Quitetly, Quiggly stepped into the darkness as he stealthily approached and steeled his nerves for the task ahead.
What to do? Where to start? Well, he had to start somewhere and the only thing in the area was the old farmhouse. There was no time for contemplation; the longer he stood and thought, the more nervous he became. No, the sooner he started, the sooner he would be finished and able to flee into the safety of the nearby woods. A few seconds ticked by and Quiggly took one last look at the night sky, now darkly shrouded by the ever-present dark blue of a cloudy night. Then he turned and rushed into the dark towards the dilapidated structure. He never looked back.
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Sensing the dark approach of Quiggly, Mister McFurry stepped in his front door and stared with great anticipation at the approaching form of the small animal. He had gotten quite accustomed to Quiggly and the two had developed a casual friendship over the months. A chill ran down his spine as he thought, “I should have left him out there and let the coyote or a fox take care of the problem…He’s too curious; they’d just bring him back to torment me.” Still, he couldn’t help but be curious.
He moved back into the shadowy living room and listened. An eerie silence filled the entire neighborhood and night birds had joined the black of night sky. Quiggly’s hooves approached closer and he heard the rattle of a latch being locked. It would be just his luck that, in his nervousness, he would fail to open the door. There was no choice. It would be now or never.
Quiggly slowly opened the door and with great difficulty stepped into the darkness of the farmhouse. “Y-you’re too late, McFurry,” he exclaimed, feeling almost ashamed. He sat down slowly in the darkness, too tired to even attempt to remove his hat. “I just ran out of courage.” The soft snicker of the cat from across the room gave him pause; he had not expected this. He thought perhaps there was a glimmer of hope left. However, the sound of a cat sneezing sent his hopeful thoughts back to the floor.
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As Quiggly’s steps receded into the shadows, McFurry slowly walked forward and lifted the front of the hat from Quiggly’s head. The boy’s face was red and his breathing was short as he leaned back against the wall. Still, he did not seem the least bit surprised.
In the darkened hallway, two red sparks of light flew towards the door. Suddenly, a loud, hollow pop accompanied by a low, menacing growl of static filled the building. It was the sound of an electrical circuit breaking…a fuse had just been blown.
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McFurry looked up into the dark corners of the room. He could see a faint, glowing red light at the corner of the ceiling, but nothing else. “I don’t believe it,” he thought. “The lights are on, but I don’t see no flicker…” He walked quickly up the short hallway towards the living room in order to see a better source of light in which to conduct his investigations. The glow of the red light on the wall grew brighter as he walked towards the living room, then suddenly the red light was gone as he rounded the corner of the hallway.
In the middle of the living room, in the middle of the couch sat a strange creature. It was about six feet tall, with a long muzzle, two powerful forearms, a thick back, and strange eyes. Its large black-furred head was topped with a large beak, its dark, lifeless eyes staring straight ahead.
It continued to sit in the middle of the living room as if it hadn’t moved since the first red light lit up the walls of its eyes. As the creature sat, a black mist poured into its throat. A low, droning sound began to permeate the air. Quiggly started to walk towards the strange creature when he was seized from behind. At the same time, another red light came on from the corner of the living room. This red light illuminated a large, black silhouette above the creature’s right shoulder. The figure appeared to be holding something in its left hand.
Fear overcame Quiggly’s every fibre and the strength of his legs gave out as he fell to the floor. His breathing was fast and short as he slowly got back to his feet. Then, just as he got back on his feet, another red light appeared beside him. The black silhouette’s other arm quickly followed and then, in his vision, two more figures came into view. The strange creature, too, had been joined by two other, identical figures, one on each side of it. Two red lights shone brightly as their hands reached for Quiggly. He managed to duck under a red hand and turned to run towards the dark corner of the room, but the red hands had already latched on to him and he fell to the floor.
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The young boy had fallen in total darkness. “This was a mistake,” he thought. “I should have listened to my instincts and run away when I had the chance. This was all a mistake.” He had been dragged to the corner of the room where the dark figure waited in the darkness. Two other black figures appeared in front of him and lifted him onto their shoulder. One of the figures then began to drag him slowly across the floor. The young boy continued to see nothing as he was dragged off into the darkness. As he was pulled away, he heard the sound of many footsteps, but could see nothing and heard no voices. The sound of footsteps grew louder and louder, then gradually faded to nothing. As he struggled to free himself from the arms that held him, the boy began to sob quietly. Suddenly, a red glow appeared directly in front of his face. The bright, red light fell on his face for a few seconds.
Quiggly could see a large dark shape sitting in the middle of the living room. With his free hand, he put the back of his hand to his eyes and was just able to make out the outline of a huge creature sitting in the middle of the living room. The creature appeared to have a round body, short legs, and long forelimbs. It had no nose, but on the top of its head it had two large black eyes that glowed faintly as it looked into the living room. It tilted its head back in an apparent gesture of curiosity as a droning sound rose up from its throat. After a while, the creature turned and looked into the hallway that lead to the outside of the building. Quiggly immediately stood up, but the creature had already turned its large head and seen him. The boy instinctively fell backwards as the creature raised its right arm to strike him. Just as it stretched its arm out, a faint sound burst through the air, and two red lights appeared on the creature’s broad back.
A large black figure came into view beside the creature’s back and moved quickly towards the strange creature. The creature had obviously been stunned for the red lights had affected it greatly. The dark figure struck it from behind and the creature fell backwards onto the floor, unconscious. Then the black figure lifted Quiggly in his arms and held him above the creature. He looked around the room.
In front of him, Quiggly could see a large dark mass lying on the floor, but he couldn’t make out any features. There were no eyes or mouth or any other part of the creature that made it obvious what the creature was. The creature’s body began to tremble and then slowly began to glow. Suddenly, the figure in black raised his right arm and plunged a metallic spike deep into the creature’s chest. A large black flash lit up the room as the creature died.
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The dark figure knelt down in front of Quiggly and lifted the boy to his knees. “Now,” it said, “Now, I have two questions for you.” In the dim light of the living room, he appeared vaguely humanoid, but the bright flash of red light that emitted from his chest left little doubt as to what he truly was. “Answer my questions and I will let you go,” it said in a low, soft voice. “Remember, your freedom depends on your answers.”
“Yes,” the young boy said weakly. “Yes, what?”
“First,” said the creature, “Why did you run away?”
“I was frightened,” he said, and tried to hide his tears from the creature.
“Wrong answer,” it said. “Your tears show you are lying. Who are you?”
“It’s me, McFurry. I’m from the house,” he tried to explain.
The creature remained quiet for a few seconds, then continued, “Second, I will ask you the same question I asked you when we first met. Why did you kill the boy?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” said the boy, trembling. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just saw him lying in the corner, so I went in and dragged him away.”
“I think you do know what I’m talking about,” said the creature, “or do you really think I would
