Taken by the Beast Read online

  Taken By The Beast

  By Madison Faye

  Fiona jolted awake. Ordinarily, Fiona could sleep through anything and everything. Tony, her ex-boyfriend, would have to shake her to wake her up and get her out of bed. Still groggy, she patted her hand around on her bed, searching for her phone. Finally, she found and pressed a button, causing it to brighten.

  "1:21am… what the hell could possibly be going on?" Fiona grumbled.

  A loud bang rang from outside her bedroom. The thin walls of her home provided some clue where it was coming from, the kitchen.

  Fiona lived alone and Tony was away on business. He was the only one who had an extra key. Panic and fear struck her like a ton of bricks. Someone had broken into her home. She had prepared for such an occasion, but it still takes a few moments to let the gravity of the situation set in.

  Once Fiona's head was back on straight, she discreetly slid her dresser drawer and grabbed her Colt 1911. Her mind slipped into autopilot, having rehearsed this event multiple times in the past. Fiona gripped the handle of the gun, and in an instant, her nerves calmed as she felt the familiar weight and cold steel in her hand. Instinctively, she pulled the slide back and released it, sending a bullet into the chamber of the gun. Next, she dialed 911 on her phone and left it on her bed.

  Slowly, Fiona crept across the chilly pine wood floor in her bedroom, wearing a pair of red panties and an old black high school t-shirt that hit about mid-thigh. She crouched down, and, thanks to her athletic frame, she easily maneuvered her way across the floor. There was a dull light shining through the crack of her bedroom door. Leaning beside the door, Fiona carefully opened it to the dark expanse of house.

  Moonlight shined through the windows as she moved across her house with cat like grace. She could hear the intruder rummaging through the kitchen. Fiona wondered what they could possibly be searching for as she closed her position on the intruder's. Drawing closer, she could smell an almost animalistic musk diffusing through the air. Sort of like the way a dog smelled.

  Fiona took several deep breaths, gathering her confidence and courage, before pivoting her body, and placing the intruder in her sights.

  "Get out of my house! I've got a gun and the cops are on their way!" Fiona barked.

  Her eyes assessed the intruder, made visible by the refrigerator light, widening as she looked at what could not be a man. The intruder was huge. Its massive frame hunched over her counter. It's back had to be at least 3 feet wide. It could have been the largest thing she had ever seen on two legs. What alarmed her even more was that the man, no the creature, didn't seem to be wearing any clothing. Instead, it was covered in a thick coat of fur charcoal fur.

  Its huge hulking frame turned quickly towards her as she shouted. Startling her with how quickly it was able to move. She felt her stomach drop as fear gripped her body. Her fight or flight response had all but shutdown. Her mind was prepared for some intruder in the dead of night, but not for it to be some unknown behemoth. Fiona could hear its powerful lungs filling with air as it took in her scent. The creature took a step towards her.

  "Stay back! I'll shoot you if you come any closer!" Fiona yelled as she stepped back, almost tripping over her own feet as she backpedaled into the wall, bumping against end table next beside her

  Her heart was racing and the adrenaline was coursing through her veins. The creature reached toward her in what felt like slow motion. Its long fingers extended towards her. Her hands trembled as she squeezed the trigger of her gun. The bang thundered throughout the room followed by a deep howl of pain that echoed throughout the room. Before Fiona was able to get another shot off, it smacked her hand sending the gun flying across the room.

  Fiona had always been a sure shot, but, with fear pounding down on her, her shot had gone wide. The bullet pierced through the muscle of creature's arm. Blood dripped out of the wound, and an angry fire stirred in its eyes. The beast locked eyes with Fiona, bearing its teeth from its long wolf-like snout. The smell from the creature emanated strongly overwhelming her, and the beast grabbed her by the wrist and pinned her arm to the wall like it was nothing more than a toy.

  "Please, don't hurt me! Take whatever you want. I won't tell anyone if you let me live. Please!" Pleaded Fiona as a single tear dripped down from her eye. She felt helpless without her gun, backed into a wall, with a beast that easily weighed four to five times as much as she did. And even more surprising, the creature's wound seemed to be closing.

  "Yes, you will do nicely," the beast barked as it placed its massive paw-like hand on her hip, its long fingers covering her backside. The creature tightened its grip on her ass as it drew closer. Her body subconsciously perked up. Her heart was pounding, but she felt a strange arousal coming over her as it came closer, her nipples stiffening under her shirt. Despite her body's reaction to the creature, her mind was still telling her to get out of there. She tried to push the beast away with her free hand, but she couldn't budge the creature from its advance.

  A hard, warm, and muscled chest leaned into Fiona's, enveloping Fiona in his arousing scent. She was becoming drunk off the masculinity and dominance of this beast. Its strong hand squeezed her round, plump rear. Her free hand seemed to have a mind of its own and began to stroke his chest, her fingers gripping at the thick gray fur, feeling the air inhale and exhale slowly from the beast's strong chest.

  Fiona leaned into him, easing her ample breasts into him. Something that felt the business end of a baseball bat pressed against her stomach through the fur. Ever curious, Fiona gazed down between them. Cloaked by darkness, it was hard to see precisely what was pushing against her stomach, but deep down she knew what it was.

  A huge cock.

  Fiona's mind flooded with deviants thoughts. All of them around the idea of having that monstrosity inside her. Already her body had betrayed her and now her mind was too.

  Panting filled Fiona's ears. With each passing second, the beast's shaft became more and more erect as his hands slid up the sides of her old-shirt. The beast gripped her shirt so tightly that Fiona could hear her shirt's seams tearing and ripping.

  Just as her shirt was about to give way, red and blue lights began to shine outside of her windows with a dull wooing noise coming from outside and the sound of opening car doors.

  A hard pounding sounded at the door.

  "Fiona! Open the door, it's the police!" yelled an officer.

  The noise startled the beast and he turned his head towards the commotion in a hunched posture. While he was distracted, Fiona regained her senses and patted her hand against the coffee table beside her, searching for anything she could use as a weapon. Her fingers closed around an old metal clock that her grandmother had given her. Taking the clock in both hands, she slammed it against the creature's turned head. The blunt force of the object briefly stunned the creature as Fiona dove away from the beast towards where she thought her gun had landed.

  “Help!” Shouted Fiona.

  Scrambling to find her weapon in the faint light, the cops began to bash the door down. Fiona shoved her hand under the couch until she felt the grip of her gun against her fingertips. She rolled onto her back with the gun's sights between her thighs to the area where the beast had been, just as the door finally gave way and the officers busted inside. Her eyes darted quickly around the room, but she wasn't able to see him anywhere.

  Her sliding glass door sat wide open, allowing a chilling breeze to blow through her living room, and leaving Fiona feeling very cold.

  "Fiona, are you alright?” asked one of the officers, extending his hand.

  Fiona took his hand and got on to her feet, still holding on to her gun tightly.

  "I don't know," replied Fiona, "Some intruder broke into my house… som
e THING! It was half man and half animal. I have no idea what it was."

  Hearing herself recount the events of the night made Fiona question whether or not any of it had happened.

  A wolf man? Get a grip, Fiona thought.

  One of the cops flipped the light switch, filling the room with harsh yellow light. Her entire kitchen was strewn about cups shattered, the contents of her refrigerator were almost entirely on the floor, and her pantry looked like a tornado had blown through it. Many of the packages had bite marks.

  Fiona went back to her room and put on some sweat pants to cover herself while she spoke with the officers. Glancing at herself in the mirror, she noticed that her hair was in disarray, and her cheeks were still slightly flushed from all the blood and adrenaline running throughout her body. Not to mention the arousal.

  "Did you get a good look at the bastard that came in here Fiona?" asked Matt Parker, placing his hand on her forearm and squeezing it gently, "I can't believe this would happen in our town…"

  Matt was a good man, a few months older than Fiona. They had grown up together from kindergarten to high school. He had protected her from any bullying when she went through her awkward teenage years. Before her stunning smile and contacts, there were huge glasses and braces.

  When Fiona went off to school to study accounting, Matt became a deputy of their small town. He always harbored a bit of a crush for her, but he never acted on it. His body was a slim, muscular build, and a kind face.

  Fiona stood there quietly, mulling over her words. She didn't want Matt to think she was crazy. "I have no idea what it was. I know it damn sure wasn't a man. It stood on two legs, but it was covered in fur with the face of a wolf. A very, very large wolf…" said Fiona. "It must have been close to 8 feet tall standing straight up."

  "It was probably some crazy bastard in a costume or something," replied Matt as he tried to make sense of her story and scribbled something on his pad. "Did anything happen while the intruder was here?"

  "I shot him once in the arm when I found him in the kitchen."

  "Okay, that's a start, we'll have the guys sweep the place for any blood and see if we can get a DNA test to see if we can figure out who this guy is."

  Fiona decided it would be best to leave out the fact that she had watched the beast heal rapidly before her eyes. Her story was already crazy enough with an 8 foot wolf man attacking her.

  "Thanks Matt," said Fiona weakly.

  "Hey, don't worry, we'll find this guy. You know I'm always looking out for you," said Matt with a warm smile that touched his eyes. His smile had always comforted her and this occasion was no exception.

  The police wrapped up their examination of the crime scene as dawn was beginning to break. Matt stuck around checking the latch on the glass door and securing her fron't door as well. They hugged each other good bye, and he reminded her to check all of the locks on her doors and windows. She made sure to lock up every place she could think of in her house. Fiona even went so far as to triple check all of the locks. Satisfied with the job she had done, she got back in bed, but kept her Colt out on the nightstand next to her.

  Before she went to sleep, she called her ex-boyfriend, Tony, and told him about the break in. He was extremely concerned for her well being and told her that he would be there as soon as he could. She left out the whole thing about it being a wolf man. She really couldn't deal with Tony thinking she was crazy too. Their relationship had gone cold during the winter. Still, they maintained some semblance of a friendship, both secretly hoping that something would reignite their relationship. During the summer time, they could barely keep their hands off one another, and Fiona really thought he would be the one. Winter came and with it, so did boredom.

  Sleep did not come easily to her in the morning. Every little creak of her house or the rattling of her heater caused her to bolt upright in her bed. Eventually, she grew so tired from exhaustion that sleep won and she succumbed to it.

  Fiona awoke with to a few rays of sunlight beaming in through her blinds. She looked around her house, holding her pistol with both hands next to her face, as she searched and secured her home.

  After making sure everything was where it should be, Fiona prepared the shower, subconsciously turning it just a touch hotter than normal. The warm water rushing over her skin felt fantastic after a mostly sleepless night. The beads of water massaged her curves and left her feeling rejuvenated. Even a break in could not steal away her love of long, hot showers.

  It was Saturday, so the day was her own as she saw fit, but she did have some errands to run. Fiona put on a pair of tight jeans, deep brown riding boots, and thick white wool sweater. As she walked out the door, she grabbed her red pea coat.

  Running errands was about as boring as it always was for Fiona. Although, while she was in the grocery store, restocking her previously ravaged supplies, she could hear the murmurs from the other shoppers.

  "That's the girl who thought she was attacked by a wolf man…"

  "Her house was burgled last night."

  "I heard there wasn't even any evidence of a break other than her house being trashed. She is probably just making the whole thing up for attention."

  Fiona sighed, bearing with the townsfolk talking behind her back. Eventually, they would move on to the next story as soon as hers grew cold.

  Redding, MN was a small town and everyone knew everyone else's business. It hadn't really surprised Fiona at all, but it still made her angry nonetheless. A police officer must have talked to their wife and told them about the girl who was attacked by a wolf man…

  Sometimes, Fiona wondered what drew her back here in the first place. Filing through her memories, it didn't take long for her to remember her love of the picturesque landscape, a combination of expansive forests and the mountains in the distance. It wasn't that she didn't want to travel to other places, but she couldn't imagine living anywhere else. Despite the town's flaws, this was her home.

  Fiona finished her shopping and headed back to her red Subaru Forester. She smiled a little at the parking pass that hanged from her rear-view mirror. It read H & H Lumber. Her job as an accountant for H & H Lumber wasn't exactly exhilarating, but it paid the bills, and they treated her kindly there. H & H Lumber logging operation had undergone aggressive expansions as lumber prices soared. This resulted in the company traveling deeper into the forest and leaving massive swathes of barren land. Occasionally, Fiona reflected on the ramifications of her job, but always rationalized it with the phrase, "If I don't do it, then someone else will."

  Fiona arrived home at about 4 pm, finally finished with her activities for the day. The snow had just begun to fall; it was light dusting right now, but she knew a single flake could become a blizzard in the blink of an eye. Paranoid after last night, Fiona conducted an exhaustive check of her home's locks, wondering if this would become a common routine for the rest of her life. Thankfully, everything appeared to be in place.

  Clouds blotted out the setting sun, bringing an early nightfall. Everything had been mostly uneventful. Tony and Matt had both called to check up on her, and she assured them that everything was okay, but she was still a bit shook up over the whole thing.

  Fiona stared out the window and a chill wrapped itself around her. What little her porch light illuminated looked despicably cold. Snow fell down in blankets, making it possibly to only see a few feet. Her mind wandered to the thought of that creature stalking out there. A shiver rolled through her bones.

  It was just after 10:30pm, Fiona had finished watching another episode of a cop drama on Netflix. Her joints ached as she rose off her couch, tired from sitting so long, and gave her self a much needed stretch, standing up on her tippy-toes while reaching for the sky. Fiona hadn't bothered changing out of her clothes from earlier, and felt she was allowed to be a little lazy after last night's ordeal. The thought of the break in sent a shiver down her spine. And almost on queue, a shadow whizzed by her back door.

  Her pupils looked li
ke a game of ping pong as they bounced from one end of her eye to the other, rapidly scanning for any and all movement, but all she saw were thousands of snowflakes falling to their final resting place.

  "It must have been nothing," Sighed Fiona.

  The piercing sound of glass shattering blasted over the TV.

  Fiona spun towards the disturbance and saw her sliding glass shattered to a million pieces. Shards of glass formed a trail to the far corner of her living room. Her eyes followed the string of glass to a sea of grey fur breathing heavily. At first glance, Fiona could see it had several scrapes around its bulky arms from where the glass fragments had sliced through.

  The beast shot to its feet in a blink of an eye, rapidly turning towards her. It's massive frame eclipsed the light behind it and created a long, dark shadow over her.

  "You will come with me," The beast said. His voice deep and guttural.

  "I'm not going anywhere with y-you monster!" Yelled Fiona, throwing her TV's remote at his head. Plastic smacked against his snout, and a yelp followed it.

  Fiona knew the that the beast would be dazed for only a moment. She ran in a dead sprint to her room, locking the door behind her and swiftly put on her riding boots and winter coat.

  A deep growl came from the other side of the door. A growl so forceful that it shook the flimsy door. Fiona swallowed, knowing her door would offer minimal protection.

  Frantic, Fiona opened her bedroom window and scurried out of it. Snow cascaded in white sheets. The first breath she took was like taking a drink from the arctic ocean and chilled her straight to the bone. Freezing to death was a very real threat now, but it was a far more appealing alternative than whatever that thing wanted to do with her.

  Each step through the snow was a laborious act. But Fiona knew that if she stopped she would be dog meat. Fiona stumbled through the snow until it there was only a faint light representing her home. Fiona had no idea which direction she was heading in. The storm made her neighbors' homes invisible.