Page 13 of An Invocation of Monsters

Before long, it became clear that I’d come across a ghost town. There were the remains of other houses, all ruined, some worse than others. Shattered glass still gleamed in the dirt around a larger building that was nothing but rotten floorboards now.

My breath seemed caught in my throat as I walked. This was literally an entire town, in the middle of the woods, abandoned and left to rot.

Goosebumps crept down my back and arms. Every time I shone the light into yet another wooden carcass, I half-expected to see eyes shining back at me.

On the other hand, my fingers twitched for the digital camera I’d left in my room. This was an urban explorer’s wet dream. I was already making vague plans to return by daylight.

Why hadn’t Kase mentioned the existence of a ghost town in the forest? It seemed like a fairly massive oversight in his tour.

I angled my light towards the upper story of a somewhat-intact house when I heard another noise.

A low growl, almost a snarl.

I whipped around, my light just catching something gleaming on the ground.

A claw. A long, dark, curved talon, which vanished behind the still-standing wall of one of the ruins.

My heart was pounding so hard my chest hurt, the taste of copper on my tongue. Did I really see that, or was my overactive imagination just running at warp speed?

There was a brief scuffling sound, and another growl.

I immediately proved myself unworthy of horror movie Final Girl status by creeping forward, holding my phone out like a weapon. Any minute now the killer would jump out and my credits would roll.

I rounded the wall and my flashlight illuminated the scene before me.

My fingers went numb, the phone dropping to the ground. The light went out, plunging everything into pitch darkness.

I was dimly aware that I was gasping for breath, like someone had punched me in the gut. What I’d seen was etched onto the backs of my eyelids; even in darkness, it still stood out clearly.

A whimper escaped me as I dropped to my knees, trembling hands searching for my phone.

The snarl that ripped through the dark made me shudder.

“Please, please, please…” I whispered, feeling my nails scrape across stone. Nothing met my fingertips. My hands were shaking so hard I’d probably knock the phone away again anyway.

Six feet away from me was the creature that had shrieked. My first shocked impression had been of a man—but the gears in my brain had clicked into place and every nerve ending in my body had frozen.

It was not a man. Not with those flaming red eyes, the skin like charcoal, the clawed hands and feet.

It was a monster. There was no other word.

My quaking hand found something smooth and warm—my phone. I snatched it and fell backwards, scrambling across the stones to put distance between myself and the gigantic, crouched form that had been staring at me.

Nothing came after me. No claws tore into my flesh.

I took several gulping, sobbing breaths, and managed to flick the light back on.

A loud snarl immediately filled the air. I turned the light off, cradling the phone to my chest.

“No light, woman.”

Two red lanterns flared in the darkness. They flickered—blinking.

Then focused on me.

“You speak,” I whispered.

The monster’s voice was deep, overlaid with a strange sound like the fluttering of tiny wings.

---