Tale:The Monster

It's been almost 27 years since that day, but I still remember that day so clearly. For extra context, I was 17 then, I'm 44 now, and this happened about two and a half hours outside Cheyenne.

It was a Friday afternoon on November 27th, 1998, and I found myself sitting in the passenger-side seat of the car that belonged to my at-the-time boyfriend, Ricky.

The pair of us were heading out to my boyfriend's ranch for a weekend alone out there, since his parents were on some vacation somewhere at the time. We spent the duration of the short car ride from town to his ranch chatting about teenager stuff, while whatever music was popular back then played on the radio.

Everything had gone perfectly normal until we turned onto the road that Ricky's family had their ranch on. As we chatted about god-knows-what, the music on the radio stopped, and was replaced a second later by the ear-wrenching sound of an EAS alert. These alerts were rather new at the time, so we hadn't heard many before, however anytime we had heard one, it had always been just a test. We assumed it was no different this time. We were wrong.

"On request of the Mysterious Entity Tracking and Historical Organizational Society, a civil danger warning has been issued for Carbon County Wyoming, effective immediately, and remaining in affect until sunrise tomorrow morning. Citizens are urged to shelter in place, and report any sightings of animals that are of unfamiliar species to the authorities. This is not a test."

Me and Ricky were understandably a little freaked out by this alert. We had heard alerts that weren't tests a few times before, but they had all been for regional weather advisories, not for... whatever this was.

As the car pulled into the driveway, Ricky turned his head to look at me and asked the question we had both been thinking.

"What the fuck is 'animals that are of unfamiliar species' supposed to mean!?" he asked, sounding a bit freaked out. I stopped to think for a few seconds, trying to work out any plausible answer.

"Maybe some exotic animal escaped from a circus?" I suggested, though that answer made no sense, even to me.

"If it was some sort of escaped circus animal, they'd just say in the alert that an elephant or lion, or whatever escaped, not be that vague about it." Ricky replied. "Plus, why would an alert like that be sent by MYTHOS of all organizations, Sam?"

"I guess you're right," I replied, getting out of Ricky's car, followed by Ricky himself. "Lets just head indoors and stay put like they said." I suggest.

Ricky agreed and we headed into the house. At first the two of us tried to stay on guard, but that lasted no more than five minutes before we settled down on the couch in his basement and cuddled. Neither mine, nor Ricky's parents knew we were dating, and we intended to keep it that way, so moments like these where we were free to be affectionate were rare.

I'm not sure how long we stayed like that, but it was a while. Eventually, Ricky sat up suddenly.

"What is it?" I asked, now slightly on edge.

"We should check on the horses," Ricky said, "Just to be safe, with whatever creature could be lurking around out there, I don't want anything to happen to them. My parents would kill me if something did."

I nodded, "Sure, probably a good idea." I told him. We put on our jackets and boots, and then headed out the front door. It was after 5pm, so the sun had mostly set by then, and in addition to that, a strong wind blew, carrying clouds of snow with it. Ricky and I walked around the side of the house, which led us out into the field that spread out behind it.

About fifty yards from the back of the house was the fenced-in area where the horses roamed, and behind that, was the treeline where the nearby patch of woods ended. As the two of us tromped through the snow towards the horses' pen I could tell that Ricky was starting to grow uneasy.

"What's wrong?" I asked Ricky quietly. Ricky kept gazing ahead, but he responded.

"The horses," he replied, "They're acting very uneasy."

I didn't know much about horses at the time, but after watching them for a few seconds, I could tell Ricky was right. There were four horses in the pen, and all of them were facing away from us, and towards the woods. Not only that, their ears were fully perked, and they stamped at the ground with their hooves, similar to how a dog does when it senses a storm approaching.

"You think its the weather?" I asked Ricky, who shook his head slowly in response.

"Nah, the weather isn't acting in a particularly unusual way." Ricky said, "Plus, they'll stand outside in a thunderstorm as if nothing's happening. A cold wind isn't going to phase them."

As we reached the fence of the horse pen, the four horses finally turned to look at us. One of them let out an uneasy whinny and shook it's head back and forth, it's eyes wide.

"I'm gonna see if I can calm them down and see what's bothering them." Ricky said, opening the gate in the fence. "Stay out here in case something spooks them, I don't want you to be kicked or trampled."

I nodded, not wanting to have those things happen to myself either. Ricky pulled the gate open and walked into the pen. One of the horses trotted over to him. Ricky raised his arm and slowly pet the horse, who stopped stamping at the ground, but still stared wide-eyed at the trees.

"He's tense." Ricky said, warily. "That's a predator response."

When he said that, I could feel my pulse getting a bit faster. "Shit," I spoke quietly, "You think it's like a bear or a mountain lion or something?"

"Could be..." Ricky responded slowly, "But those aren't seen much around here, and when they are its a big deal."

Suddenly, the horse that Ricky was trying to calm reared up with an alarmed whinny, causing Ricky to stumble and fall backward.

"Whoa there! Easy boy!" Ricky said as he got up from the snow. The horse that had knocked Ricky off his feet took off with a gallop to the other end of the pen, and the other three horses quickly followed suit. Now me and Ricky were staring at the woods. My heart pounded in my chest, and I could tell Ricky was freaked out as well.

Snap! Clear as day, the both of us heard the sound of a stick breaking somewhere in the woods nearby. Next, and even more alarmingly, we heard the sound of snow crunching under a pair of feet. I looked over at Ricky, who glanced at me, before something caught his eye and his head snapped back towards the trees.

Following his gaze, I saw something that made me stifle a breath. In between the split in a tree was a small light that cast a purple glow out in front of it. Freaked out, but curious nonetheless, I took a few steps towards it, against my better judgement.

"SAM NO!" Ricky suddenly yelled at me, and with a loud hiss and a clank, whatever it was that casted the purple light, lunged forward into the split in the tree.

Before my brain could process what it was I was even looking at, other than some metal claws, and a flash of teeth I felt my fight or flight response kick in, as my legs already began to move.

Ricky slid under the fence and started running alongside me, while I turned to give a brief glance at whatever had just tried to bite my face off. Between the split in the tree, something with a black and white body patterned like a Holstein thrashed and squirmed as it tried to get itself unstuck from the tree.

"Eyes forward!" Ricky instructed me as we ran as fast as we could towards the back of Ricky's parent's house. I did what Ricky instructed, but more noises coming from behind caused me to look back again. My attacker had freed itself from the tree, and was now emerging from behind the far end of the fence. This is when I got my first good glimpse of it.

It was black and white like a dairy cow, but that is where any similarities ended. It had a long, sleek body, and a stiff tail, carried by a pair of long metal legs. Before it turned its head to stare right at me, I was also able to make out what looked to be metal in the side of its face, and a glowing eye that must've been the source of the light me and Ricky had seen.

As it turned to stare me down, I shifted my gaze forward again, and picked up the pace, Ricky only a pace or two ahead. We both reached the back door of the house at about the same time, which Ricky hastily unlocked and pulled open. He ushered me inside, before pulling the door closed behind him.

Right as the door shut, I saw the thing that tried to attack me slowly, but steadily, trotting down the field towards the house. Ricky locked the door once it was shut, and we both quickly ran to the front of the house to lock the front door as well. I pulled the curtains down over the main living room windows.

"What do we do now?" Ricky asked frantically, checking the windows.

"Call the police I guess?" I replied uncertainly.

Ricky nodded, "Right," he said as he walked over to the telephone. Ricky picked up the phone, and after pausing to look at me, he dialed for the police. The room was completely silent for several seconds, until Ricky swore.

"Shit!" he hissed angrily, putting the phone down.

"What? What's going on?" I asked Ricky anxiously.

"High line traffic." he replied. "I guess we'll just have to wait this out..."

I sighed nervously and looked around. Ricky could tell I was scared, and he walked over to me and gave me a tight hug. I took a deep breath and hugged him back. When we let go of each other, we just stood in silence.

We both jumped when we heard a tapping and scratching sound coming from the back door.

"Oh fuck!" I murmured quietly, clutching my hands together.

"It's alright love..." Ricky tried reassuring me, but I could tell by the look in his eyes and the sound of his breathing that he was just as afraid as I was. I glanced around at the windows again, but this time my eye caught movement outside one of the kitchen windows. The black and white head of the thing from before was visible through that window. It seemed to just be standing there, natural side of its face turned towards us, watching the two of us through a single bird-like red eye. Ricky saw me staring at the window, and noticed it too. He took a deep breath before he began to yell at the thing.

"GET OUT! GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE!" Ricky yelled, "I DON'T KNOW WHAT IN THE HELL YOU ARE, BUT YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE!"

The creature didn't do anything for a second, but then it began to laugh. It's laugh was a terrible, growly sound, which were reminiscent of the sound of barking hounds. We just stood there, frozen in horror as the monster laughed before ducking out of sight.

"It laughed. I just fucking LAUGHED at us!" I cried in fear and shock. Ricky didn't even say anything, he just nodded frantically.

Then our attention was once again grabbed by the sound of more scratching, this time at the living room windows. Through the blinds we could see the silhouette of our tormentor. I had seen what it looked like already, while running from it, but now with nowhere left to go, I just stared at it, noticing a few features of its silhouette that I hadn't noticed. Firstly I noticed the crest of plumage adorning it's head, that seemed to shift in the wind. Secondly, I got a good look at its forearms. They looked almost like the wings of a bird, but we could also clearly make out the claw protruding from each of them.

It turned its head to stare at the curtains, once again allowing the purple light of its left eye to illuminate. It stared for a moment, until it turned its head forward again, and slipped away from the living room window.

It was out of sight, for now, but far from out of mind. Ricky quickly ran to his room, and came back with a baseball bat. For about ten minutes, nothing happened. I was almost starting to think the thing was gone, but that only lasted so long.

All my naïve hopes were gone as soon as we heard the sound of a window in one of the bedrooms shattering. Ricky and I both leapt to our feet. I grabbed a knife from the dish strainer, and Ricky had picked up the baseball bat. Slowly, the pair of us made our way to Ricky's parents room, where the sound of the shattered window had come from.

Slowly, I pushed the door open, feeling a gust of cold air as I did. I peered into the room, just long enough to see the monster's head slip back through the window.

"Ricky!" I cried, "I just saw it! It was sticking its head through the broken window!"

Ricky stepped past me into the room.

"Shit, what am I going to tell my parents?" Ricky asked, more to himself than anyone else.

"Well, at least the window it broke is too small for it to get inside the house through?" I said, trying to find anything good about our predicament.

"Yessss, ya'll is real lucky that window ain't big enough for me to get through..." a feminine voice with a southern drawl interrupted from outside the window. Ricky and I just froze in place as she spoke. "I'll find my way inside, just a matter a' time."

Ricky and I quickly ran out of the room and slammed the door shut behind us.

"Come on," Ricky said, "We're gonna go get my dad's gun."

I followed Ricky downstairs into the basement, where he led me to a safe under the stairs.

"Take the bat." Ricky said, handing the baseball bat for me. I took it from him and stood guard as he knelt down to unlock the safe. My heart pounded in my chest as Ricky turned the dial in the safe. Ricky got the safe open, and grabbed his dad's pistol out from inside. He pulled the magazine out of the bottom of the grip, and began loading rounds into it. Once that was done, Ricky stood up, holding the pistol carefully.

"Alright," Ricky said, "Let's head back upstairs."

That was a decision we never should have made. I walked behind Ricky as we made our way up the stairs. He had the pistol pointed upwards towards the ceiling, to prevent any accidents. We reached the top of the stairs, and Ricky paused to look around a couple times. I walked over towards one of the armchairs, wanting to sit, but still feeling too paranoid to allow myself to relax.

"It's okay babe, if that goddamn cyborg bird monster gets in somehow, I'll blow it's fucking brains out." Ricky said with a smirk, seeing my hesitation. For a moment, I felt genuinely safe with him there to protect me. But that feeling was shattered along with one of the living room windows, as that same monster lunged straight through it.

I leapt backwards into the armchair, which toppled over from the sheer force of me hitting it. The monster tore through the curtain and went straight for Ricky, who barely had any time to react before she clamped her jaws down on his right arm, causing him to yelp in pain. Ricky fired two shots, but both of them just went into the wall as the monster dragged him violently across the floor, causing Ricky to drop the pistol. I found myself unable to do anything but stare in horror as the monster dragged Ricky into the kitchen. Ricky, bless his soul, still tried to desperately fight his way out of the monster's grip, by punching and kicking at her, as well as tearing out fistfuls of her feathers.

The monster tossed Ricky, who landed with a crash out of my view in the kitchen. The monster shook her head, before lunging in after him. What followed was a gut wrenching cacophony of breaking glasses, animalistic snarls, screams, and most sickeningly, the sound of flesh being torn. This went on for a minute before finally ending abruptly with a disturbing crunch.

The reality of what had just happened began to hit me like a freight train as the silence was interrupted again by the sound of tearing flesh. Ricky was dead. That thing killed him, and now it was eating him! Shock and horror quickly turned to grief and rage as I came to that realization. My breath quickened as I pushed the armchair off of me, and I focused my eyes on the pistol that now lay on the floor.

I crawled towards it with great determination as I heard the metallic clank of the monster's feet drawing nearer. I reached the pistol just as the monster peered around the corner, her cybernetic eye bathing me in purple light. With a rush of adrenaline, I picked up the pistol and aimed it towards the monster. She started to run towards the window she had came in through, and I shot. I fired three shots, the first two missing, but the third one, it struck the monster right in her cybernetic eye.

She screeched in pain and sparks sprayed and crackled from the eye, as she flung herself through the window, and out into the snow. I got up quickly and ran to the window, intent on finishing her off, but she was gone. I dropped the pistol and tried to slow my breathing, but as my mind flipped back to my brutalized lover, I found myself unable to do so as hyperventilation set in. The last thing I remember is being hit with a huge wave of dissociation as I sat down on the windowsill, before it all went dark.

The next thing I remember is a large man in a dark green uniform setting me down on a gurney in the back of an armored vehicle, where a nurse took my temperature and asked me a bunch of questions I didn't know how to answer.

"What about Ricky...?" I asked weakly.

The nurse's face fell, and she just shook her head.