Read Monsters for Free Online Page B

corner of his eye, Bruce could see Jane leaning out of the window above them, a smile on her face as she leaned forward on her elbows. He acknowledged her with a slight wave, returning the smile.
    “Ah, yeah. That's right. I guess.”
    “Well, good,” said the man, throwing open the cellar doors and picking up the first barrel. He disappeared down the wooden stairs. Bruce glanced up again, but Jane was gone. He felt silly standing there with three credits in his hand. He was so sure he had Jane figured out, but she'd surprised him. Bruce turned and walked away, pocketing the coins, smiling at how she'd played him twice, like a cat with a mouse. She may not have been pretty, but she was intelligent and mischievous, and that intrigued him.
    That night the air was unusually cold. Autumn was giving way to winter. Soon snow would fall and within days the trails would be impassible. Bruce planned to return to his farm the following day so as to finish his fortifications against the coming ice storms. For several days there had been reports of wild dogs, but no one took them seriously as the village was surrounded by crop fields, with large gates barring the major approaches. Wild dogs had never come up to the village before. The huge beasts tended to stick to the wooded areas, so there was no cause for concern.
    Bruce heard a woman scream over the jostling and singing in the bar. He and several of the locals rushed out into the main street to see a woman lying on her back at the end of the dusty road. A wild dog stood over her, dwarfing her with its immense size. Somehow, he knew it was Jane, even at that distance. He wasn't sure how. Perhaps it was her silhouette, or maybe her clothes as she was still wearing the same dress he'd seen her in that afternoon, or it could have been the pitch in her voice as she cried out for help, but in the low light, he knew it was her and a chill ran through him.
    The monster was savage. Dark brooding eyes stared down at Jane with malice. The creature's fur was matted and tangled, as black as the night beyond. With paws the size of a man's outstretched hand, the beast pinned Jane to the ground with its weight.
    The events of the day flashed through Bruce's mind, her brashness in the gate, the way she teased him in the market, but all that was about to come to a tragic end as she was torn to pieces by a wild animal.
    The beast bared its teeth, growling at Bruce as more locals ran into the street behind him.
    The dog snarled, saliva dripping from its jaws.
    The men of the village grabbed poles and sticks, swords and axes, anything that was handy, and charged at the brute, shouting and screaming to drive it away, but the monster held its ground.
    Jane rolled to one side, scrambling to get away as the men of the village surrounded the animal and began beating it with rods.
    The creature was rabid, mad with disease. Each stab, each cut and wound only infuriated it further. With the strength of a horse, the wild dog wheeled, knocking wooden carts around, breaking fences and hitching posts as it reeled from the pikes and spears of the villagers.
    The massive dog lunged at one of the younger men, grabbing his lance with its teeth and whipping its head, sending the man flying some forty feet through the air.
    The older men brought flaming torches, knowing fire was all the monster feared. They surrounded it, striking only at its hind quarters, forcing the dark beast to circle.
    Jane crawled away as the men wore the animal down, using their numbers to confuse it, never having more than one man strike in succession as they kept their wary distance.
    The wild dog wheeled to face each attacker, growling and snarling, only to be struck from behind again and again.
    Bruce caught sight of Jane fleeing down a dark alley. Her dress was torn. Blood dripped from a cut on her arm. At the time, he was astonished she'd survived at all, let alone with barely a scratch on her forearm. A single bite from the dog would have