"Nights of the Cryptids" by E. W. Farnsworth

Nights of the Cryptids

by E. W. Farnsworth

 

Paulina raced home in the fading daylight and managed to lock and bar her front door before darkness fell enveloping her entire village.  Beside the stove, she found her brother Saul warming his feet.

“Hell, Sis,” he said.  “I am glad you made it home before night.  Our neighbors have not been so lucky.”

“What have you been hearing?”

“The Jamesons have lost their twins though to my mind it was due to bad planning.  The twins tried to make it to their cousin’s house around ten o’clock last night but they never arrived at their destination.  This morning the elders arranged for a thorough search—to no avail. The judgment was the twins were lost to those wicked creatures of the night.”

“Our standing orders are clear as a bell—do not venture forth at night on account of the cryptids.  There are no exceptions!”

Saul shook his head.  “Everyone who has ignored the mandate has disappeared without trace.  And now nearly everyone has taped over his windows.  Some villagers have been intrigued by what they see through the glass that their curiosity has lured them outside against the rule.”

“Is there any new speculation about the particulars of the cryptids?”

“Some heard snarling and growling last night. And one person heard distant howls.  As the moon is full, people say a werewolf is on the prowl.  Others think it might be the big black dog with the enormous teeth.”

Paulina thought about these theories for a few minutes.  “In either of those cases, fire should have been a deterrent.  Do you know whether the twins carried torches last night?”

“you would have thought they might have, but they said the light would attract the creatures, not repel them.  Go figure.”

She stirred the kettle in which their dinner was steeping.  “It seems cruel to say so, but maybe the cryptids are culling the weak and stupid from among us.”

“When does the slaughter stop?” he mused, not expecting her to answer.  “At least we have our soup and fresh bread for dinner.”

Outside the wind whistled under the eaves, and the brother and sister shivered when they heard the unmistakable sound of howling—a full-throated wolf’s howl, son echoed by sympathetic howls from six or eight other wolves.  The wolf pack seemed close to the house.  One wolf was scratching at the front door.

“Don’t answer the door, Sis.  The wolves will tear you to pieces.”

“I am ravenously hungry.  I’ll pour us some soup and slice the bread. Maybe the meal will keep our minds off the wild animal sounds.”

They took their dinner to the dining table and ate while the howling and scratching continued.  Suddenly the noise at the door became loud knocking and a human voice saying, “Let me in, quick.  The wolves are coming for me.”

Saul arose and went to the door to look through the peep hole.  “I cannot believe my eyes, Sis.  It’s the twins.  We have to let them inside.”

“Not so fast.  We have time to ask our visitors a few questions.”

Paulina peered through the eye hole and said, “If you are the twins, what is the name of your dog?”

The figure closest to the door said, “We don’t have a dog anymore—it disappeared.”

“But before it disappeared, what was its name?”

The other twin said, “Fido.”

“Okay.  We are going to open the door, but we’ll have to close it quickly after you are inside.  All right?”
“Just open the door, or we’ll be eaten.”

Before she opened the door, Paulina reached down the loaded rifle that always hung above the jamb.  She gave the firearm to her brother and indicated he should cover the opening once it was clear.

When she pushed up the bar and slid the dead bolt, the door opened with a gust of wind behind the two huddled twins, who had rushed inside.  Saul fired the rifle into the opening where a wounded wolf squealed and howled.  Paulina shut the door and set the bar and bolt.  She took the twins’ coats and invited them into the dining room for soup and bread.

“The entire village has been looking for you two.  Where have you been?”

“We were taken to a cave where the other missing villagers are being held.  A man who turns into a wolf at night is in charge.  We saw our opportunity to escape when the man became a wolf and led the pack for their nightly hunt.  Anyway, he was right behind us when we knocked at your door.  Maybe the wolf that was hit by your rifle shot was that man.”

“We have to get back to the cave.  The lives of the others are at stake.”

“Not tonight, you won’t.  We shall sort everything out in the morning, but now you must eat your soup and bread.  Paul will fetch you furs and hides for bedding.”    

The twins ate and slept as Paulina advised.  The next morning, they all went to see the elders, who were overjoyed to see the twins safe.  A party of hunters formed to find the hidden cave where the captives were being held.  By noon, the lost villages had been found and freed.  The man who became a wolf was captured and put in the iron cage in the village square.  He had been wounded by Paul’s rifle shot, so a physician treated his wound.

The elders did not want to change their protocols until they could determine that the danger was truly over.  So, that evening the village remained under strict orders not to chance going out into the night.  The moon was now gibbous, so the wolves—and the man in the iron cage—howled at it.  But no harm came from the wild animals.  

Without a leader, the wolfpack departed the area.  Armed men came to take the wolf man away.  Paulina and Saul were happy the night no longer needed to be feared.