Chapter 1: Under the Rug

Enjoy.

The sun crept over the horizon, spilling an array of beautiful colors into the dark sky.

Archie groaned in his sleep as the sun slithered over his orange fur seemed to glow in the morning light.

Archie sighed, giving up trying to fight the warm light that leaked in through his bedroom window. He sat up and stretched his arms and legs, a yawn escaping his mouth.

He hopped out of his rust-colored bed, grabbing a red t-shirt from his cracked dresser, and slipped it on and went downstairs for breakfast. All the while the ancient floorboards creaked in resentment of Archie’s footsteps.

Halfway down the stairs he heard the ding of the toaster. He could already smell the bacon and the eggs. His mouth watered in anticipation of the delicious breakfast awaiting him.

Sitting at a small wooden table was an old bald man reading the newspaper. He was wearing green, long-sleeved and button-down pajamas.

Archie smiled. “Grampa, you know how much I hate those PJs,”

The old man sighed and looked up from his paper.

“Well I like them, and nothing you say will tell me otherwise,”

“But it makes you look so old!”

The old man stared at him, his face stony with annoyance.

Several heartbeats passed by before the old man replied, “Good morning to you too, Archie,” his tone was coated in irritation.

Archie laughed and grabbed a piece of bacon from the table. Archie’s grandpa rolled his eyes, returning his attention to his paper.

Teenagers. What was I thinking? Taking in a young male hedgehog?

The old man looked at his humanoid grandson. He loved him and cared a tremendous deal for him, but Archie had a natural talent for getting on his grandfather’s nerves and was almost always teasing him about something.

A mischievous thought slithered stealthily into the old geezer’s mind. He had the perfect plan for getting back at his grandson for teasing him about his pajamas.

“You know, I really wish you would wear pants in the morning, Archie,” commented Archie’s grandfather, gesturing with his eyes to his grandson’s plaid boxers.

Archie looked down at his underwear and shrugged.

“What’s the point in wearing pants in the morning?”

“I’m just saying I really wish you would wear pants in the morning,”

“And I really wish you would stop wearing those ugly PJs, it’s embarrassing!”

“Well at least I’m not walking around in my underwear,”

Archie folded his arms across his chest. “There’s nothing wrong with walking around in your underwear in your own house,”

Archie’s grandpa put down his newspaper. “First of all, it’s my house. Secondly, if you can walk around in your underwear, I can wear my green pajamas,”

“Not if they look like those sock pajamas without the socks,”

It was pointless. Archie’s grandfather knew this was an argument he couldn’t win. He returned his attention to his paper.

“So I’ll take it your silence means I win?” Archie inquired, giving his grandfather the I-already-know-the-answer-but-I-want-to-gloat-over-it look.

Archie’s grandfather sighed. “Yes, you win,” he reluctantly admitted in a slightly tired and annoyed.

“As always,” Archie boasted, opening the fridge.

“Not always, lad. You don’t always win every argument,”

“Sure I don’t,” replied Archie sarcastically and took the milk jug from the fridge and lifted it to his dry lips.

“What do you think you’re doing?” asked Archie’s grandfather without looking up from his paper.

The orange teenager froze. “Getting some milk,”

The old man set down his paper. “Oh no, I know what you do, get a glass,”

“But-“Archie started to protest.

“No. Get a glass, you backwash, and I have to drink from that too. Get a glass,”

“But-“

“Archie,” Archie’s grandfather replied sternly, staring at Archie with firm eyes.

“Uh, fine,” Archie conceded and sighed in defeat and opened the cupboard.

“Always win every argument, huh?” the old geezer inquired in a teasing voice. A wide grin decorated his face.

Archie laughed nervously as he poured some pure white milk into a glass.

The sound of glass shattering abolished the silence.

It came from the living room.

Archie and his grandfather stopped and calmly padded over to the living room area to investigate the crash.

A small wooden table had toppled on its side, shattering the glass lamp it had been holding. The light from the lamp flickered and then died with a sudden breath. Darkness followed close behind and engulfed the living room.

“Hello? Is anybody there?” Archie asked the darkness that veiled the living room.

Silence.

“Weird,” commented Archie and turned to his grandfather.

Archie’s grandfather made no reply. He just stared at the shattered lamp on the floor.

Out of the corner of his eye Archie saw something move in the darkness.

Archie peered closer into the blackness. Had he imagined the movement?

A tiny flash of red pierced the shadows that had swallowed up the living room. Archie’s grandfather saw it too.

“Archie, run. Get your things and run,” he whispered, still searching the darkness with frantic eyes.

“Run? What? Why? Run where? Run from what?”

“Shhh! It’ll hear you!”

“What? What will hear us?”

But just as he said it a terrible screech shattered the black silence as a pair of jagged claws raked the air and ripped through the darkness. A pair of fearsome and blazing blood-red eyes followed close behind.

Archie screamed and stumbled backwards into the hallway, falling onto the floor in a panic. The razor-sharp claws and burning crimson eyes were nearly on top of him.

The thing came into light, and the first thought that came into Archie’s mind was a demon. It appeared to be a humanoid hedgehog with big wolf-like ears and huge claws.

Then it hit him.

A werehog! This thing must be some type of werehog. Archie hadn’t seen very many werehogs, especially now with this whole “Carnage” thing going on, but this was the blackest werehog he had ever seen! It blended in perfectly with the shadows, except for a messy patch of red hair sewed to the top of his head.

The beast pinned Archie to the floor. Something told him that this wasn’t a normal werehog. It had huge bat wings. He had never seen a werehog with bat wings before, but he had heard of a winged werehog up in Minnesota named Tarkos or Teemos or something like that. He couldn’t quite recall, some werehogs had some very strange names.

The other things that told him this wasn’t a normal werehog was the whites of his eyes weren’t white at all, they were black, pitch black. It was like staring into an abyss with a bright red fire flickering at the very bottom.

“Sa key nockos dey keemos,” it screeched and stared at him as if expecting an answer.

Archie stared at the monster with his mouth gaping. What was he suppose to say? He wasn’t sure what language he was speaking let alone what he was saying.

“Sa key nockos dey keemos!” it shrieked even louder and grabbed Archie by the shirt collar.

Archie tried to cover his ears from the deafening screeches, but the creature wouldn’t let him. Being a humanoid, Archie was more sensitive to high-pitched noises than humans. The screeches from the creature were agonizing.

The creature growled and yanked off the chain belt it was wearing and grabbed Archie’s wrists.

Out of nowhere, a strident thud filled Archie’s ears and the creature staggered back, stunned by the sudden blow. The chain still dangled loosely in his hand.

Again out of nowhere something struck the creature, harder this time, once again making it stagger backwards.

It was Archie’s grandfather, holding a wooden chair and swinging it madly at the demonic creature.

The chair struck the monstrosity again, it shrieked at Archie’s grandfather swung the wooden chair at it again.

THUD! Bullseye. The creature staggered backwards. It shrieked in mad rage again.

Archie covered his ears; it was like a banshee at scream-a-thon.

Archie’s grandfather raised the chair over his head, it shrieked and rushed into the living room and slithered under the rug and towards the safety of the shadows.

This thing was fast!

Archie’s grandfather swung madly at the floor, trying to whack the creature like a maid would to a filthy rat.

Archie’s grandfather continued to swing at the creature until the tip of its red arrow tail evaporated into the shadows.

Gone.

Silence.

Archie slowly stood up, still staring at the shadows. His grandfather dropped the wooden chair with a loud clatter.

“What was that thing?” wondered Archie aloud, staring with his mouth agape at his grandfather with anxious eyes.

Archie’s grandfather turned around and put his hands on his grandson’s stiff shoulders. A red gash was painted across his cheek. His blue eyes were frantic.

“Archie, go to your Aunt Marie’s house. Go pack your things and run. Run as fast as you can. You can’t stay here; it’s not safe.”

“What? Why? What’s going on?”

“Archie, I don’t have time to explain, but you have to run,”

Archie hesitated. “OK, but what about you?”

“Don’t worry about me, just go pack and get to your Aunt Marie’s as fast as you can.”

Archie nodded and sprinted upstairs to his bedroom.

“And put some pants on!”

*****

             Archie stood in front of the door and took a deep breath and opened it. He stepped out into the cool morning air and sighed heavily.

             He stopped and looked back. His grandfather had grabbed his wrist.

             “Archie, before you go, give this message to your aunt; ‘The Shadows have risen; they’re coming for the key.’ Got it? ‘The Shadows have risen; they’re coming for the key.”

             Archie quickly nodded. “Yeah, yeah, I got it. ‘The Shadows have risen; they’re coming for the key.” His face softened and he smiled warmly. He wrapped his arms around his grandfather in a tight hug. His grandfather hugged back.

             “I’m gonna miss you grandpa,” whispered Archie, embracing his grandfather. He smelled of coffee and prunes.

             “I’m gonna miss you too, Archie. I love you, I will always love you. Never forget that,”

             The two loosened their tight embrace so they could face each other.

             Archie was on the verge of tears, he managed to hold back though. He didn’t want his grandfather to see him crying. His grandfather however, didn’t hold back. His wrinkled face was shiny with tears. The smile he wore was warm and loving and comforting.

             “Now go, go, hurry!” Archie’s grandfather insisted in an urgent whisper.

             Archie nodded and ran out the door and down the street, waving to his grandfather. “Bye grampa! I love you!” he shouted back with smiling eyes.

             His grandfather stood in the doorway as he watched his only grandson get smaller and smaller until he disappeared around the corner.

             “Be careful Archie, be careful,” whispered Archie’s grandfather. He was in far more danger than he knew. He was in more danger than he could even imagine.

*****

             A frantic knocking broke the silence in the small house.

             “I’m coming, I’m coming!” answered a short and plump woman and reluctantly set down her book on the coffee table.

             She opened her front door. An orange teenage male hedgehog in jeans and a red t-shirt stood outside the woman’s doorway holding a backpack.

             The woman smiled brightly. “Archie! Come in, come in!” Exclaimed the woman as she gestured for her nephew to come inside.

             Archie smiled weakly. “Hi Aunt Marie, it’s good to see you,”

             She was a short and plump woman with long dark brown hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a sapphire blue dress and a black scarf.

             She gently closed the door. “Now what brings you here, Archie?” she inquired pleasantly.

             The orange teen hesitated. “I’m not really sure. My grandfather sent me here,”

             “Oh?”

             “Yeah, he told me to give you this message; The Shadows have risen, they’re coming for the key.”

             Marie’s pleasant smile faded and her face immediately paled. She look as if she has seen a ghost and stared at him as if in a terrified trance.

             She blinked. “Oh! I see. Well, why don’t you go settle in the guest bedroom upstairs, Archie?”

             Archie plodded up the old wooden steps. Halfway up Archie stopped and paused.

             “Aunt Marie? What does that message mean anyway?”

             “I’ll explain later, Archie. Dinner will be ready in an hour,”

             Archie sighed and continued to his temporary room.

             Marie collapsed in a red armchair. She always knew this day was coming, and now it was finally here. The dangers were far greater than Archie could ever imagine.

*****

             Two weeks passed, and it happened again.

Author's Note

Bolded words are captions for the illustrations in the Mysteries of Harris Burdick. Be honest, what do you think?