Featured Creature: Reunion at the Merrimon Library Part VI, Towards the Circle

Reunion at the 

Merrimon Library:
Part VI, Towards the Circle

~ Continued from Part V ~

Alan crawled slowly towards the corner.  He held on tightly to the copy of Die Tür Des Bösen with his good hand and angled the wrist of his wounded hand to keep from putting too much pressure on it.  It had swollen up in an ugly way, the fingers grown to twice their size.  Luckily the intense pain had faded into a dull throb.  Small favors, he thought.  In short hobbled movements, he slithered towards the corner.

From what Alan could see in the dim light, most of circle that Tim had created was still intact.  One of the piles closest to him had been knocked over when Tim rushed from the circle.  The books had not scattered but merely lay down like a sliced loaf of bread.  They could easily be stacked again in their original positions.  He would need them to be as exact as possible to attune the energies so that he might close the gate Tim had opened, if he could close it at all.  He clung to that hope as he crawled, eying the shapes that moved beneath the skin of the walls.

Featured Creature: Everything's Fine

"Samantha!  Oh My God!  You disappeared!  Where where you?"  I rushed to hug her.  "Are you okay?"

"Everything's fine."  She smiled at me.  she was stiff in my embrace, her breathing shallow.

"Thank Goodness."  I pulled back but kept a comforting hand on her shoulder.  "I was worried."  She continued to smile.

Featured Creature: Reunion at the Merrimon Library Part V, Illumination

Reunion at the 

Merrimon Library:
Part V, Illumination

~ Continued from Part IV ~

Alan sat for several long moments with his back against one of the bookshelves for support.  He slumped to a sitting position and watched the jellyfish creatures, trying not to look at Tim.  The vibrating light from the creatures pulsed in a slow rhythm, casting odd patterns on the walls.  The fearsome shapes that Alan had seen earlier beyond the egg were appearing now on the wall above where the circle had been.  He watched as massive shapes slithered beneath the surface of the wall.  His throat closed up with rising panic.   He took deep slow breaths to quiet the quivering fear within him.

When Alan had moved out of range of the creatures he realized that he still clutched the copy of Die Tür Des Bösen in his good hand.  Alan scoured the book.  He struggled to see in the momentary flashes from passing cars, but could not read in the quickly fading light.  The sleet ticked against the window incessantly, rising and falling with the wind. 

Featured Creature: In the Fields

"Its arms rose and fell like a carnival ride as it moved around the fields.  It twisted back on itself like a slow moving tornado.  A thin cloud of dust danced behind it.  There was a whining noise coming from the thing, like the howl of wind inside a drafty house.  It was covered in baleful red eyes and no matter where I walked they seemed to always face towards me.

Featured Creature: Eye of the Dead

"It is said that all succumb to the light of the Oculi Mortui save the wielder of the lantern.  A favored artifact of thieves and assassins, those exposed to it's light are drained of vitality and fall into a state of paralytic torpidity.  After the lantern's passing, they wake at the next sunrise exhausted and disoriented.  Horrible dreams have been recorded by those who have been exposed to it.  Sleepers are assailed by visions of terrible lifeless vistas where the wind ceaselessly howls."

{8x5.33,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

Featured Creature: Doctor Theodore Mars

"At the time of his incarceration, Doctor Mars was in the process of surgically reconstructing live human subjects into complex and unnatural forms.  Investigation of his laboratory revealed that he had been performing these operations for an as yet undetermined number of years.  It is suspected that he was conducting his procedures at multiple clandestine locations and that the full catalog of his victims has yet to be uncovered and identified."

{8x5.33,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

Featured Creature: After the Storm

"The morning after the storm, they found them hanging from porches and trees, car bumpers and the sides of bridges, fences and clotheslines.  No one knew what they were, but by nightfall, everyone knew."

{8x5.33,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

Featured Creature: Reunion at the Merrimon Library Part IV, From Beyond the Gate

Reunion at the 

Merrimon Library:
Part IV, From Beyond the Gate

~ Continued from Part III ~

Alan put his hands under Tim's arms and dragged him away from the circle as quickly as possible.  With the only light coming from the windows now, the corner had become an abyss of pitch.  Through the windows, Alan could see that the buildings across the street were dark as well.  Only passing car headlights and the darkening grey sky offered any illumination.

"Get up Tim!  C'mon Timothy, You've got to get on your feet!  We've got to get out of here!"  Tim managed to get his feet beneath him and he and Alan rushed towards the table.  Nonetheless, Alan kept hold of one arm to support him.

Alan had begun sweating profusely.  He knew that this was only the beginning and if he could not get he and Tim back to his house and within the arcane protections surrounding it, they were both in mortal danger.  First, though, they had to get out of the building.  

As they reached the table, Alan made sure Tim could stand on his own and grabbed his backpack.  He directed Tim to his own jacket and kept his eye on the dark passage to the restrooms for any sign of movement.  From the pack, he procured the book Tim had been reading earlier, Die Tür Des Bösen.  He hoped he could find some indication of what Tim had been exposed to that could lead him to devising some form of defense.

Featured Creature: Reunion at the Merrimon Library Part III, The Ritual

Reunion at the 

Merrimon Library:
Part III, The Ritual

~ Continued from Part II ~

 
Alan sat and returned to copying his notes.  He quickly went through several pages, glancing up sporadically to watch Tim's reactions as he was reading.  Timothy sat with his legs crossed and the thick volume cradled in his lap.  He had taken off his coat and draped it across the back of the chair.  Alan took a secret pleasure in watching his friend as the sequence of realization and understanding played across his features.

At first Tim's eyes darted plainly back and forth as he read with a veiled disdain.  As he continued to read, a squinting confusion settled upon him.  His eyebrows furrowed together.  Slowly that confusion blossomed into a genuine interest and his page turning increased.  His eyes grew narrow with focus and intent.  Alan focused on his own work for awhile and copied several more pages of notes before looking up again.

New Featured Creature Section: Before The Feature

I've just added a new section to the Featured Creature gallery called Before the Feature.  This new section collects the related work I've posted on Zombie Bites before I began the Feature Creature.  Check it out and let me know what you think.  I hope you enjoy!

Featured Creature: Reunion at the Merrimon Library Part II, Timothy Wallace

Reunion at the 

Merrimon Library:
Part II, Timothy Wallace

~ Continued from Part I ~

"Alan?!  Oh wow, I didn't recognize you with the beard."  Timothy moved over to Alan's table.  Alan rose and gave him a generous hug.  "It's been -"

"Years.  Yeah.  Not since Austrum.  Good to see you!  What are you doing now?"

"Working for my Dad, property management and sales."  He pulled his name tag out of his jacket pocket and flashed it, Wallace properties.  "I was just over at the Register of Deeds doing a title search for a client.  Glad they connected all this."  Seven years ago, the Colby county offices and Register of Deeds had been relocated beside the Historical Merrimon Library and Museum.  Both buildings were conjoined by several interconnected walkways and pedestrian bridges.  At the time, Alan had disliked the increase in traffic, but had since enjoyed the convenience on occasion.

"Yeah.  It's become a bit of a crossroads."

Featured Creature: Reunion at the Merrimon Library Part I, Alan's Research

In light of my delay getting this one posted, I'm going to do a little something different this week.  In addition to the actual Featured Creature piece, I've created four other mood and setting pieces to go along with this story.  This way I can hold onto the creature reveal until the last possible post and in the meantime you get story and images at regular intervals.  I hope you enjoy the additional pieces.  On with the show!

Reunion at the 

Merrimon Library:
Part I, Alan's Research

Alan stood and stretched his arms high over his head then left and right in turn.  He had been sitting in the library for most of the day and his back had begun to hurt.  He moved away from the table and his stacks of books, papers, and notebooks.  Looking out the large windows facing Merrimon Avenue, he continued to stretch.  The sky had grown overcast in the last hour.  In the grey light, a couple of cars moved languidly down the street like giant dull colored beetles.

Featured Creature Delay

This week's Featured Creature is going to be delayed a day, maybe two.  Research for the story has taken longer than I anticipated.  Here is a bit of teaser art to tide you over until I get the story finished.  Soon.

Featured Creature: The North Ridge Fence

The day had started overcast and temperate, but a heavy wind had blown in from the west around lunchtime.  The trees shook and swayed all afternoon as the cold air had settled in.  By evening, the sky was mostly clear except for a thicket of clouds to the north.  Now the last vestiges of clouds struggled to maintain their forms against the harsh cold gusts.  Glen watched several smaller puffs just above the horizon dissipate as they slid across the sky.  The sun had begun to set, but he had one more task before heading back to the house.  He turned his Jeep onto the dirt road that led to the north ridge pasture.

Featured Creature: The Room Under the Bridge

Ken had been struggling with the key for several minutes.  The metal door and lock were very old and a patch of rust had accumulated around the keyhole.  He wiped the sweat away from his eyes and scraped at the rust again with his screwdriver.  He tried the key once more. Finally the blockage gave way and the key slid in with a loud click.

He had to press hard to get the key to turn at all.  It felt as though it were going to break off in the lock, but the inertia within the lock slowly relented and the key turned.  Once the lock released he tugged at the door and it opened with an audible gust.  The air within was stagnant and musty.

"Finally!"  He took a swig from his water bottle and placed his tools back in his belt.  Ken returned quickly to his truck to get a flashlight and double check the paperwork for the site: #PDOTA13  Tertiary Water Interchange under South Highway Fourteen and Old Mason road bridge.  The commission director wanted an inventory of all the older pump sites in the county before funding could be approved for the new waterworks construction next year.  Everyone in site management was working extra shifts until all the pump sites had been checked and cataloged.  This particular interchange was the oldest on his list: it had not been accessed in over seven years.  He clipped his flashlight onto his belt and pocketed a filter face mask just in case the air was worse inside.  Clipboard under one arm, he returned to the door.

Featured Creature Delay

Apologies for the delay on this weeks Featured Creature.  Holiday scheduling has kind of caught up with me like a snowball rolling downhill...at me.  :-O  I tried really hard to get it all finished, but I've just run out of juice.  I promise it will be worth the wait though.  I'm really excited about this upcoming image.  It's very creepy.  Happy New Year and I'll see you next week!

Featured Creature: Gift of the Pyxis

Sigurd and Donna were fighting again.  Behind me, at the second table of artifacts, they stood over the ancient box that had been found at the new dig site and all but spat in each others faces.  An inscription translation was the item of contention this time.  I tried to concentrate on translating the runes on the sword in front of me, but they continued to escalate.

Professor Lincoln wasn't at camp today and in his absence they always went after each other.  They had not liked each other from the moment they had met.  A week in the cramped quarters of the base camp had not helped their temperaments at all.  Any professional courtesy had quickly withered until only venomous disagreement remained.  All common ground was lost.

"The inscription clearly calls this chest the Pyxis of Union!"  Sigurd said with derision.  Donna sighed heavily and flipped several pages in her notebook.  She read from her notes and glared back at Sigurd.

"The rune for death and transfiguration is clearly displayed at several key points on the chest.  It is the Pyxis of Death!"

Featured Creature: The Shard

"Nick.  I've found something, something amazing."

Tony looked ill.  His skin was very pale and his eyes had dark circles beneath them.  His hair was disheveled and he had obviously been wearing his wrinkled tee shirt and jeans for several days.  As we walked across campus, he developed a slick sheen of sweat on his face and neck.

"When was the last time you slept?"

"That doesn't matter.  What I found is gonna change everything!"  He raised his arms up as danced around euphorically.

We turned the corner of the mathematics building and moved around the backside, a shortcut through the faculty parking lot to the cafeteria.  The building butted up against a large grassy field at the edge of the university property.  Birds chirped and danced in the sunlit grass. I enjoyed the warm afternoon air despite Tony's cryptic euphoria.

Featured Creature: A Room at the Alta Viso

Rocco waited until the last car had passed before he slid under the plastic tarp and into the building.  The sun was almost set and in the long shadows he was sure no one could see him.  He moved quietly through the dust and darkening rooms.  On cold nights, the Alta Viso building was his secret spot, at least for now. 

The second night he'd slept here, Rocco overheard two contractors discussing the pending renovation of the Alta Viso.  The old business plaza had approval pending as an historical landmark.  This meant that any renovations were on hold until the approval passed. From the way the contractors had talked, it sounded like the process would take months.  Rocco had slept here every night since.

As he snuck through the lobby and past the scaffolding he noticed the doorway to the basement hung ajar.  The fetid odor of rot and sewage drifted up through the open door.  No renovations there yet, he thought.  He rushed up the stairs.

Featured Creature: The Judgement of Winter

I've been giving it some thought and I think I finally understand the reason small children are instinctively terrified of Saint Nick.  Children do not have the filters in place that we develop as we age.  They sense what we've all glossed over or forgotten: Santa Claus is a Judge.