10-30 Chap 1 redux Moose42's MHI Fan Fiction *Spoiler Alert*

[moose42]

AND NOW THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF HORRIFYING HORROR!

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Chapter 11
The Cave

I’m not sure how much time had passed, it could have been hours or just a few seconds. I was experiencing complete sensory deprivation. My ears were ringing, my eyes hurt in a futile search for the tiniest hint of light. I heard a cough, it was Kat thank goodness.

“Is everyone ok?” I asked the darkness.

Kat coughed she was only a couple of feet away. “I think so.”

Trip moaned, “Oh, my head.”

A fourth squeaky voice called out, “Me ok too!”

“Good, everyone is accounted for…” then it hit me; there were only three of us. I fumbled for the switch on my weapon light, and swung the barrel in the direction of the fourth voice. Searing white light blinded us all. I blinked, and squinted, a small filthy little green creature was frantically covering his eyes from the high intensity beam of light.

“No shoots! No shoots!” It squealed.

Trip stood up and aimed his weapon at the frightened little monster, “What the heck is that thing?”

Kat came up beside me, “Well whatever it is, it doesn’t look dangerous.”

“Me no dang er uss.” It pleaded in broken English.

I lowered my rifle but kept it shouldered in case I had to drill it. Without a light directly in its eyes the little creature uncovered its face. It looked vaguely like a human, but it had extremely long ears and large eyes. Its skin was a brownish green and had several old wounds, crisscrossing its arms and legs. It was wearing dirty rags for a loin cloth and it carried a child’s back pack. It was scrunched up so it was hard to tell but it couldn’t have been much over two feet tall. The poor little thing didn’t have a bit of fat anywhere on its body.

“Who are you?” I asked

The filthy little green beast ran its fingers through its thin hair, “Me name Choo Toi.”

“Chew Toy?” I asked incredulously. The little green guy nodded. He blinked his large brown eyes and turned his head to the side like a confused dog.

Kat let her M4 hang on its sling. “Hey Chew Toy are you hungry?” She asked, in a friendly tone of voice. His ears perked up at the mention of food.

“Choo Toi, no eats in tree day.” It whined. Kat pulled out an energy bar and unwrapped it. The little critter nervously reached out a filthy green three fingered hand snatched the piece of crumbly food. It turned the new strange food around and around smelling it with its small green nose. After a moment he must have figured it was ok to eat and ravenously devoured it.

Trip tried reaching our teammates on the radio but received no reply. Frustrated he growled “What is that thing?”

Chew Toy shrunk back his shoulders slumping, as he tried to hide his head with its arm.

“Trip, be nice to the poor creature!” she snapped, she turned to the little green thing and asked in a sweet voice, “It’s ok, what kind of creature are you.” She held out another chunk of energy bar.

He took the offered food and after devouring it he squeaked, “Choo Toi, is Gob Inn.”

Kat and I looked at each other, “A Goblin?” I asked. The little green guy nodded in the affirmative. “Is this your home?” I asked him.

The goblins lower lip began to quiver, he looked like he was going to cry. “No Gob Inn, home far.” He breathed heavily, “Me taken by Vamp Ear, home is Kal if Horn Eee ah.”

Kat sighed, “Aww, the poor little guy was kidnapped from his home and abused by Vampires for fun. That’s horrible.” She handed him the last chunk of sugary goodness. He didn’t snatch it this time, he just gently grabbed it.

“So Chew Toy, why didn’t you run away when we came in the cave.” I asked him.

The little goblin pointed to his leg, his mouth full of food, he tried to walk, limping badly. “Me egg hurt.” I realized my rifle was hanging; so I turned on my helmet light.

Katrina squatted down in front of the little beast and held out her arms, “Well I guess that means I’ll have to carry you.”

Tripp shook his head, “No, no way! As senior Hunter I say we leave it here to…” Kat shot Tripp a look that could have melted a hole in the side of a tank. “Fine, but I think you’re making a big mistake.”

Chew Toy crawled up on Kat and perched himself on the back of her armor. There were plenty of hand holds for the little green guy between all the gear and magazine pouches. “Poor little guy, he can’t weigh more than fifteen pounds.” She said as he climbed aboard.

“Let’s go find the others.” I said as I adjusted my M14.

We spent the next twenty minutes climbing over rocks, ducking below low ceilings, and a few moments looking at amazing stalagmites, and stalactites. I couldn’t ever remember which one was which. Right now geology classes had to be the farthest thing from my mind. I had done some spelunking while in Scouts but never while carrying this much equipment and weapons. Our gear would constantly catch on rocks and other snags, it was slow going.

We came to a section of cave with a drop of about twenty feet. The advance team had anchored a rope ladder, so it was obvious they had come this way. We climbed down slowly without incident, a few drops of water splattered on our helmets. A small subterranean stream wound its way through the piles of rocks.

We came to an area where the cave branched into three different passageways. “Which way?” I asked, One of the passageways dropped off down into a weak waterfall, the second continued the pile of rocks we were scrambling over and the third required us to climb about ten feet up a sheer rock face. Unfortunately our other team hadn’t left any markers.

Trip looked confused, “Why didn’t they leave a marker?”

I shrugged, “Maybe they were busy?”

“Why don’t we ask our tour guide where to go?” Kat suggested. She looked over her shoulder at Chew Toy, “Hey Chewie, do you know where the Vamp Ears go?”

He nodded and pointed at the steep drop off and drizzling water fall. “No far! Pease no wet old one hurts me.”

“Old one?” Kat asked.

“She hairy mean, hurts Choo Toi.” He shivered and buried his head into Kat’s armor.

“We won’t let anything hurt you.” I looked at Kat and Trip, we all silently knew he was talking about a master.

I coiled up a rope and pushed the center of the rope through the coils. “Hey Trip can you grab this end of the rope and pull slowly that way?” I pointed down the passage. As he pulled the rope a knot appeared at regular intervals down the whole length of the rope.

“That’s cool you will have to show me how to do that one later.” Trip smiled. I attached the rope to a sizable boulder with an anchor. A couple of more ropes and anchors and we were ready to drop down the hole.

Trip tossed a green glow stick down the hole. It took about a second and a half to hit the water below. So we had about 30 to 35 feet of air between us and the bottom. I could see the rocks beneath the water; it seemed to be a shallow pool maybe a foot deep.

I went first. The drizzling waterfall was annoying; its relentless drizzle pounded me in the face. Now I knew why Chinese water torture was so heinous. I slid feet first down toward the bottom with Trip running the other side of the rope. When I had made it about halfway down he locked the rope and I jerked to a halt. He yelled, “Movement!” I craned my neck around to see what he was yelling about. My helmet light lit up grey humanoid shapes running from the darkness off to my left. I had a strange feeling I was about to discover what it was like to be a piñata.

I struggled to reach my sidearm; there was no way I would be able to get my rifle in the action. I managed to get my hand on my pistol and cleared the holster. I swung wildly through the air as Trip and Kat tried to pull me up. One of the wights had managed to grab the bottom end of the rope that had been dangling in the water. I was now in the middle of the tug of war from hell.

I flipped the switch on my weapon light and used the beam of light to aim. I fired wildly throwing out rounds almost as fast as I could pull the trigger. I dropped two of the monsters but more came from the shadows to replace them. The wights began to win the tug of war and I slowly began to inch closer to their waiting claws. The slide on my .45 locked back, empty.

As I scrambled to find a magazine the wights stopped fighting. I felt an evil presence enter the room. Where was it? I frantically looked but saw nothing but shadows.

A chill ran up my spine when I heard the words. “Welcome brother.”

[Jennifer]

Ooh! Cliffhanger.

[moose42]

And now for some BLOOD!

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Chapter 12
In the Den

I was hanging in mid-air feet from certain death, and my brother had been turned into a vampire. This was turning into a bad day. Why had my grandfather lied to me? “Sorry but my brother is dead you must be mistaken.” I replied and Michael stepped into the light.

“Cut the crap Marty, it’s me.” He growled, and the wights shuddered, his control of them was slipping. I looked up and saw Kat in the hole in the ceiling her M4 aimed at my brothers’ forehead. “Ohh who’s the girlfriend she looks absolutely delicious.” He said as he licked his lips.

“Leave her alone.” I barked.

My brother smiled, “Ok, I will make you a deal.” He offered. “Come with me, and I will let your friends go. It’s the Miller blood SHE wants.”

“Don’t listen to him Marty, he isn’t your brother anymore.” Kat called out.

“I know.” I replied, to both of them. “Your master, who is she?” I asked.

My former brothers pale skin glowed faintly in the halo of my weapon light. “Well you will meet her soon enough.”

“Ok Mike, I will take your offer. Let them go and I will cut the ropes.” I was shaking with fear. I couldn’t see a way out of this cave. I was going to die in here just as my brother and grandfather had.

Katrina yelled. “No Marty we can take them!”

“No you can’t!” I hollered back. I pulled my Ka-Bar from its sheath, and yelled “Kat, get out of here!” I cut the ropes and fell into the waiting arms of the wights. I felt cold as paralysis instantly spread throughout my body.

Kat’s M4 barked, my brother collapsed in a lifeless heap. “Run stupid girl!” I tried to shout but no sound came out. She did but only after Trip grabbed her by the arm. The wights leapt up the ropes and pursued them.

Mike got back up and held his head like he had a massive migraine. I chuckled to myself and passed out.

***

I don’t know how long I was out but when I came to all I was aware of was a horrible gnawing pain in my joints and a sharp pain in my back. I was laying on my back on a pile of rocks. One was trying to find a way to my sternum through my spine.

I shifted my weight and the offending rock slid away. Oh how it hurt to breathe. Then I remembered I was in the vampire’s lair. I put a hand up to my throat feeling for bite marks, I let out a big sigh of relief finding my neck still intact.

A deep sultry voice shot fear into my heart. “Well now the big brother is finally awake.” I foolishly searched for a weapon. “Looking for these?” Candles ignited on their own and lit the chamber in a wicked pale yellow light.

The master vampire was wearing a long low cut red satin dress fit for a formal dance. She was lounging on an antique red couch my weapons were sitting next to her. The room was filled with piles of treasure, from hundreds of years of history. Everything from Spanish gold coins to digital cameras were scattered around the massive throne room.

“Who…” I choked on my own blood and vomited on the stone floor.

The vicious vampire smiled as she smelled the freshly spilled blood. “Who am I?” She finished my sentence for me. “I am vengeance, I am rage, I am lost love, I am called Scarlet Mara, and I am your new master!” Her eyes glowed red in the candle light.

I am so screwed, lost love? I thought for a moment. “My grandfather Roy Miller killed your love didn’t he?”

The smoldering rage in her eyes flared up into a raging inferno for a moment until she brought it back under control. “Very clever Martin.” She clapped her hands slowly mocking me. “That blasted Hunter took everything from me and so now I am taking everything from him.”

It all made sense now. “You sought to end the Miller bloodline, in retribution, for your lovers’ death.”
She smiled at me, “A simple death is too good for you though. I will turn you into one of us and make you serve me in darkness for eternity.”

“Where is my former brother?” I asked,

She smiled a wicked smile, “Tracking down your foolish friends.”

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Chew Toy crouched low in the adjoining tunnel. He had something in his hands, a wooden stake.

I picked myself off the ground every part of my body ached. “Why haven’t you then?” I pulled open my collar and exposed my throat.

She stood and licked her lips. “Well boy, it’s no fun to kill a man in his sleep. I will enjoy watching you die as I drain the blood from your throat.”

I nodded to Chew Toy, “Well bitch come at get it!” I ran toward the tunnel in an instant she was on me, grabbing my throat she lifted me off the ground and tossed me like a rag doll to the floor. I rolled over on my back, and she straddled me. Her fangs shone bright and she turned from a human to a misshapen beast ready to feed.

She bit my neck, intense white hot pain stabbed through my flesh. I managed to open my eyes and saw chew toy throw the wooden stake at me. I grabbed the stake and thrust it into her black heart. She screamed and let go as blood poured from my neck. I was already feeling faint but I struggled to the couch. My M14 still had a magazine in it, they must have been afraid to remove the silver. I grabbed the charging handle and yanked it to the rear of the rifle and let it fly forward. It was time to do or die.

I turned to line up the hell spawn in my sights but she was right there. Time slowed down as I tried to manipulate the weapon, but she was too quick. With a back hand slap I flew back into a pile of her treasure. I was going to die! She closed the distance with a leap and was about to end my life when grandpa Miller appeared and held up his hand.

“And I will rebuke the devourer for your sake, and she shall not destroy you!” he yelled at the vile beast, she stopped in her tracks. This gave me the crucial seconds I needed. I fired. A round of silver of .308 struck true hitting the beast in the head. She collapsed in a heap, my grandfather was gone. I fired the remaining bullets into Scarlet Mara’s body, rending her flesh and keeping her down. I didn’t have much time, in seconds she would regenerate and tear my throat out. I dropped my rifle and grabbed the Ka-Bar off the couch. Mara shrieked and tried to move but it was too late.

“Back to Hell!” I yelled and brought the blade down on her neck. Severing the spinal cord and finally ending her life.

I collapsed next to her and vomited blood. I struggled to cover the hole in my neck, I couldn’t hardly see anymore. Chew Toy ran up to me, “Ma Tee!” he squealed, his green hands tried to cover the hole in my neck.

“Chewie find Kat.” I struggled to speak. He nodded and scampered away dragging his leg behind him.

The next thing I knew Grandpa Miller was standing next to me. “I’m sorry Marty.”

“For what?” I asked.

“For letting you die.” I realized I was standing next to my body. It was strange, I knew the ravaged man lying on the ground was me, but it wasn’t me, it was just an empty shell. I didn’t think any different. I realized my throat didn’t hurt. I grabbed at it and found I was whole.

“Some guardian angel you turned out to be.” I tried to laugh but was too confused and distraught to do anything but sulk.

After a few moments of staring at my body I turned and saw a young man in his twenties. He looked a lot like me. “Who are you?” I asked the newcomer.

He looked at me and began pleading “I’m Alex, your son! Dad, you have to live! Fight to live!”
I looked at my body, my heart was beating but only very faintly.

“What happens to you if I die?” I asked.

Grandpa Miller answered for him “Then the Miller bloodline will be extinguished and Scarlet Mara will have won.”

Kat and the rest of the hunters entered the room; she looked horrified seeing my body lying, on the ground blood running from my neck.

Alex ran up to Kat and yelled, “Mom! Don’t let him die!” She couldn’t see him.

In the next few moments Stan worked on bandaging my wound, Harbinger did chest compressions. They were yelling and screaming but it was strange it sounded like they were far away. After a few moments Harbinger grabbed Owens massive Kukri knife.

“Dad you need to go back now!” My unborn son yelled.

Grandpa Miller pushed me “Your work on earth ‘aint done yet boy! Make me some beautiful grandchildren!” I fell back into my body.

Kat frantically yelled “Give him another minute!”

“He’ll be a vampire in another minute!” He yelled back at her.

I opened my eyes. Harbinger held the knife above my head ready to decapitate me. “I’m not dead yet.” I croaked. All the pain came flooding back. I had forgotten how much pain hurt while I was dead. “I’m gonna pass out now.” I managed to say before darkness encircled me again.

***

I awoke sometime later; I was lying on a makeshift stretcher my armor had been removed and I had an IV stuck in my arm connected to an O negative blood bag. I looked up and saw what looked like an Orc straight out of Lord of the Rings standing over me. She smeared some green goo on the wound on my neck, and replaced the bandage.

“You rest… live now.” I didn’t argue. My head felt like it was going to explode.

Kat came over and grabbed my hand. “You stupid fool! Why did you cut the ropes!”

“You didn’t have a chance of freeing me.” I weakly tried to explain. I hurt so bad I almost wished I was dead again. “Who’s this?” I asked about the Orc.

“Oh that’s Gretchen, she’s an Orcish healer she’s married to the Helicopter pilot Skippy, the C-130 loadmaster, Freddy is her brother.” She explained.

I now realized why the loadmaster had been fully covered up. “Ok, so they are like Tolkien Orcs but on our side.” I suddenly remembered our little green friend. “Where’s Chewie?” I asked.

“He’s fine, he found us and brought us straight to you. He is talking with Harbinger right now.”

“Well he saved my life,” I tried to sit up, and then thought better of it. “He brought me the stake I used on Scarlet Mara, the master vampire.” I remembered the cave-in, “How did they…”

“…get in here?” Katrina finished my question for me. “When Skippy located our last known GPS coordinates and found a fresh cave-in, he searched around and found another entrance from the air. It seems as if these hills are riddled with caves and mines. They also wiped out the rest of the zombies.”

“My brother, did you get him?” I really felt like passing out again.

Kat shook her head. “No he must have disappeared down another passage.”

“I guess we will have to go find him another day.” I said as I closed my eyes.

I must have passed out again because the next thing I remember I was being loaded in the back of the helicopter.

[moose42]

Ok guys, and gals I think I finally have a title for my "Book."

Monster Hunter International: Miller’s Blood

What do you think?

[AZMARK]

Works for me.

[Precision]

not to be picky, but I think you need to flesh this out a bit. get some side action going on and build up to the climax.

What you have written is good but a bit too streamlined and direct. Build some anticipation, build up choo toi's character a bit. Perhaps give him some questionable actions so we aren't sure if he is gonna help Marty or help to kill him.

personally I wouldn't foreshadow the son and wife thing but it might work out.

[Dedicated_Dad]

I've enjoyed this much, but Precision is right - and no doubt a pro editor would give you the same good advice.

I can be a bit of a spelling/grammar-nazi - I noticed one thing which I couldn't ignore...

"...The wights leapt up the ropes and perused them..."

I'm willing to bet you meant "pursued" - as in "chased" - and not "perused".

DD

[moose42]

Thanks guys for the advice. I hadn't really planned on getting to the Last Battle so soon. But since I haven't really been planning anything since page one I think I haven't done too bad.

Yes I really wanted to add two MEGA important plot points but since I wrote the climax too soon I haven't been able to fit them in. Totally trusting Chewie right away when they know that the vampires beat on him and could be using him is a kind of weak point.

Anyway guys thanks for reading and taking the time to offer feedback. You have no idea how much that helps.

I definitely need to go back and rewrite a bunch.

[moose42]

Ok guys I think this is going to be my last chapter for a while. I really need to work on fixing and improving my existing stuff. I will keep you guys posted if and when new developments come out.
Thanks for all your encouragement.

Peace out,

Moose42

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Chapter 13
Unfinished Business

I recuperated for the next few days in a local hospital. When I was well enough to travel again I took a commercial flight back to Alabama. Katrina and Kim were waiting for me at the airport. It was good to be with them again. Kat had wanted to stay with me in the hospital but she needed to report back to MHI for additional training. Killing monsters was a difficult job; we trained and retrained often so under pressure we would have a better chance of surviving.

I arrived back at the barracks and examined my throat. I would have a jagged scar across most of my throat for the rest of my life. When Mara went for my neck she didn’t make two wimpy pin pricks, like they show in all the vampire movies. She had torn a nasty gash to get as much blood out as quickly as possible. I turned my head and winced, I still had a long road until full recovery.

I spent the next couple of weeks training new Hunter candidates on the .22 rifle range. It wasn’t all that physically demanding and it helped me feel like I was contributing to the company, seeing as though I wouldn’t be out on active hunts for a while. Hunters need to be able to turn their heads quickly to scan for danger.

Chewie had been taken in by Gretchen for a while; I had been told she had been working on healing his leg. I missed the little green guy.

I spent a lot of my time thinking about what had happened when I had died. I knew it wasn’t a dream, the spirits were there. I thought about Kat, Grandpa Miller had told me he wanted grandchildren, and my unborn son had called her mom, but how would we raise a family in our dangerous line of work?

I hadn’t been visited by the other side since the cave. I figured that unless it was something of extreme importance they were probably supposed to remain silent. Maybe it was to protect our sanity? I was already feeling a bit crazy knowing all the things I shouldn’t, about my future.

On my day off I drove my pickup to Montgomery and picked up a diamond ring for an ungodly amount of money. How could they get away with charging that much? Fortunately I could afford it since taking down a Master vampire was worth a small fortune in PUFF money, from the government.

The following Monday I was back to training new shooters, this week I had a group that seemed to excel at missing the paper. It was enough to make me want to tear my own throat out. I started wearing a black bandanna around my neck to cover up my wound. Freaking out the newbie’s was frowned upon, even if Dorcas, and the Boss did it.

I opened the cafeteria door during dinner service and fount Kat waiting in line for a scoop of mashed potatoes. Chewie was riding on her back, he saw me first. “Ma Tee! Good you is wa king.” The little greenie had gained probably ten pounds, he was still scrawny but didn’t look so much like a victim of a famine. He was wearing kids cut-off shorts and a black t-shirt that read “Vampires Suck!”

“Chewie! Hey you’re looking better yourself.” I said as he leapt from Kat’s back to my chest, knocking some of the air out of my lungs. “Easy buddy.” I said as I coughed.

Kat turned around holding her tray with both hands, just as the server dropped a healthy glop of mashed potatoes onto the counter. “Hey there Marty, looks like you’re almost back to abnormal!”

I smiled at her as I wrestled a bit with Chewie. “Well I almost feel abnormal; my neck is still a little sore though.”

We got our food and an earful from the cook about wasting good mashed potatoes, and making a mess in the cafeteria. Chewie sat on a former restaurant booster chair and was busy devouring his food. A couple of newbie’s stared at our little goblin friend in disbelief. “What you’ve never seen a Goblin before?” Kat said as she shooed away some gawkers.

I hadn’t touched any food on my tray, the little velvet box in my pocket seemed like it was going to burn a hole through the fabric at any moment. Kat noticed my uncharacteristic lack of appetite and asked. “Marty, what’s wrong?”

I lied, “Umm, nothing why do you ask?”

Her no nonsense expression told me she could see right through my weak lie. “Marty?”

I took a drink of water, closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Remember when you found me lying on the ground with my throat torn open?” I looked up at her, from her pained expression I could tell she didn’t like where this was going. “I was dead, or at least very close to it.”

She cut me off, “What does this have to do with anything?”

“Everything.” I stated flatly. “I saw my grandfather when I was dead, and someone else.” My heart was trying to beat a hole through my chest.

She was intrigued, “Who else did you see?”

I began to breathe heavily. “Our son.” I managed to stammer out.

Kat squinted, obviously deep in thought. I pulled out the velvet box got down on one knee. Her eyes widened in disbelief. “Katrina, will you marry me?” I asked, as a thousand thundering stallions were stampeding across my chest. I pulled the lid back on the box and revealed the diamond ring inside.

The packed cafeteria instantly fell silent, all eyes were on Kat. Tears welled up in her eyes. “Yes!” she gasped. The throng of hunters erupted in applause. We embraced, and I slid the ring on her finger, it was a magical moment.

Chewie yelled, “Ma Tee an Kat eena, be mar rey ed?” I nodded and he jumped up on the table, sending peas and potatoes flying.


***

A week later Katrina was deep into wedding plans, figuring out colors, and how to properly conceal her Glock beneath her wedding dress. I had been patted on the back by every hunter I knew and a few I didn’t. I also heard just about every ball and chain joke in the book. Life was good.

In a quiet moment before going to bed I checked my email like I usually do. After deleting a bunch of spam on products designed to increase the size of my manhood I found an email from vampires-r-cool(at)awesomewebmail.com. I was about to delete it when on a whim I decided to open it.

Hey Marty,

Little brother here, sorry I haven’t contacted you before, but I wasn’t totally sure you had survived. Plus the caves were crawling with your stupid hunter friends so I didn’t exactly get a front row seat of all the action. I did manage however to see them load your sorry carcass onto the helicopter, so I figured you had a chance, of making it out alive.

Anyway I am not sorry for the way things turned out. Sure I am dead now but it is really cool. Living my life as the skinny kid who always got picked on at school, it makes me really appreciate having the strength of ten men. A whole gang of punks tried to mug me the other day but let’s just say I ended up getting the better part of the deal than they did.

I know you are probably going to try to come after me and kill me, and I expect that. But I must warn you that I have found a new family willing to take me in under their wing and show me the ropes. They say they are related to some gal you work with.

Anyway congratulations on popping the question to your girlfriend, I can’t wait until I am an uncle, even if you won’t invite me to the wedding, you jerks. You can forget about getting a toaster from me!

Love,

Little Brother

P.S. I am still pissed with your fiancée for shooting me in the head, damn that hurt!

I sent a simple reply; “My brother is dead.” I haven’t received another message since.

[moose42]

Here is some quick and dirty cover art.