Don't Open The Well (4 page)

Even through the door, Michael could hear their insistent screams. 

He knew he was next.  There was little here he
could defend himself with, so instead, he hid in the one place he thought they
might not find him. 

Michael climbed inside the long vacant chamber of
the body incinerator.
The monsters were already at the door of the crematorium, and as they slammed
their bodies against the door hard enough to rattle it in its frame, Michael
slipped feet-first into the incinerator’s main compartment.  He pulled the
door closed behind him just as the main door to the building broke inward, sending
an army of ravenous ghouls shrieking down the corridor. 
Michael held the door shut tightly as the vengeful spirits piled into the main
furnace room of the crematorium.  Now the sounds of a dozen fists beating
away wildly at the door to the furnace was deafening and he wondered just how
long he could stay that way inside this chamber that had consumed so much
flesh.

How ironic, he thought, that he should be locked
away inside the crematorium, assaulted by the hordes of corpses that should
have been there instead.
He screamed for them to leave him alone, but there was no such luck.  The
noise continued.  As he gripped onto the handle, pulling it downwards with
all of his strength in an effort to stop them from opening the door, he
suddenly realized there was nothing pulling back on it. The creatures were not
seeking to reach him inside the furnace.

Removing his hands from the rusted, burnt handle, he
stared at it, confused.

Why?
Suddenly, Michael heard a sound he’d not heard in years.  It was that
rushing whoosh of gas followed by the steady click of the starter.
“No…”
In less than a second, every last bit of breath was ripped from Michael’s lungs
as the fire erupted all around him, hot upon his skin.  He pushed at the
door with all his strength, but it was pinned closed – they hadn’t sought to
get to him, they had meant to keep him in there while he burned.  In one
horrific instant he felt the skin on his arms and legs beginning to bubble up
and peel away as he screamed in silent agony.  His hair curled in on
itself before it fell away as ash. 

Michael stopped trying to scream, he could no longer
take in any oxygen before the fire ignited it.  His body began to quake
violently, the pain incredible and absolute – a single second that seemed to
stretch on forever.  

In his final flash, he remembered his safe place –
his sycamore tree and tried to go there again, but when he did, it too was in
flames.  Burned away, just like everything else he’d ever loved.
As his body shut down; the darkness quickly swamping his consciousness, Michael
prayed that hell was no worse than the furnace of his crematorium.

The
End

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THE
SAVAGE SERIES
Episode
1: Savage Dawn

Christopher West is an engineering student,
moonlighting as an exotic dancer and struggling to make ends meet in order to
care for his drug addicted mother. A young man of both Native American and
Caucasian ancestry, when tragedy strikes he is torn between powerful forces
representing two worlds.

A SHORT EXCERPT:

Expecting the same treatment as he had received all
those years before during his Uncle’s funeral, Chris stepped out of the car and
headed across the half-empty parking lot, eyes watching for the tell-tale signs
that meant he was entering territory he was not welcome on. Around the entrance
to the casino, a few shady looking characters loitered in the shadows, eyeing
him as he made his way towards the doors and he wondered what they were doing until
one called out to him, “Hey, kid. What you looking for?”

The voice had an unfriendly quality to it and Chris
turned towards the sound, expecting to be berated for being different or
encroaching upon land that he didn’t belong on, but instead the figure, wearing
jeans and a baggy shirt waved him over.

Chris stood where he was, unmoving.

“You looking for some ice?” 

The man, who looked just as pale and goggle-eyed as
many of the other residents he had seen, smiled.  Chris saw he was missing his
front teeth, making him appear much older than he must have been.

Chris shook his head, shocked at what he had just
heard, “No, I don’t do that shit!” He turned and walked off, pushing through
the double doors into the casino, feeling anger boiling up through his veins.
It seemed everywhere he went; his people were willingly filling their bodies
with poison. He didn’t see the attraction himself, but somehow he knew why many
of his brethren had chosen to immerse themselves in drugs and alcohol. The pain
and anguish they still felt at their humiliation and eradication from their
lands by the white man still burned as brightly as it always had and with
unemployment figures in the reservation soaring, there was no hope for the Whayani
tribe.

Little by little, they were destroying what remained
of their heritage. He gritted his teeth as he heard the beeping and buzzing of
the gambling machines and the raucous cheers of the casino denizens. This is
what they had been reduced to.

SAVAGE
DAWN
is the first episode of the epic
SAVAGE
SERIES
, available for purchase now…
exclusively on Amazon Kindle!