The End, One Way or Another

            The moon set early that night, and it was dark for hours before sunrise.  It was the dark where shadows move and monsters roam, and the stars were clearly read.  The air was cold, without a hint of wind.  Every step on the gravel path felt as loud as breaking glass, but Tom didn’t hesitate.  The misty plume of his breathe was quickly passed by, left to condense in the already saturated air.  There would fog when it warmed up a bit, but Tom had no intention of being out that long.  He wasn’t concerned about the moving shadows or interested in reading the stars-it was the monster that concerned him this night.

            Melinda shivered as she gazed into the night around her.  Silence wrapped around her, making her fell as though no one else in the world existed, but she knew better.  She knew, somewhere in the darkness, was a menace that stalked the world, looking for its next prey.  She also knew that somewhere out there, Tom also moved though the darkness, returning to her.  She waited in the cold, occasionally shifting her booted feet to keep them from freezing, waiting for the noise of him returning to her.

            Tom knew the monster was out there.  He could almost cense it, moving in the shadows.  It was searching for its next victim, and he was out to make sure it wouldn’t be Melinda or himself, or anyone else ever.  Too many had been killed already; it was time the monster was eliminated.  He had been following the monster, but now he paused, to listen around him.  At first, he only heard silence.  Gradually, a faint panting sound could be heard.  Tom tensed, knowing that if he could hear it, it knew he was there.  He slowly raised his dart gun-the darts were filled with poison specifically designed for this purpose-and searched the night for his target.  There was a moment of silence, then a faint growling filled the air.

            The sound of footsteps on gravel reached Melinda’s ears, and she cocked her head to hear better.  The footsteps approached, then halted.  There was a moment of silence, and Melinda strained to hear.  Suddenly, a low growl could be heard.  She took an instinctive step back.  She knew it had to be Tom that attracted the monster’s attention.  He was the only one around who would risk going out at night.  She had hoped he wouldn’t encounter the monster on the way back, but in the back of her head she knew he would’ve, and there would be an end tonight, one way or another.

            Tom fired a shot toward where he hoped the growl had originated.  The monster’s growl grew louder, and it rushed toward him.  He fired again and again, until no darts were left, and he was simply clicking the trigger.  He stopped pulling the trigger and slowly reached into his pocket to pull out his flashlight.  He clicked it on, one hand still firmly holding the empty gun.  The monster was dead-he only left the light on long enough to make sure it was dead before clicking off the light and rushing back to Melinda. 

            The growling grew louder and Melinda almost cried out.  She bit her lip to stay silent.  She couldn’t risk distracting Tom.  The growling continued until Melinda was sure that was all she would hear for the rest of her life.  Abruptly the growl was cut off.  She slowly lowered the hands that she hadn’t realize she had raised.  All she could hear was a faint clicking sound, then silence.  She was afraid to call out, afraid that Tom wouldn’t answer.  Gradually the sound of crunching gravel reached her ears.  She knew it was Tom-the monster wouldn’t make any noise.  She didn’t wait for him-she rushed out to him.  He had succeeded; the monster was dead, and the terror was over.