The Devil's Daughter by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 42

As the night wore on, few in the village slept as they anticipated the coming escape. But those nearest Nelu's house were suddenly startled by the gunshot that failed to bring down the creature that had invaded their home. Too frightened to investigate it, many stayed huddled beneath their covers, trying to ignore what they knew to be another tragedy. The only person with the courage to do so was Aizic. He had always been a quiet man, but in the face of what had been culling the village, he had grown strong and brave. Now, alerted by the gunshot, he rose from a light slumber and hurriedly followed it to Nelu's house. With his senses sharpened by the night, he cautiously approached the door. There, he discovered the several inch-wide hole created by the impact of a single round fired in haste and raising his lamp, slowly opened it.

Alina was gone, leaving her parents lying on the floor near the fireplace in a large pool of blood. Running in, he approached them, believing they might still be saved. However, to his horror, he discovered that not only were they far beyond help but their throats had been violently ripped open. Unaccustomed to the sight of death, Aizic felt a sudden surge of bile work its way up into his mouth and turning back, ran outside. Once he was far enough from the church doors, he fell to his hands and knees, expelling the contents of his stomach onto the ground. His loud retching attracted Sabin's attention, who was already on his way having heard the shot as well.

“Aizic,” he said. “What happened?” Whipping the vomit from his nose and mouth, Aizic told him of the disturbing scene with tears flooding his eyes. “Where is Alina?” Sabin asked.

His voice took on an urgent tone, as his concern for the small girl mounted.

“I don't know,” Aizic replied. “Maybe she's hiding somewhere.”

Sabin helped him to his feet.

“Come on,” he said. “We have to find her.” As they entered the house, both were frightened as the creature let out another scream from somewhere nearby. “We need to hurry,” Sabin continued. “Look everywhere.” Intentionally avoiding the ghastly sight of Alina's now-deceased parents, they made a hasty search throughout the house but found nothing, and assumed that the small girl had likely been dragged off by the creature that continued its terrifying screams.

Panic set in as the screams grew closer, as both men froze in fear.

“Aizic,” Sabin said.

His voice was tense, as his soul trembled with the fear of becoming another victim, torn apart by something that could not be stopped.

“We need to leave...now.”

“But they should be buried,” Aizic replied. Sabin interrupted him with a greater sense of urgency. “Aizic, there's no time for that. We have to leave. Now go home. Lock your doors and windows and keep your lamps out.”

Following his instructions, Aizic ran out after him but passing the cemetery, they noticed that Sabina was no longer at her husband's grave-side. Her presence had been replaced by a loose pile of entrails and a large piece of blood-soaked scalp. Gavril's shallow grave had also been vandalized, his corpse dragged out, and viciously mutilated.

Running blindly, a few of the hunters, having also heard the shot, stepped out of their homes with rifles in hand, ready to defend the village, and seeing the panic on the faces of the two elders, they inquired as to what had happened. “Nelu and Anca are dead,” Sabin said. “And Alina is missing.”

Again, the creature's screams could be heard, shattering the night, prompting even the bravest hunters to retreat back into their homes. The crisis that had been slowly claiming the village had reached its peak, sending everyone into a panic. If the hunter's courage had escaped them, they would soon follow and ignoring the instructions of the elders, gathered their families and fled the village. Of course, this led others to follow, in spite of the decision to leave beneath the safety of the morning sun and as they hurried for the road, Aizic and Sabin tried to intervene, stressing the need to remain until daylight. But rational thinking had been replaced by fear, and the continued screams of the Grozavie only served to drive everyone towards the road, and into the woods.