It had taken Holden a while to find the creature’s lair. The underground section of the city had been forgotten by most people. Holden only knew about it because he remembered his grandfather talking about it when he was a kid. The underground section wasn’t on the current city plans he had initially checked online. It had taken most of a day looking through microfiche archives in the basement of city hall to find it. The section was adjacent to the subway system but could only be accessed through the storm drain system.
Holden entered the dark cavern and switched on his flashlight. The light showed old wooden buildings flanking a single narrow street. He was reminded of a typical main street in a western. Large footprints on the dirt ground led to and from a building at the end of the street. He approached the building. The lettering on the windows and over the doors was too faded to read but it looked like a saloon.
A cold knot of fear formed in his gut. He was tempted to just set the building on fire and be done with it, but he had to be sure the creature was inside. He pushed through the swinging doors. The long bar on the far side of the large main room confirmed his guess. A quick look around the ground floor turned up nothing. Holden carefully went up the rickety wooden stairs to the upper floor. He reached the last door without finding anything. Of course it’s the last room, he thought.
He slowly turned the doorknob and opened the door. The stench of rotting vegetation struck him like a kick in the face. The creature was sprawled across the floor like a mound of raked leaves. It appeared to still be in a dormant state.
Holden set down his flashlight near the door and took off his pack. He pulled out a large sack and opened it. He dumped the twigs and shavings inside the bag and the contents of a small can of kerosene over the creature. The mound started to move.
Shit, it’s waking up. Holden fumbled in his pocket for the book of matches. Hands shaking, he tried to light a match but dropped the matchbook instead. Idiot! You spend a few thousand dollars getting special wood shipped from India but don’t bother to spend a buck for a disposable lighter. The creature was slowly rising to its feet. Don’t look at the monster, just find the damned matches. Holden’s hand closed on the matchbook and he scampered back towards the door.
The creature rose to its full height, the top of its head almost touching the ceiling. It shambled towards Holden. He backed out of the room and ran. The creature shambled after him with surprising speed. Holden paused at the top of the stairs and finally lit a match. He touched it to the remaining matches in the book and threw the flaming matchbook at the creature. It emitted an eerie shriek as the kerosene ignited and set fire to the twigs and shavings. The creature slammed into Holden and they tumbled down the stairs together.
Holden screamed as the flaming creature landed on top of him. He shoved the creature off and ran out of the saloon, his clothes on fire. He fell onto the dirt street and rolled until the flames were out. Smoke was pouring out of the doors and he could see flames as the old dry wood of the saloon caught fire. Holden staggered to the opening he had used to enter the cavern. He watched as fire engulfed first one side then jumped across to consume the rest of the buildings.
There was no sign of the creature so Holden was satisfied that it was destroyed. He had left his flashlight in the saloon so he would have to find his way back in the dark.
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