Malleus

They were travelling for 20 minutes at that point. Driving through the Thornwick Pass Highway at night was a challenging experience. Night driving always is. You need to pay twice as much attention.

The girls were sleeping now. At last, Marcus could listen to the radio without his daughters' interference.

Ruby and Chloe had spent the day fighting. It's tough – they try to be nice to each other, but it's becoming difficult to keep both of them happy in the same small space.

Marcus Kellerman was trying to keep his family together. But he knew Chloe wouldn't come on these trips much longer. She was getting too old for family vacations.

Marcus was looking for a new radio station, skipping some of the radio stations on the dial until he finally found one he liked.

"This is KSCREAM 99.3, and we're going to rock you all night long. I'm DJ Dylan Foster."

"And I'm Casey Tyler. Don't fall asleep on us. We'll keep you company until 6:00 a.m. Right now you're listening to Blue Ribbon's new single, Can You Keep a Secret".

Marcus looked over at his wife. He knew she'd be sleeping, but he checked anyway. They had arrived at Thornwick National Forest after six long hours of driving.

The temperature had dropped, and Marcus turned the RV's heat up a bit. Light rain had started. Marcus turned to look at the girls. And without warning.

CRASH.

Something huge slammed into the passenger side, shaking the whole RV. The steering wheel ripped from his hands as the vehicle swerved, then tipped. The world spun into a blur. Inside, everything became a crashing mess – coffee mugs, glass and gear – all hitting the walls and ceiling.

The RV tumbled on the tarmac, each roll creating new sounds of screaming metal and breaking things.

With one last heavy crash, the RV slid to a stop on its side. The engine hissed, and steam rose into the rain. The headlights flickered out, leaving only darkness. In the sudden quiet, he heard it—slow, heavy footsteps circling the wrecked vehicle.

***

It was the third night at her new assignment. Eleanor Finch had prepared herself for the months ahead in the best way possible. She brought everything from canned goods to her inseparable reading device. She didn't care about what people said about not reading real books, and after all, she had a lot of spare time, meaning a lot of books and a lot of extra weight.

After preparing a cup of coffee, she grabbed her binoculars to have a look at how things were going in the middle of nowhere. It was a cold October night, and Ellie grabbed her jacket before going outside.

Wilderness was her world; she was sure of that. Her adoptive father had taught her all he could, being a retired ranger himself.

David and Margaret Finch were unable to have children. During a trip to find and adopt a child, they went to the Saint Agatha Orphanage. That afternoon, Ellie found a new family, and the Finches found a daughter they could love as their own.

Eleanor's real parents had died in a train accident when she was only four years of age. Her real mother had only a young sister trying to make a living for herself in cosmopolitan London. Ellie's real aunt didn't want to or couldn't do anything to help her, so she went up for adoption.

Likely the best thing that could have happened to her.

David and Margaret enjoyed outdoor living and tried their best to provide Eleanor with a regular life.

The cold wind and the door's thud brought her back. The tower was on a hill about 2 to 3 miles from the road below, and its height of 60 feet made it the perfect observation post for miles.

Ellie had been observing the moving vehicle for a while now. From afar, she couldn't distinguish what kind or size it was, but in the complete darkness below, she saw the vehicle lights swerving and then coming to a halt.

In that moment, she realised something wasn't right and the people in that vehicle would need some kind of help.

She jumped backwards, holding the door to get inside.

Then grabbed the radio microphone with shaking hands.

"Base, this is Thornwick Tower. Come in, over." Nothing.

Static.

She tried again. "Forest Service Base, this is Ranger Finch at Thornwick Tower. I have an emergency on Highway 47. Please respond, over."

Nothing but white noise filled the small cabin.

"Anyone out there? This is Thornwick Tower calling any station. Send immediate assistance for a vehicle accident on Highway 47, about two miles south of my position. Over."

She waited. The radio crackled, but no voice came through.

Still nothing.

She couldn't wait any longer, so she grabbed her medical kit from under the radio table and, by instinct, an old backpack left by the previous ranger. She stuffed two bottles of water and a flashlight inside and went all the way down the 60-foot stairs.

***

Thanks to their seat belts, Marcus and Jennifer Kellerman were okay. But the girls were sleeping, and bounced around while the RV was rolling on the asphalt, but with no big consequences.

"Jenny, are you okay? Girls?" Marcus was shouting in a loud and desperate voice.

He unbuckled his seat belt, facing the RV roof under his knees.

"Dad, Dad!" shouted Chloe. "I can't see where Ruby is. Back here is a big mess."

"Don't worry, honey, I'm coming to you. Stay still, OK? We'll find your sister."

"Marcus, my forehead is bleeding," said Jenny, trying to stop it with an old Ruby T-shirt she found lying around beside her.

Marcus crawled to the end of the RV, but the inverted roof had everything mixed and scattered. He looked and touched Chloe for a while, checking on her.

"Ruby, are you okay? Ruby, where are you?" They all started shouting but got no answer.

"Jenny, I'm coming to you," said Marcus.

"I'm going outside to look for Ruby," said Jenny with a weaker voice tone now.

"Don't move, Mom. Wait for Dad, and we'll all go outside looking for her."

"Exactly, Jenny, wait for me."

"No, no, I'm going out now," and she crawled to the passenger seat, making her way out.

Ellie arrived at the crash scene and parked her Range Rover not very far away. From her point of view, she saw someone getting out of the front passenger window of the RV. She heard voices from inside the vehicle.

"I'm going outside to look for Ruby," Ellie heard a woman's voice say.

"Don't move, Mom. Wait for Dad, and we'll all go outside looking for her."

"Exactly, Jenny, wait for me."

From far away, Ellie saw the woman trying to stand up, holding herself on the side of the RV.

"Lady, are you okay? Lady?"

The woman turned to look at who was talking to her.

"I am looking for my youngest daughter. Have you seen her?"

Ellie pointed her flashlight toward the woman, and without warning, from the front of the vehicle, a deformed creature appeared. A figure about two meters tall began walking forward. The creature was nothing like anything Ellie had ever seen.

Its body was huge and wrong. Thick black fur covered muscles that stuck out in weird places. The arms were too long, hanging down to the ground with white claws that shone in the flashlight. Its legs bent back like a wolf's, but it stood up like a person.

The head was the worst. A wolf's mouth stretched too wide, full of yellow, sharp teeth. Its eyes glowed red in the dark, its pointed ears moving to locate the nearest sound, but it looked smart. This wasn't a wild animal. It was watching them.

The creature turned its head, looking at the family like a hunter picking its target. Spit dripped from its open mouth as it stepped closer. Its big paws made no noise on the road.

This thing was choosing which one to grab first.

It was inevitable; she couldn't react or defend herself.

Jenny's head snapped when struck by the creature. Without a sound or an expression, her head hit the side of the RV, and she landed in a pool of blood on the asphalt.

Ellie grabbed her service gun from the holster, and the creature looked at her.

"Jenny!" called Marcus from inside the RV. "What is happening? Don't move away from the vehicle!"

It was too late. The creature now changed its attention from Ellie to the voice inside the RV. Claws sharp as steel, ripping metal and glass like paper, made their way with nothing to stop them.

Inside the RV, Marcus helped Chloe to exit.

From the opposite side, Chloe made her way out. Inside the RV, both Ellie and Chloe could hear the creature looking for its next victim.

Ellie shouted as loud as she could to catch the girl's attention.

"Hey, you! Come here!"

Chloe waved her blood-soaked hands while running in Ellie's direction.

"I don't know where my sister is, officer," mumbled the girl in panic.

"She's lying on the grass under that tree." Ellie pointed toward the rear of the RV, showing the spot.

Seeing her decapitated mother, the girl screamed, covering her eyes and holding herself so as not to pass out.

Then, both heard a sharp scream at the same time. Blood splattered from the window Chloe had escaped through. Her dad was the beast's second victim; he had no time to escape, and for Marcus Kellerman, it was too late.

"We've got to go," said Ellie to Chloe.

"But my dad..."

"He's gone. We need to get your sister and get out of here."

Both ran in Ruby's direction, and they could hear the creature already trying to force its way out to finish them all.

Ellie picked up the unconscious body from the floor. Turning around, then flashed the light in Chloe's face.

"It's coming. I'll make light, but you've got to run as fast as you can in front of me, OK?"

Chloe nodded and ran. The best option, Ellie thought, would be to run toward the trees. It was the creature's territory, but it was their only chance.

Running at night in the middle of a forest with a child on her back wasn't an easy matter. Ellie knew it was a matter of life or death.

Ellie didn't stop looking back. She could hear the creature and the thudding sounds on its trail.

"Officer," Chloe said, "this way. I found something ahead."

From far away, Ellie saw an old cabin, something coming out of an end-of-the-world movie.

"Inside, let's get inside!" Ellie shouted to the girl. "It's the only way we can buy some time to think about something." The three of them entered the old cabin, locking its old door behind them.

Ellie put Ruby on top of the table and laid the backpacks down on the floor. "Girl, what's your name?"

"Chloe. My name is Chloe, and yours, officer?"

"Eleanor Finch, but everyone calls me Ellie."

"And your sister, Chloe, what's her name?"

"Ruby. Her name is Ruby. Do you know any first aid, by the way, Ellie?"

"Yes," I checked her, Ellie said. "She's okay, she bumped her head when she flew off the RV."

By now, they had reinforced the front door with the chair. Everything was quiet, and they could have cut the tension with a knife if they had one.

"Ellie, do you have any water? I need some, please."

"Wait, I have a couple of bottles in my backpack."

Ellie grabbed her backpack from the floor to look for the water bottles. She also took a look at the previous ranger's pack to see if it had something useful. Then touched what seemed like a book or a diary.

"Chloe, go check on your sister. Try to give her a bit of water as well."

Pulling it out of the backpack, she could see the old cover. She opened it to have a look, and on the page was one sentence: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid," repeated.

Ellie turned to check on the girls, seeing Chloe kneeling with Ruby's head in her lap.

"Ruby, are you okay?" asked Ellie. "How are you feeling now?"

Ruby tried to turn her head to look around and check to see what was happening, and then she saw Ellie.

"Chloe, what's going on?" asked Ruby. "Who is she? Is she a cop or something? And where are Mom and Dad?"

"No, Ruby, she is a park ranger. She's been helping us since the accident."

From her spot, Ellie could see tears coming down Chloe's face, but she tried to look stronger than she was.

"Don't worry, Ruby. I will explain later. Rest for now."

Ellie read the diary. She saw two or three different handwritings, all saying the same thing – different points of view of the same situation. There were mentions of apparitions of different folkloric creatures, but all entries stopped. The dates were quite far apart from one another, except for the last entry.

The girls heard a loud bang outside, and they looked at the door at the same time. They could see the door shaking from the attacks of the creature outside.

Moving the flashlight around the room, the two girls held each other, looking frightened.

Under the table, Ellie saw a trapdoor.

The front door broke under the creature's attacks. Ellie shouted to the girls, "Ruby, Chloe! Let's go through that trapdoor. Look for something to defend ourselves."

Chloe was forcing it, but it seemed locked from the inside. Ellie pushed the table to the side and grabbed her sidearm.

"Girls, step aside," she said, and fired twice at the lock, making two holes close to each other.

Ellie lifted the trapdoor and saw a wooden staircase going down into a complete black hole. She sent Ruby and Chloe down first. Before going down, Ellie turned the table upside down and ripped off one of its legs. Before going downstairs, she blocked the trapdoor with the table leg. Then, with the flashlight, she looked for the girls.

"Chloe, Ruby, where are you girls?" Silence. Then she asked again, "Chloe, Ruby, where are you?"

Looking with the flashlight to find them, she saw both girls behind an old cupboard.

Looking around with the flashlight, Ellie moved toward the girls. From the same direction where they stood, she heard someone saying something:

"No, no! You brought them here! What have you done? Now they know where I am, and this will be the end of us. You don't know them. They feed on your fear. They haven't tried to kill you yet because they want you to be as scared as you can be."

"Who are you? Why are you hidden here? Why didn't you say anything when we were upstairs?"

Ellie could recognise the man in the old uniform; he was the previous ranger before her. This was Peter, who was hiding in the cabin for days.

"Peter? Everyone's been looking for you! What's going on up there?"

Peter stepped closer, his face gaunt and haunted. "Those things... I call them Malleus. They're ancient alien forms and evil creatures that feed on fear before they kill. They need vital energy, our souls, to mutate and grow stronger."

He gestured toward the ceiling as another loud crash echoed from above. "They cannot look like humans because they lack energy. But once they kill, once our souls transfer to them... they become more powerful, more like us. This is their plan."

"How do we stop them?" Ellie whispered, pulling the girls closer.

"You don't stop them, at least so far, I don't know how. For now, you run." Peter pulled out a heavy-duty flashlight from his belt. "I've been saving this for an emergency. The battery is fresh, and it's our best chance."

The ceiling above them splintered with a deafening crack. Wood and debris rained down as something massive broke through.

"Go! Now!" Peter shouted, grabbing Ellie's sidearm from her hands. "There's an exit door at the far end of this room!"

The beast fell – a hybrid of werewolf with unfinished, disgusting, deformed limbs. It let out a loud shriek.

Peter positioned himself between the beast and the others. "Run! Don't look back!"

In an act of desperation, Ellie grabbed Ruby's hand while Chloe ran after them. They sprinted, their flashlights slicing through the darkness.. Behind them, they could hear Peter's gunshots and the creature's enraged roars.

One last look back – Ellie wanted to look at the face of the man who saved them. But it was too late. The creature had its sharp teeth in Peter's neck. With brutal force, it tore Peter's head from his body. Blood poured from the gash in his neck, painting all around him red.

After what felt like an eternity of running, they heard the rushing sound of water echoing through the trees.

"There!" Chloe pointed ahead with her flashlight beam.

They emerged at the edge of a high cascade, water thundering down into the darkness below. The beast's footsteps pounded closer behind them.

"We have to jump!" Ellie shouted over the roar of the waterfall.

The creature burst from the nearby trees, its grotesque form illuminated by their flashlights for a terrifying moment.

Without another word, all three leapt into the unknown depths below, the beast's furious howl following them into the darkness.

Chloe was holding Ruby's hands, and she didn't let go, but as they fell, Ellie couldn't shake the feeling that this was only the beginning...