Shadows of a Hell hound

The night in the town wore on, most of its inhabitants unaware of the two figures creeping up to the rusty gate of an old graveyard. The moon was a sliver in the sky, barely impressive compared to the full version of itself. The figures bobbed up and down as they moved, low to the ground, as if trying to avoid giving themselves away. Finally, they reached the large gate in front of them. It was rusty, worn, and flaking off pieces of some material. One of the figures tried tugging on it to open it only to hear chains rattle. A light clicked on to shine on chains wrapped around the midsection of the gate secured by an old fashioned lock.

"It's locked!" A young, male voice hissed.

"Oh come on Kenny! Can't ya pick it or something? Figure it out!" Another voice whispered. Though this time it was female.

Kenny pulled something out of his pocket. In the darkness, the girl couldn't tell what it was. "Alicia, gimme your hair pin." He said while fiddling with the lock. The light finally revealed the appearance of Kenny. A young boy with short and messy brown hair, freckles, and a skinny build.

Alicia shook her head, even if he couldn't see it while facing away from her. "No way! You've already used up like fifty of mine!" She said and held her head with her hand. "Besides, you gotta have at least one of mine anywho!"

"I didn't use fifty, I only used like twenty. Now gimme one so I can get us in!" Kenny argued and gave up on the lock with the tool he was using, which happened to be a twisted up hair pin that had previously been used.

Alicia sighed. "Can't we just climb up like we usually do?"

"In the dark? No way! What if we get stuck in there for the rest of our lives? We'd be dead! Like all the other folk in there! Dead, dead, dead!"

She shivered at his comment. "Okay, okay! Here! Let's go on and get this over with..." She said and handed him a brand new hair pin.

He grinned and turned back to fiddle with the lock. After a few moments there was a click as it popped open. "See what we can do when we work together? That's some teamwork right there! I did all the work though." Kenny said with a cocky expression. Before Alicia could even open her mouth he walked into the misty graveyard. "Come on! Let's go!"

She followed after, unsure of their previous goal of exploring the graveyard on a dare. "Kenny ya know.. This is kind of stupid. Maybe we should just go home... There ain't anything here. Nothing." Alicia said and let out a shout as she tripped over a gravestone. It was a block, unlike the upright ones, this one was buried into the ground more. The flashlight flew out of her hands and rolled across the grass flickering on and off for a few moments.

"Don't be a pansy!" Kenny said. "Come on and get up! They said there's supposed to be a monster here! We gotta find it!" He walked around a gravestone, only to find a hole in front of it. "Woah, lookit this! Someone's been digging here! It don't look like a shovel though. Looks like when my dog Rex used to dig holes in the back yard. Dad would get so mad. Come on and see this Alicia!"

Alicia stumbled to her feet. She glanced around for the flashlight. It was easy to find considering it had stayed on the whole time, and she quickly ran for it after Kenny called for her. "I'm comin', hold your horses okay?" Alicia stumbled yet again. The gravestones were hard to notice in the dark. She scrambled over and picked up the flashlight. She turned it over to shine it in Kenny's face, who scowled at her.

"Why you gotta shine that thing in my face for? Come on and see this already!"

"It ain't like it's gonna disappear Kenny. I'm comin'!" Alicia replied as she made her way over to him. "How the heck do you see that anyways? I can't see a thing without the flashlight."

"That's cause you're a girl. Guys got better vision don't you know?" Kenny said with a matter-of-fact voice.

"Liar! Guys ain't no better than girls! And I can prove it! Here watch!" Alicia took the flashlight and tied the wristband around the branches of a low bush used to decorate the graveyard. She pointed it at a small mausoleum facing towards them and crouched down. "I don't need no flashlight, you see?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Kenny replied while poking the ground. "Whatcha think was digging here anyways? A dog? You think it wants all the bones in the graveyard? There's probably lotsa bones here, and earthworms." He said while picking up a piece of earth that had been tossed to the side.

A low growling seemed to answer his question from further away. Alicia sucked in her breath. "Uh.. Wha... What was that? Your heard that too right Kenny? It ain't that dog is it? Or the monster?" She said with a shaky voice. The growling seemed to get louder, as if approaching them.

Kenny was shaking himself. He tugged on her arm and pointed to where the flashlight was showing on the mausoleum wall. Thankfully, the flashlight was a strong enough light that from it's position it hit the wall and light spread along the graveyard in front of it. "Look, look!" He hissed under his breath.

A dark, canine-like figure was prowling along the wall. It's body heaving heavily as if it was out of breath. The shadow oddly enough, seemed hazy, as if it wasn't completely solid. It turned and weaved between the solid blocks of the gravestones. Alicia stood up and turned tail to run, Kenny following right after her, and both of them screaming. They ran through the gates, down the hill, and as far as they could get from the graveyard. Finally out of breath, they stopped.

"Kenny we gotta tell someone!" Alicia said while gasping for breath.

"No way! We'll get in trouble! You crazy or something?"

"If we don't what if that monster goes into the town? What if it eats people? Then they'll be dead! Don'tcha know monsters EAT people? Kenny?" Alicia said while standing up straight. She had been doubled over, trying to catch her breath.

"Alright alright! Let's ask those bookstore people, they look pretty smart." Kenny finally said, giving into her demands.

A white wisp of condensation billowed out from a young man's mouth, the white haired lad stepping out of the shadows as the two frightened teens scampered off. The young mans face was cold, and the blue eyes beneath his orange yellow sunglasses were just as cold. Dead leaves fell from the trees, and it looked as if it were raining leaves with the sheer number of dead leaves floating in the air. The young man looked to the side, up the way the two teenagers had come, screaming and yelling as if they had seen a demon.

Honestly, Thomas hoped that they had, as it would've made his job much easier. His black trench coat billowed softly behind him as he followed the path, his hands in his pockets as he made his way up the street, his footsteps loud and ominous against the eerie silence that covered the whole street. Dark clouds loomed overhead, and with a muffled boom, droplets of water started to gently fall to the ground. The rain was soft, like a gentle drizzle that seemed to forebode an oncoming tempest, but the white haired man continued on, now stepping past the graveyard's gate.

The white haired man looked around, seeing nothing for the time being, and simply continued forth, the air slowly growing warmer as he got closer and closer to what he was looking for. He then stopped, spotting the canine like creature despite the low visibility, and frowned.

"You know, you should wait till the night of Samhain before you start scaring youngsters. But they most likely deserved it...So tell me, what's your name child?" The man said, a coy grin on his face, his sunglasses low on his nose as he stared at the creature, right hand still in his pocket as he readjusted his sunglasses with his left hand.

The black hound crouched low to the ground with his ears flatened against the back of his head. He let out a menicing growl, "Grr. You humans disrupt the peace of the dead souls by coming here when the sun sets. I protect this sacred land and chace away those that come for "Fun". I shall only tell you once: Get out!" Samiel growled. (Samiel's gonna be the name for the H. Hound) The ghostly hound let out a blood-curling howl warning all tresspassers to stay away.

Meinwhile*

"Come on. Come on." Alison said reaching for a book on the high shelf. She was in the basment looking for a book on witch craft. Apparently someone was stupid enough to summon a demon in their home. Alison was onj a chiar still reaching for the book that was out of her grasp.

"Just a little more." she said reaching for it. She was already on her tip-toes so she stepped on one of the shelves, "Got it! Whoah!" she cried out slipping from the shelf, causing the whole book case to fall over. When she landed she was soon bearied in a large pile of books.

"Are you okay?" asked Ivy, peering through the door the the back room. She had heard the sound of the book case falling over, from where she had been lay relaxing on the sofa.

She walked into the main shop area and began to pull the book case back up into its normal standing position. She then proceeded to gather some of the books together into a pile, ready to sort out later so she could replace them back onto the shelf.

The door of the book store was opened in haste as two kids came charging into the building. Kenny, with his messy hair seemed to be in the lead while Alicia trailed behind him. She flipped her braided ponytail back behind her shoulder.

"I TOLD you it'd be open." Kenny said with a confident smirk.

"What? You said you didn't even wanna come! You're such a liar! Some day that monster's gonna bite your tongue out!" She said with a scowl.

"Yeah, yeah. We're here anywho! Let's get some help!" Kenny said and walked over to the counter while banging on the bell placed there. "Heeeyy! Can we get some service over here!" Kenny said loudly.

Alicia gasped. "Kenny, that's rude! You don't just come bargin' in and bangin' on a bell like that! You gotta be polite! Say excuse me and apologize and all that!" She said and shoved him out of the way. He stumbled over to the side.

"Why you.. Don't gotta be shovin'!" He growled in annoyance and crossed him arms, knowing he couldn't hit or shove a girl because of the cardinal rule of boys everywhere.

The white haired man raised his hands defensively, though he certainly didn't show any fear on his features, "Oh, you misunderstand me, I am a man of the church, I would never come here to defile a grave. What a despicable thought!"

The man showed no signs of leaving, and instead started to walk over to one of the graves. His smile curled into a frown, and he kneeled before the grave, making the hand motions of a cross over his body before clasping his hands in prayer. After a few mumbled scriptures and a final farewell, he rose to his feet and turned back to the hell hound.

"I must say though, a hell hound, protecting a graveyard. It certainly isn't something you hear every day, is it? I'm Thomas Wells, and I must say, it was a pleasure meeting you." Thomas replied, walking away from the graveyard, but waiting quietly just outside the entrance, knowing all too well that those two idiot teenagers would fetch someone to try and find the beastie that was plaguing the graveyard. Besides, criminals always came back to the scene of the crime.

The shadowy hound sat as he watch the human do what ever he was doing. "You are a strange human. I am the only one of my kind that actually protect the poor souls here." Samiel explained to the man. If anyone come near here during the night i will prcect the souls that lay here./ he thought.

"Yeah I'm ok. I'll go see who's out front." the young demon said. Alison went up to the main part of the store and saw two teens. "Can I help you two?" she asked tham in a blunt tone. The SN was a store for research on the Paranormal not for kids to mess around with something they don't know about. She put her book underneath the countertop just to be on the safe side.

"Okay." she replied as she continued to pile up the books. She sighed as she thought about how much work it would be to sort them out. For now, she just loosely arranged them back on the shelf where they would be safe for the time being.

After finishing the tidying up, Ivy wandered over to the counter where the two kids were engaging in conversation with Alison.

"Hello ma'am!" Alicia said with a smile. "I'm Alicia and I-" She was cut off as Kenny literally stepped in front of her.

"Hey lady! I'm Kenny! We saw a ghost... Dog... Monster thing at the graveyard! It was like this big and..." Kenny trailed off as he made the size by widening his arms out. "And it was like, you know, all dark and evil lookin' and stuff! Anyways I said we should come he-"

"Hold your horses Kenny! It was my idea got it?" Alicia said and shoved him aside. "We saw a big as anything dog thing at the graveyard. Growlin' and prowlin' around. And we ran like nothin' you've ever seen. We ran and ran! And I told Kenny here that we should come here and tell ya'll cause it'd be pretty important that someone should know there's a monster lurkin' about the graveyard and diggin' up holes. Cause we saw a hole dug, it wasn't dug all the way but it was still in the ground ya know?" Alicia babbled on about it for several more moments and finally stopped to catch her breath.

Alison blinked a couple times. "Uhh. Let me see if I got this straight. You are both telling me that there is this "Monster Dog" in the cemetary. Which you are not supposed to be in at this time of night. Chased you out, and what do you want me to do about it?" she asked the two teens. To her the kids could be making this whole thing up. Alison crossed her arms waiting for an awnser.

"Sounds like a Grim to me. Or a Hell Hound. Whichever you want to call it." replied Ivy, leaning against the desk. The lingering emotion of fear that she could sense coming off the two kids backed their story and told her they weren't lying about their experience.

"Hey! It's true! I dunno what kinda hell hound you're talkin' about, but this dog was big ya dig? He ain't no friendly dog either!" Kenny shouted.

"Hey! Kenny shuddap! They're not gonna believe us! Remember we're only kids, just like our parents always say. Let's make 'em go see that dog for themselves!" Alicia chimed in. "Once ya see it, you'll know exactly what we're talkin' about! Exactly!"


High heels clicked against the ground as someone made their way up the path to the graveyard. The night shrouded the being enough to make it hard to distinguish who they really were, but they had appeared a little while after two kids had ran out of the graveyard screaming. The figure wandered up the pathway as if whoever it was could see easily in the darkness despite the lack of a full moon. "Hm... Silly children, they should know better than to walk around a graveyard at this hour." A smooth feminine voice said.

It was Blanche, a female demon who had just rolled into town on her own little journey, smirked in amusement. She noticed a man standing up by the gates as she approached. "Well, well. I wasn't expecting to see someone up here. What are you doing by your lonesome honey?" She said while standing in front of him. Blanche was a generally friendly lady when it came to greeting someone at first, but the moment she was threatened the claws would come out, literally.

"Nothing much madam, just makin' sure no one enters the graveyard here. We had a break in a few minutes ago, y'see? I don't want anyone getting inside and disturbing the graves. So, what brings you out here on a fine night like this?" Thomas replied, equally as friendly to the woman, even though his hands were still in his pockets. Still, he was a man of god, he wouldn't just assault the woman, even though he could clearly tell that she wasn't human. Yes, she was currently in her human form, but the priest had trained his senses well enough to see past such illusions. He had to admit though, this disguise was very intricate, which was an oddity for a man in his line of work.

Alison sighed, "Alright show us this "Monster dog". I better bring that book just in case." she said the last part to herself. She grabbed the book from under the desk and followed the two kids.

Ivy just shrugged and followed Kenny and Alicia, stopping briefly to wait for Alison.
"I'm sure the shop will be fine without us for a while," she murmured as they left.

Alicia and Kenny left the store, walking in a pair while shoving and yelling at one another. Kenny continued to boast about his bravery and take the credit while Alicia brought him down a peg and pointed out how dumb he was. The argument about boys being better than girls persisted.

Blanche smiled at Thomas. "Honey, I've met men like you before with your hands in your pockets ready to strike out. I can tell you know what I am, and I know you're not a demon so I'm no bother to you unless you're threatening someone I happen to know." She said and checked her nails idly. She smiled at his question though, as if it was amusing. "Now you can't tell me you didn't hear those children screaming as they ran from something up there. Whatever it is must've been pretty scary to scare those dear little children. I intended to come check for myself, but I'm guessing you got it covered?"

The priest simply smirked for a moment, then started to chuckle, as if he found the succubus's analysis funny. He quickly calmed down though, and replied, "I'm sorry miss, but I'm sure you'll understand if I can't help but feel a bit suspicious of you. Just telling me you're not gonna hurt me doesn't mean a thing."

He slowly took off his sunglasses with his left hand, and held them limply in his left hand as he added, "As for the big scary monster in the graveyard, you have nothing to worry about. It's a hell hound looking after the sacred land of the graveyard, and he makes sure people don't go in there and defile the graves."

Samiel let out a deafanung howl, warning anyone not to come near. He had pick this town because of all of the activity here. The shadow hound had been here for hundreds of years. Those that tried to rob a grave he attacked, those that come to visit a relative he morned for the family. His red eye shined in the light of the silver moon.

"Could it have been a dog?" Alison asked as she herd the howl of a dog. That was spooky. And I'm a demon! she thought. She took a deep breath and continued to follow the kids.

Ivy just blinked at the howl, as if totally unfazed by the activities of the Hell Hound. She touched the necklace she wore with her left hand, hoping that this demon was one that would listen to them rather than just attack.

"It ain't know dog I've ever heard!" Kenny replied.

"Shaddup Kenny! Just keep on going! We're almost to the graveyard anyways. Hey! Look at that! Two people up there! Ya see 'em! Just standing there! I swear there's a dog up there! They're probably just brave, that's all!" Alicia said and pointed up to the hill.

Blanche smiled as if she knew some sort of secret. "Understandable. I doubt my word would mean anything. Of course I have dealt with priests before." She said and walked around to his side for a moment, keeping her eyes on him the whole time. "Granted I'll tell you this, it wasn't the most pleasant experience, and I've got the scars to prove it. But enough of the sweet talk. You actually believed that 'hell hound' that easily?" She asked, incredulous at the fact he had believed a hound so easily even though he didn't take her word.

Thomas shook his head, "Of course not, but he didn't attack anyone, and if he's just scaring the kids entering the graveyard and not adding them to the site, then I can't really do anything. Besides, he isn't digging holes in there, the freshest "hole" dug there was made by a shovel, not by a dog's paws. Hopefully the one digging the grave was being paid to do so..."

Samiel perked his ears as he herd the sound voices. Other then the man and the girl that was talking to him. He let out a loud menicing snarl.The snarl slowly turned into a growl as if saying "Stay out, keep away."

Ivy heard the Hell Hound and quickly told both of the children to 'Shh!'
"We're not here to hurt you, or disturb you in any way. I understand that this church yard is yours to protect."
The young demon stepped out of the shadows, knowing that to keep herself hidden was the most likely way to get herself hurt.

The two kids looked at each other and shrugged. Alicia looked over at Kenny while he was staring ahead. He looked over at her and nodded. He mouthed: "That's the monster!" to her and she responded with a nod.

Blanche shrugged. "Sweetie, I don't understand where you get your logic from, but if you've got things handled and it isn't a demon killing people, alright then. So easy to take a talking dog's word but not the word of a pretty lady. Shame." She said and placed her hand on the side of her chin as if thinking. The people behind her caught her attention. "Well, this is becoming an interesting little party." She remarked at the sight of the two strangers and the children from before.

The air seemed to get a little colder as the moon above was covered by clouds, blocking the moons light and darkening the street, if only slightly. Thomas looked over to the small group at the bottom of the hill, and frowned slightly.

"Were you hoping to get into the graveyard again? Or did you come back hoping that you could fix the lock that you broke." Thomas said, blinking for a moment as a woman dressed in a white gown seemed to flicker behind the four, before vanishing completely.

"But, if what I just saw was correct, the hound might be the least of our problems..."