Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-28060931-20160402175026

I- The Hounds of Avery Springs The hounds of Avery Springs started to howl. It was a chorus of long, agonizing, and terrifying howls. The residence of the small village, all dropped to their knees and begun praying. All the police cars bolted out of the police station, the loud sirens warning residence to remain inside. Distinct orders were given to the officers: ‘Immediatly stop and question any gloomy figures lurking in the shadows.’  All this alertness, and commotion was caused by the howling of the hounds. After half a century of these ghastly premonitions, the locals were able to distinguish the howling that foretold the death of someone. It took three decades to figure out that the dogs would produce this specific howl within twenty-four hours of a dead body being discovered in the area. Some locals claim that the village is haunted, some that it's blessed. Though educated people speculate that the odour produced by a decaying corpse, mixed with some local scent make a smell that is undetectable by humans, but, a smell that dogs are sensitive to. Perhaps the most uncanny, and ominous thing is that none of the fifteen murders have been solved. This time the body of Jason Idernol has been located in the nearby creek flowing through the village. The fingers, and teeth had been removed. The body showed no other signs of damage. It was yet another mystery. Jason Idernol was the last of his family, and was a recluse, rendering any efforts of finding out more about his personal life useless. II- Avery Springs If one was to continue up the road from Maynard, Massachusetts, USA towards Stow but take a wrong turn about ten miles up the road, they would, no doubt, venture upon the village of Avery Springs. The village is located amidst a heavily wooded area. The village is showing signs of dilapidation. The majority of the windows are broken, the cobblestone houses are engulfed by moss, and the barns are falling apart as if after a great fire. The wildlife such as cows, horses, pigs, and chickens are thin and appear to be very sick. The town is plagued by a string of unsolved murders. The residence are poor, and wear torn tunics, and ripped trousers. The town has a population of about fifty. Most of the residence are Christian and attend mass every Sunday. Where they hear about Satan and his imps bringing despair and misery unto the earth. Detective Alan Coffe took great interest in the mysteries. Alan was a private detective, who used to work in the ballistics department, the police of Avery Springs was relieved and full of joy. They thought that, with the help of a professional detective, they would be able to find the murderer and put every ones mind at ease. The chief of police ordered the local inn to get a room ready of Alan. On a bleak night of June 15, 1923 Alan Coffe arrived at Avery Springs. Al was a man of a rugged countenance, and great vigour. He wore a leather jacket, and jeans. Upon entering the inn he nearly swooned. The smell of rot, and decay was overpowering. The inn was dirty. The wallpaper was torn off, the tables were stained with something that Alan did not recognise. His room was no better. III- The Cabin Alan woke up early, got out of bed, and got dressed. The chief of police had given him permission to examine the body. When Alan arrived at the station, he was given directions to go down a descending staircase. The basement was damp, and dimly lit. There was a set of post-mortem knives at the feet of a steel table, on which was the body of Jason Idernol. The corpse was thin, and had a look of terror on its face. Upon further examination Alan came to the conclusion that the victim died of a hearth attack. This made Alans face light up. ‘So maybe this is not, in fact, a murder.’ He muttered to himself. This, however, did not explain the missing fingers and teeth. Alan put down his tools and inquired about where Jason lived, and asked for the case files. ‘The case files? The chief should have them,’ a officer said ‘Jason lived in a cabin ‘bout two miles from town. We searched the place, but couldn't find anything.’ Alan planed to search the cabin for any clue about what happened to Jason, since fingers don't fly off. Alan equipped himself with his trusty 32. Smith and Weston, a lamp, and a cane. He walked down the twilit streets and into the forest. The last rays of orange sunlight that streamed further into the forest, through gaps in leaves, illuminated the way for Alan. Al got an uncanny feeling, something felt wrong to him, but he could not exactly place his finger on it. Perhaps it was the unnatural symmetry of the trees, or maybe the eerie silence occasionally broken by a sound of snapping twigs, or maybe even the ghastly feeling of solitude, and isolation he got from the forest. Alan took out his gun, so that it might comfort him. Finally he reached a shack. It was small and made out of spruce wood. The place gave of an eldritch vibe. Alan entered through the creaking door. The first floor contained a kitchenette, and a small sitting room. The second floor had a bed made out of oak, and hay, and fur. There was, in the corner, a desk of accompanied by a chair. Alan approached out and was startled. There were stacks, on top of stacks of paper. There were pens, pencils, and quills laying here and there. Though the chaotic state of the desk was not what startled Alan. It was the contents of the paper. Some contained pictures, illustrations of queer, and ghastly monsters, abominations. Most were human-like, uncanny creatures. One of the pictures depicted a man clad completely in black. The background showed Avery Springs. The mans eyes were gleamed from under the shadow, cast on his face by his top hat. The man was oddly not human-like. His body was contorted in queer ways, his hands were pale, and resembled claws. Another drawing showed a monstrosity beyond our plane of existence. It was scarlet and resembled a mix between a crab, a squid, and a bear. It was a humongous creature, its arms were charcoal black claws resembling that of a crabs. Its head was round and menacing. Tentacles were coming out of its waist like a skirt, Its legs were strong, and covered in fur. After Al recovered from the momentary shock, he cleaned the papers off the desk and found a book. The book was small, thick, and bound in dark leather. It was bookmarked. So Alan opened the marked page. In there was a poem, or a chant of some kind. It read: On a cold June night we will reunite as one,Any who will oppose us will be  gone.There are many things you can stumble upon,But stumbling upon Zhexiez'nikzel will make you gone.We will please our master,And our attempts will not end in disaster,Through our efforts and vows,We will bring back our master. Alan, from this, could deduce that this man was either not sane, or was into some weird satanic rituals. Alan tapped some of the floorboards with his cane in search of loose ones. He found a hidden storage space underneath some lose floorboards. Inside was a revolver. It was an M1917. Alan examined it further. Two of the chambers were broken. Alan pocketed this gun and examined the shack further. When Alan realised there was nothing else out of the ordinary he set out towards the town. But something caught his eye, a .45 ACP bullet shell. The M1917 used .45 APC. So Alan picked it up and looked around. When he caught sight of a bullet hole in a tree fitting the size of the bullet, he Immediatly started searching the area. Soon he found another shell, and another beside it, and another one. These four shells would all work in the revolver. Alan was intrigued and perplexed by this. He looked around some more andsaw brown trail leading further into the forest. This was dried blood if he ever saw it. Alan hurried along the trail. From the frequency, and amount of blood in the trail, Alan, came to the conclusion that the victim was limping.‘The victim went out for a walk, maybe. Fired four bullets. At least one hit, and at least one missed its target. The victim number two limped away. Possibly blocking a different wound because no effort was made to stop bleeding and making a trail in the process.’ Alan thought as he followed the trail. At last, the trail ended abruptly near the creek. Alan searched for another one but to no avail. This was a great mystery to Al. The pictures, the poem, the blood. Alan was fatigued so he went to sleep for the night. VI- Zhexiez’nikzel Alan woke up and thought about the mystery. The puzzle was perplexing. Alan thought for a whole ten hours and was unsuccessful in coming up with anything. All the previous cases had no correlation to this one. Alan tried looking in local archives, and history books for the word: Zhexiez’nikzel. But there was no sign of the name nor the poem. Alan abruptly became aware of the rain pounding against his window. He decided it would be best to look through more of Jason’s book where he found the poem. So Al once again ventured into the cabin and found the leather-bound book. As he was leaving, a deafening lightning strike sounded in the distance. So Al sat down and started reading, deciding its best to remain inside. The wind was moaning against the windows, and the rain was creating vast puddles outside.The book was quite cryptic but interesting. It spoke about a group of gods that Alan never heard of before. Zhexiez’nikzel the God of Hounds, Serziekilod the Prince of Blood, and Xizesonez the Lord of Destruction. The book seemed to be a cultist handbook of sorts, describing rituals, and containing prays. The storm finally ceased, but Alan was to engaged in the book to go outside. The book described the creation of earth, and Avery Springs. It even said that the small shack in which Jason lived as a place of sacrifice. A passage from it read: ‘And Zhexiez’nikzel was condemned to a existence in a prison. He would be locked away under Qizsouxis the small shack where his loyal followers sacrificed dogs in his name. He would remain locked away until his most loyal follower, Ivan IdernoI, would free him. (See ritual pg. 607)’ Alan was surprised to see the name, Idernol, in the book. The name made Al think of something. But page six-oh-seven only further confirmed his fears: ‘Zhexiez’nikzel's most loyal follower would sacrifice a part of himself, the life of a enemy, and the dignity of a friend to revive the god of old. The ritual was to be preformed at 3 a.m. on the first of June with fifteen other followers in the basement of the old shack.’ A sudden wave of horror hit Alan. He wondered if Jason did attempt this ritual. But as far as he knew there was no basement, unless, there was a door on the outside of the house. Alan went outside and circled the house. Indeed, there was a hatch leading to the celler at the back of the shack. Alan went down and heard a low murmuring sound. The celler was pitch black. So Alan had to use his lamp to illuminate the celler. The sight was horrific. Shackles and chains lined the brick walls. There were jars of human fingers, eyeballs, and teeth on the barrels. The murmuring got louder the deeper Alan went into the celler. There were pentagrams, and other queer symbols on the floor, and walls. Alan finally reached a heavy, wooden door. It seemed that whatever was behind  it  was the source of the murmuring. Al turned back, and tripped on a brick. He fell over, but knocked over a barrel and gas of some sort issued from it. It seemed to Immediatly float out of a tiny opening in the wall. Alan could not smell anything nor did he feel anything. Suddenly the dogs in the village begun howling. I was a long, agonizing, and terrifying howl. The murmurs on the other side of the door increased in volume. They now became frantic. Alan was starting to panic. Alan took his gun out and looked at the walls. He found a piece of parchment with the name of nineteen people. Sixteen were crossed out. All of the sixteen names were previous victims. The names were crossed out in chronological order accept for ‘Jason Idernol'  Alan started to piece it together. The Zhexiez’nikzel and the basement. The victims and the followers. The trail of blood and what caused it. The gas and the barking the dogs. Alan got his gun out. He was going to report everything that he found out. Alan hastily started for the ladder leading to the hatch. He know knew everything. He wanted to get away before the second inhabitant of the house came back. He was, however, too late. The hatch was being opened. Alan crouched behind some barrels and turned off his lantern. A small red-headed man with a flaring candle came in. ‘Cheeky, Cheeky,” The man said ‘ So detective you found out about my little secret. Come now I know your here. Well done you found out about my efforts to stop the beast from ever being released. I will have to kill you to know. A shame really since you have no connection to the ritual. But since you know the ritual you'll have to go. Poor Jason he was last on my list. I wanted the pleasure of killing the Idernol last. But he found out about me. I suppose he ought to have. I lived with him after all.’ Alan noticed the man limped. Alan cocked his gun and the man must have heard for he turned around. There was gunfire, and a blast, then the top of the barrel, on which Al was leaning, was blasted of. Sending the gas into Alans eyes. He recoiled got up, more gun fire, and Al was bleeding severely. ‘You are a psychopath who believes fairy-tales.’ Al croaked out. ‘Your in no position to beg, Al, neither are the descendants of the original followers of Zhexiez’nikzel over there behind the door.’  ‘I'm gonna do what Jason failed to do.’ ‘Are you now? Thats very good because Jason failed to understand the importance of destroying this ritual. Both in memory, and word.’ ‘No I'm gonna kill you. But firs' why did you take so long between killings?’ ‘Why? Why, that is easy. I wanted the police to forget the case. So that too much evidence might not be correlated.’Alan now had the full picture in his head. But he knew he was defenceless. Epilogue Within twenty-four hours the body of Alan Edgar Coffe was found floating in the creek. The police were furious. To this day those murders remain a mysteries. Only two men who are murdered  knew about the horrific truth.  