Beast Hunter

Chapter Twenty-Two

The first thing it did was wrap up Slater in its tentacles.

Unlike with the Sasquatch, it didn't stop at just his waist. It also grabbed each of his arms and held them askew. He'd dropped his rifle, useless now, and struggled in the Kraken's grip.

I heard Janelle scream as another set of wiggling tube-arms went for her.

It was as if each set of tentacles had its own brain and knew to go after its own separate victim.

And there were enough of them for all of us.

Janelle was lifted off the ground, shrieking in terror as the tentacles had her in their grip. Gone was any sense of the cocky minion who had followed Slater with such unshakable loyalty up until that point. All that remained now was a shrieking, panicking woman now firmly stuck in the clutches of a monster she'd clearly underestimated.

"Nick, run!" Stu shouted as one the tentacles went for him.

He ducked to the side, narrowly missing it as he scurried to get away.

Slater's final henchmen, Trent, ran from another set of tentacles. But instead of just fleeing the stage. He ran straight to Sky and grabbed her by the shoulders. I knew immediately what he was doing. He was trying to force her between himself and the tentacles to act as a human shield.

She slapped at him frantically, screaming and kicking him in the shin with everything she had. It must have worked because Trent shouted out in pain and then threw her to the ground with a frustrated huff.

Stu was on him a moment later, shoving him hard to get him away from Sky.

Trent shook it off and took a swing at Stu.

What happened next blew my mind.

Stu, having taken a strong fighting stance – and I mean a good, well-practiced one – blocked the punch with his left arm and then broke into a spinning back kick that was expertly timed. His foot connected square onto Trent's chest, sending him flailing backwards right into Kraken's latest set of tentacle arms.

Like with Slater and Janelle, Trent was the next to be lifted off of the stage, kicking and screaming as the monster held him up like a trophy to behold.

The move now complete, Stu fell back in his fighting stance, feet firmly planted on the ground, fists up. For a second, I just gazed at him in shock and surprise. I had no clue that he knew karate. In all the months we'd been living together, it never came up.

But the small victory was short-lived as one of the enemy tentacles finally caught up to him and wrapped itself around Stu's left ankle. With a quick yank, Stu was jerked to the floor. His body hit with a thud before being dragged across the boards toward the awaiting Kraken.

Sky screamed as another set of wiggling horrors reached out toward her.

So far, I was the only one that hadn't been attacked yet. Maybe the monster decided to save the smallest of us for last. But I knew my luck wouldn't last forever. Being the only one who wasn't tentacle fodder, I knew that I had to do something.

But what?

The Sasquatch, still high on adrenaline, scratched and clawed at its lone tentacle. With its arms and hands free, it managed to grab a piece of the jiggling worm-like arm and bite down on it. For the first time since it arrived, the Kraken made a face like it was angry and in pain and threw the Sasquatch into the stands of the amphitheater where it crashed and hit hard into the rickety old bleachers. The Kraken's body may have been tough, but its arms were no match for Sasquatch teeth.

I took a second to note that the Sasquatch wasn't moving, the impact most-likely knocking it cold.

But my attention was quickly brought back to monster and the horror it was about to unleash.