Siege at Hawthorn Lake: Murder on the Mountain Read online

  After only a few minutes of searching Troy spotted a large rock off to his right and made his way over to check it out. Using his stinger he searched the trail for any sign of activity. Moving slowly and completely focused on the ground, Troy didn’t notice the massive, hulking figure standing silently in front of him in the darkness.

  +++

  Troy moved his light back and forth, slowly searching the ground for signs of boot tracks, broken branches, dropped items or anything that would let him know that Phil had been there earlier tracking his buck. As he moved toward the rock he had spotted earlier, his light shined on something odd, something out of place. He stopped walking and shined his light up further up on a tree when suddenly the tree moved. Troy made eye contact with the creature and was suddenly paralyzed with fear. He was screaming in terror, but the sound never left his throat! His body coursed with adrenaline and every muscle flexed taut. He felt like he was having a heart attack, but could do nothing about it. His breathing stopped and his mind was in full panic making his vision go in and out as if a dark tunnel was closing in on him. He could no longer hear anything as the adrenaline flowed through his veins and his heart thumped rapidly in his chest.

  The enormous creature stood at least eight feet tall with dark matted fur covering its body. A ferocious demonic face with red eyes and a large bulbous nose stared intently at Troy. It made a menacing gesture toward him and let out a fierce shriek that sent an unnerving chill throughout Troy’s entire body. His fingers unexpectedly let go of the flashlight. When it hit the ground and pitched him into total darkness, he was finally unfrozen from the grip of fear. He scrambled to retrieve it, but fumbled clumsily for it in the darkness. He tripped reaching down and fell to his knees. He grasped for the light and heard the creature let out a deep low guttural growl and could feel it moving toward him. Troy screamed, but this time out loud. His hand closed on the barrel of the light and he shined it in the direction of the beast. It was suddenly gone. He quickly shined the light all around him, but couldn’t see the creature anywhere. He stumbled to his feet and ran.

  +++

  Craig was walking on the left side of the Razor when he heard the animal’s scream. It echoed throughout the dark, snow covered woods and sent eerie chills down his spine. Was it a cougar? Then he heard Troy. He knew immediately that his shouts were filled with fear and panic and he turned in the direction he thought they were coming from. The screams sounded several yards away; he shined his light in their direction, but was too far away to make out any details. The Razor was too loud to hear anything in the woods. He yelled over at Phil to get his attention. He motioned for him to go fast! Phil had sat frozen, listening intently to the disturbance and then hit the gas once he figured out what it was. He cut a donut track in the terrain and threw snow in a rooster tail behind him. Phil could see Troy running back toward the ATV with his flashlight dancing crazily through the woods and steered to cut him off. He was about fifty yards away from Troy, but knew he could get there quickly. Craig started running as fast as he could. He thought for sure that a mountain lion had attacked Troy. None of the men had bothered to bring a rifle with them since they wouldn’t be hunting as it was illegal at night. They didn’t want to get in any major trouble for what the game wardens referred to as spot light hunting. The only weapons that any of the men had on them were their hunting knives. They knew those would be no match for a major predator like a mountain lion.

  Phil brought the Razor incredibly fast up a small embankment and caught several feet of air. The engine revved hard and when he landed he lost control as it slid hard in the snow covered pine needles. Fortunately, the underbrush stopped the ATV’s mad slide and helped Phil right the craft on top of the ridge near Troy. Troy grabbed for the top headache rail and flung himself in, yelling at Phil. “Get out of here now! God it’s right behind us! You gotta get us out of here! Go! Go! Go!” he screamed.

  Phil made a beeline for Craig and slowed just enough for Craig to fling himself in the back seat. Phil hollered, “Strap on those seat belts. It’s going to be a hell of a ride, boys!”

  He punched the gas and headed for the trail as fast as he could safely handle the ATV. The men scrambled to put their safety harnesses on, but it was easier said than done as the vehicle bounced around the rugged terrain.

  “What is it? Was it a mountain lion?” Craig yelled as Phil hit the gas and flew into a dip in the trail and then shot airborne coming up the other side.

  “God no! It was… it was…it was huge! Oh my god! I can’t believe it!”

  Troy was in a crazed panic and the others had a difficult time understanding what he was trying to tell them. They had never seen such a look of fear on their friend’s face. They knew him well enough they trusted they should be moving away from it as quickly as possible if it had frightened him this much.

  “What was huge?” Craig yelled. “What in the hell did you see?”

  Just then Phil fish-tailed the Razor around a sharp curve in the trail and immediately slammed on the brakes, flinging the others forward in their seats. Directly in front of them on the trail was a downed elk. The bull was enormous and wasn’t moving. The Razor’s lights illuminated the huge beast and the men could see that it had several gaping holes on its hind quarters. The wounds were jagged like large claw marks had torn the hide and flesh. It was almost nauseating in its savagery. The bull didn’t seem to notice the ATV sitting right in front of it, but the men could see the breath of the animal. They knew it was still alive, though not for long judging from the extent of the gashes.

  “Damn!” Phil exclaimed as he sat back in his seat and looked intently at the animal. “Surely this isn’t what we were running from? A damn elk? Seriously?”

  Troy was in a serious panic pleading for Phil to hit the gas.

  “No, no that’s not what I saw. You’ve got to believe me. We’re not safe here. Go around it. You gotta get us out of here and now!”

  Phil released the brake and put his foot on the gas to move around the bull. The huge elk never moved as the ATV slowly drove around it.

  “I have no idea what could have been large enough to have done that, but I do know that whatever it was, it’s still out there and it’s probably very close. I wonder if it was a Grizzly. Do you think that’s what it was you saw?” Craig asked. He continued, “Either way, you may be right. We need to get the hell out of here right now and get back to the cabin before it tries to eat our asses next!”

  Troy hunkered down in the passenger seat holding his arms and making himself as small as possible. He was visibly shaking and obviously terrified.

  “You’ve got to believe me. It wasn’t a bear or mountain lion. It was something I’ve never seen before. It was huge and standing on two legs like a man, but only bigger. It was completely covered in black fur. I swear it was no bear fellas. I swear it.”

  “I don’t know what you saw, but something tore the hell out of an eight-hundred-pound elk. Mountain lion or bear, it’s not something that we need to be meeting up without here in these damn woods without a gun! Let’s get home and get there now!”

  Once Phil maneuvered past the dying elk and back on to the trail he punched the gas and let the Razor scream down the path. The exhaust had baffles on it to help quiet the motor when they were hunting, but when the throttle was opened up, the ATV was all performance and it could be heard. The men kept a wary eye out along the trail and Craig used his flashlight to watch behind them, especially when Phil had to slow in some areas to maneuver past obstacles. Finally, the men could see the lights from the cabin in the area below. The cabin was still some distance off, but the men felt some comfort in being able to see it as they fled the woods. The next part of the trail would hit a switch back and go along the top of the ridge before going down toward the lake and then finally to the cabin.

  The men had to decide whether to cut through the woods and continue moving down toward the cabin or follow the trail that led back up in the direction they just fled; b
ack to where the beast was that had terrified Troy and ripped the elk to shreds?

  “I don’t care what it was that he saw. I just don’t want to go back in that direction! If it was a bear or a cougar we don’t have a thing in the world to defend ourselves with. A little hunting knife is all I have.”

  “My god, no!” Craig exclaimed. “I’m not feeling too good about going back up. I bet we can cut through and come out closer to the cabin. It’s mostly pines in that area so maybe we can get lucky and go straight through. We’ll blaze a new trail.”

  Troy was still huddled in the front seat watching the trail intently as if he could see into the darkness. In his mind he was reliving the moment when he encountered the creature. Could he have been mistaken? Could it have, indeed, been a bear? They do stand on their back legs, and when doing so can stand well over eight feet tall, but bears don’t have manlike features in the face. They have long snouts with fangs designed to rip apart meat. It was not a bear. He just knew it was not a bear. The creature wasn’t anything like he’d ever seen before. It resembled more of what he only thought were wild imaginings of campers all over North America. It looked like what everyone always called Sasquatch!

  Chapter 10

  Phil turned the Razor in the direction of the cabin. It was still quite some distance off, but with any luck the men could get there within an hour. Cutting through would be quicker than taking the trail back up to the ridge where it circled around by the lake. The underbrush and trees weren’t too thick, but still the Razor wasn’t as fast or nimble navigating the forest. Phil veered sharply to the left and the sudden movement flung the men hard against the doors.

  “Sorry, fellas. Doing the best I can here. This stuff is thick.”

  “Why don’t you pull up and let me take over, Phil?” Craig stated more than questioned.

  “Alright, I’m feeling a little dizzy anyway,” Phil replied as he brought the Razor to an abrupt halt. “Maybe you can get us out of here a lot faster than I can.”

  “Damn sure gonna try. Don’t know what the hell it was that he saw up there, but I don’t aim to stick around without a gun to find out!” Craig shouted over the engine of the Polaris. “Better buckle up back there, Phil. Gonna get this thing in a low altitude orbit.”

  Just as Craig hit the gas, a huge rock flew out of the darkness and smashed into the nose of the Razor with a loud explosive bang. The rock bounced off and landed on the trail by the driver’s side. Craig instinctively hit the throttle and steered the Razor hard to the left just as another huge rock slammed into the ground beside the ATV.

  “Get us out of here! Go! Go! Go!” Troy screamed.

  The Razor rooster tailed snow, mud, and pine needles thirty feet in the air as Craig gunned it to escape the dangerous projectiles. The men were ducking tree limbs as best they could, but the snow flurries had turned to a near whiteout. The ATV lights reflected brightly off the snow, making it much harder to see.

  “Where’s it at?” Craig yelled out. “I can’t see anything! That ain’t any goddamn bear out there! Bears don’t throw rocks!”

  “Just get us out of here; go that way!” Phil yelled, pointing to his left as soon as he spotted an opening.

  “I’m trying! I’m going to get us back to the trail so we can move faster.”

  Craig turned the ATV again, but this time headed back to where he thought the trail wound. He maneuvered the vehicle around larger trees, but anything smaller in diameter than a baseball, he drove straight over. The Polaris had a large metal skid plate beneath it to protect the engine and drive mechanisms from rocks or other dangerous objects. Snow flew from the knobby treads as he gunned the engine over the underbrush and rocky terrain, flying over dips and jarring the passengers with hard landings.

  Craig knew he was headed back up the mountain side, but he also knew that whatever was below them wasn’t friendly. His best option was to backtrack up the mountain slope then circle around before heading back down toward the cabin. With any luck, they would cross the main trail where they could go much faster. He suddenly came up on a large rock outcropping and veered around it. Just as he spun the wheel, the Razor’s front tires hit a hole in the ground that jarred the steering wheel out of his hands. Panicked, Craig reached back and jerked the wheel. He hit the gas and the ATV slid sideways in the snow then careened up on two wheels. Craig did everything he could to bring the craft back down and steer out of the tip-over, but the bumpy terrain refused to allow it. He held it steady for a brief moment and then as if in slow motion, the machine tipped on to its side where it came to rest.

  +++

  The ATV lay on the driver’s side with the sound of the engine gasping its last breath. The silence and the moment after were amazingly eerie. Craig reached up and turned off the ignition as Troy grasped frantically at his waist to unbuckle his seat belt. In doing so, he immediately fell over the center gear console and on top of Craig. The two men were wildly trying to untangle themselves when Phil unbuckled and scrambled out of the Razor. Phil reached down and pulled Troy up on his feet careful not to trample on Craig. Finally, Craig was able to reach his harness buckle, release it and stagger to his feet. The ATV weighed only about sixteen hundred pounds, but due to the incline where it came to rest, the men were not able to use their combined strength to lift it. The ground was simply too slippery with mud and snow.

  “Dammit, fellas, let’s get it pushed back over. We gotta hurry, that thing’s not gonna be far behind!” Craig stated in a hushed, but agitated tone.

  The three men reached out into the darkness to find a hand hold on the Razor in order to push it back on to all four wheels.

  “All at once on three,” Craig said. “One…Two… Three!” The men pushed hard, but struggled to raise the machine. Weighing over sixteen hundred pounds coupled with the slippery snow and mud they couldn’t get it to budge enough to gain any leverage. They were standing on a downward slope from where the ATV had flipped on its side. Craig stood up and shook his head in disgust.

  “I’m going to turn the lights back on so we can see what the hell we’re doing here.”

  Just as he hit the lights, Troy gasped and pointed. “It’s already caught up to us,” Troy whispered, with a look of shock and terror on his face. Phil quickly looked up and scanned the area where the lights were shining.

  “Where is it? I don’t see anything. Where’d it go?”

  Troy just pointed into the woods. “It went behind that tree.”

  Craig reached down to his side and felt for his hunting knife.

  “Look around, fellas, and see if you have any kind of weapon at all. I still have my hunting knife, but that’s about it.”

  Troy snapped out of his distant stare and felt around on his side.

  “Oh my god, I completely forgot about this!” He pulled his Colt 1911 out of its holster. “I grabbed it when we stopped at the cabin earlier. Guess I just forgot all about it when I saw that - that thing!”

  “How many rounds do you have?” Craig asked.

  “Seven in the clip, but it has one in the chamber. I don’t have the extra clips though.”

  “Well that’s better than a knife!” Craig stated intently. “Stay down behind the Razor. We’ll keep the lights on so we can see a little anyways. Where are your flashlights?” he asked the men as he reached in to his own coat pocket and pulled out two flashlights. One was a handheld stinger, but the other one was attached to a band that he wrapped around his head and turned on.

  “I have mine,” Phil said, and reached for it in his pocket. He turned it on and shined the light into the trees all around the vehicle.

  “I saw it up there in front of us when Craig turned on the lights. It moved behind that big tree going in that direction. I don’t see anything now, but I swear I saw something moving and it was big!” Troy was pointing off to their left side, up the mountain slope and just out of reach of the Razor’s lights. The falling snow was starting to come down much harder and faster making visibility even less n
ow.

  “I guess we can assume that whatever it is, it’s out there watching us just out of the light. That tells me that whatever the goddamn thing is, it’s intelligent and it’s hunting us!” Phil exclaimed in a hushed, but intense voice as the men kneeled behind the overturned ATV.

  “Then we need to move fast. We gotta find something to use for leverage and pry up on the Razor to flip it back up. There’s got to be a tree around here close that we can cut down and use.”

  Craig reached into the back of the Razor and opened the toolbox. Upon doing so, all of the contents crashed out with loud metallic clanks rattling through the frame of the vehicle and falling to the ground. He quickly kneeled down and dug through the pile of tools. When he pulled his hand back, he was holding a limb-saw. Normally he used it for cutting small branches so he could get his stand up the tree unhindered.

  “Phil, shine that light over this way,” he demanded.

  Phil turned the light toward the woods behind the ATV and shined it on several different trees before Craig saw the one he wanted

  “There!”

  The small tree was about six inches around with not many branches. It would make a perfect lever if the men could get it cut down and moved over to pry up the ATV.

  “We need to get over there and cut that tree down fellas. Troy, are you good with that Colt?”

  “Damn right. Let’s go,” Troy responded as he switched on his own flashlight. The men moved quickly together and got to the tree in a few seconds and began sawing at the base of it.

  “Phil, you and Troy will have to watch every direction. I’m gonna work as quickly as I can, but it’s going to take a few minutes with this limb saw,” Craig told them. “If you see it, don’t shoot until you know without a doubt you can hit it! Conserve that ammo. It’s all we’ve got!”