Chapter Seven
The Kill Trap

Evan caught just one good glimpse of the creature.  Its hunched back towered over its head, which hung down as it walked on all fours.  Strong muscled arms served now as legs, but looked fully capable of striking with vicious claws.  If the beast were to stand upright, it would dwarf the tallest human.

After stalking toward them for a moment, its imposing form slipped below the snow.

“Where?” Kenny asked.  “I don’t see anything.”

“They were there.” Evan insisted.  “Three of them, coming from different directions.”

Kogane gave a quick glance around, then returned his attention to the hole his father was digging.  “We won’t see them again until they find the Brogle.” He looked and the grim expression on his face made it clear who the unfortunate Brogles would be.

“So is the Brogle safe now?” Charlotte asked

Evan wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

Nancy came over and squatted in front of Charlotte.  “That Brogle will be safe now, because we’re going to distract those Twilight Stalkers.  You come stand over here because when we get this door open, I want you to be the first one through.”

Nancy positioned her sister as close to the digging as possible, then moved Evan to stand directly behind her.  Nancy told him, “Get her in, okay?” Then Nancy went back to where Evan had been standing at the edge of the group as if she alone would fight off the approaching Night Stalkers.

Kogane came over and put a hand on Evan’s shoulder.  “Once you’re in, get through the second door and be ready to slam it when I say so.”

Evan didn’t understand what that meant, but he nodded agreement.

Kenny joined Nancy in watching for attack.  Everything around them was quiet and still, except for Dad’s digging.  Not even a breeze passed through the trees. There was nothing either of his siblings could do against the approaching monsters, unless they wanted to start making snowballs.  The idea almost made Evan laugh, but the sick feeling in his stomach reminded him that this was no game.

“Dig more to the right,” Kogane instructed.   “We just need the handle.”

They had uncovered the upper portion of a thick wooden door.  Dad breathed hard as he attacked the packed snow in the lower depths of the hole.

“Dig out about three inches,” Kogane said.  “We don’t want to accidentally take the handle off.”

Dad dug down a couple feet, leaving a protective column of packed snow around the likely location of the handle.  Then, using precise strokes, he started clearing the column as he searched for the door handle.

“I see one!” Nancy cried.  “They’re coming.”

Evan followed Nancy’s gaze and saw a mound of snow push its way toward them, as if something was burrowing underneath.

“There’s one over here too.”  Kenny spun in a circle as he scanned their surroundings.  “Where’s the third?”

Charlotte began to whimper.  Evan leaned closer and said in a low voice, “We’ll be safe soon.”

Dad’s shovel made a metallic click.  A moment later the handle was exposed.

“Now!” Kogane hissed.

Evan grabbed Charlotte and jumped into the hole.  He pushed her to one side, keeping an arm around her, and reached down for the handle.  As soon as he turned the handle, Dad pushed against the door with the shovel. The snow beneath Evan’s knees gave way and he tumbled into darkness.

Above him, somewhere, an unearthly roar was followed by a high-pitched scream.  Nancy!

Evan felt cold wood beneath his hands, with chunks of snow scattered around.  Charlotte moved next to him, although he could barely see her in the gloom. He grabbed her arm and pulled her up with him as he stood.  The commotion outside threatened to distract him, but he put his back to the door and blocked out the sounds. He started walking forward, hoping whoever designed this room had the good sense to put the second door directly in front of the first.  A dim outline formed in front of him just as something landed on the floor behind. He grabbed Charlotte’s hand tighter and rushed through the second opening. He followed the side of the open door until his fingers found the edge. He couldn’t feel a doorknob.  How was he supposed to lock the door?

“Evan?” Nancy asked in the darkness behind him.

The last bit of twilight filtered through the hole beyond the door, casting Nancy as a dark outline.  He had definitely heard her scream and he hoped desperately she wasn’t injured. “This way,’ he called out to her.

Two other forms dropped down through the hole.  Kenny, supporting Dad as if he might fall over. A light pierced the darkness.  Nancy held her phone out with the flashlight on. Red soaked through Dad’s jacket around the shoulder.

“Get in here,” Evan said.  “Quick!” As they rushed toward him, he added, “Where’s Kogane?”

“Holding off those things with a shovel,” Nancy replied as she swept past him.

Evan fought down concern for his friend and considered the door that was now his responsibility.  It had no handle. On either side of the doorway were iron brackets. He looked about for the crossbeam and found it standing against the wall in its own special holder, ready for emergency use.

A heavy thump vibrated through the floorboards.  Kogane stood in the entrance room, shovel in hand, facing a massive Twilight Stalker with its arms raised and claws extended.  One swipe and his friend could be dead.

“Hey!”  Nancy stepped up to the inner door, holding out a long sword with a bright blade.

Kogane glanced at her only a moment, then swung at the beast with his shovel.  He ducked back, missing a counter-strike, tossed the shovel in their direction, danced around to the side of the stalker, and raised his hand out.  Nancy tossed the sword in his direction. Kogane dived to catch it, then immediately struck the stalker with the blade.

Evan dashed forward and grabbed the shovel, retreated quickly to safety.  He tossed it aside and resumed his position by the door.

The Twilight Stalker slashed toward Kogane with its claws.  Evan thought for sure his friend would be injured, but Kogane stepped aside just in time and brought his sword down for another blow.

A shadow crossed the snowy pit, still visible through the other door.  Kogane would never be able to get through to the safety of this second room it all three Twilight Stalkers faced him at once.

Evan rushed into the room, darting around the fight.  He heard shouts behind him, but wasn’t sure if it was Kogane, Nancy, or just everyone.  He was being foolish, of course, but that other door had to close and Kogane obviously had to keep his attention focused on the battle.

Evan nearly slipped on the snow and ice as he reached the outside door.  He grabbed the edge and slammed the door shut. He found a similar crossbeam waiting in easy reach, but when after lifting it up he found that the door had not closed all the way.

“Clear the ice!” Kogane shouted.

The beast roared and took a swipe in Evan’s direction, but Kogane stepped between them and blocked with edge of his sword.

Evan tore his eyes away and pushed the door open again.  Dad had dug below the door latch on the outside, but there was a good two or three feet of packed snow up to where the door had been.  Clumps of packed snow and ice had fallen to the floor directly below this, blocking the door from shutting completely.

He needed a broom, but all he had was the crossbeam.

A shadow paused at the edge of the hole outside and the face of Twilight Stalker bent down and stared at him.  Evan froze, his heart thundering away in his chest. But the beast hadn’t jumped or fallen through, as the first one had.  Evan still had a chance to keep it out.

He rushed forward and used his foot to sweep the snow and ice out of the door frame.  The Twilight Stalker had just started climbing into the hole when he slammed the door shut.  His frozen fingers trembled as he lifted the crossbar to the brackets. It wouldn’t lower. Somehow it wouldn’t fit on both sides at once.  Perhaps enough snow still blocked the door from closing just right. He jammed his shoulder into the door and pushed down on the bar with all his might.  It slipped into place only a moment before the door shook with a fierce blow from outside.

“Go right,” Kogane called.

Evan looked about to see what the new instruction meant.

The battle still raged.  Kogane looked untouched, but the beast bleeding from several wounds.  Arrows stuck out of the stalker’s hide. Another arrow flew from somewhere on the left side of the room.  A long vertical slit in the wall. He could see similar slits on the right side of the room, but they appeared to be covered from the other side.

He darted around Kogane and the stalker, keeping close to the right wall until he reached the door.  Charlotte stood there as if ready to push the door closed the moment he stepped through.

“Wait for Kogane,” Evan said, grabbing the crossbeam.

A lantern mounted on the wall provided Evan his first good view of the inner room.  The wall separating it from the entrance room was curved, with arrow slits every few feet.  Kenny stood at one of these on the right, reaching for another arrow from his quiver. Dad lay on the floor, trying to light a second lantern.

The Twilight Stalker roared in pain again.  Kogane kept swiping at the beast with his sword, but stepped backwards each time.  Two more arrows stabbed into the creatures, side, prompting it to turn for a moment and smash a fist into the thick wall.  Kogane seized on the distraction and dashed through the inner doorway.

“Now!” Evan cried.

Charlotte shoved the door forward with surprising strength.  Evan rammed the door with his shoulder, and brought the wooden beam down into place.

“Keep it up!” Nancy shouted from somewhere in the shadows on the far right.  “We’ve almost got it.”

Kogane grabbed a bow and a quiver of arrows from the wall and opened one of the slits just to the left of the door.  Arrows flew from his bow as if he had handled a bow all his life.

Eager to help, Evan reached for a bow, but just then his friend called out.  “Grab the spear. Quick! It’s coming this way.”

Evan grabbed a bright wooden shaft with a barbed metal point.  He was about to try opening one of the arrow slits, when Kogane held out the bow and motioned for the spear.  They traded weapons and Kogane thrust the spear through the opening. The beast roared in pain. Kogane twisted the spear and held onto it with his might, as if the creature was trying to drag him through the wall as it tried to get away.

“Try the bow,” Kogane said.

Evan grabbed an arrow from the quiver slung across Kogane’s back, then hurried to the next slit.  He fumbled a moment with the lever, but finally opened the narrow window. All he could see was a black mess of hide.  He slipped the notched end of the arrow onto the string of the bow, then pulled back and let it fly. He had no idea if it struck or not.  He was about to grab another arrow, when Kogane let go of the spear and stepped back, looking exhausted.

The break, if you could call it that, only lasted a moment.  Kogane flashed Evan a broad smile, then darted back to the inner door.  “I’m going in. Don’t fire!” he cried, as he retrieved his sword. He looked at Evan.  “Open it. Quick. If it’s not dead, it’ll be up soon.”

Evan lifted the bar away and threw the door open.

Kogane rushed into the room.  Evan followed, bearing nothing but the cross beam.  To his dismay, Charlotte trailed behind him, holding aloft Nancy’s phone with the flashlight on.

The Twilight Stalker slumped against the wall.  The spear, deep in its side, held it somewhat aloft.  Evan saw no sign of motion. A pungent odor filled the air.

Nancy and Kenny rushed into the room, raising their bows with arrows notched.

Kogane stepped cautiously forward, then thrust the blade of his sword deep into the creatures side.  He stepped back and watched carefully. “If it wasn’t dead before, it is now.”

For a moment, everything was silent, then the outside door thundered against the weight of the creature still outside.

Kogane turned toward the sound.  “These things don’t forgive easily.  The whole pack will try to get through that door.  I don’t think this kill trap will hold them forever.  Grab any good arrows you can find. This is going to be a long night.”