Chapter 31


    Much like a foreseen tragedy that no one had the power to prevent, evening fell hard and cruel upon


    Cypress. The severe, five degree winter windshed through just about every living soul like the steel


    tip of a ve drivers whip. With only a fewmpposts that shined their dim, orange hue down onto the


    ground, Isaac stumbled his way through the alley, making only frequent stops to vomit into any trash


    can that he could rush to first.


    He was sleepy, hungry, thirsty and angry all at once, and judging by his wide open coat, the oppressive


    cold was apparently thest thing on his haywire brain. Inside his body raged a hecious war of good


    vs. evil; one man''s divine struggle to fight off the demonic presence that dwelt within; an ongoing battle


    against the dark force that longed to inflict limitless devastation.


    Back and forth his regrets wandered: Karyn had a sad story of being lonely in a new country, while


    Lyte was always on his back for working at Larry''s Garage. Karyn hung on to his every word, while


    Lyte went on and on about how Isaiah needed new clothes. He screwed Karyn, but made love to


    Lyte.


    With each and every maddening ramble, Isaac found himself wanting to just end it all right there in the


    alley, beside all the other garbage.


    "You look like you''re lost, friend."


    A medium-sized man with a shabby looking German shepherd by his side warmly stated from behind


    Isaac.


    Surprised, Isaac spun around and tried to see into the man''s face, but not only was it dark outside, but


    the dirty looking individual was wearing a filthy hood that was concealing his facial features.


    All Isaac could make out was the smoke that would exit the man''s mouth whenever he spoke.


    "Get the fuck outta here, man." Isaac slurred, trying not to fall against the trash cans that he was


    standing in front of.


    "I apologize for troubling you, sir." The man''s kindly, raspy voice continued on. "It just seemed like you


    were ailing."


    "Man, I said get outta here!" Isaac barked back. "I ain''t feelin'' good!"


    The ragtag man only remained in ce. The chain in which he was holding his dog was rusted beyond


    recognition and looked as though it were ready to snap in half at any moment.


    "Are you sure you want me to go, sir?"


    Frustrated, Isaac began to advance towards the man, only to have the dog growl the instant the young


    man''s feet moved.


    Just then, two red eyes appeared from inside the man''s dirty hood. Startled, Isaac staggered


    backwards into the garbage cans and held his hands up in a helpless defense from the man''s sudden


    awful appearance.


    The filthy one looked up into the pinkish sky as light flurries began to rain down. "Look at you, boy." He


    said in a more malevolent, hissing voice. "Sniveling like a mere rodent. You have a job to do."


    Isaac''s body was wracked in pain, but not to the point where he couldn''t get up and run away.


    Immediately, he got to his feet and started for the opposite direction.


    "Don''t you dare move." The ragged hobo warned, pointing his trusty dog at the young man.


    Out of fear Isaac ceased every movement in his body before turning and shuddering at the sight of the


    two evil eyes that stared him down like a feast.


    "I...I gotta go." Isaac whimpered while violently shaking in ce.


    "I have waited for this moment for quite a while, and so far, you have not disappointed me. Now, I want


    that bitch and her child dead."


    "Who," Isaac asked with a whine.


    "Do not trifle with me, boy." The man impatiently remarked. "You know you want to kill her."


    "No I don''t, man." Isaac stammered.


    "Don''t you remember when you thought that Isaiah wasn''t yours? You believed it to be Larry''s at first.


    Then...then you changed your mind and epted the bastard seed as your own."


    "He is mine!" Isaac furiously stomped on the snowy pavement.


    "You killed those girls; those sweet little bitches. Now, go on and kill that ck trash and her child. You


    don''t want her to get away with that, do you? Get away with having another man''s baby? Go on, it''s not


    like anyone could pin it on you. Just like the other night."


    As if he were being dragged down, Isaac dropped to his knees in agony and moaned all over the


    ground. He beat his fists into the snow while gritting his teeth.


    "Get away from me! Who are you anyways?"


    "I am Unknown to you, but every man, woman, boy and girles to know me eventually."


    "I didn''t mean to do any of this!"


    The insidious individual chuckled and said, "Your mother cried the day she went to the hospital. She


    cried for you, boy. But you were busy running the streets. How does that make you feel?"


    Isaac looked up into the sky and held out his hands to the heavens, pleading for mercy to fall upon him.


    "Either you kill that bitch, or I will." The man lurched towards Isaac.


    "I can''t kill her! I fucking love her!"


    The dirty man reached out with a wed right hand, lifted Isaac''s face to his and asked, "Did you love


    her when you were inside another woman?"


    Enraged, Isaac snatched his face away from the man''s w before spitting at his face. The dog stared


    up at its master with the most bewildered look on its face.


    "I am not your enemy, child." The man reassured Isaac before taking his w and using it to scratch


    Isaac''s right hand. "Kill her, or I will, boy."


    Isaac grabbed his hand and held it to alleviate the pain. When he looked back up, he discovered that


    both man and dog were gone.


    "I am Unknown to you, child." Isaac heard the man''s ominous voice echo softly in the air around him.


    Blood incessantly dripped down from his hand and onto the ground as Isaac got to his feet. He then


    looked around the alley to see nothing but a stray cat passing by. Right behind him was Lyte''s


    house. Unbeknownst to him, he had already arrived there just moments before the ghastly fiend


    appeared from out of nowhere.


    He leaned up against two trash cans and took notice of the kitchen light which was shining brightly into


    the backyard; it let him know that Lyte hadn''t gone to bed yet for the evening.


    As both wrong and ugly as it felt, Isaac couldn''t shake the aching stir of how blood tasted. He realized


    that it wasn''t him that longed for the substance, which was exactly why it turned his stomach each and


    every time the raw taste belched up into his throat.


    Feeling a sense of impatient urgency, Isaac rapidly marched through the backyard and onto the steps


    that led to the house. Before his hand could reach the doorknob, he stood and watched as the


    supposed broken lock on the backdoor unloosened itself.


    ***


    Lyte searched all over the bedroom. When she was done skulking about in there, she hysterically


    scampered into the living room where the television was ying the opening theme to The Six Million


    Dor Man. But no matter how much and hard she kept looking, she couldn''t locate the source of the


    little screaming girls that was apparentlying from within the small house she and her son were


    inside of.


    The sounds surrounded Lyte to the point where all she could do was stand in the middle of the


    living room floor and spin around like a dog chasing after its own tail. It was such madness that the


    youngdy began to cry, believing that she was losing her mind.


    Just as soon as she was about to head back into the bathroom along with Isaiah, Lyte began


    hearing something rattle from within the kitchen.


    She quickly pulled out the loaded revolver from her pants pocket and skittishly headed for the kitchen


    with the weapon pointed ahead of her. However, before she could even clear the kitchen''s threshold,


    the backdoor swung open revealing Isaac on the other end.


    "Isaac!" Lyte abruptly screamed. "How did you get that door open?"


    At first, Isaac had no words to express. He just shut the door behind him and bashfully frowned.


    "Uh...I just came by to see you and Isaiah."


    "Isaac, how were you able to get that damn door open?" Lyte continued to question while gripping


    her gun as tight as she could in her right hand.


    Rather than answer her, Isaac boldly stepped past Lyte on his way into the living room. Lyte


    followed the man until she came face to face with him directly in front of the television.


    N?velDrama.Org holds this content.


    "Isaac, you need to go!"


    "Where''s Isaiah at?" He asked bug-eyed. "He''s in the tub." Lyte''s heart skipped a beat. "I''m giving


    him a bath."


    Isaac stood for a few moments before looking down the dimly lit hallway that led to the bathroom.


    "Uh...I gotta go away for a while."


    Lyte''s entire body began to quiver at that instant. All of the sudden, the only thing that she could


    see in front of her were her three sistersughing hysterically at her.


    "Go away, huh?" The young woman stammered, trying not to appear upset by the news. "And just


    where are you going to?"


    "Someone told me to stay away from people, and that person was right. I got no business being around


    anyone right now, at least not until I get myself straight."


    Lyte rubbed her throbbing forehead and closed her eyes. "Get what straight, Isaac? What the fuck


    are you talking about?"


    "I''m talking about no one will listen to what I have to say, and all that does is make things worse."


    "Isaac, I''ve been trying to listen to you for the past few months, and all you do is just push me away!"


    She screamed in frustration. "What the fuck is the matter with you? And don''t stand there and tell me


    that it''s too hard to exin!"


    "I can''t even exin it to myself." Isaac shrugged.


    Lyte stared at Isaac before saying, "I bet you got hooked onto some of Larry''s shit, didn''t you?


    You''ve done gone and got all fucked up on that heroin, and now you''re all strung out!"


    Isaac slipped his hands into his coat pockets and started to pace the floor until he eventually stopped at


    the mantle. He stood and fondly gazed upon a Proid picture of Isaiah as a newborn.


    With his head still pointed at the child''s picture, Isaac exined, "I got something inside of me, and it


    doesn''t have anything to do with drugs." His voice began to break. "I thought my father could fix it, but


    all he could do was spit bible verses at me."


    "What is this, Isaac?" Lyte wearily moaned as if she werepletely drained of energy. "What is


    going on? I mean, you''re losing your mind. I''m hearing these little girls screaming all over the house


    like the ce is haunted or something. Why now are things falling apart, dammit?" She yelled.


    Isaac turned back to Lyte with tears of his own streaming down his face. "I''m so sorry, baby girl!"


    He wailed out loud. "I never meant to hurt you!"


    Lyte dropped her gun to her side while tears fell from her tired face. "What were you doing with


    Isaiah this morning, Isaac?" Her voice faltered.


    "Nothing that you think I was doing." He wiped his eyes. "It''s not about that."


    "What is it about then?" Lyte stomped her foot on the floor. "Because when I walk into my house


    and see my man holding our son,pletely naked in the middle of the floor, then it''s about something,


    and I want answers!"


    With his arms wide open, Isaac advanced towards Lyte saying, "Lynn, you gotta listen to me!"


    Lyte raised her firearm and pointed it straight at Isaac''s mortified face. It stunned even her to think


    that she could do such a heinous thing as point a deadly weapon at the only man she ever loved, or


    that even the notion of pulling the trigger would even enter her mind to begin with, but she was terrified


    of Isaac, more so at that moment than months earlier.


    Immediately, the tears that Isaac was allowing to flow from his eyes dried up. He stood perfectly still in


    front of the ying television and calmly uttered, "You know what I told you a long time ago when I


    bought that thing for you. Never hesitate. When you get the chance, you pull the trigger...and never


    look back."


    Lyte covered her mouth with her left hand as she began to sob uncontrobly. Unable to hold the


    weapon any longer, she dropped the gun to the floor.


    "I don''t understand why you''re doing this to me, Isaac!" She caught her breath. "All I ever wanted was


    for you to love me! And now, you''re leaving us?" She relentlessly cried into her sweaty palms.


    Lyte removed her hands from her face and looked up to notice blood oozing from Isaac''s right


    hand.


    Wiping her face dry, she stepped forward and asked, "Why...why is your hand bleeding, Isaac? What


    did you do to yourself?"


    But Isaac wouldn''t respond. Instead, he dropped his head to where Lyte could not see his face.


    "Isaac, answer me!" She screamed into Isaac''s ear while cing her thumb over the open gushing


    wound. "How did you do this? Don''t tell me that you''ve been bleeding like this all the way over here!"


    Still, Isaac would not react. The man just stood with his head pointed to the carpet. Lyte was in


    such a distressful state that paying attention to one thing at a time was virtually impossible. Isaac''s


    hands, along with the rest of his body began to tremble all of the sudden.


    Out of the corner of her eye Lyte could see the bathroom light flicker off and on as the baby began


    to whine; all the while the television was ying amercial for Palmolive soap.


    "You''ve lost a lot of blood, Isaac!" Lyte anxiously pleaded while trying to remember just where she


    ced the bandages within the house. "Wait here while I go get—


    But before she could finish her sentence or even take one step, Isaac abruptly raised his head and


    shined a pair of white eyes at her while hissing like a snake.


    Shocked at the sight, the young woman jumped back, nearly falling to the floor in the process. That


    was when Isaac began to gnaw away at his own right hand with the sharp fangs that were steadily


    growing from out of his growling mouth.


    Lyte was horrified, so much so that she couldn''t even budge while watching Isaac rip and tear at


    his own flesh right down to the bone.


    At the blink of an eye the woman reached down and snatched up the gun that was lying on the floor.


    "Isaac!" She desperately yelled with all her might while pointing the weapon at his head.


    But Isaac was gone; all that remained was a beastly existence within the home, a former lover.


    Lyte stood and watched in stunned horror as Isaac stopped biting away at his hand before


    copsing to his knees in a heap. His clothes began to shred right off of his body as his muscles


    expanded.


    "llik eht tnuc!" (Kill the cunt) He snarled before thick, ck fur started to sprout from out of his face.


    Without waiting a second more, Lyte pulled the trigger and fired three shots into Isaac''s head,


    exposing parts of flesh that dropped to the floor. But it was those same loud, painful shots that only


    seemed to anger the creature all the more as its growling grew more animalistic. Soon, bones started


    to stretch, snap and break, forming both ws and hind legs in the process.


    With her gun in hand, Lyte raced like a madwoman straight for the bathroom. But before she could


    even reach the door, it suddenly mmed right in her face. The lights in the hallway flickered off and on


    while the shrieks of the little girls that she had been hearing for hours reverberated throughout the


    house, louder in its intensity.


    Lyte''s crying eyes couldn''t contain or believe all that was taking ce, and as frightening as it was


    to hear a God awful brute in the living room, she was even more petrified that she waspletely


    closed off from her child.


    With every fiber of energy in her shaking body, Lyte pushed, kicked and hollered at the bathroom


    door while watching the hallway lights continue to sh on and off.


    From the bathroom door and back to the edge of the living room she ran to watch the growing beast


    stretch out a snout. That was all the motivation Lyte required to sprint back to the bathroom door


    and scream at the top of her lungs, "God, please fucking help me!"


    She could hear Isaiah on the other side of the door yell for his mommy, while behind her, what


    resembled a stampeding buffalo trampling across the floor, could be heard rounding the corner that led


    to the hallway.


    Lyte raised her gun, pointed it at the doorknob and fired. She used her right leg to kick open the


    door. She could feel the bones in her foot break, but that was perfectly meaningless at that point.


    Lyte opened the door and mmed it shut behind her before snatching a naked Isaiah from out of


    the half empty tub that he was sitting in.


    "Shh, baby!" Lyte hysterically hollered before pointing her gun directly at the door. There were no


    windows in the bathroom, which only meant that the young mother would have to make her final stand


    in the tiny room. She was determined to die before she let anything destroy her child.


    To muffle the angry crying, Lyte forced Isaiah''s head into her sweat drenched blue blouse and


    waited for the creature to make some kind of appearance if any.


    From the closed door to the flickering bulb above her head she gawked, back and forth. It was a


    maddening experience to be trapped in. Her teeth chattered while her knees knocked together. She


    tried to stop crying, but the tears would not relent as the sweat that was saturating her face was also


    causing her to go blind momentarily. All Lyte could see was Isaac''s face stretch out and listen as


    he snarled at her like a mad dog. She wanted more than anything to die right then and there.


    Then, just like that, the light stopped shing, while the growling noises apparently ceased. Lyte


    made sure to keep the baby''s head stuffed into her chest while her own head bobbed up and down.


    The bathroom door stood still. With her breathing erratic and out of sync, the young woman caught


    herself uttering a prayer, asking God to please take the beast away and allow her child to live.


    Unbeknownst to her, she had popped a blood vessel in her left eye, which in turn caused blood to well


    up inside.


    Just then, there was a bump at the door. Lyte held what was left of her breath. Thanks to the


    busted lock, the door would never again close tight; instead it would only swing back and forth. A


    sniffing racket could be heard on the other end. Lyte attached to her prayer that Isaac would be


    there, back to normal again.


    After so many gripping moments, ever so gradually, the door creaked open. The amber eyes of the


    beast appeared, along with the rest of its enormous, hairy body. Lyte screamed as she fired two


    more shots at the thing before it stood to its feet and hovered over both her and Isaiah like a towering


    giant.


    With only its right paw, the beast swiped the gun from out of the woman''s hand, along with her right


    index finger which ended upnding in the sink behind her.


    Lyte shrieked out in brutal agony before identally dropping the child to the floor. With its left


    paw, the beast tossed Lyte into the medicine cab, breaking the mirror and sending every item


    inside crashing to the floor. Like something from out of a jungle, the beast growled and roared before


    picking Lyte up and tossing her to the other end of the bathroom as though she were a doll baby.


    She wanted to scream for help, but her throat waspletely dry as she crawled about on the floor,


    trying with all her remaining might to reach Isaiah who himself was crawling towards his mother, crying


    a storm.


    The beast then knelt down on all fours and used only its right paw to send Lyte hurtling into the


    wall.


    By then, her entire body was a bloody wreck. Her right eye was swollen shut and her right arm was


    broken, and yet, rather than wallow in the anguish of her own insufferable pain, she remained obstante


    in retrieving her screaming child.


    The beast, noticing that the woman was still alive, simply snatched her up by her neck, opened wide its


    slobbering jaws and proceeded to devour her.


    Lyte used her feeble hands to grab a hold of the thing''s hairy snout long enough to where she


    could hopefully buy Isaiah some more time. The beast, however, only shook her hands loose and


    roared with all its might while using its left paw to crack a hole in the floor.


    But within the midst of the enormous hell that she was engulfed inside, Lyte could sense


    something very odd. It was a beast that in all honesty could have wiped her out within the first few


    seconds of its rampage, but instead, it was toying with her.


    She crawled backwards until her backside met up with the tub. From where she was positioned, she


    could see tiny blood droplets trickle down from out of the beast''s strange eyes and onto its snout. She


    wanted to move, but just sitting on the floor watching such an atrocity before her only caused her soul


    to stiffen.


    The beast drew close to Lyte. It appeared aggravated, possibly by the baby''s incessant crying. The


    thing grabbed Lyte''s limp body and carelessly threw it into the tub before turning around to face


    Isaiah.


    Almost immediately, the boy stopped crying as he held up his tiny hands in defense.


    ***


    Linus pulled his squad car up in front of Lyte''s house and got out. As the man nonchntly


    approached the porch, right next door he took notice of an elderly ck man and woman who were


    standing at their doorway, fearfully ogling the house that he himself was nearing.


    Linus thought nothing of it, just nosey neighbors doing what they apparently do best, that is until he


    heard the beast''s roar echo straight past the closed door. Without giving much thought or


    consideration, Linus instantly recalled the Cummins'' tape recording.


    "Call the police!" Linus breathlessly yelled at the neighbors while reaching into his holster to pull out his


    piece. "There''s a unit in the vicinity!"


    But before he could even touch the butt of his gun, Linus heard yet another unearthly growl shoot out


    into the night. The man right away ran back to the car, unlocked the trunk and snatched out


    Fitzpatrick''s twelve gage shotgun before taking off for the house.


    "Isaac...stop!" Linus heard Lyte feebly shout.


    The detective kicked in the front door, and like a bolt of lightning rounded the corner to where the


    commotion was emanating. The very second he reached the bathroom Linus saw the beast reach out


    for the Isaiah. Without a single hint of reluctance, the man pulled the trigger. The loud shot ricocheted


    off the walls of the bathroom like an explosion.


    The beast, however, only stood back up to its feet, and with one swift blow, knocked Linus to the side.


    Linus could feel his left arm snap like a twig, but it wasn''t painful enough for him to relinquish his own


    attack and pull the trigger once again while marveling at the beast''s incredible size.


    A third heavy slug ripped right through the creature''s thick stomach before sending it crashing to its


    knees. A fourth round through its chest caused the brute to wail out a pitiful howl that resembled an


    ailing wolf rather than an unstoppable killing machine. The thingid on the floor, bleeding like a


    ughtered pig and shaking violently.


    Horrified at what he was seeing, Linus managed to scoot himself from one end of the bathroom to the


    other, all the while keeping his distance from the beast and picking up Isaiah from off the floor.


    Linus then caught sight of Lyte''s badly wounded body lying motionless in the tub. Her clothes were


    torn to shreds and she was coughing up blood onto her own face. Linus lunged over and anxiously


    tried to revive her while keeping a vignt and frightened eye on the steadily dying beast behind him.


    "Honey...honey, can you hear me?" Linus hysterically wept as his hands uncontrobly trembled.


    "Isaac." Lyte faintly whispered.


    "Where''s Isaac?" Linus looked from side to side. "Is he still in the house?"


    But Lyte could no longer answer, she could barely even move at that point. Linus held her hands in


    his while keeping his eyes tuned to the beast on the floor that was suddenly taking on a brand new


    form right before his very eyes.


    "Just hold on, honey, the police are on their way." The man stammered.


    The sounds of sirens could be heard ring in the distant background, but something was beginning to


    take shape within the bathroom. Fur, ws, muscles and even wolf-like facial features were slowly


    vanishing.


    Every bone inside of Linus'' body stood perfectly immobile. The beast''s body quaked with such an


    aggressive fervor that one would believe that it was in the midst of a seizure. It''s so called growls were


    bing more and more recognizable, like a person squirming in pain. Its snout was deting back to


    a nose. Bones and joints could be heard snapping back into ce until what looked like clear liquid


    jostled from out of its mouth.


    Isaac''s face, along with his eyes, had all reverted back to normal. There was no visible sign of swelling


    to be seen; it was as though the young man had never been cursed at all.


    Soon, the shaking ceased. Isaac Mercer''s bullet riddled bodyid on the blood drenched bathroom


    floor. His eyes remained open until the right side of his face amazingly began to melt as though it were


    hot y. The entire bathroom waspletely quiet and still as Linus, Lyte and Isaiah all gazed


    upon the dead man in jolted silence. Linus and Lyte''s jaws hung wide open.


    Their words, if there were any to utter, were snatched right out of their throats. From out of the corner of


    his eye, Linus could see two young officers rush into the bathroom with guns drawn. Both men carefully


    ventured into the bathroom looking as if they had just crossed another dimension.


    "Holy Jesus," one of the officers choked at the sight of the naked man lying on the floor.


    Slowly approaching Linus, the other officer steadily asked, "Detective Bruin, is that you?"


    But Linus could say absolutely nothing. He held both Lyte and Isaiah in his strong, right arm and


    would not let go.


    "I''m...I''m gonna go call the meds." One officer stuttered before dly exiting the bathroom.


    Smoke from both Linus'' shotgun and Isaac''s mutted body billowed into the air while the other officer


    knelt down to examine the dead man closer.


    Suddenly, Mr. Mercer, from out of nowhere, stumbled into the bathroom, huffing and puffing as though


    he had been running a grueling marathon.


    "Sir, I''m gonna ask that you step outside and—


    But before the officer could get another word out, his hand was shoved aside by Mercer''s sturdy


    shoulder.


    Then, with a pitiable expression upon his face, the man copsed to his knees, took his son''s


    malformed face into his hands and gently kissed him on the forehead.


    Linus watched, and that was the extent of his actions for the time being. The man saw something that


    night.


    The snow fell peacefully upon Cypress that cold, harsh evening.