The Devil's Daughter by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 29

Filing out of the church, the hunters soon found themselves surrounded by those fearful of another visit from the creature that seemed to be dining on their village. Its name was only spoken by the elders, with the belief that should the village people learn of it, its dark reality would be that much more alive. Stopping just beyond the doors of the church, Nelu made a loud request that any man who valued his honor and the life of his family, join them as they searched the woods. What they would likely find was described in graphic detail, so as to sort out the strong from those of less fortitude. Most came forward, while others, remembering what they had already seen, drifted to the back of the crowd. Nelu, satisfied with the number of those joining the search, divided them into five groups, each led by two hunters. They would spread out in different directions and if the remains of the American family were found, a shot would be fired, and everyone would return to the village. But on their way out of the village, Nelu was approached by a small boy. His name was Gregor, and although he was only eight, he stepped up to Nelu with obvious courage. Yet, their search was something that could not be tasked to a boy, and Nelu, not wanting him to feel that his bravery had gone unnoticed, gave him a job that was just as important.

Stopping in front of him, Nelu got down on one knee and addressed Gregor eye-to-eye.

“Gregor, isn't it?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” the boy answered.

He had approached the hunters holding a large stick, as though prepared for war.

“You are very brave,” Nelu began. “And someday, you will make a fine hunter. But there is something else that needs to be done, something just as important.” The boy listened intently as Nelu continued. “There are people lost. We fear they may be dead. If that is so, they will need to be buried so that God will take them up. Do you understand?”

Although in his twenties, Nelu had lived long enough to know that the world was not a caring place and did not waste words on flowery speech, or sheltering sentimentality. Life would not wait for Gregor to grow up, to become a man. The real world had already pounded at their doors, and the small boy was well aware that his home had been invaded by something that even a child's imagination could not create. Becoming disheartened, the boy answered with a meek voice. “How many?”

Seeing the sadness flooding Gregor's expression, Nelu maintained his tone to spare him the pain of grief. Children, it seems, can be quite sensitive to the pain of others, whether they know them or not.

“We only need one,” Nelu replied. Gregor was puzzled, having overheard the hunters as they approached the edge of the village. “But aren't the three of them?”

Continuing on one knee, Nelu stroked the boy's head, realizing that he was still at a loss to understand how disastrous their situation was becoming. “Gregor,” he began. “We only need one. Why don't you get some of your friends together to help you? It won't take so long then.”

The boy dropped his stick and ran off towards the village burial ground. As he disappeared from view, Nelu turned to an older boy, watching nearby. Motioning him over, Nelu got to his feet.

“Yes, sir,” the boy said.

Every child of Gura Haith had been raised to show respect for all people, but mostly the adults, and had been taught to recognize them as sources of experience and wisdom.

Nelu put a firm hand on the boy's shoulder and squeezed slightly.

“I know your father, don't I?”

The boy nodded his head.

“Yes, sir,” he answered. “He was a hunter, but he is old now.”

“I know,” Nelu said. “I have heard the stories.”

Now, Nelu gave him a single but important instruction. “Listen, this grave has to be deep. Give Gregor all the help he needs. We don't want these people dug up by the animals, alright? Just stay between the graves.” He ran off to retrieve a shovel as Nelu turned to his group. “Alright,” he began. “Let's get this over.” Leading them a short distance down the road, Nelu noticed a bit of grass on the left shoulder. It appeared to have been flattened down, and Nelu, following his instincts, examined it closer and was able to see a few more patches, leading to a small clearing.

“We're going this way,” he said.

As he walked at the front of the group, he saw more places where the ground had been flattened, becoming what seemed to be two sets of tracks. Knowing they were likely made by the village's missing guests, Nelu stopped and spoke to the men with grave concern. “How many of you know what this creature has done?” All of them raised a hand.

“Good,” he continued. “So you all know what to expect, right?”

The men remained quiet while lowering their hands. Nelu continued to address them but with a word of warning. “If we find these people, they will likely have been torn apart, maybe partly eaten. If any of you want to change your minds, no one will think any less of you.” One man, remembering back to when their priest's grave had been violated, unloaded his rifle, turned and walked away, back to the safety of the village. The others looked on, wondering if they could cope with what they expected to see. Or, perhaps, they would find nothing and that the tracks Nelu had discovered had been left by a pair of deer, roaming during the early morning.

Nelu, looking at their faces, saw each etched with fear. Perhaps, not with a fear of the creature, but of the grotesque sight they might encounter.

“Is there anyone else?” he asked.

The men, now numbering one less remained silent, indicating their willingness to continue. “Alright,” Nelu said. “Let's go.”

Walking through the small field, they made their way amongst the scattered rocks and following the tracks, soon discovered their destination. Approaching the tree line, Nelu motioned for the small group to stop but when he failed to see anything significant, waved them forward. “Everyone stay close,” he said. “If anyone sees something, just yell. If not, we'll look in a different direction.” With these words, the men stepped into the woods and wandered uphill, looking for something none of them wanted to find.

Walking through the tall pines, Nelu caught a glance of something that clearly did not belong to the land. Its dark color stood out as he walked closer, but as he reached down for it, Nelu saw something else that forced him to take a few steps back. Now, looking ahead of what turned out to be Bradley's trousers, he saw the remains of what was once a human being, or at least, parts of one. He turned his back and bending down, grabbed his knees and waited for his stomach to settle, as well as his nerves. Taking only a few moments, he turned and walked back to the grisly sight that still awaited him. But in his moment of near sickness, Nelu had forgotten that he was among others, those who had so bravely volunteered to search for death.

Seeing the men standing before him, he gave them a stern warning.

“I want all of you to move back,” he said. Nelu continued as the men hesitantly backed away.

“No one goes over there, alright?” The men were silent in their response. Yet, it was their faces that spoke volumes. They all assumed that Nelu had discovered the gruesome goal of their search, and as they stepped back, their eyes widened with the fear that they might be forced to deal with their disturbing find. It was an expression that Nelu was becoming accustomed to, as more people within the village were taken over by the terror brought on by the dark thing that seemed to be feeding off the living and the dead. Now, they watched in painful anticipation, as Nelu ducked under a few low-lying boughs and walked back to where he had made his gruesome discovery. On the pine needle-covered ground lay Bradley's body – or, most of it. His chest and stomach were covered with a dried mess of clotted blood. His spine seemed to be broken at a right angle, just below the shoulders. With the body on its side, Nelu looked at its back and was horrified to see that Bradley's spine had not simply been broken, but deeply bitten. Ordinarily, Nelu was averse to handling human remains, as he had come to believe that doing so might cause one to be cursed, bringing others a life of ruin. But knowing that Bradley's wife and child had likely fallen to a similar fate, he knew that their remains, or, as much as they could find, would have to be buried, and that meant someone would have to carry them.

Returning to the group, Nelu sent two of the men back to the village for a few cloth sacks and wooden poles. No one liked the idea of carrying human remains, but there was a strong need to bury them in consecrated ground. When the men returned, Bradley's disassembled body was rolled into two sacks, hung from the middle of a pole and carried back to the village on the shoulders of two of the men. Nelu also gave instructions that the sacks were to be delivered to the burial ground, and not to be opened. Upon their return, Nelu led the group further into the woods, and it wasn't long until they also found Janet's nude body. Her back had been deeply gouged, and her breasts torn from her body. She had been consumed, beginning with her unprotected stomach. With her organs torn away, it appeared that something had buried itself beneath her ribs and chewed out the contents of her chest. With most of Janet's blood having soaked into the surrounding earth, Nelu found that her body was, essentially glued to the ground. As he briefly examined the remains, he was startled by the sound of sickness, and looking in that direction, saw that one of the group had retreated a few yards and was vomiting uncontrollably.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

The man nodded his head as Nelu turned back to the group. “I can't have anyone going back to the village until this gets done. I'm sorry.”

Now, one of the men spoke up.

“I think there's a problem,” he said. “The sacks we brought aren't big enough.”

It had been far easier to deal with Bradley's remains, as he had been discovered in pieces. But Janet, now emptied of her organs, was largely intact and Nelu saw only one option. Addressing the small group, he asked if anyone was carrying an ax. A young man quickly replied. “I have a hatchet.”

Nelu reached out for it as the man handed it to him. “You're going to want to clean this later,” he said.

Again, Nelu looked down at Janet's body, horrified at what he was about to do and getting on his knees, searched her open abdomen for a place to begin. Everyone in the groups had suddenly become weak and pale, realizing what was about to take place, but one man spoke up.

“Nelu, you're not going to do this, are you?”

Nelu got to his feet and stepping over to the man, defended the grotesque crime he was about to commit. “The sacks we're carrying aren't big enough, so if any of you have a better idea...”

Unable to find another solution, the men remained quiet, yet wide-eyed with shocked anticipation. “Alright,” he said. “I don't like this any more than any of you, but we can't just drag it down to the village for everyone to see.”

The men nodded their agreement, as Nelu continued waiting for suggestions. Without another word, he stepped back to Janet's body and returned to his knees. Now, having found the most exposed part of her spine, he raised the hatchet over his head closed his eyes and held his breath. After a moment's pause, Nelu opened his eyes, and swinging the hatchet, split the bones just above the hips. With the blood largely drained from her body, Janet's dismemberment occurred with undue mess or spatter. However, this did not keep the rest of the group from being affected as one man fainted, another began retching and quickly ran to a nearby tree, where he proceeded to vomit.

Hearing and feeling the bones split, Nelu continued his grotesque task until the head of the hatchet deeply found its way into the cold earth. He now realized the job involved more than a few swings of a hatchet, and pulling it from the ground, laid it off to the side. As the man behind the tree recovered, Nelu studied the place he had so forcefully severed. He thought that the hatchet would be enough to render Janet's eviscerated body in half but he saw that there was still a great deal of flesh to breach and drawing his knife, began slicing skin, muscle and sinew. The motion of his knife caused the body to jiggle slightly from side to side, adding to the nauseating trauma already weakening the rest of the men. They had all seen death, but none of them had ever seen anything so violent and disturbing.

Once Janet's body had been separated, one half from the other, her arms and legs were folded in and rolled into separate sacks. Nelu looked at the men, waiting for volunteers to carry the flesh-filled sacks back to the village. But when there were none, he offered a compromise. “Alright, we'll look for the child, then we can take... all of this back to the village together.”

The man agreed, and Nelu, again, led them further into the woods as they continued their search. But, it wasn't long until he began to see sparse drops of blood on the ground. Not being hunters, the trail went unnoticed by the rest of the men. They simply followed where Nelu was leading them. However, the path soon stopped where the creature had finished its meal. What was left was something beyond anyone's ability to fully grasp. Earlier, the creature had stolen a baby from its crib, carried it into the woods and consumed nearly all of it. This time, there was more left than Nelu had anticipated and getting down on one knee, examined its now scattered remains. The child's throat had been torn out, down to the bone. After the two previous attacks, Nelu now believed that this seemed to be the creature's killing stroke and he believed he would continue to see it as he suspected the population of the village to slowly persist in its decline.

The child's mangled throat had been only the beginning of the creature's attack and by the time it had finished its meal, a few recognizable body parts had been left behind, covered with pale yellow skin. Its stomach torn open, the child's organs had been viciously ripped out, its soft ribs had allowed for easy fracturing. Nelu noticed that they had been violently broken, making way for access to the organs within the chest. But as if this violation was not enough, the child's face had also been fed upon as well as most of its scalp, leaving its skull and most of its facial bones exposed. The men, including Nelu, had never seen anything so horrific as one of them, having suddenly been overwhelmed, retreated into the woods and began weeping uncontrollably. They looked on as Nelu carefully placed the baby's sparse remains into a sack, and picking it up, instructed one of the men to signal the other groups. Distracted by the horror they had witnessed, one man suddenly remembered and raising his rifle, fired a single shot in the air. Starting back to the village, they stopped where the sacks, containing Janet's remains had been left and tying each to a pole, the men lifted them to their shoulders and began their return. So much had happened, that the people of Gura Haith were left paralyzed with fear. But after that day, none of the men would ever be the same.