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Novelo Rectangle

My son has always been the apple of my eye. It’s been just the two of us since his mother passed in the year when spring never came. He was just three years old at the time and I was so scared that I would lose him as well, but he was a strong child, and what little we had kept him alive. Since then I was determined to do all in my power to help him get the life my wife and I never had. Both of us were born, raised, and lived in the same village our whole lives and I didn’t want this for him as well. When he was six I begged the pastor to teach him to read and write. I had to work his crop and mine but it was all worth it. He developed a quick love of books and what I didn’t save or use for us was spent on books. It was rare we could find any but one of the merchants that came by every month or two was a friend of mine, so I asked him to bring books along with his other items. When he was of age I was able to send him to the town for school. This would be the first time we would be apart and my heart ached but it was for the best, and it wouldn’t even be that far only a few days away with a carriage. We shed tears, he promised to write every fortnight with the mail and merchants, and I promised that I would visit him whenever possible, and with that, he was on his way. He graduated among the top of his class and even received a scholarship to university. When he told me that I cried with pride and I am sure the other villagers were sick of me talking all about him.&nbsp; In his second to last year, however, we started to receive troubling news from other villages and small towns. An animal was stealing livestock, nothing too unusual but the beast was targeting cows and oxen, managing to dispatch the poor creatures with terrible ferocity.After the killings, the beast seemingly well fed went into hiding. Only emerging once it was starving again to slaughter more animals in a different village. Quickly, hunting packs were assembled but they could not find anything. We were all advised to be cautious and vigilant even if the attacks were far from us, this thing could be making its way to us at any moment.Long ago we did have something similar happen, but that time we were lucky enough that the beast moved away on its own. With the beast prowling the countryside mailing and travel became more difficult but still possible. It had been a while since my son’s last letter so I was growing concerned, finally, I decided to just visit him before I set out I sent him a letter just to be sure. After a few days of traveling I was at his dormitory, when he saw me he was a bit surprised but happy. We talked and he apologised for not writing as often as he did before, he also looked quite sickly. He explained that his upcoming exams were stressing him out too much. I stayed for a couple of days and the whole time he seemed on edge and snappy, but he kept apologising and reassuring me that he was fine. By the time I had to leave, he was indeed looking better, he hugged me and told me that he would see me at his graduation in a few months. Once home I was counting the days until I had to travel again, but then terrible news came. A whole hunting party encountered the beast and were torn apart. This threw everyone into a panic, killing animals was one thing, but now the beast had a taste for people as well. But as before the beast seemed to disappear. So after a few weeks full of anxiety, we started to move on, and I was ever closer to my next trip to see my boy. The day was finally here I had arrived a little earlier, of course, the whole village wanted to send him something, it had been quite a while since someone from our community attended, let alone finished school. We had a wonderful time, I surprised him with a handwritten letter and confessed that for some time I had been learning my letter with the pastor. My son told me he was so proud of me, as I was of him. After the celebrations were done he said to me that he would be starting a job as an assistant to one of his professors, but only in the fall, I immediately asked him if he would be returning home with me then. He looked a little worried and tried to tell me no, but with enough pestering, he agreed. Honestly, I was taken aback by his reluctance but ultimately decided not to pester him. Once we returned home all seemed fine, he received a grand welcome from everyone, and was so good to have him back here. Yet as the first month was almost over, I noticed that he seemed more and more anxious and withdrawn. I tried to speak to him but he dismissed me every time. Then one afternoon he asked me to share some drinks with him, we had done this in the past but rarely, but still, I agreed. He told me stories of his studies and friends back in the town, and before I knew it I had dozed off. I woke up the next morning quite hungover and he was still asleep. By midday, he finally woke up which surprised me, and looked so sick. That evening he insisted on cooking dinner himself, and I again agreed. And again the last thing I remember was talking to him and telling him about my youth. The following day he again looked very sickly but immediately dismissed my concerns. He told me that tonight he would be going into the forest, to look for something he had discussed with his professor, I tried to protest given his state but the young will be young and won’t always listen to their parents. However the following day he slept almost all day. He told me that he had gotten home quite late.&nbsp; The following couple of months went by pretty well but there we still some odd happenings. I didn’t think too much of it at first as he had grown and changed from the little rascal that used to run around the yard, but still, it was odd. Then a woodsman found a stag thorn in half. I had all but forgotten about the beast and this was a terrifying reminder. Everyone in the village was panicking, wondering how long would it take for a hunting party to arrive. The woodsman told everyone that he would set out immediately and bring someone with him. That day everyone was locked inside before sundown, and my son looked woeful, constantly fidgeting and unable to calm himself. I offered to drink with him again, and he anxiously accepted. I expected to get little to no sleep that night but after the second cup, I must’ve dozed off. Early next morning I found him in bed deeply asleep, I thought nothing of it until a little later when I was back inside the house and saw that his feet were covered in dirt as if he had trudged through mud for half a kilometer. I decided not to wake him up but I was incredibly worried, some of the villagers said that they heard something in the woods nearest to the village. When he finally woke up in the afternoon I asked him about the dirt, he sheepishly told me that he had woken in the middle of the night to go relieve himself but in his still drunken state forgot to put on shoes and that the ground was damp. I studied his face for a bit but decided to accept his answer.&nbsp; After that night the woods seemed to grow silent once more and a few days later the woodsman returned with about seven soldiers. We told them that we hadn’t heard anything in the past week or so. They seemed miffed but were accepting of our offers for lodging while they searched the woods.&nbsp; For the next few weeks, they found nothing, no tracks, no leftovers, absolutely nothing. We were nearly begging them to stay for a little longer, maybe the beast was hidden in some den or cave waiting to emerge again. And then by the end of the second and start of the third week of the month, someone saw a giant shadow lurking around. the soldiers, however, were not quick enough and the animal escaped. This prompted the soldiers to recruit some of the braver souls within our ranks for a deeper search into the woods. Throughout all of this, my boy looked worn out and anxious I tried to ask him how he felt but every time he would just say that he was scared about the people in the village. My worst fears were confirmed when the next night while combing the woods the group came face to face with the beast. Without anyone noticing it had taken a sheep into the woods and was in the middle of devouring it when they happened upon it. It had been nearly two and a half meters in height, with the head of a wolf with fur covering its whole body. When it saw them it gave a blood-curdling howl that even we heard, even if faintly, and by some miracle ran deeper into the woods eluding its pursuers. However, what froze my blood was, when I awoke in the middle of the night I did not see my son in his bed. I only heard him come back before dawn, yet I was too afraid of confronting him, or maybe too afraid of what he would say. In the morning I went to check on him while he was still sleeping and saw a faint smear of blood behind his ear.&nbsp; The whole day I had to pretend I knew nothing, while beside myself with worry and terror. I love my boy with my whole heart, but what he was doing, what I think he was, the other villagers would surely murder him. He could sense something was wrong with me, but now was my time to give the excuse of being worried about the monster attacks all the while thinking of what to do. By sundown, I had a rough idea of what I needed to do and hoped that I would be able to pull it off. That evening I declined his offer to drink with him and pretended to be asleep long enough to catch him sneaking out in a hurry. Step one done, then quietly I was able to snag a few chickens from the neighbor and while being pecked I slaughtered them inside the house, letting them run around for a bit smearing blood everywhere. Then I grabbed two sacks had packed, trashed my home, and ran into the woods.&nbsp; After a short while, I was able to spot the torches of the group that was patrolling that evening. As quietly as possible I was able to follow them, nothing could’ve prepared me for what was to come. An hour or so after I began following them I heard shouts that they had found it. I tried to move as quickly and quietly as possible, but not even a minute after, all I could hear were shots, shouts, and snarls, and then a howl that pierced the woods. Then silence. I tentatively made my way to the small clearing up ahead, and what I saw then will haunt me forever, blood and body parts everywhere. In the middle with its back toward me was the beast. He heard me pretty quickly as I was moving as if in a daze, but quickly snapped out by what stood before me. Quickly turning around and drawing to his full height, he started moving towards me. The moon shone brightly behind him so all I could see was this gigantic shape moving toward me, the face obscured in darkness so much so that even the eyes seemed nonexistent. It was now or never, I fell to my knees and cried out “It’s alright son, it’s all going to be alright, Dad is here now. I love you so much son, you’re my greatest pride and joy, always have, and always will be. Come, my boy, let’s go home”. With tears streaming down my face and in awe, I watched him stop, clutch his head, and then he let out a sorrowful howl. He began shrinking and contorting while tearing out tufts of fur. After less than a minute, my son sat there sobbing and saying how sorry he was. I just went to him and embraced him without words. We would have to leave the village and find a way to manage his condition, but he needn’t worry about this now.

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Father's Love

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Father's Love

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Petar Milchev

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