A horror story by John Merenda
©1996

There is something horrible out there, waiting in the shadows, in places that give us a sense of dread. The only good thing about it, if you dare see it that way, is that few fall prey to it, only those who don't heed their inner voice. One night Susan Lyons ventures too close and is swept into a nightmare of events that tests the brink of sanity. In order to save everything she holds dear, she must face a gauntlet of hell.

		One     Stalker Bill and Susan Lyons enjoy a night out with friends;in a woods nearby, the hunter waits.				Two     Abduction Stepping out to air their differences, Bill and Sue encounter the unthinkable. A strange noise, a terrible stench,excruciating fear.  .  .
		Three     Ceremony Pungent vapors from the Grand Oomok imbue a dizzying ecstasy in the celebrants at the stone.				Four     Warning The old man warned, "When thunder rumbles near,  with a stench upon the air,  within the shadow of the wood,  lurks Youmac to beware."
		Five     Omen In her dream, Sue searches a pumpkin field for an unseen wailing baby. Down, under the foliage, emerges a maddening revelation.				Six     Crime Scene "First go to where it all happened. If nothing else, get a sense of the place, feel the vibs."
		Seven     Scheme "Let us never forget our responsibilities, our obligations, our singular purpose as keepers of the Stone."				Eight     Oracle In times of great need she turns to an oracle, one who possesses great knowledge. For Susan it is Gilbert.
		Nine     Masquerade The boys witness A monstrous head rise from the thicket followed by another equally as shocking.				Ten     Despair That she could sink to such depths of self delusion was a burning anguish.
		Eleven     Pursued Susan runs; the man gives chase,and sadly, he gains on her with each stride.				Twelve     Terminate "That meddling little tramp must be stopped immediately. Terminate! Do you understand? Terminate.  .  ."
		Thirteen     Requiem She stood in stunned disbelief by the sudden realization of what that chain of coincidences implied.				Fourteen     Contract Hiring someone to commit murder is not that hard; the trick is to do it and still remain anonymous.  .  .
		Fifteen     Assassin According to the mob, murders are done for either of two reasons: business or personal; for Larry there is a third: pleasure.				Sixteen     Meeting You are in grave danger. Leave the city at once, relocate  .  .  .
		Seventeen     Savior The door bell chimed. It was either intuition or plain common sense, but Susan hesitated . . .				Eighteen     Vigil emerging from the woods, they come upon an eight foot, chain-link fense, beyond that, the cemetery.  .  .
		Nineteen     Strike The killer figited at the door anxiously; his eyes, cold and lifeless. Death breathed softly in her ear. She shivered briefly and opened.				Twenty     Archives "I remember that stink in the air." the woman reminisced, "Some said it was the You-mac; but others;  . . well others had other ideas."
		Twenty-one     Sidereal "This phenomenon occurs when the earth is in a certain position relative to the stars--yet another reason to suspect cult activity."				Twenty-two     Rapture . . .her door ajar, hard rock blaring, and blood shining red on the floor. . .
		Twenty-three     Retribution She fell victim like a helpless fly caught in a spider's web.				Twenty-four     Burden Although she was about to commit the most horrendous act of her life, she still had to eat.
		Twenty-five     Visitor The pungent odor of cooked flesh wafted from the kitchen.				Twenty-six     Nightcrawlers An opressive mist that reeked of the rich odor of decay awaited.
		Twenty-seven     Desecration Committing the forbidden on consecrated ground.				Twenty-eight     Limo At a dirge-like cadence, it cruised inexorably to its peculiar rendezvous.
		Twenty-nine     Surprise the limousine stood motionless, its engine hissing menacingly. . .				Thirty     Offering The unholy gathering stood over him and pattered diabolical incantations.
		Thirty-one     Possession From within the stinking, sulfurous mist, a hidiously alien entity came into view.				Thirty-two     Theory They conjured a counterpart to their collective malevolence.  .  .
		Thirty-three     Communion . . . a primordial ceremony of triumph, a kind of rite of passage into a new realm of ethics.				Thirty-four     Family Tree They rummaged the past to unlock the riddle.  .  .
		Thirty-five     Special Delivery The problem solver received his assignment: terminate.				Thirty-six     Backfire Each step echoed like the toll of a death knell.
		Thirty-seven     Black and White . . . armed with enough weapons to launch a one-man, cammando raid.				Thirty-eight     Trappist The long stretch of boredom was punctuated by panic.
		Thirty-nine     Institute All evidence point to the dreaded conclusion .  .  .				Forty     Stone It harnesses the minds, souls, and senses of those captured.  .  .

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