Free The Monster of Creasy's Hollow (Defenders of the Rift Book 1) by N.C. Reed Page A

trap until he could be
pulled back to his own plane, and away from Creasy's Hollow.
    Simple. Right ?
    Chuck winced as the thought came to him unbidden.
    Way to jinx yourself, Chuck.
    And sure enough, right at that very thought, the monster
threw his head back and roared a challenge to whatever being was
messing with his meal time.
    *****
    The hideous sound startled everyone in the wood, some
more than others. Belinda, to no one's surprise, screamed aloud right
along with Monusuol, her fear over taking her.
    The monster's head snapped again to look in Belinda and
Donna's direction, and this time he didn't pause or hesitate.
Instead, he began to stride purposely toward the spot where the two
were concealed.
    *****
    Donna jumped as Monusuol bellowed his challenge out,
then again as her mother's answering scream erupted right behind her.
Donna was about to turn to glare at her mother again when she saw the
monster look their direction and then start toward them.
    We finished the chant ,
she thought to herself, her mind going slightly numb as the monster
bore down on her position. Why is he still here?
    That thought left her in a hurry, however, as Donna
realized the danger her mother had placed them in. He panicked mind
warned her that they couldn't flee, at least not yet. If they ran,
and the beast pursued, then he would be outside the trap in seconds,
and the spell to re-bind him would fail. Even as that thought
occurred to her, she felt her mother grab her arm, pulling her.
    “ We have to go!” Belinda told her daughter.
    “ We can't!” Donna hissed back. “He has
to stay inside the trap!”
    “ I don't care !”
Belinda all but screamed. Donna shrugged her mother's hand off her
arm. The sudden release cause Belinda to stumble backward, and then
fall, hitting the ground with a loud clatter of dried leaves and
broken branches.
    No way he missed that, Donna
thought bitterly. She turned to see Monusuol almost on them. He
apparently still didn't know exactly where they were, but. . .he was
close.
    Too close.
    Donna closed her eyes, not wanting to see the end.
    *****
    Chip watched the monster heading toward Donna, and then
heard Belinda scream. There was no way Monusuol wouldn't find them.
Worse still, he knew that Mrs. Johnson lacked the courage to stay
put, and quiet, while the binding worked.
    It was all going to be for nothing. And the monster
would be loose and free on the world, starting with Creasy's Hollow.
    Despite his fear, Chip's eye was drawn from the scene
playing out before him to a small point of light in the center of the
trap his father and Mister Thomas had created. A small ball of blue
light had appeared from somewhere, or nowhere, and was glowing a
brilliant blue. Glowing, and growing at the same time.
    It's working! Chip thought incredulously. That's got to be what that is!
It's working!
    He looked back to see
the monster almost on top of where Donna and her mom where, and
realized that he had to keep
Monusuol inside the trap. If he didn't, then blue ball of light or
no, the trap would fail, and the monster would stay here.
    Without a second thought, Chip stepped out of hiding,
ignoring his mother's frantic whispering.
    *****
    Donna was holding her breath, waiting for the end. She
didn't know what else to do, and to be honest, her legs wouldn't
listen to her anyway. She had tried to move away, but her feet stayed
put as if she'd taken root in the ground around her.
    Monusuol was almost on top of them when she heard Chip
call out;
    “ Yo! Big nose! Over hear you ugly cretin!”
    The monster stopped less than twenty feet from her
hiding place, and turned. Donna looked out to see Chip standing in
plain sight, waving at the beast.
    “ Yeah, you!” he called, nodding. “I
can see you over there. Come and pick on someone your own size!”
    Donna almost laughed aloud at that. There was no one
Monusuol's 'own' size, at least not here in these woods. But Chip was
willing to risk himself to save her and her