Canis Infernum

It is not usual for anybody to have to work the 'graveyard' shift in a cemetery, the very nature of such a place tends to keep most reasonable people at bay when the sun goes down. Yet that was what I was due to embark on this night. It all started about three weeks ago, that's when the first incident happened. It was early on a Monday morning, despite it's large size - near a square mile, the cemetery was a quiet place at the weekends with only a skeleton staffing in the office building in case any visitors required assistance. So when we started some hedge cutting along the far boundary and stumbled across the wide flung soil and sod of a grave torn wide open we were not completely surprised to find that the weekend staff had not had anything reported to them.

An open grave, is surprisingly, not a completely unheard of phenomenon in a cemetery and nor is there usually a sinister reason behind it. The days of body snatching for medical research are over, more common reasons for a grave to open are if its of inappropriate depth or not properly compacted, shifting of the ground or a zealous scavenger such as a fox or badger. Of course sometimes there are grave robbers looking to plunder the fine jewellery that some families choose for their loved ones to be buried with, but, in all of these more likely circumstances, one thing is consistent, the corpse should remain. It was gone. There was not so much as a trace, not a scrap of clothing or skin, there was a faint marking in a patch of the disturbed soil that may have been a footprint, that caused some of the younger workers to theorise that the corpse rose from the dead, but they were scoffed at by the older men on the team.

We spent most of the remainder of that day searching for any sign of the corpse. It was a large site but ten men can cover a lot of ground in a day but still nothing unusual turned up. The police arrived and asked some questions; they took a casual look at the site but ultimately could not spare the time to do much more than that.

By the end of the day you could be forgiven for not even thinking that the event had happened. The grave was refilled, there were no living relatives to inform so no one to explain the situation to and the workforce was back on to neatening the grounds and making up the work that had not been done whilst on our fruitless search for the inhabitant of our now vacant grave. I felt a cool discomfort at how easily we could just move on with the fact that what had once been a living, breathing person had somehow disappeared, but whilst it was still spoken about among the team, it was spoken of as if it were an event that had happened in years gone by as oppose to that day.

“Pwobably some pervert. One of dem necro- neecro- neecromangers.” Danny Steele, one of the older chaps, said with such infallible confidence that you couldn't help but feel sorry for the certainty he placed in his own wisdom.

“Ya mean necrophiliac Danny Boy.” A youngster named Toby Jones corrected. He made up nicknames for everyone, a habit that did not make him particularly well liked, along with his know-it-all attitude and endless obsession with how his gelled hair sat on his head it was small wonder that everybody was eagerly waiting for the lad to hand in his resignation. However on this occasion I had to nod in agreement, Danny did mean necrophiliac.

“How'd I know what one dem's called. Aint no pervert.” Danny eyed the youngster aggressively. “But ye seem to know a lot about dem sorts.” He didn't hide the potential accusation in his tone.

“Learned it all from working with ya Danny Boy.” Toby said with a wink that begged for a slap. “Every time ya at your old lady must make ya feel a little like a necro-loving fiend.” Again the wink. The youngster was completely oblivious as I put a restraining hand on Danny's fore arm, he wasn't a spiteful person, just too self absorbed to know or care how others perceived him. “See all ya lads tomorrow. Hopefully have another 'walking dead' day, makes the time fly faster in this shit hole!”

“Oughta slap that gutter shite.” Danny growled. “Calling me a necro- ne- oh sod it some damn corpse shagger.”

“He's not worth the effort.” I said to Danny. “His sort come and go, they aren't cut out for hard work.”

“Pah!” Danny exclaimed. “Pworbably right. Sees ya tomarrow. Lucks its a quieter one.”

It was. And so were the next few days. After three days and no more incidences it was easy to near forget that anything had happened, even the younger members of the team had stopped telling their daily horror stories of corpses rising from the dead. It appeared to be an isolated incident, to the corpse of someone that nobody had known or cared about so it was easy to put it to the back of our minds. It was on that Friday that the situation became far more serious and disturbing. At this point nobody had been put on to watch the cemetery at night so the discovery occurred much as the first one had with us stumbling across the site. This time we were all shaken by the discovery of an empty grave.

“When was the boy buried?” Mr.Maloney, the owner of the cemetery, asked me. He swept a hand through his lank and sweat damped hair in a gesture of agitation. He was a skeletal man, with hollow eyes and thinning hair who did not look out of place at all in the cemetery that he owned.

“Three weeks ago sir.” I said politely. Mr.Maloney, whilst generally a fair man, could turn into a tyrant if he thought you were being rude to him, especially when he was already stressed.

“Fuck.” He swept his hand back through his hair again and I bore it in my stride as some of his perspiration flicked onto my bare forearm. “The poor kid was only eight years old. A parent should never have to bury a child. A parent should never have to be told that their child's grave has been desecrated and their remains taken.” He rubbed a hand over his hollow eyes and looked like a man with the world on his shoulders. “Right, get everybody back to work, it doesn't do us any good to have everybody standing around. I'll contact the police again, they have to do something this time. Then...” He paused on that word before releasing a sigh that did not sound dissimilar to a death rattle. “Then I'll call the parents, let them know what has happened. Keep everyone away from this area of the cemetery, the parents are going to want to come and see no doubt and they don't need people gawking. Christ, poor bastards probably haven't even finished mourning and they get this shit.” He walked away shaking his head.

Needless to say none of the other lads had any issue with keeping away from the boy's grave, none except Toby.

“That's a crime scene, shouldn't be letting the parents near they might disturb the evidence ya know? I do a bit of animal tracking, I should go have a look around the grave some more.” He said with far more enthusiasm than anybody should have for such a tragedy. His enthusiasm was short lived when the rest of the group turned on him and berated him for being a 'royal prick'. He sulked the rest of the day – it was the quietest he had ever been and everyone was happier for it.

We worked the far side of the cemetery that day to give the family as much privacy as could be afforded to them. At midday the police came and questioned us but again it lacked the energy you might expect. As they were leaving I asked what they would be doing about the case. The officer who had taken the lead in our exchanges shrugged and held his arms wide. “I'm afraid we don't have the resources to spend on much of an investigation into the matter. With recent cuts we have to prioritise and whilst this case is horrible and disturbing no one has been hurt.” It was at that moment we heard the wailing of what must have been the boys mother from the site of the disturbed grave.

“Wouldn't say no ones been hurt.” Danny said, spitting out of the side of his mouth.

The officer shook his head apologetically but that was all he could do before walking in the direction of the wail.

No one was particularly surprised when a third grave was found empty on the following Monday, in fact when Danny shouted merely 'Nother one' we all knew exactly what he meant. The only saving grace was that it was another older grave with no relatives attached to it. Toby had been one of the first to arrive at the site after Danny and I had come across the two squabbling.

“I'm telling ya that's a fucking wolf's paw print! We've got ourselves some rogue wolf prowling here!” Toby exclaimed pointing to a partial print in a mound of soil.

“Aint no wolves in England ya nonce!” Danny shouted. “Aint nuffin but some squished earth.”

“It's a wolf print. Must be an escapee from a zoo or something!” Toby argue back.

I bent over the depression with only slight curiosity believing that Danny likely had the truth of the matter but was slightly surprised to see that I could see what Toby was pointing to. It was not a whole print, it wasn't even half of one paw, more a toe and a slight impress of the main pad, but even so I could see what Toby was saying. I'm no expert tracker so I couldn't say for definite that it was an animal print or whether it was just some depression in the soil but the sight sent a shiver up my spine that was at complete odds to the warm morning.

“Get to work.” I said to the two as they were just ramping up into a greater argument. “I'll speak to Mr.Maloney.”

The cemetery owner didn't take long to arrive, one of the lads rushed up to the reception as soon as Danny had called out that there was another empty grave, and Mr.Maloney hadn't wasted any time on getting to me.

“What do you think?” He asked me, he looked as if he hadn't slept all weekend, which was saying a lot considering how haggard he usually looked.

“It could be dogs.” I said with a shrug. “But only at nights? And this is the first print we've seen. Also no remains, I would have thought that something would have been left behind, especially with the more...decayed corpses.”

Mr.Maloney nodded, his thin hair floating around his ears as he did so. “I agree.” He inspected the suspected print. “Also damned big for a dog.” He said, looking closer. “Damned big for a wolf.”

I nodded agreement. “Will the police come again?”

Mr.Maloney shook his head. “They said they haven't got the time today, there's a football match on, they need a 'strong presence' to keep things in order. They suggested having night security here.” Mr.Maloney looked speculatively at me when he said that.

I held my tongue, I don't think anybody would want to be here at night at the best of times. Withbodies going missing? It was more than enough to put the heebie jeebies into me.

He sighed. “A temporary thing. I'll get some quotes, get a real security company in. Draw up a rota of people to be on night shift. They can have over time pay, four times a day rate. Or time off and two times a day rate. Their choice.”

“Sir, with respect, perhaps I can just ask the lads if anybody is interested, we might get better results than forcing people into it.” He nodded his assent.

 I didn't have much hope that people would be enthusiastic for the task but people sometimes respond better to something if they are asked to do it rather than being told. I was surprised when Danny and Toby seemed keen.

“Catch dem sick bastards.” Was what Danny said.

“I want to see this wolf, bet its huge.” Toby said.

“We are just keeping our eyes out. Any trouble and we call the police and keep out of the way. Lets keep risk to a minimum.” I told them. None of the other lads were interested so we agreed we would do two days of nights and then switch to the next person. I went first. The first of my two nights was a terrifying experience, I spent the whole night expecting grave robbers or worse. Every time I looked out of the windows of the reception building I imagined faces peering in at me from the misty cemetery. But it passed uneventfully and by the end of the second night I was confident that who ever had been coming to the cemetery could see the lights shining from the reception building and so had chosen to move on to easier territories. Danny's two nights were similarly uneventful and we began to think we were wasting our time. And then it was Toby's turn.

After his first night I came in and he already had a good portion of the work force gathered around him as he swung his arms and yelled in an excited voice. “I tell ya, as big as a tiger, maybe bigger!”

“What's this?” I asked already dreading the answer.

“Damned wolf last night!” Toby near screeched and I could tell now that he wasn't excited, he was terrified. “It was huge, big as a bear, black, blacker than night but had these red eyes that glowed like fire!”

“If it was black, how'd ya see it in the dark?” One of the other workers asked in a sceptical tone.

“It was dark, weirdly dark! Sucked in light dark!” Toby cast his eyes about wildly. “I know what I saw!” He exclaimed to his disbelieving crowd.

“Wickle Toby gots a fright.” Danny chuckled arriving just in time to hear the last couple of passes. “Man's job bein ere at night. Boys mind can get turned to easy like.”

“I know what I saw!” Toby replied with uncharacteristic aggression.

Danny rose his hands in mock fear. “Right lad. What ever you say.”

With a huff Toby skulked off. I told the others to get to work before going off after Toby. He had almost made it to his car by the time I caught up with him. He saw me and stop, his eyes not reaching my face.

“I know what I saw.” He repeated his earlier statement in a hurt tone.

“I hear you.” I said to him, I didn't believe he had seen what he thought he had but I believed that he believed he had. “Look don't worry about coming out again tonight, I'll cover your second shift, you get some rest.”

He started shaking his head at the very mention of him not doing this nights stint. “I'm not a coward, I'll do my bit, what I said I'd do.” I gained a bit of respect for him at that and nodded my agreement.

“You've got my phone number, any trouble at all give me a shout.” I offered him.

He nodded but his mind was elsewhere from the glazed look in his eyes.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, and so too did the night – I presumed – when I awoke to my alarm in the morning. Everything felt normal up to the point that I walked through the front gates to the group waiting for me.

“Little shite ran off.” Danny asserted.

“What do you mean?” I asked him not fully comprehending who or what he was talking about.

“Toby. Must've spooked last night an run for it. No sign of him.” He replied

“Are you sure? Who was here first? Maybe he left quickly?” I asked rapidly feeling more and more uneasy.

Danny shifted a little uncomfortably as if not wanting to admit something. “I arrived first...was hopin to catch the lad and give him... a fright.” He admitted. “But he weren't ere. Nor's his car. Must've chickened out.”

I gave Danny a disapproving stare which caused him to shift some more. “Get to work. I'll see if I can call him, find out where he is.” They all did as I said.

I was on my third attempt of calling his home phone, I had already tried his mobile three times, when Danny came rushing over to me. “What's wrong?” I asked the old man already expecting his answer.

“Two more graves. Two.” He said shakily.

I held my breath for an instant, preparing for the worst. “Any sign of...Toby.”

Danny looked confused for an instant. “No, you thinking he's the one been digging up corpses?”

I hadn't been. My thoughts had been darker, wondering if perhaps the lad had not fallen victim of foul play. “Doesn't matter Danny, I better see Mr.Maloney.”

“He said any more bout getting security guys in for nights?” Danny asked.

I shook my head. “No, but I'm going to ask him.”

Mr.Maloney was waiting in the reception area when I entered looking a bit less harassed than when I had last seen him. I felt a little guilty about having to bear bad news to him but it was not something that could be hidden.“Sir-” I began.

“Ah there you are. Six nights. No incidences. I think we are back on track.” He said almost smiling. That face dropped when he saw mine.

“Two graves last night sir.” I said, hoping my directness would make it less painful. “Toby was on shift but he wasn't here when the lads arrived this morning.”

“Two more?!” He answered looking as old as he had the other day.

“Yes sir. And Toby missing.”

He looked confused for a moment. “Toby needed to drop his car off yesterday after the rest of the team left. I was the last one here and he asked if he had my permission. I was reluctant but he seemed desperate to get it to his mechanic. He said he would be an hour at most. Maybe he never came back. The lad was fickle at best.”

“Sir, I don't think we can just assum-”

“Two more graves?! I'll be ruined! Who wants their relatives buried in a cemetery where the remains go missing?” He asked no one in particular.

“Have you arranged for a security service yet sir?” I asked knowing if I didn't ask soon he would be off in his own concerns.

He shook himself from his reprieve. “Security service?” He asked. “Well, I was waiting to see if you would see anything first.” He admitted uneasily.

I think my anger showed on my face because he quickly changed tune. “One more night! Please, I'll organise something today and tomorrow I'll have someone in. Just cover tonight please!”

I thought I was going to say no for a moment. Everything in my mind was telling me to say no, but slowly I nodded. “One more night.”

So another day passed fairly calmly amidst this deepening madness. The police came and gave the freshly opened graves a looking over. This time they pointed out a large mark which looked like claw lines, they said they suspected perhaps a band of feral dogs. They said they would  try to spare the time for someone to check in with me that night to make sure everything was okay but couldn't make any promises.

When it came time for the others to leave I could see a reluctance to leave in Danny's eyes. I almost hoped he would say he would stay as well. But then he was in his car and leaving just like everybody else. The sun didn't even have to set before I felt a steadily building uneasiness. It felt like a pressure building behind the eyes, and as that fireball in the sky slowly dipped I felt ever more alone. I shivered to myself as I gazed out of windows. The other occasions I had stayed watch it had begun to fog as soon as the sun disappeared, and the same happened tonight, it was a strange fog to come over the place. The evening was warm and dry yet it seemed to rise from nowhere, there were some boggy patches around the cemetery but it still seemed an unnatural apparition.

I was sitting in one of the chairs in the reception room, eating a sandwich when I first saw something. I was just beginning to let my guard down, and then I saw it from the corner of my eye. I jumped up with a small yelp. I stared at the window expecting some monstrosity to suddenly appear but nothing happened. I stayed staring for what felt like a life time. My eyes began to blur with my staring. And then the main door opened with a bang and my knees near buckled from underneath me. I recovered and spun in the direction of the noise, raising my fists for whatever small protection they might offer.

“Sorry mate. Didn't mean to scare ye.” Danny said raising his hands reassuringly.

“Fucking hell Danny! What the hell are you doing here?!” There was anger in my voice but I was glad to see him in all honesty.

“I got to thinkin' about Toby. What if he hadn' run? What if summin' 'appened? What if summin' 'appens tonight?” He explained in his eloquent matter. But I couldn't have been more grateful no matter how he had put it.

“Thank you Danny, but I'm fine. You can go home and rest.” I said even though I could just as easily have begged him to stay.

I could have kissed the man when he shook his head. “Think I'll stay. Aint right one man alone. Does stuff to ye head.”

“Thank you, I'll appreciate your company.” I answered in the awkward way that men do when they are uncomfortable.

We settled into the reception area chairs again and I continued my meal whilst Danny picked up one of the magazines from a stack on the coffee table between us. Both of our eyes kept flicking towards the window as if expecting to see someone, or something at any instant. The night had a sense of suspense to it from the word go. Every little creak of the old building would have spectres and monsters springing to the fore of my mind. By the way that Danny jumped at every little noise, I suspect I was not alone in my feeling of unease.

It had just gone half twelve when we heard it. The blood froze in my veins an instant before the sound hit my ears, as if some deep, animal part of my mind  knew that something was wrong. It was a howl. It was a howl but completely set apart from any other howl I have ever head. This noise sounded like a resonance from the very belly of hell, I could almost imagine the screams of that creatures victims in that soul piercing sound. That one noise conveyed more than a thousand human words, it was death and fear and pain and over arching all of that, it was intrinsically evil. I have met many people and animals in my time, some have been unpleasant, vicious even nasty. Nothing compared to the sinister stench that came to my mind at the thought of that howl and the creature from which it bellowed.

“T-t-toby was ri-right. Wo-wolf.” Danny sounded almost hopeful about the prospect of a wolf and I had to admit that if I could have forced myself to believe that that sound had come from a wolf I would have been comforted, a wolf would be a creature of nature and life, whilst it would be dangerous and potentially aggressive, it was a being that the mind could comprehend. This beast was not. It seemed daft to be certain of the monster's nature merely from one howl but that was all I needed to understand that we were involved in something far beyond our ken.

“Be-best have a look...right?” Danny said, both of us stood perfectly still in front of our chairs, neither having moved since the howl had finished. I nodded and cursed myself as I did. I wanted nothing more than to lock every door and window, close every curtain and blind and bury my head under a blanket until morning came. But I moved towards the door. Danny paused, seemingly reluctant now that he saw I was actually going to investigate, but as I looked at him he plucked up his courage and followed.
The fog was thick outside the door, thicker than I remember it being on any of the other nights that I had stayed for the night watch. From the light of the building, I could just make out a few of the closest head stones, maybe ten, fifteen feet away – there were a few darker shapes in the fog which must have been trees; strange how I could work at a place for five years and still be doubting whether those shadows were trees or something more suspect. I opened the door and shivered slightly. The air was much cooler than it had been earlier. There was a full moon above and light still reached a way out of the building but I still turned my torch on and shone it about into the murky fog. Nothing moved.

“Should we look around?” I jumped at Danny's whisper in my ear. He held his hands up in mute apology.

“Think so.” I whispered back, it seemed like the right time to whisper, like prey animals trying to be as quiet as possible in the face of a predator.

We stepped out into the damp fog and took cautious steps away from the building. Neither of us seemed willing to venture far from the other, we walked close enough that we could have reached out and held hands like the frightened children we felt like, if we so chose. We didn't walk far. Within a couple of minutes of walking we were stopped dead in our tracks.

“That one's fresh...” Danny said in dumb shock.

Before us was another open grave. The soil looked wet and freshly disturbed. Again it was empty. I peered down into it, not really wanting to.

“Let's get back and call the police.” I said upon clarifying the graves vacancy.

Danny nodded agreement but before we could move there was another one of those hellish howls. If it had been a horror when we had been inside, being outside, in the fog, next to a disturbed grave – I was only surprised that I did not drop dead on the spot as my heart felt as though it had given up in my chest for the whole duration of the howl. Once the howl was finished there was a very human scream which set my heart back to life – pounding at a rate that promised to cause it to burst if sustained for any length of time.

I turned to Danny thinking it must have been his scream, it had sounded that close. It wasn't. His terror was clear on his face and in the stench of urine that wafted my way, I did not hold it against him, I was not wholly certain that I hadn't relieved myself in terror as well, at the moment my legs felt too numb to feel if they were wet or not.

And then he lifted a hand. One, shaky, finger pointing in mute terror. I followed that finger, and then I did feel my bladder release. Twin ruby lights, each about the size of a golf ball, stared out of the night at us. Eyes. Red, burning eyes. Hell's very embers on earth. They were burning fires so red that they put shame to any other colour of red. And they were approaching. Steady. Slow. Predatory. They must have been about chest height off the ground and I trembled at the size of such a monster. We both stayed stationary. Completely awed by the evil approaching us. And then the light of my torch hit it. It looked like a wolf, a wolf the size of a grizzly bear with black fur that soaked in the light of my torch. But then I looked more closely at it. Its fur was matted with blood and dirt, open wounds that looked as if they were never designed to heal showed bone and putrid muscles. Maggots writhed in and under its skin, it was rotten and fetid, but still its muscles were lean and powerful and in those strong jaws shined teeth that looked as new and fresh as could be.

We ran. If we had but a glimmer of thought left to us we would quickly of thought of two things. Firstly, it would be near impossible to out run a normal wolf in day light, let alone a giant wolf in the middle of night. And secondly, the screaming we had heard had not come from the direction that the wolf had come from. And that was what stopped us. At first I could not comprehend the sight I was seeing. A group of people, kneeling on the floor. Didn't they realise the devil's hound was abound tonight? It was a cemetery? Why would they be here at night? Then I made out an eight or nine year old boy, a skeletal woman who must've been rotting in the ground for years and others similarly decayed – our missing corpses. I was paralysed with new fear. Globular lumps of a pale but red lined substance dripped from their rotten mouths and stick like fingers. Lumps of fresh flesh. I made out a dark coloured coloured outfit and, even in my frenzied state, recognised a police uniform as they ripped the corpse apart.

The eyes of the dead turned in my direction. They were as cold and dead as the wolf creature's had been hot and animated. They made to rise on creaking bones, with tendons and dried muscle moving, visibly in some cases, with taut difficulty. I turned to run back the way I had come only to encounter those red eyes again. It didn't charge us, it prowled and stalked us. One flank then the other would show as it corralled us, there was a great gash showing lungs and stomach down one side which made me nauseous in its vulgarity. As I met those blazing eye's I near forgot the living dead in their infernal heat. But the croaking, rasps that encroached behind me soon reminded me of their cursed presence.

I caught movement in my peripheral and feared that the dead had already crept close to me in the moments I had become lost in the hell hound's eyes. However I saw that it was Danny and was flooded with momentary relief until I made out his words.

“Toby? Stop messin' lad!” He near screamed. It was only when he spoke that I realized he was struggling with a bedraggled Toby. I took his form in rapidly but then my eyes lingered on his face, a ruined mess that was half eaten, it still resembled Toby but it would have been clear to anyone that the youngster no longer resided in that shell. I made to help Danny but saw Toby already clamping his jaws on the older man's throat. Danny screamed but it did not last long as Toby ripped his head back, tearing a great chunk of something important looking from Danny's neck. Blood spurted and the man's body twitched spasmodically but I could tell he was already dead. And then the wolf howled again. My knees near gave way at the sound so close to me. The dead seemed to once again turn in my direction at that sound, but this time the freshly killed police officer and Danny also rose to their feet again.

I made to run. And came face to face with the hound. I jumped. I jived. I felt as though I was moving faster than a professional rugby player as I tried to evade the wolf. But everywhere I went, every way I turned he was there. And the dead were closing. One grabbed me. I know not to whom that cold dead hand belonged but I snatched free from it, it's bony claws raking bloody tracks in my bicep as I broke loose. In a mad rush of blind fear, and against every fibre of my being – I plunged headlong in the direction of the beast. I believe most minds would have rather dived in the direction of the corpse horde, in fact if I have given it any rational thought I might have made a similar decision. But my madness was my salvation. I ran. I ran straight through the wolf and for a blinding second I was covered in searing pain as if engulfed in fire. And then I was through. I looked back behind me and saw the wolf mist and then reformed where I had burst through it. I gasped in surprise that this creature of nightmares seemed to be just that, lacking any corporeal form. It snarled in frustration at me before howling again. The dead continued towards me and I did not waste time wondering if the hell beast was real or not or whether it could ever hold a physical form. I just ran. I was mad and blind in my flight and whilst the wolf always seemed to be there, it's dead contingent seemed to be too slow to match my pace.

I was drawing close to the entrance of the cemetery, perhaps two dozen headstones between me and its gates. And then the wolf growled madly. It stood before me now and I was preparing to run through it when it set it's stance and released a howl that sounded like the gate way to the underworld ripping asunder. Spectres and demons seemed to leap from it's cavernous mouth as if to rip me apart, but they floated past me, each seeming to drift down and into a grave instead. Then the wolf disappeared into smoke.

There was a moment of such silence and stillness in the beasts wake that I started to question my sanity. Had it all been some sort of waking dream? A fantasy? And then the ground started to churn. Perhaps fifty or more graves all around me, along with the ones remaining in my path, were spewing their occupants out into the night like some sort of macabre maternity ward of the damned. I ran again. I was soaring past hands poking from the earth and rotten faces erupting like volcanoes from the soil. I ran, stumbling and tripping, ducking around graves and trying to avoid the places where gravestones stood. And then the hound was back. It seemed less substantial than it had earlier, as if the effort it had taken to raise so many dead had drained it somehow, made it less...physical... but its presence was enough to halt me. Enough for a hand to wrap itself around my ankle. Enough to force me to struggle free from that grip. Enough for the rest of the horde to grasp me, by arm by throat by leg, where ever they could reach they grabbed. Their freezing, dirty hands ripping my flesh and pulling me to the ground.

I screamed.

I begged.

I prayed.

But those dead faces came on. Teeth clenched into my cheek, ripping flesh away and I screamed louder. Strong hands broke my bones, my forearms cracking and rupturing out through the skin to show red and white in the moonlight. I felt my stomach ripped open by dead claws and I knew I was dead. I wished I was dead. I still screamed although the shock was driving the pain from me. In my last moments I remember seeing the hound. Hearing it's howl again. Something ripped from me, my being, my essence, my soul. It became one with the hellish cur. And I knew. This beast would walk the world. With every soul it devoured it became more physical, less of a nightmare and more of a reality. My flight had forced it to start anew, why that was necessary was beyond me in those last moments as the corpses continued to feast on me and I felt myself becoming one of them. All I know is that the hound is coming. And it's coming will usher in a new era of pain and death upon the world. Canis Infernum comes, and the world will weep.