We landed on Sinew mountain. On the old overgrown dirt road, not far from the cabin. I was surprised that Red was able to fit the sports plane between the trees. No one had been up here in a very long time. We climbed out of the plane; my legs were trembling before my feet touched the ground. We walked down the short-overgrown trail to Morgans Cabin. He was the only other man I recognized in that picture Edgewood had presented me.

  The cabin was rough looking, sun bleached sides overgrown with large saplings and tall weeds. My heart could still feel the echo of the Rocky Mountain Horror. The Sinew. It was so far off, I could almost forget it was there. But now that I remembered what it was, how the thing felt when it was near me, I understood why my sleep cycle had changed after coming west. My body knew the creature was close. It new I didn’t need sleep, I needed to run, run until that echo dissipated to nothing.

  Red looked at me. Leaning on the cabins railing. “You good?”

  “I’m fine.”

  She didn’t look convinced. “I want you to tell me about my father?”

  “He was a good man.” I stated looking at the cabin. I shouldn’t have let her land us here.

  “I know that already, how did he come to choose you? Grace won’t say.” She was looking down on me. I still haven’t stepped up on the first worn porch step.

  “It started here, on this mountain I suppose. Victor is my dad’s… friend from child hood.”

  “Humm, he never talked much to me about his childhood. Other than he was alone a lot.” She looked at me chewing the idea over. “Where do you think he is?”

  “Dead.” I took a step away from the porch. The forest was dark green with the emptiness of death.

  “Why?” she was still leaning looking over at me.

  “He’s been missing for three years. He would have come back if he were alive.”

  “Grace doesn’t seem to give that any weight.”

  “What dose Grace say?” I asked.

  “He’s out there, says she can feel it. Says he’s hurting terribly.”

  “Well, I’ll tell you what I know. If you are willing to hear me break a promise I made to your father.” I should have settled this with Grace a few years ago.

  She seemed to chew it over for a long moment. “What Promise?”

  “The kind your supposed to keep.” I was pacing in the tall grass looking from her to the empty woods and back.

  “I want closure, if there’s proof, he’s dead… I want to see it.” She was looking intently, eyes tracing my unnerved pacing.

  “Well let’s look in the cabin.” I turned abruptly, going up the stairs, feet led. She pushed off the railing following behind.

  The cabins door was locked with two pad locks. I pulled out my wallet and retrieved the two different keys. It wouldn’t have kept anyone from breaking in, it was just a log cabin after all, but this was Sinews Mountain no one made it this far up. I didn’t know what was on the other side, Victor had given me the key but told me not to follow if he didn’t make it back.

  We entered the cabin, Red lit the room with her phone. I looked round the dust covered mess.

  “This was Morgen Waverly’s house. He a...” I paused seeing an object that looked like the end of a very thick cigar sitting on a desk, placed on top of a folded piece of paper.

  “He’s a what?” Red asked looking around the torn room. I walked over to the burnt stub picking it up. It was the right diameter to fit the scar on my arm, holding it in one hand I unfolded the paper.

  Anthony,

  You shouldn’t be here; I clearly have failed in killing Morgen Waverly the Grendel. Take this to your father, he knows how to use it. There’s not much, don’t lose it, don’t waste it!

  That was all, nothing more. Red was looking over my shoulder.

  “How did he know you would come here?” she asked.

  “He gave me the keys and told me not to come.” I couldn’t help a dark laugh. “He probably thought I would try killing the Sinew if he failed. Guess he never knew how much it terrifies me.” I handed the note to Red. She took it reading it over, once again. I pocketed the stub in the breast pocket of my jacket.

  “What is the Rocky Mountain horror? the Sinew, Grendel whatever?” She was taking proof of her dead father rather well.

  “It’s from Beowulf, the monster that can not be killed by any weapon was called Grendle, Beowulf ripped his arm off and the creature died of blood loss. The point is, you have to kill it with your hands. That’s why, guns, knives, apparently even hell fire missiles don’t work. Grendel is a class of monsters that are very hard to kill. Sinew, and the Rocky Mountain horror. Are signifying names for this one in particular.”

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  “They hit it with missiles?” Red looked up from the paper.

  “Ya,” I was looking around the room surely he left something else. I started picking up old papers, putting the room back together.

  “It didn’t do anything?” she asked.

  I glanced at her, flipping through some books I found on the floor. Fly fishing, very helpful. A how to stop smoking book was right under it. “You walked away from a plane crash, it didn’t do much to you.”

  “Yes but I can be killed.” She was giving me a look. “Which is why Grace didn’t ever want me to meet you. She said you kill fays without thought. Burnt the image in my mind that you might as well be death it’s self. Thought you would be older.” She turned away scanning a toppled shoe rack with her phone.

  The next book was on how to tie flys. I flipped through it. “That’s very flattering,” I was unsure how to respond. “Unfortunately, I’m not as good as Victer was. He was a true harbinger of death… I just… it doesn’t matter.” Tossing the books on the table I started righting furniture.

  “Yes but what is a Grendel, I don’t care what you call it, the note said Morgen Waverly was the Grendel, who is that? What dose that mean?”

  The room was so dark. “He is the owner of this cabin. We would come up here once a year and see him.” I paused. “But the Grendle killed him, mmm. No Victor never said that exactly… I looked over at Red holding the note. The note did seem to imply Morgan was indeed the Sinew.

  “Speaking of my father, where is he?” Red was shining the light around the room.

  “You mean were did he die?” I righted a book shelf.

  “Sure,” she gave me a look.

  I pointed up the mountain. “His bones are likely some were up there. I don’t know where the creature hung him.”

  Digging into the cupboard I found canned beans, pie mix and the like. The room had been absolutely trashed. The small light from Red’s phone was not really helping me see all that much. Digging through the drawers I found a mag light, the kind with the big triple D batteries.

  Click, the light illuminated the room. Showing the pealing wallpaper where large hands had dragged thick nails acrost the walls. The furniture also bore the large nail marks. This looked very familiar. Werewolves do the same kind of thing when they transform for the first few times. Just well this was less messy, more stricken feeling than rage full.

  I scanned the room with the light, Victor hadn’t tossed the room looking for something like I originally thought. No if I were to guess this room was like this when we came to see Morgan the night my cousin died. I looked at Amber.

  “Did you have a brother?”

  “I did, he died on one of my dad’s hunts. Why?” She was giving me that look again.

  “Do you know anything about my family?”

  “No, why would I know anything about them? What I want to know is how he chose you after Bartholomew died.”

  I was unsure what to say, so I told the truth. “Your dad’s my uncle.”

  Ambers eye’s widened.

  “My grandparents adopted him at fourteen. He had been bouncing through foster care due to his complexion.

  “I don’t think it was him being an albino that had him shuffling around so much.” Red stated.

  “No,” I agreed. “More likely because his father, I suppose your Grand father had initiated him as a thane at age twelve before he died of a very rare form of radiation poisoning. Thanes know the most about myths, legends, they attract them like the plague.” I muttered.

  “I thought you being dangerous was why Mother never wanted me around you, but now I’m thinking it’s has more to do with what you know.” Red was squinting at me.

  “I didn’t know you where grace’s daughter or that Victor was Married to Grace untill three weeks ago.”

  “Really?”

  I shrugged. “Nun of this really matters.” I started walking for the door.

  “How long do we have until it comes back?” The question caught me off guard.

  “I don’t know, it took it about a week to find me in Utah. It knew where I was. I think it started looking for me when I was taken to Colorado. I think it knows I’m here. Why?”

  “We have a day though?”

  “Maby.” I didn’t like where she was going with this.

  “I’m going up the mountain. I want to fine my father.”

  “You don’t want to see that.”

  “I need to know he’s gone. Grace told me you had a gift for finding the dead. It won’t take long if that’s right.” Her eyes were locked with mine.

  I cracked the door. Looking at the fading sun. “I will go up alone. You stay with the plane.”

  She gave me one of her smiles. “No, I need to see, to know he’s dead.”

  “I’m not taking you into it’s lair. Victor would not approve, much less your mother.”

  “I don’t care what he would want, I want my father home not dead on a mountain somewhere.”

  “He’s dead.” I stated. Images of my cousin. Red’s brother apparently, swinging next to me; skinless. I couldn’t get rid of them after stepping off the plane.

  “I’m not taking off untill you show me.”

  I looked at her. She was as dumb as a box of rocks. “Your brother died next to me, the last time I was here! We were going for our yearly family camping trip. Apparently not the whole family. We, me and your brother were setting up camp. My father and yours went straight here to check in on Morgan; like they did every year. Now I know why. I waved acrost the ruined room.

  “It was dark we had pitched the tents. And we just got a fire started. We were sitting by the fire joking around breaking out a pack of polish sausages, when a voice from the trees called to us. “Delicious, Skin, Delicious.”

  We thought it was Morgan, it sounded like him, just dry and deeper like he was trying to scare us.” I paused. Looking at Red, “then the most terrifying gray giant stepped from the tree line, and we ran. It chased us to its lair. I was grabbed; my head hit the cave wall.” I paused.

  “You know what the Sinew does, right?”

  Ambers face had lost a bit of pink. “It eats them. Right?”

  “Do you know how?”

  She didn’t answer. For a long moment. “Grace wouldn’t tell me. She won’t talk about it.”

  “Alive.” I clarified.

  “He had mostly finished your brother then started on me. My memory is patchy. So when I say I won’t take you to his lair, I am saying… I am saying. You really, really, don’t need to see what happen to your father.”

  Amber looked at me. “My mother truly believes he’s alive. And I don’t think he’s dead either.”

  I wanted to get into it with her, to tell her, Grace was insane for thinking such a thing. But it wouldn’t take that long for me to walk down the mountain to the cave, or if I had to, scour it for bodies. A day at most. The Horror couldn’t make it’s way back by then? I didn’t want more memories to emerge, to see my cousin eaten alive, the images of his skinless body was terrible enough.

  “Come on then, we will take a quick look around but when the sun rises, we need to be in your plain and heading back south.” I walked over to the front door. It would be fine, it would be fine. I started telling myself.

  Red went to where the gun case lay on the ground glass panes shattered, undoubtedly going to retrieve one of the hunting rifles. “Leave it, weapons don’t work, I doubt there’s anything dangerous on this mountain. If Morgan returns before we’re done, all we will be able to do, is run.”