Monster Gauntlet by Paul Emil Page B

couldn’t have known about the woman.” Instead, after a moment, he said, “What was that thing?”
    “A kelpie,” I said.
    “What?”
    “A water monster. Lures her victims into the water. Sometimes appears as a horse.”
    Marine simply said, “That’s fucked up.”
    After a moment of reflection I said, “They’re not supposed to be real.”
    “Think there are more?” he asked.
    “I don’t know.”
    Marine sighed and said, “It’ll be dark soon. Let’s go to the tower.”
    We started on our way. When our backs were turned, the girl on the cross near us perked up.
    “Hey!” she said. “You’re not really leaving me, are you? Get me down from here!”
    Marine and I looked at each other, then continued on our way.
    “Hey!” she cried out. “Don’t leave me here! Just let me down! I don’t have to go with you! I’ll go my own way! Just give me a chance!”
    Marine and I looked at each other again. Maybe he was thinking the same thing I was.
    We’d been fooled earlier. Nothing in this situation was what it seemed. No one could be trusted. People, things, and invisible controlling forces were out to get us. The kelpie had worn a good human disguise, and she almost killed Marine.
    I didn’t know who or what this new “person” was, but whatever my double over there really was, there was no chance that she was a real person.
    Marine and I wordlessly arrived at the same conclusion. We were leaving. The clone was on her own.
    We started walking. The doppelgänger girl was screaming something behind us. Then, seeing us move further and further away, the screams turned to sobs. Then, just before we moved out of earshot, the screaming seemed to become something else. It sounded like ... laugher.
    I chill ran down my body. I shuddered, purged of any doubts that I had done the right thing.
    Marine shivered as well and said exactly what I was thinking. We picked up the pace and he said, “Let’s get to that tower. Fast.”

16
     
     
    I struggled to support Marine’s weight. He wasn’t a big guy, but he was strong and athletic. I wasn't.
    We limped towards the opening in the tree line. Here at the beginning of the trail, I could look up at the sky. Further down, the path narrowed and the branches of the canopy interlaced, making trail look like tunnel. I could see a patch of light at the far end. That was my goal. That was where the woods ended and the base of the hill began. This was another isthmus between open spaces. On top of that hill was the watchtower. We were close.
    Marine and I lumbered along together. Our steps got into a rhythm, sort of, so that gave me hope that we were making progress. I needed that, for most of my hope was fading as quickly as the light. The sun burned orange like the dying candle in a jack-o'-lantern. In minutes, the final smoldering ember would burn out. The light bleeding through the trees trickled away as if it were disappearing down a drain.
    "Hurry, Marine," I grunted. "We've got to move."
    He made an effort to move faster. I didn't have to explain why.
    The sun went down behind the mountains. I felt the temperature drop as we entered the “tunnel.” I felt immediately uneasy, like someone swimming in the ocean. I felt like we were in a whole new level of danger. I was right.
    We made it about halfway when we heard a stick snap behind us. I glanced behind me, and I was so startled I almost shuffled Marine’s weight off of me. About 50 meters behind us, in the middle of the trail, was a dark figure.
    Marine looked up and winced.
    "Oh hell no," he groaned, getting back to his feet.
    "It's ... It’s a man," I managed to say, searching for a word and coming up with one that was close but didn’t quite fit. I called it “a man,” but it wasn't a man. The body was too distorted. It had long spindly limbs. It was so thin it was almost skeletal. The arms were too long. The hands were too big. The fingers were too long, and each tapered into a curved claw. The head was