Myths of the Macabre Short Story Winner!

The Beast of Bladenboro

By: Natalie Henry

Not many people live in Bladenboro. It's a small, frankly boring town. I wish it stayed

that way. As I stare down at the lifeless corpse of Gezelda, our beloved tawny-haired cow, I

wanted for nothing more. Gezelda was like this when I found her going to feed the cows like I do

every morning, her dark eyes wide and terrified, all of her blood sucked out of her body. What

creature could have done this? I swallow the bile rising in my throat. Gezelda ends up on the

front page of the newspaper, with the headline "Cow's Bloodless Body Found on Morett Ranch".

After running to my father and telling him about Gezelda, word spread like wildfire in

Bladenboro. "Do you think it's that... thing that Mrs. Nina saw?" My best friend Tesa asks me as

we sit watching the cow pasture, sipping lemonade.

I hesitate, gripping my glass tightly. That "thing" that Mrs. Nina saw had come during the

night about a week ago. Her dogs had been barking and whining, and when she went outside to

silence them, she saw a cat-like figure the size of a horse prowling through the dark. At the

sound of her opening door, it darted away into the night. It had been headlining the local news

every day until now. "It could be..." I said, swallowing down my fears.

"We should catch it!" Tesa exclaimed.

I stare at her wide-eyed. She was talking as if she were proposing to catch Santa Claus on

Christmas morning, not a beast the size of the horse. "Are you crazy? We don't even know if this

is actually that thing. For all we know there could just be some sort of human psychotic cow

killer on the loose."

"Please, Andy? Don't you want to avenge Gezelda?" She's begging now, her hands

clasped together.

I bite my lower lip, "I... ugh, fine. But just to prove to you that it doesn't exist."

She raises an eyebrow at me. "You don't believe in the beast?"

I shake my head. "No, of course not. It's unrealistic. "

She shrugs. "We'll see about that."

Her plan was simple; we wait near the edge of the swampy forest, leaving out some raw

chicken to lure it in within an elaborate snare that we carefully laid out. “Now we wait.” She

whispered as we crouched in the tall brush, hidden from view.

It felt like we were sitting there for hours, shivering in the brush, huddling together for

warmth on such a chilly night. I nearly scream when we hear a slight rustling in front of us. We

both hold our breath, squeezing each other's hands. Tesa gives me a look of both terror and

excitement, but I'm too focused on the snare to look back. Something small emerges from the

forest. A dog. It sniffs the chicken, licking it experimentally. I let out a sigh of relief. There was

no monster. "This is stupid, we should-"

There's a loud crack, then a rustle and a mass of shadow flings itself at the dog. I let out a

scream, stumbling back, and Tesa grabs my wrist forcefully. The dog screeches unnaturally and

then is silent, going limp in the beast's jaws. The beast lowers it to the ground, and a gruesome

sucking sound fills my ears as the beast drinks its blood. I'm unable to turn away.

"Let's go." Tesa hisses.

I nod, slowly getting to my feet. But I'm shaking so much that I don't see where I'm

stepping. I end up tripping and stumbling to the ground. The beast whips its head around and a

scream dies in my throat. Its face is very feline, its jaw dripping with blood, thick fur matted on

its hunched shoulders. Burning amber eyes staring dead into my soul. I don't think I'd ever been

that afraid before. That certain that I was going to die before. But I stare back, afraid that if I

turned away, it would end me then and there. Tesa stands frozen beside me, and I can hear her

stuttered breathing. The beast takes a step closer, and inhales deeply. My ears are ringing now.

The world doesn't seem real. Then, it lunges. The scream in my throat dies as Tesa flings me out

of the way. “Tesa!” I shriek.

The beast pins her to the ground and she only gets to open her mouth before fangs sink

deep into her throat. Hot tears stream down my face, “Tesa-” I croak, crumpling to my knees.

All I can see is her broken bloody body, her eyes wide and sightless. There's a loud crash,

followed by sounds of commotion filling the forest. The beast, startled, dashes away into the

forest. People yell and call out to each other, beams of light searching through the marshy wood.

They find me cradling Tesa’s broken body in my arms, sobbing at the loss of my best friend.

They call it the Beast of Bladenboro now, the monster that only I faced and survived. Not

everyone believes it was the beast that killed Tesa - they think it was some sort of freak accident

in the forest. I don’t blame them, it’s hard to believe in such a creature. I wouldn’t have believed

it either if I hadn’t watched my best friend die in front of me within its jaws. The creature

remains a legend to everyone else. But Bladenboro will never be the same again.