THREE TALES OF THE INUGAMI

*vf of the Inugami

A Novel

P.A. Bright - ii

By P.A. Bright

P.A. Bright - ii

Three Tales of The Inugami

The Hangmans Tree by PAB

2011 Parlequin Productions

A Novel By P.A. Bright

(A rmwld Gaiden)
(All Illustrations except where otherwise noted, 2011 by PAB, courtesy Parlequin Image Productions, Inc

P.A. Bright - iii

Peter A. Bright email: pabrightca@gmail.com

Approx 11,600 Words

A Novel

By P.A. Bright
(*cover illustration vf of the Inugami portrays an Inugami, a demonic creature called up for the purposes of revenge. The vf is the aural display of all sentient beings. ft (From {A} { O.S. } root - awyhl - {Wahv-whay-el} translates as Breathe of Life or Essence of Spirit from root ft {vhafed} [True] Essence). vf n. singular {whi-vf} also spelled vf or vf. [v. plural possessive form eyven]. From: The Dictionary of Arcane Knowledge)

Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know. Jeremiah 33:3 (NKJV)

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

Authors Note:
Some stories tumble laughing from sunlit memories well known and often visited, or times of warm reflection and holiday spirit. Others tales ooze up relentlessly from deep wounded memories, shadows forcing their darkness into our everyday calm. Still others slash free from our toxic subconscious to wake us in frightened screams, leaving wounds that haunt the daytime psyche. This story is a touch of all of the above and more. It came from a seed planted in a dark portion of my soul and was borne equally of a love of a good roller coaster ride and a scary ghost story, (especially one that makes me squirm in a dark theatre with my hands over my eyes like a five year old)! It owes much to my fathers; Ray Bradbury, Edgar Allen Poe, Harlan Ellison and H.P. Lovecraft, as much as it does to a dark whimsy, a malicious Shell Silverstein what if earwig, that crawled into my ear late one night to lay its night gallery harvest. Lastly, to the germinating seed planted by the wonderful KaKu RenBo and a lifelong fascinations with the mysteries of Kabuki and a love for all things Japanese. This little morality play written on dark parchment, inked with plastic blood, is penned with midnight hope that there really are no such things as those that go bump in the night. But if there are, run for your life and never, ever look back or it may be the last thing you see. Enjoy!

~~//~~

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

An inugami as depicted in Sawaki Suushi's Hyakkai-Zukan. (Public Domain)

And so it begins...
In some Japanese mythology, an inugami ( ) [literally "dog god]; is actually a familiar spirit, but can also be a type of death god [shikigami] ( ) or demon, which in most cases resembles a dog or a dog headed man. An inugami originates from the spirit of a sacrificed dog or fox, and is most commonly called upon for acts of vengeance or as a personal guardian for the inugami-mochi, ("owner" of the demon spirit). Inugami are extremely powerful and capable of existing independently, as well as turning on their "owners" and even possessing humans causing grave misfortune. However, in Japan, as in most cultures, the dog is known as a ferocious protector of its master and therefore also the embodiment of a kind, bold, and nimble companion. In Japanese folklore, dogs are themselves often highly regarded as benevolent, wondrous or even magical beings like the metamorphic fox [Kitsune] ( ) or Raccoon [Tanuki]. One ancient legend relates how in the distant past, dogs could speak but lost this ability due to the trickery from foxes, who did not like the competition for the worship from men. Another tale states dogs lost their ability to speak by angering the Kami ( ), [Shinto god/spirits], who cursed them for alerting men to the presence of all spirit beings, whether benign or evil. However the indigenous Ainu people of Hokkaid consider the dog to be a wily, dangerous and too human like animal which can be easily possessed by evil, and therefore dogs are not to be trusted and should never be allowed into ones house, for if you do you may be unwittingly inviting a demon into your home! Vol. 6, Pg 1439 The Encyclopedia of Arcane Knowledge

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

P.A. Bright - 40 October 1869, San Monrovia California

Inugami

A soft knock came to the railroad tycoons cold mahogany door. The foreman stood awaiting nervous audience with the brutish man inside. Come in, its open. Slowly Preston Gage opened the door and cautiously peering into the darkened study. The drapes were drawn tight, as usual. Although it was a bright noon outside, it was always overcast and gloomy inside. The Plutonian occupant liked it that way. The only source of illumination came from a green glass kerosene lamp on the table. The lamp cast long distorted shadows on the wall behind the man quietly working at his desk. The room smelled of stale cigars and mummy dust. The old Colonel, Samuel Scranton Bledwrite, sat at his desk as if planning his next troop movements. He had never seen an actual day of military action in the Great Conflict between the States, which had just come to a bloody conclusion four years earlier. However, the honorary moniker was bestowed upon him by a grateful Governor at the beginning of the the great transcontinental race. Bledwrite had stayed safely behind the battle lines running supplies. He was skilled at the logistics of things and materials, but with people well, they baffled and frustrated him. They did not fit into the nice neat columns that figures and facts did. But he was an organized man in a disorganized time and he loved being on the cusp of a new world order

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

Bledwrite was a cold man, in a cold world, lacking the human spark of warmth. The foreman nervously held his hat in his hands and looked about waiting for a chance to break the news. Sir, ah, we ah, I mean to say, some of the workers in the Dells came uponwell they found. Spit it out son, Im no fortune teller. Well some of the workers found your dog Sir, and it sickened them. Hardened men getting sick at the sightI never. What about Rusty? The businessman scowled at his stammering foreman like an angry Saint Peter ready to condemn another man to hell. Near the collapsed tunnel theres a hollow in the woods and well we found your dawg buried inna dirt up to his neck .Sirhis head was missin...sawed off in a mosgrisly manner. The Colonel put down his pen, poured a glass of gin, and drank deeply. Mighty strange place toolittle strips of paper with funny china man writin on sticks and trees round the clearing. There was strange incense and plates a rotting food in a circle, just outta the dogs reach. Poor old dog was probly half mad with starving when it, er he I mean... Rusty killed... Sir...whod go do something so wicked to a helpless dawg? The Colonel turned in his leather chair and stared off into a corner of the room. He saw cobwebs and anger in the shadows. Looking down, his gaze fell upon the empty depression in the specially constructed dog bed and pillows

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

beside his desk. Closing his eyes as if replaying fond memories of undeserved kindness and unquenchable love, he spoke with a trembling voice. That animal was the only true friend I had in this retched place. The only one who really understood me. The Colonels thoughts died painfully with the realization that his only source of unconditional love had been heinously murdered and was gone forever. He sat back heavily in his chair as it squeaked under the weight of his self-important. A deep shawl of shadows wrapped his face, only his eyes were clearly visible which flashed with anger and set the foreman to trembling. The fat man leaned forward into the pool of light from the tiffany lamp on the corner of his desk, his face grew red and spittle flew from his mouth as his voice rose to a scream; Find whoever did this! I want him to pay with skin.... I think a good horsewhipping will dofor a start! Then bring him to me! I want to look in his eyes before we hang him! The foremen stood in stunned silence as the echoes of the Colonels voice died down. When the Colonel had composed himself, he turned his attention back to his papers. Thats all, you can go. The hired hand turned and stumbled out of the room like a schoolboy running from an undeserved paddling.

~~//~~

Three hours later with a hard swift knock upon the door, Preston Gage entered followed by four workers dragging an old Asian man bound hand and foot

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

with rope. He was bloodied and beaten and fell immediately to his knees when the men let go of him. We found who done it, said the foreman. Looks like you boys started the fun without me. The men laughed nervously at the Colonels comment as he sized-up the culprit kneeling before him. Naw, just took a little convincing. Once he knew we was serious, he opened up and told all. What is your name? The Colonel asked deliberately and slowly as though speaking with an imbecile. The old Asian ignored the corpulent man and studied the design in the paisley carpet. The Colonel grabbed the mans chin, pulled his head up and looked him in the eye. I asked you a civil question, youre an employee of mine? Yes? Tell me, what is your name? Again, the Asian man remained quiet as the Colonel leaned back against the front of his desk, opened a cigar box, and retrieved an expensive panatela. He reached over and picked up a miniature model of a French Guillotine, and for a moment looked down at the Asian man and studied his callused and bent fingers. Then he slipped the cigar under the tiny lunette and released the weighted Mouton & Blade. The beheaded end of the cigar fell casually to the floor. As Bledwrite lit-up the cigar, he nodded at one of the men holding the Asians shoulders. The cowhand gave a swift kick to the old mans ribs; there was a sharp snapping sound of a rib breaking. Immediately the Asian doubled over, grabbed his side, and groaned as one of the other men grabbed his long ponytail, pulling

10

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

his head back so the Colonel could look him directly in the face. He asked you nicelydont make this hard on yourself, just answer the question. After a moment, the old man obviously in great pain, cursed the Colonel through clenched teeth. I, am...inugami mochi...and you will pay fat man for my son.... The foreman slapped him in the face. Thats not his name Sir; hes Tommy Hit-su-koda, lives here in the Chinatown. This old chink is the troublemaker that gone killed Rusty. He even boasted bout it in the Dells saloonhe was proud of what he done! Said it was ta rise up a, ashinkugoomi or something like that, supposedly for revenge over the tunnel collapse. When we found him he was praying to one a his heathen gods....asking help from this shinku-goblin to come and smite ussuch nonsense! Cigar smoke demonically curled in a ring around the fat mans face and his eyes glowed red in the reflected light of the cigar tip. There was an uncomfortable moment of silence as he mopped his head with a handkerchief. Hand him over to the boys for someuh, well deserved retribution. Ill be down in a minute to give him a few licks myself, after he has been, ahsoftened up. I wanna hear from his own lips why he did what he done. The Colonels eyes seemed to glow with a dark malevolent light even as a cloak of blackness entered his soul. He got his wish without trying. Nothing save you now Boss manshikigami make you pay and all help kill my son. The Asian man spat out some blood from his cut lip as he spit out his words.

11

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

Your son? Was he one of the poor workers who died in the tunnel collapse? Tragic, regrettable, amost unfortunate accident. Cost me a bundle to have to start another tunnel The Colonel walked muttering under his breath, ...and silence some political lip-wagers. He peaked out of the curtains through a narrow slit at the sunlit world he despised. I lost some good men in that misfortune too. Many were like sons to me. I am truly sorry for your loss. Liar! You knew, not to dig there! You knew, it hallowed ground to people live here now you make it Cursed Land! Railroad survey man, tell you, not to make tunnel there. He say, No, bad soil, but you no care and dig! I hear when foreman say not enough wood to make safe. My son just turn thirteen! He pay with his life for you shaking fist in face of Mountain Spirits. Now gods mad at you. You put not wanted bodies in sacred soil. Bad price to pay now. Mountain Spirits? The Colonel resumed his perch on the front of his desk. You mean that Indian flap-trap about the haunted mountain? Thats just old wives tales, legends, nothing but superstitious mumbo-jumbo to keep the white man off that mountain. I will drill a hole right through the heart of the Sasquamah Mountain, and I will do it on time to link up with the Southern Sacramento spur. You still not see! This land alive! Youmake it much angry. I talk to land, I Kenja, my father yamabushi. He teach me...I make bargain for spirits. I raise for them, shikigamiit make justice good for my son. Thats why you killed my dog, because of local superstitions? There are no gods, Indian or otherwise, no more than there is a man-in-the-moon. The

12

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

Colonel picked up the model of the diamond stacked locomotive engine from his desk with the reverence of a sacred artifact. Any rational mind knows that. It is a different world today. Steam powered by our dreams, Science is the only god modern man knows. Man now has no limits. Moreover, Great Men have made this dream come true. Why even President Abraham Lincoln himself signed the Pacific Railroad Act authorizing the Central Pacific Railroad to build east from Sacramento and the Union Pacific Railroad to build west from Omaha However, the Colonels speech was cut short when the Asian man screamed and wriggled as if he was burning alive. He tumbled to the floor and lay in a disheveled heap. Then slowly, awkwardly, like a deformed man in a wrong suit drunkenly stood up. It was as if some dark alien creature had slipped into the old mans skin, wearing him like tattered overalls. An ominous dark light shone in the Asians eyes as a different spirit now resided within his body. Moreover, his manner and voice was different too when he spoke; it was not trembling, unsure as before, but forceful, full of strength and filled with dark deadly venom. It began to grow cold in the room but the Colonel and his men did not notice this change. They did take one-step back from the bound Asian man, who somehow seemed larger than before. In a deeper, clearer tone, the Asian man spoke in a dark timbre painted with mocking laughter, I will see you all die and any who insulted this sacred mountain. Tell me friend, who set you up to be my judge and jury? It was an accident, plain and simple at the Inquest I was cleared of any and all charges in that regard. So, what is this uh, Shicki-guhmi supposed do for you?

13

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

You are already judged and found wanting; the shikigami will carry out justice. I see through eyes of dirt, as little hands covered their head when mountain crushed down, as soil filled his throat and silenced his screams...as men were torn apart and prayed for fast death. The Asian man looked around the room, pointed his finger at his captors, and marked death in all their faces. All of you pay for your crimes. No escape for blood you shed! The old mans head dropped backward and he opened his mouth wide, wider than it seemed humanly possible, and out of the black hole of his soul came a strained, almost hysterical demonic laugh. It felt as if Beelzebubs flies had escaped to fill the room with the fresh scent of corruption and decay. The hairs went up on the necks of all the men standing in the room, even the Colonel felt the tingle of the supernatural upon his skin. The men became still as funerary statues, as if the angel of death had slipped into the room and drawn his bloody vengeful sword holding it to their necks to strike. Then the old mans head snapped forward and he grinned demonically. His eyes were a raging fire of hate, lit by the very fires of hell. Life for life, the old man said in a strange childs singsong voice, Li ife, for liife. Then he laughed once more, but this hideous laugh was not human, nor was it animal but something betwixt. It sent a cold shiver through the room, blanketing their minds with a bitter blackness and feral fear, and set them to tremble like frightened children afraid of the dark. Puffing himself up with bravado, the Colonel snapped to the offense, Really, a life for life? I suppose you

14

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

mean this Shicki-goohmi will kill one of my men for each of the fourteen unfortunate chinks who died in the accident? The Asian man only nodded his head solemnly and glared at the Colonel with a wickedly twisted and decidedly unnatural grin. There was no fear in his eyes, only a smoldering dark anger as deep as the pits of hell, then like an invisible wave, once more a rotting nauseating hatred swept through all the men in the room. It was so strong it tasted like black bile in the back of their throats. The Asian man bent over, wracked by deep convulsive coughs, as if, by great vomitive force, trying to expel the entity from his body. The Colonel and his men paid no mind; they saw only signs of Consumptioni which was common in these backwards immigrants. One last question Chinaman.why the plates of food circling the dog, an offering to your gods? When the old man stood up, he no longer seemed sinister, dark or imposing, but small, pathetic and frail as aged parchment. When he spoke again, it was the reedy deteriorating voice of age and passivity. Ihjin, I am not Chinese, I am Japanese, he said proudly as he straightened up. All you slant eyes are the same, the Colonel said as he turned his back on the old man and traced his finger around the paperweights and neatly stacked papers on his desk. To call shikigami, you need spirit of fox or dog. For ten days, I do this morning and eveningI tell dog, Your painnothingcompared to my pain. The Colonel, he make my pain, so now you feel my pain. If Colonel not hurt me

15

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

I not hurt you. The Colonel is our enemy, not me. Then, on fifteenth day of seventh moon month when it Ghost Dayii, and dog starving, when it mad with hunger, I kill dog, it become Inugami. Your dog, gone now, forever. I now, inugami-mochi. I take something special to you; I make turn it on you and your family. There now no hope for you Boss-man, you dead; and all your family forever! The Colonel rose from his desk and grabbed a statue, simply meaning to hit the man across the face and break a few teeth. Instead, his aim was a bit too high and rage put more strength into the swing than intended. There was a sickening crunch of bone, and then blood spurted out like exploding red flower petals, painting the men on either side of the old man as the he slumped lifeless to the floor. Boss, you killed him! The colonel stared at the bloodied statue and then dropped it as a profane thing onto the carpet. Get him out of herethrow him down an air shaft into the collapsed tunnel. He wants to be with his boy so bad, let him. Then dynamite it shut. So much for his Shicki-guhmi nonsense.

~~//~~

16

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

A few days after the affair with the old Asian man, Eldon Striker, one of the Colonels key men who had worked on the design and construction of the failed tunnel, disappeared while on a survey of the mountain. His badly mauled body was discovered the next day, the apparent victim of a grisly attack by a wolf or other large predatory animal. The Colonel hired Joseph Whitecrow, a local Indian tracker, to find and kill the feral creature responsible.

At the base of the Sasquamah Mountain, the Tracker carefully examined Strikers body and the surrounding environment for clues. He looked for tracks and closely examined the crushed and bent mustard, lilacs and Juneberry on the riverbank, pinched soil to his nose, inhaled deeply, and closed his eyes as if meditating. He listened to the voice of the trees as they creaked and tall whispering grass at the rivers edge as it danced in the gentle afternoon breeze. Slowly he became aware in his spirit that something was off, unbalanced; he felt the odd disturbance but was unable to focus on the anomaly. There was a vague ominous presence that didnt belong. Reaching deeper within, he relaxed his mind further and touched the trees, tasted the air and the sought out the dark crevices of the quiet mountain. A short stocky man with beady eyes that peeked out from beneath a frayed gray Stetson, motioned toward the Indian tracker and whispered to his friend in a voice loud enough to wake the dead, Whats he doin now? His companion shrugged,

17

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

Who knows? Communicating with heathen godseverything is strange with them Orientals. Dont you know nothing? He aint Oriental fool; hes a Ingun. Oriental, Injun, dont matter, theyre all Godless foreigners. The Tracker ignored the ignorant comments, opened his eyes and his attention was immediately drawn to one of the gashes on the side of Strikers body. He saw something curious about the wound. It seemed to shimmer for a moment like a heat mirage. The tracker carefully probed the mutilated slash with the tip of his knife until it struck something hard in the wrong place. The Tracker cautiously reached into the gash just below the left side of the ribcage and retrieved a small pale splinter of wood from where it had broken off during the attack. Holding the splinter up to the light he looked at it carefully, sniffed it once, and then sunk down into a squatting position as if bearing great weight. He froze as if he was a radio receiver and a distorted message had just exploded through from the other side. The blood drained from the Indians leathered face and his eyes rolled back, and he opened blank eyes and saw the world as if through a veil of gray mist. Slowly, like an angry birth from a foul grave, the vision cleared and the Indian saw a black shapeless form clawing its way up out of the ground. It was dark, evil and not native to this mountain, something filled with an intense furious hatred at its forced existence. An old man stood in the shadowy background holding a small wooden box under his arm. The wind resentfully stirred the boughs above a small clearing circled with strips of dancing

18

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

paper inscribed with charmed fiery red words. As soon as the creature disinterred itself from the earth, the man bowed his face to the ground with his head resting upon the wooden box. The creature was dreadful to look upon, with vicious red and yellow eyes, like a wicked feral cat, and cruel mouth filled with sharp fangs and serrated teeth born for one purpose; the ripping and tearing of flesh from bone. Saliva dripped from the corners of its vicious mouth and its hateful eyes flashed directly at the old man, then strangely, it seemed to nod towards him as if begrudging the old Chinese man a crude measure of disingenuous respect. The creature turned for a moment and stared off as if looking directly at the squatting Indian, then lunged off on all fours into the darkness as the vision evaporated. The Tracker reached out and steadied himself against a tree as a nervous ripple of whispers shot through the watching assembled men who all sensed that something strange had just happened. Slowly the Indian stood up, reverently put the splinter in a vest pocket, and quietly turned to leave. He spoke something under his breath in his native tongue; then warned all the Colonels men to leave this place, this town, this state if they could. Saying they were not safe, they must get far, far away from this mountain at once! That something evil had been set loose. However, the ignorant group of dust-hardened men only laughed with nescient scorn. The old tracker would have immediately left, had not George Squire stepped in front, blocking his path and cocking his Winchester rifle in a

19

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

threatening manner. Squires then pointed the gun squarely toward the chest of the dark haired Indian and said, Where you goin Ingen? You gotta job to do. You was hired to track and kill, what creature done this. He said in his cold thick southern drawl. The Native American stared into the face of the square-shouldered man, as if searching for something. Evidently, the tracker did not like what he saw; he turned and faced the five men standing behind Striker. Some mark in their eyes, some shadow upon their faces unnerved the Indian, and he was not easily spooked. Have any of you ever seen living animal can do this? ...strange claws Not wolfnot bear make these slashes...this is from spirit world. Squires had begun to feel uneasy as the old tracker talked now laughed at him when he mentioned the supernatural, Spirit world? Bah! You think a ghost done this? Next youll be telling me Ichabod Crane moved to Calvert County and brung the headless horseman who done this! Squires laughed nervously but no one else joined in. The Indian walked up to Squires and pointed back towards pointed towards the dead man. those bites are not from hungry animal, that rage! It make man suffer. Maybe wicked skin-walker. This is powerful medicine...and it is bad, very bad medicine. The men were as silent as tombstones in a graveyard while the trackers words finally penetrated. One fellow let out a nervous cough. No one knew what to say.

20

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

Jeremiah Allsworth broke the silence. I dont believe you. Youre trying to make a fool of us and scare us with Ingun fairy tales! Joseph Whitecrow looked at the men and said, Have you not noticed? How strange it is? It had to be large, the creature kill that man. Look at earth, where are the paw prints? Do you see any tracks? The Indian said pointing to the sandy soil where the mutilated remains of Striker lay covered by a bloody tarp. The footprints of the tracker and one or two other men were clearly visible by the body, but there were no evident wolf or bear prints visible anywhere near the body. Down there in sand, said the Indian pointing to the streams edge, I see deer, bird and rabbit tracks, I see dead mans tracks walking through stream. A large heavy animal would have left prints in sand, disturb rocks in water, where are its tracks? That particular fact had never consciously occurred to any of the men standing there. Somehow, the men had instinctively felt in their bones that something unusual had transpired, though none had thought through or voiced their concerns. No one wanted to get too close to the mauled body anyway. When at last they realized the magnitude of what the Indian was saying, a disquieted ripple of fear passed like a dark static shock from man to man. This was not done by creature you cannot kill with bullets or knife. It walk from spirit world Ive seen it in visionIt was called for a dreadful purpose. Only the one who called it can send it back.

21

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

As the words left his mouth, the tarp covering Strikers body rustled gently in the afternoon breeze as if a ghost was playing tag with it. Then the Tracker reached into a satchel and pulled out something covered in a feather with beads and sage wrapped around it. The Indian said some words in his native Gabrielino tongue, and waved the strange device over the dead mans body. What is that, medicine man cur-rrap? Josiah Wedgeworth said in his thick Irish accent. The Colonels men laughed in nervous guttural agreement. The Indian turned around, strode boldly over to the stocky man with the balding head, and pointing his finger into the plump mans chest, You speak with ignorance! I pray for his soul, he said to the Colonels field hand, I am called neofitos. My tribe and family, turn their back on me, when I converted to Christian Godand thislook! The Indian pushed the feather artifact under Josiahs nose. He looked down to see a well-worn crucifix lying on a feather bed wrapped in a handle of rawhide. This, the only true magic I know! I am last of my tribe. They all died, by the hundreds and hundreds, of white mans Red Sickness. The tracker pulled back his shirt revealing a mass of scar tissue on his chest. They die, but I am alive. Great Father, and the Indian pointed skyward, keep me alive for a Reason. I know not why.... Yeah so you can entertain us. Laughed a thin scrawny man named Weldon Smith. Look boys, its a Christianized savage! The men roared with laughter of ignorant release. The trackers eyes flashed with anger, but a touch of

22

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

grace upon his heart stayed the hand, which had instinctively reached toward the knife now sheathed at his waist. You dare laugh at Great Father who keep me alive? You said the Indian pointing a threatening finger at Smith, You are the savages. Take heed, nothing good come, from laughing at what you do not know.there are things in the world you know not, things you do not want your cross path. Mark well my words; there is living darkness you awake on this mountain, it will claim more lives. This I fear, just the first.... A fight no doubt would have broken out had not Stephen Vassar let out a startled, blood-curdling cry, as he pointed to the trees behind the body of the dead man. Low, near the ground in the deep shadows under a bush, two small probing red eyes slowly bobbed up and down. A low threatening growl came from the darkness behind the body as the Colonels brave men turned to run for their lives. Stop! No! Do not run! The Indian shouted. However, it was too late, the men did not hear or were too full of fear to stop and watch as the Indian calmly turned and walked towards the glowing red eyes.

~~//~~

A demonic panic grabbed the men as they ran terrified like Gadarene pigs towards their separate doom. Weldon Smith ran over some rotted boards and fell

23

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

fifty-feet down an old well shaft, and perished from the fall. His head exploded like a watermelon on the granite bottom. Stephen Vassar lost his footing on a steep slope, rolled, and tumbled down a sheer embankment, regained his footing near the bottom, but continued forward by momentum only to become impaled by the embrace of a wickedly sharp tree branch waiting for him at the bottom of the hill. Jeremiah Allsworth ran so fast, he hit his head hard against a low tree branch hidden in the shadows; he fell unconscious to the ground. When he awoke several hours later, the stars reached their zenith and he felt an egg-sized knot on his forehead. He gently rubbed the bump that stung on his forehead and felt his head pound with the worst headache he had ever experienced. When he tried to stand up, the world began to spin in a dance he did not know or like. He fell forward onto all fours and immediately retched as a wave of nausea wrung his stomach dry. When he was through vomiting, he did not feel much better. He wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his coat and sat back exhausted on his haunches. Looking up at the stars and the moon, he tried to figure out by their place in the sky, how long he had been unconscious, when the unearthly quiet was broken by a sudden loud snap of a twig in the shadows nearby. Then all sound ceased. Even the crickets remained quiet. Allsworth strained, but saw nothing save the swirling darkness in the cold mists of the night. Time stopped and seemed to run sideways for Allsworth; his heart beat so hard he thought it would explode out of his chest. Black imaginings of what the old tracker had called an

24

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

evil skin-walker, a medicine man transforming into a man-beast, filled his heart with terror, as shadows seemed to come alive and play tricks with his eyes. Allsworth vainly tried to calm himself, but the moon went behind some clouds and the darkness became thicker, almost suffocating. A moment later, he heard another twig snap, but this time it was much, much closer to him. Then he thought he heard the heavy plodding steps of a large animal thrashing through the understory in the darkness. Worse, the sounds seemed to be coming towards him! Alarmed, Allsworth reached for his holster, slipped off the leather strap securing his single action 51 Navy Revolver. Nervously he thumbed the hammer back from its detent, pulling it the from safety slot. Cautiously he half-cocked the gun and inspected the chambers; five firing caps sat nestled securely above their paper cartridges. All seemed dry and in good firing shape, still he nervously checked each round once more. A full cradle of lead brought a small measure of resolve but thin comfort; still he felt nervous even as a dim courage slowly began to grow within. Maybe he would be okay; maybe he had just imagined everything and would soon awake in bed to find it had all been a bad whiskey-fueled dream. However, all fantasies of safety fled when he was startled by a twig snapping in the darkness off to his right. Turning quickly, he lost his balance, accidentally fired off a shot into the darkness and just missed shooting off his little finger in the prosess. Luckily, the shot fired in the direction of the noise. There was a brief demonic wink in the dark, as the .36 caliber round ricocheted with a spark off some rocks. However, there was no expected sound of animal flesh being torn nor was there any cry of pain from a wounded animal. Allsworth

25

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

realized it was a wasted shot. Only four left, better make them count, he thought. The crickets and night creatures held their breath as a cold graveyard stillness settled around Allsworth. The silent dewed filled air seemed poised with a strange electric expectancy. Cautiously Allsworth attempted to hide in the protection of the deeper folds of shadow beneath a large arthritic pine tree. Then another wave of nausea from the concussion momentarily doubled him over again and he dry-retched once more. Huddling at the base of the tree, double vision made the stones at his feet multiply and dance in blood pulsating waves, as pain pounded his skull. Allsworth realized the blow to his head was far worse than he first thought. Gingerly he explored the knot on the side of his noggin. He would definitely have to have the Doc look at him when he got back to camp. Off in the distance he thought he heard faint uneven footsteps approaching once more, but was not sure now if they were animal or human. Could be the bear or wolf that got Eldon, he thought. Straining to hear, the faint sound ceased, almost as if the animal knew he was searching for it. Without warning it grew very cold and Allsworths breathe came out in frosted wisps as if he was standing in an icehouse. Again he heard the footsteps in the darkness. Josiah? Allsworth cautiously called out into the gloom, that you? The sound stopped, now just a few yards away in the deep shadow of a large elderberry bush. The darkness around Allsworth seemed to grow deeper and strange black monstrous shapes seemed to swirl and dance in the darkness. Im seeing things! ...gotta be that blow to my head. However, it was not his

26

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

overactive imaginings; he definitely saw red eyes, like those of a wolf in the mist, glowing dimly in the darkness and then, like snuffed candle in the rain, they simply went out. Allsworth finally decided to make a break for it and jumped to his feet, ignoring the nausea that greeted him. Then in the shadows behind him, he distinctly heard heavy uneven footfalls loping towards him, like the steps of a large bear charging. Allsworth glanced nervously over his shoulder in the direction of the noise but saw nothing following him. Suddenly a dark shape ran across a moonlit patch on the trail in front of him. It stopped, reared up its massive frame and blocked the path! The stars cut a grizzly bear-sized silhouette against its huge dark form. However, this was not a bear! It had a large misshapen head and its mouth was too large, and crowned at the corners by four large tusk-like incisors jutting out of it jaws! Moreover, its shape was all wrong for a bear it had four arms! Allsworth thought its head looked more diamond shaped like a squished copperhead snake than any animal he knew of, but it was of huge proportions. (If Allsworth had ever seen a Chinese New Year celebration, then he might have thought the creature bore more than a passing resemblance to a parade dragon. However, Allsworth had hated everything about them slanty-eyed dogs and had had nothing to do with the Chinese or any trappings of their culture.) The strange head lumpy swiveled around, latched its piercing red and yellow eyes on Allsworth and opened its mouth in a fetid growl of defiance and warning. Allsworth raised his revolver and with a shaking hand squeezed off two

27

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

rounds hitting the creature squarely between the eyes. The creature was unfazed. He fired the last two rounds straight into its chest. They were absorbed like pebbles thrown into a black pond, only the ripples on its skin proved he had struck his mark. The gun continued to click as Allsworth repeatedly squeezed the trigger over spent rounds; there were no more bullets to fire, but he didnt notice. Allsworth screamed, as the head of the animal seemed to drop, as if guillotined off its shoulders, and began to travel like an elevator straight down the front of the erect black body, and then stop in its middle! Impossibly, it opened its mouth, and like a basilisk, its breath was overwhelming with the putrid smell of death and decay. A sickly dark red tongue licked at wickedly sharp crocodile like teeth; the end of the tongue was slightly forked. Allsworth dropped the handgun and patted wildly at his vest pocket seeking the hidden bulge. Finding the secret pocket, he pulled out his ace in the hole, a 2-shot revolving pocket pistol secreted for emergencies. Aiming the pistol at the right eye of the creature, he fired twice hitting it squarely on target, this time with a different effect. Blood gushed out of the exploded eye and the creature stepped back for a moment and seemed to scream at the moon in rage. However, as the echo of its roar faded, Allsworth had the unmistakable feeling that the demonic beast had not bellowed in rage but had merely laughed at him! When the creature glared back at its prey, both eyes were completely intact and its black lips twisted into a strange expression that could only be taken for a grin. Then, impossibly, like a spring-released toy, the head shot straight forward at Allsworth trailing a long coil of body that flowed out of its frame like

28

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

black smoke. Allsworth turned to the side just in time as angry jaws wildly snapped the air missing Allsworths head by mere inches. In terror, he turned and ran through some bushes hiding a deep ravine. Allsworth grabbed some tree roots as he went over the edge of the cliff, and held onto the gnarled roots for dear life. Jagged rocks covered the ground more than sixty feet below. Ten feet above him on the cliffs edge, a little faced boy appeared out of the shadows stepped into a beam of pale moonlight. Standing stock still, the little boy simply gazed down into the gloom, with a strange white face that seemed frozen in one undecipherable expression. Help me, Allsworth yelled desperately up to the boy, before it comes back. Strangely, the boy remained silent and continued to stare at the desperate man clinging to the tree roots. Allsworth could glimpse nothing of the boys face through what he now realized was some sort of strange white mask that appeared to melt into the boys hairline. The only feature he could see clearly through the mask, was sickly jaundiced eyes staring at him with deadly intensity. Strangely, Allsworth felt like a mouse that a cat was toying with. Then slowly, without a word, the little silhouetted shape stepped back from the cliff edge and disappeared back into the shadows. Dark clouds covered the moon and the world once more became a pit of coal dust shadows and malevolent darkness. Dont go! Allsworth pleaded, Get help! Please...dont leave me.alone. Just then, the little shape reappeared on the cliff. It seemed the little boy had not left him after all. However, something was different, about the boy, he stood more like a large hunched over man than child. Then the silhouette

29

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

began to straighten itself and grow larger, once more taking on a massive dark menacing shape. The creature that had chased him through the bushes and over the cliff now looked down at Allsworth, who screamed when he realized, too late, what his fate would be. Then the face of the creature began to slowly melt like a bead of wax running down its body. When it reached its feet, the head continued to flow down the side of the cliff side, while its body, standing on the edge above, trailed the head and emptied out, elongating and becoming narrower and thinner, taking on a strange lizard-like snake form. Finally, the last of the creatures body followed the head over the side of the cliff forming into a scaly whip-like tail. Allsworth could hear the claws of the bear-snake-lizard creature digging into the rock face as it easily crawled, hugging the cliff face, down towards its prey. Allsworth searched the scene below him seeking a safe place to jump. He spied a small ledge about fifteen feet to his right. Unfortunately, there were no trees directly beneath to cushion him if he fell; only jagged teeth like rocks jutting up towards him from the dry river bottom almost five stories below. Allsworth screamed as the monster slithered nearer. The creature was so close now that Allsworth could feel its hot putrid breathe and see the small blood-shot veins in the amber-flecked eyes. The square snouted dragon-like head stopped just above the spot where Allsworths white-knuckled hands were frantically gripping the tree roots. The creature hissed and growled in a low menacing voice that Allsworth felt reverberating through the very rock face against his body. At the same time, it opened its toothy mouth and raised back its head like a snake about to strike. Then

30

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

it paused and looked at Allsworth as if considering its next move. It opened its foul smelling mouth and let out an unearthly fetid scream that was so terrifying the foreman immediately wet his pants as he closed his eyes hoping against hope. However, when he opened his eyes, the creatures face was only inches from his, as if studying him. The mene tekel uphasim eyes weighed the man and decided. It pulled its head back once more and then like lightening, it sprang forward and bit the tree roots Allsworth was holding. Allsworth fell screaming to the jagged rocks below. He landed with a sickening wet crunch as bones shattered and organs ripped open splattering the dry river stones. The strange wet sound echoed momentarily in the black of night. Then the moon reappeared from behind the clouds revealing Allsworths crumpled and twisted body where it lay on the newly painted crimson rocks. The creature casually sat upon the bluff, looked up into the night sky, then slowly began to melt into the night and it was gone. It was a beautiful night out.

~~//~~

Nohusha, Nohusha. The Indian said in quiet calming tones. What the Indian saw was far different from what the Colonels men saw. He looked with eyes of faith and reason. They saw with the dull imperceptive eyes of fear and ignorance. Slowly from deep in the shadows, a wounded dog wandered out. It was cut up and bleeding terribly, like a protective family dog that had fought and

31

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

fended off an attack from a much larger predator. The Indian removed the tarp covering the dead mans body and gently wrapped the wounded animal in it. Shh, I clean your wounds. I ask Heavenly Father spare your life. The dog weakly licked the Indians hand and whimpered as it briefly wagged its tail. The Indian carried the injured dog back to his home down in the valley and far away from the cursed mountain. He cleaned the dogs wounds, putting an aloe salve on them and gave the dog some dried venison, which it slowly ate. Then it curled up, lay down on the tarp beside the Indians bed, and peacefully went to sleep.

~~//~~

George Squire cried like a little girl and finally stopped running to rest under the shade of a giant California Oak tree. The moon was setting by now and the shadows became darker and thicker. The darkness seeped up from the ground around him and seemed as if it was alive. Squire was panting hard as he tried to collect himself. What the Hell was that thing? He wondered to himself. Have to keep a level head. A hot wind rustled the leaves at his feet, which danced demonically to the frenetic unheard dirge.

32

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

George Squires had just about made his mind up to go back and see what happened to the Indian when he heard a low dog-like growl coming out of the shadows from somewhere nearby. Squires squinted into the darkness trying to find the source of the sound. Then a rough hand reached out from inside the tree he was leaning against and held him fast in its skeletal wooden grip. Squires desperately tried to release the bark hand holding his shoulder, but as he did, razor sharp claws on the finger tips bit in and tore chunks from his flesh! George falling on all fours, screamed like a stuck pig when searing pain and blood erupted from his shoulder. A deep throaty growl answered his scream from somewhere in the darkness of the boughs directly above Squires head. He shuddered, feeling cold suddenly as his breath came out in frost painted puffs. Squires hesitantly looked directly overhead into the shadows of the tree just in time to see two tiny orbs red slowly grow larger and come together to form two large red eyes with yellow pupil slits. The venomous eyes blinked looking down at George, while a viscous flesh of wood and vile darkness swarmed around its face like maggots over rotting meat. Sharp jagged teeth formed of wood and rock pushed out of the tree to form into a wickedly toothed mouth, while hate clothed its sinews, muscles and bones. Squires bowels let loose and he peed in his pants as the dark mouth opened wide and lunged straight down at him like an insane reversed jumping jack. George screamed when he was yanked up like a rag doll, straight into the dark bowels of the tree. There was a horrible squeal, like a slaughtered rabbit

33

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

scream, as bones and flesh met with teeth of hate and pure, rancid evil. One final wail of terror and pain echoed through the night. Then blood rained down under the tree and all was quiet. Save for the quiet crunching and chewing sounds that continued for another minute, until the headless and limbless trunk of George Squires body fell wetly to the earth below.

~~//~~

Aftermath

The only man to make it back safely and report everything he had seen to the Colonel was Josiah Wedgeworth. Josiah had run away at first. But when he could run no further, he stumbled into a ravine and fell against the old sluice track and narrowly missed impaling his head on a sharp piece of metal sticking out from the beams. Wedgeworth crouched beneath the sluice track panting, trying to regain his breath. That had to be an Injun trick, why I bet that son-of-a-gun planned it; hes a probly laughing at me right now! Then Josiah remembered his rifle, and inspected it to see if it was fully loaded. Holding his newfound courage in front of him, Josiah decided to find his men. Ill teach that Redskin a thing or two Hell wish he was never born! However, Josiah would soon get his wish, but not as he imagined.

34

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

As Wedgeworth stumbled back through the foothills, he came upon Vassars impaled body and nearly vomited at the sight of the red painted branch protruding out of his chest like some nightmarish pinned insect. There was a congealed pool of blood around Vassars feet and a look of incredible pain etched upon his moribund face. Next Josiah nearly stumbled headlong down the same well where he spied the crumpled body of Weldon Smith lying at the bottom of the shaft. Weldons head had been smashed open like a rotten pumpkin splashing the walls of the shaft with brain matter and blood. Shortly thereafter, Wedgeworth found George Squires bodymissing its head and limbs, laying in a pool of blood beneath an evil tree. That was when all bravery, courage and thoughts of revenge melted away like a snowfall on lava and Josiah dropped his rifle, turned and fled back to the Colonels house ranting and raving like a frothing lunatic. Back at the Colonels house, so strange was Josiahs behavior and fragmented his speech, that the doctor was immediately summoned. Bits and pieces of the story tumbled out in Josiahs disjointed ravings, but once the morphine had calmed his mind, more of the story came out in somewhat lucid ramblings. Theyre all dead. The Injun was right, Oh Jesus! he shouted, were all gonna die, we havta leave now, now, now! Dont you see? Ntt koomOh God, George and Weldon...the blood! Vasser, it ate most of Vasser! Oh Gott, Oh Gott, the eyes, I see its eyesMomma help me! Josiah whimpered, cried and

35

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

shivered like a little child and began to gabber in garbled German, which no one understood. "Ntt ... er, kommt der Teufel, er kommt fr uns... Das ist das Ende! Jesus, Jesus...kommt der Gott des Todes. O Jesus! Entschuldigen Sie lieben Gott.... Scheie-Scheie...." No rest came to the Bledwrite household that night as Josiah would doze and then wake screaming at the top of his lungs in a most unnatural way. This went on throughout the tormented night despite Josiahs heavy sedation. The Colonel wisely decided to wait until daybreak to send out men to check on his story. With the first rays of dawns light, a search party was sent to retrieve the bodies, but no corpse were ever found, even Strikers body had disappeared! They did however find the broken well boards and the impaling tree branch painted with dried brown blood and other evidence of the previous nights violence. Josiahs rifle was recovered from the pool of dried blood where he dropped it under the branches of a sleepy old oak tree. The search party returned with more questions than answers. A mania seized Josiah Wedgeworth as he spent the next two days cloistered in the locked sweltering attic of the Bledwrite house frenetically scribbling in a maniac fury. Terrified of shadows, three lanterns stayed lit day and night in the hot attic, banishing any darkness from the small room. Josiah barely ate the food left at the door, and despite pleas and demands from the servants and co-workers, would not leave his self-imposed confinement, claiming he was not safe except in that light filled room.

36

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

At night from a distance, the attic of the Bledwrite house shone bright like a crazy land-locked lighthouse. Josiah let no one into attic, speaking only through the cracked open door. All day long, he furiously wrote in a journal and talked to no one, save a priest he had asked to take his confession on the afternoon of the second day. Father Sandoval sat patiently in the hallway and talked to the disturbed man through the crack of the partially opened door. He listened to the crazed confession as the sun began to set. When crimson shadows crept up t The priest was unable to shed any light on Josiahs strange behavior. Though the Colonel wanted the full details of his confession, the man of the cloth sited priestly rights of immunity and would not or could not help the Colonel. Father Sandoval for his part looked greatly disturbed by what he had heard in the confidential confession. Shortly thereafter, Father Sandoval began to act strangely himself, and soon requested and received a change of parish from the local diocese. He never returned to San Monrovia. On the morning of the third day, it was eerily quiet in the Colonels house. Annie, a servant girl brought some coffee, eggs and toast for Josiah, but found the attic door busted out as if someone had taken an axe to the door from the inside. Moreover, the inside of the room was like walking into the mind of madness. Black ink drawings covered the walls, floor and ceiling. There were jumbles of frenetic words, Chinese script and burning eyes with crosses scratched through the pupils into the underlining wood, covered nearly every square inch of the room.

37

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

However, one huge picture startled the servant girl so badly it caused her to drop her tray and scream so loudly the whole house ran upstairs to see what was the matter. It was a drawing on the south wall, the only wall without a window in it. The picture depicted a demonic creature with a dog-head flying up out of a burning rift in the ground where flames and the arms of the damned reached out toward the land of the living. The dark angel held a loose net bag over its shoulder containing fourteen numbered human skulls; its other hand held an opened scroll with fourteen names written on it. The list was written in a brownish-red ink; the only color in the images and included the five missing men with their names already crossed off and lined through, Josiah Wedgeworths included. All of the men listed on the scroll were men who had worked on or had had a hand in the design of the collapsed tunnel. The house was in disarray when a search did not turn up the missing attic occupant. Josiah soon turned up, though his discovery was accidental when the Annies twin sister went out to milk the cows. Sarah was completely unaware of the mornings commotions; having spent the morning tending to the chickens, cows and swine. It was when she went to the barn to milk the cows that she found something she was not expecting.. Sarah ran screaming hysterically into the house a few moments later; everyone upstairs was suddenly afraid the apparition from the picture had bodily manifested itself downstairs and begun a killing spree, but they neednt worry, it was only Josiah. Sarah discovered him when she turned

38

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

around and bumped into his boots where he calmly hung swinging gently from a post in the barn.

~~//~~

In the morning when the Indian awoke, the dog was gone, though the door to his shack remained firmly latched shut from the inside. At that moment, he remembered the mark of death he saw upon the faces of the crude men he had met the night before. He knew an angel had led him away from that place before it became a killing ground. He prayed for all the men, though he knew they most probably did not have a good rest awaiting them at their journeys end.

~~//~~

In the morning, the Colonel sent employees to check on every name recorded on the lunatics list. To varying degrees, they all came back with the same story; no sign of the person was discovered except for blood, lots of blood and every employees domicile was a shredded mess on the inside, as if a wild animal had torn them apart in a fit of rage. In addition, all the rooms had been found securely locked from the inside; some even had had chairs pushed up under the door knobs bracing them shut. Most had to have the doors broken down just to get inside. It was as if the attacker and the victim simply vanished from the room

39

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

as if they had simply walked through the walls. However, many had bullet holes in the walls or ceiling, but no sign or evidence of the attacker was ever discovered in any of the residences. As news of the mysterious disappearances spread, rumors began circulating of a dog-headed creature roaming the midnight lanes. The locals claimed it was the Watcher of Indian legends. Within two months, the town of San Monrovia was a ghost town. Like the played out Millers Town, it was now mostly abandoned, except for the few rough trappers who lived off seal and otter pelts, and some stalwart fishermen who tenaciously eked out a meager existence on the seas. Over time, the town slowly began to recover, but never to the level of its former glory as in the heyday when the Pacific Rail was under construction. However, time erases memories and washes much pain away, but only for the living. When the otters disappeared and the fish moved farther north, the few remaining residents decided to reinvent the town as a resort community for the well to do from the San Francisco area. They moved the center of the town two miles inland closer to the natural hot springs at the base of the Sasquamah Mountain and built a beautiful health spa around this natural feature. Slowly opulent resort mansions began to sprout between the Alder, Firs, Monterey Pine and Dogwoods like mushrooms overlooking the ocean. Amid the fields of native poppies and wild mustard, Grand Tudor mansions and Grand Victorian Houses spread like weeds.

40

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

However, like a toxic metal slowly poisoning the drinking water, an old presence subtly made itself known. It found a new venue for expression when the Hasting family, late of Boston Massachusetts, hired Flucier Sllen, a local architect to construct a large gothic brick mansion on a lonely cliff side bluff overlooking the ocean above the old fishing village. As a sign of his affluence, John Hastings imported graceful Sitka Spruce trees and Redwood saplings to grace the entrance road to the Hasting estate. Built on the bluffs overlooking San Monrovia, Ravens Brook sat among beautiful coastal California black oaks, Lodgepole pines, sugar pines and white bark pines, yellow spruce, tanbark and white oaks. An unusual feature of the property was the covered bridge that spanned a gap at one edge of the bluff where a stream cut an ugly gash down to the ocean. Designed as the departure point for guests to the many planned parties and society events, the covered bridge had flowerboxes bursting with rosebushes that trellised the opened sides of the structure. Eventually the locals took to calling the property the Rose Bridge" and the name stuck. One of the unique features of the property took advantage of the natural caves that riddled the area around San Monrovia. Hewn through the rock, a stone stair passage connected the house to a natural cave at the base of the cliff that opened onto a secluded beach with a private pier. Shortly after the passage into the natural tunnels was completed, terrible and unexplainable things began to happen.

41

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

One worker fell down the stairs and broke his ankles so badly he was never able to walk again. Another worker fell off scaffolding like Lucifer cast from the Heavens, becoming impaled by a broom inadvertently left in the precise spot and angle. When the worker hit the broom, it pierced through his back and pushed a ribbon of intestines out his stomach. It hung there like grisly Christmas decorations upon the impaling shaft. Finally, a few weeks later, as the last window was being glazed, the pane of glass came loose and fell from a third story window striking the worker as he bent over to tie his shoelaces decapitating him. After that incident, it took threats and forceful persuasion to keep the few remaining workers on the job. One cold cloudy morning shortly after that all work ceased on the house when an unusual thick yellowish fog flow out slowly between the Macrocarpa and Bishop pines like a cold lava from the direction of the dark mountain. There was a distasteful sulfurous smell to the peculiar fog. It stopped just past the tree line without flowing into the clearing around the house under construction. A lone Osprey circled above calling out a warning. A silent ghostly figure walked in the shadows but stopped in the shade of the stopped under the shade of . A Native American, in war paint and dress, strode purposefully through the thinning mist and ferns, he stopped ten feet into the clearing standing just within the edge of the fog. He looked at the now stilled workers as if waking from a dream, his eyes were grey from age and filmed over, like the eyes of a dead man. He raised his war lance over his head, pointed at the house, and spoke. No one understood his language, but all got the intent of his

42

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

message. Somehow, they all realized he was warning them to immediately leave and not come back. Within a week, all work had stopped on the house and the buildings on the property, forcing the exasperated supervisor to import workers from distant Fresno in the Central Valley to complete the house. Finally, in the fall of 1892 the property was finished. However, less than two years after moving in, John Hastings lost his business in some shifty dealings and under a cloud of accusations, took to heavy drinking. One night in the cold of January when the moon bore a frosted red ring around it, John Hastings took an axe and chopped up his entire family and their servants in a savage bloody killing spree that left eight people dead before finally hanging himself from the second story porch. The bodies of his two youngest children were so brutally mutilated; but for their clothing, the doctor had a difficult time identifying the little boy from the girl. After that, the house sat vacant for two years before it finally sold sight unseen. However, it was lived in for only one night. Come morning, the new owners fled in terror leaving all their belongings behind, claiming the house was haunted by a demonic little white-masked boy and something elsea large black presence dripping with an evil feral malice. During the depression, bootleggers briefly used the vacant house and its basement ocean passage to move illicit goods north to the bay area. Many area residents still vividly remember the Damon Runyon characters that briefly blew into town and then inexplicably disappeared one cold October night.

43

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

Strangest yet were the claims of a blood soaked rummy who stumbled into the police station with wild claims of a horrendous beast that had killed all of his friends. He claimed a wolf-like beast lived in the caves beneath the old house and that it had ripped apart a dozen men in one evening and he alone survived. The police investigated and found blood painted all over the walls of the ocean cave but no other signs of violence, and no bodies. In a heavily biased kangaroo court, the outsider was declared guilty of the deaths of his friends and executed in Alcatraz three years later. After that, no one lived in the house and it remained vacant for decades (until it mysteriously burning down in the mid 1960s). It sat like a canker on the cliff casting its vampirous shadow over the fishing town below, a constant reminder of the sins of the past. The locals took to referring to the Rose bridge property simply as The House when they spoke of it at all. To the children of San Monrovia it was The Bluff House or The Axe House and they would throw rocks into its open shattered windows as a game of bravery. A few hardy souls would even dare venture onto the huge wooden patio that wrapped like a snake around three sides of the house. Some with hearts thumping, cautiously would dare peak in a dark empty window. Others, when goaded by friends, proved they were not chicken by actually stepping foot inside the front door so long as it remained wide open. However, no one ever went near the creaking old house at night, when sometimes, deep within, mysterious pale lights could be seen floating past the darkened windows, and no one ever ventured near the house

44

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

in cold of winter, especially not in dead of January under a full moon with a blood ring around it. In 1909, Forty years after that dreadful affair, the Wellington family of Stockbridge Maine made the westward trek, purchased the Colonels house and property sight unseen. They built two beautiful buildings and a schoolhouse to start the San Monrovia Orphanage and Home for Wayward Children. This eventually grew and ten years later was rechristened Saint Catherines Preparatory School. No teachers or staff at the school ever talked openly about the rumors and stories concerning the crazy old Railroad Tycoon who had built the Headmasters House. However, every boy at the school had heard some version of the tale about the crazy railroad tycoon and the thirteen people he had killed and covered up with the collapsed tunnel story. Some talebearers whispered he had actually been a practitioner of dark ancient and forbidden rites and had called up an unruly midnight demon that turned on him. Others said that the General, (as he was now sometimes wrongly called), left home under a cloud of suspicion regarding kickbacks and uncovered bribes and drowned in a storm at sea. Some old-timers however swore they had seen him or the ghosts of the men he had murdered, wandering late at night in the dead marshes of Blue Lake near the base of the mountain. A sickly body of water formed when talus blocked a little stream overrunning a valley filled with refuse and ore processing debris. The small lake had an unhealthy blue-green hue to the water due to the poisonous heavy metals leached into its shallow basin. No animals lived within its deadly waters.

45

P.A. Bright - 40

Inugami

Other dark stories whispered late at night under bedspreads, retold the Indian legend of a hellish guardian that first appeared after the Conquistadors massacred a local Indian tribe. The monster tracked down and killed all the Spaniards responsible for the atrocity. The bear-wolf creature called Wkntan, by the surviving natives, did not turn to stone with the morning light, as all other earth monsters did after their creation. Instead, it burrowed deep under the mountain creating the lost caverns where it hid away from the gods lost their anger over his actions. None of these stories bore the whole truth, but then no one cared to find out the truth, that did not happen until much, much later.

~~//~~//~~

46

Consumption was a slang term for tuberculosis. TB was contracted from the close confines and unsanitary conditions of working in the dank mines and dirty environment of the train gangs and shantytowns. ii Ghost Day is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the Ghost Month (), (the seventh lunar month). This Taoists and Buddhist festival is similar to the Spanish Dias de Murtes, (the Day of the Dead celebration), when Ancestors are honored and angry spirits appeased by gifts of food, burning of incense and other offerings. Many Asian Cultures share the Chinese belief that on Ghost Day, doorways open uniting the three realms of Heaven, Hell and the world of the living. During this time, it is believed the deceased visit the living. Therefore, at family or community shrines, prayers are made to and for the dead and special rites are performed to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. In Japan Obon () or just Bon (), [or simply the "Day of the Dead,"] is called the Feast of Lanterns and celebrated with the traditional Bon-Odori dance. This Buddhist custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors' graves, and when the spirits of ancestors are supposed to revisit the household altars.