweating body.

The soles of her feet cramped as Janet's toes curled violently, and with the middle of her back off the ground, she took on the appearance of one possessed. She shuddered as the rage of release leaped from her soul, and still clutching Bradley's naked backside, sunk her nails deeply enough that blood began to gather around her fingertips. But, the pain only hurried Bradley's release and moments after Janet's erotic journey had come to an end, had he begun his ascent toward the peak of passion.

Janet smiled warmly at him, as Bradley's face became twisted in ecstasy. But there was something else. Pain. While still plunged deeply into Janet's body, Bradley began writhing in agony, as his nose started bleeding. Unable to speak, he looked at his wife with panicked, yet pleading eyes as his mouth filled with blood, overflowed and exploded on Janet's naked breasts. “Bradley!” she screamed.

She felt his body being pulled away, and sitting up, threw her arms around his neck. As she tried to pull Bradley back, Janet heard a loud, muffled crack as he slumped sharply just below the shoulders. Moments later, his scantily clad body flew up and back, disappearing into the darkness. “Bradley!”

Her mind was taken over by fear. Her body paralyzed by the shock of her husband being ripped from her arms.

Now, as dusk settled in over the Carpathian Mountains, Janet found herself surrounded by a terrifying silence and looking down at her naked body, saw her skin heavily spattered with blood. In a horrified state, she tried wiping off the clotting remains of her husband but succeeded only in smearing it into a heavy mess. It had been only moments since Bradley had been pulled away, into the darkness, that Janet was suddenly startled by something breaking the quiet night air. At first, she found it indiscernible but she heard again, closer, forcing its way through the cold, nighttime air. Hearing it again, it became clear to her that what she heard was the low growl of a large animal. The terror she felt invaded her mind and raped her soul but as her instincts took over, Janet got to her feet, grabbed her now crying baby, and ran into the woods.

Disoriented by the night, Janet found she had lost sight of the village. The only thing she wanted was to save her child, even if meant giving up her life. But she believed whatever had taken Bradley would not be merciful to her or her child and as it continued its pursuit, let out another long, deep growl. As she ran naked through the woods, Janet glanced back, hoping to find it had broken off its attack. Now, hiding behind the broad girth of a pine tree, Janet continued to clutch her baby as she peeked out into the darkness. She sat on the cool ground to catch her breath, straining her ears against the silence that had, once again, blanketing the nocturnal forest. But this was only a ruse, an illusion of safety in which Janet placed both her faith, as well as the life of her baby. She cautiously began walking from tree to tree, searching for the fires and lamp lights of the village. Her naked body broke into violent shivers from a sudden, cold, downdraft. But from somewhere in the darkness behind her, Janet heard the low growl again, followed by the sound of low, deep breathing. Searching the woods, she saw a pair of eyes appearing from the trees and pulling her baby in, began running.

The creature was silent in its pursuit, and running up behind Janet, leaped forward and dug its claws into her shoulder blades. Fear kept her running, but she was only able to take a couple more steps before the creature brought its weight down on her. Now, its claws, still deeply embedded near the top of her back, gave way and ran down her body, to just below her buttocks. Collapsing to the ground, Janet's flesh lay open as her wide, gaping wounds ran heavily with blood. She tried to crawl away, still holding her baby to her chest. But the creature bounded again and just before landed on her, she turned on her back, while her instincts took over. The urge to fight was immediate, and while she could not see its face, Janet clumsily threw her fist at the darkness but struck nothing. However, as she continued fighting, she let slip her child. It rolled slightly away and downhill, laying just out of reach.

With her baby crying, Janet lay helpless on the sparse bed of pine needles with the blood from her long, gaping wounds trailing down the slanted ground. The only thing she saw of the creature was its eyes, cold and black, with a reddish glow. It sat on her stomach and raising its head, let out a long, terrifying scream, as it clutched her breasts with its long claws. Looking down at Janet, the creature tightened its grip, and again, growled deeply. She screamed as she was taken over by the exquisite pain of having her breasts ripped from her body, exposing the bone and tissue beneath. Now, as her mind drifted into shock, Janet turned to look at the beautiful face of her daughter for the last time. She tried keeping her eyes open for as long as possible, while the creature dug deeply into her body, excavating the organs within.

As her consciousness faded, so too did the sensation of being repeatedly pulled off the ground, as the creature pulled her organs from their fleshy moorings. But somewhere, through the shock, through the sloshing sounds of hurried feeding, Janet managed to capture the cries of her baby as a tear gathered at the corner of her eye. Collecting there for only a moment, it slipped onto her skin and ran down her face. Then, all that she was rose up and flickered away like a startled bird, destined for what should be a better place. But the creature was not yet finished with its most generous meal and acting on instinct, quickly crawled up Janet's nude corpse and viciously extracted her throat as tendons and cartilage crackled under the force of its jaws. After hastily emptying Janet's body, its attention was grabbed by the baby's cries, and creeping a short distance, found the child, still bound in blankets. Without hesitation, the creature tore into the baby's warm wrappings and picking it up by the throat, shook it like a cat with a mouse. Although the delicate bones of its neck fractured easily, the depth of the creature's bite threw open a floodgate of blood. Moments later, the baby's face relaxed as its mouth and eyes fell open, its skin turning a cold, pale yellow.

Carrying the deceased infant in its jaws, the creature, having adopted the guise of a wolf, ran into the woods for a safe place to consume the last morsel of its meal. But its hunger was unrelenting and would kill as many as it needed to fulfill its voracious appetite. Now, with the creature disappearing into the night the forest returned to its normal state of quiet as small animals, drawn by the smell of blood, came out from their hiding places to finish what remained of Bradley and Janet.