Free Hidden Thrones by Russ Scalzo Page A

It was a habit he had. He
liked to make sure it was ready to go, just in case. Jack made his way onto the
porch and reached his hand out to open one of the large double wooden doors.
    “Hey,
I should go first.  I’m the federal agent with the gun,” Frank insisted.
    Jack
looked at him curiously and said, “I thought the cops already went through this
place?”
    “I
don’t trust anyone except myself and God.” He then added, “And, on occasion,
you.”
    “God?
Really?” Jack asked with a smile. “Interesting.”
    Jack
yielded and Frank went in first, both their flashlights burning bright. Jack
tried the light switch, but Frank was right - the power was off.
    “Maybe
I should check the attic. That’s where they said the sounds were coming from.”
    Frank
looked at Jack like he was insane.
    “No
way! Don’t you watch any movies? That’s what all those morons do. Oh, let’s
split up ,” he imitated mockingly. “No. We are staying together, especially
after all I’ve seen working with you - no way. That’s not gonna happen.”
    Jack
rolled his eyes. “You watch too much TV. I feel like I’m back in high school
sneaking around old abandoned houses. Fine, we’ll go together.”
    “You
broke into houses?” Frank asked, stunned.
    Jack
peered at him and said, “Just keep walking.”
    The
two men climbed the stairs slowly and methodically. Frank thought, Forget
about any wackos or goblins. These old rickety stairs will probably kill us first. They finally reached the attic. It was very difficult to distinguish
anything even with their flashlights, but as far as they could see, there was
no one there.
    Then
Jack felt something he didn’t like. It was the same familiar feeling he always
got when something was about to appear.
    “Frank,
I’m sensing someone or something is here.”
    Just
then, there was a howl and a strong gust of wind. Frank felt something brush by
him that gave him a chill up and down his spine. He turned quickly, moving his
flashlight up and down, hoping to get a glimpse of what it was.
    Jack
spun around. “Did you hear that?”
    “Hear
it? I felt it! Whatever it was brushed right by me. I think it headed back down
the steps.”
    Frank
shined his flashlight in the direction of the steps, revealing a trail of
reddish-orange smoke swirling around the top of the steps. Jack saw it too.
They looked at each other and carefully headed back down to the first floor.
Once again, they heard what they determined to be a combination of growling and
howling, with a trace of smoke rising up from the basement. They slowly made
their way down to the basement, flashlights in hand. Frank braced his gun and
flashlight tight in his hands, sweeping the room from one side to the other. Jack
was right alongside of him, searching meticulously for what he knew was not
human.
    “I
don’t think that gun is going to do us any good, Frank.”
    “Well
I’m not putting it down - you can bet on that. You have your weapons and I have
mine.”
    All of
a sudden the room was filled with reddish-orange smoke that formed a huge,
thick cloud. Horrific, deep guttural sounds began to come from the inside of
the swirling cloud, growing louder and louder and becoming so intense that
Frank and Jack felt like their heads were going to explode. They watched as two
red eyes began to appear through the smoke and then, there it was - a large
figure with jet-black wings stood before them. It had the face of a man, but its
skin was like the scales of a snake. Strapped to its side was a large, pewter
colored sword that nearly reached the floor.
    This
was not the first time Frank had seen crazy-weird-Jack-stuff, but it had always
been at a great distance before. It was never this evil and ominous, and it was
never this close. Frank felt like all of the air had been taken from the room.
It was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe.
    The
creature looked at Frank and seemed to quickly dismiss him as non-threatening.
Looking back at