Episode 8

In absolute desperation, he scrambled for that bloody piece of human flesh and pressed it against his hardened teeth. He fought back revulsion as he bit deep into the retched meat.

To his relief the animal stopped its deadly advance and dropped the improvised weapon.

“It’s das good,” he managed to mutter as the animal gazed upon him with obvious satisfaction. As Ben swallowed at last, he decided to try something. He reached out for the fallen stone and examined it carefully.

It was obvious that the flint had been chipped away with careful precision. Its sharp point and serrated edge were excellent for striking and carving.

“Now I wonder?”

He placed that edge against the human flesh and found that it sliced with ease.

“At least it proves a theory,” he muttered.

The animal grunted, pointing at the nearby wall.

Ben felt secure enough to drop the meat and standing up, wandering over to examine the wall.

His eyes fell upon a red ochre drawing of trees and birds that his captor had obviously painted a long time ago.

“This is marvellous,” he exclaimed. “A modern cave painting.”

The animal grunted in satisfaction and then done something that grabbed the reporter’s attention. A hairy finger seemed to scratch away at his right ear and Ben felt compelled to examine it.

“Now please don’t fight me off mate,” he said nervously.

The humanoid allowed him to feel around the ear and his sensitive fingers picked up a recent wound.

“How did you get that?” he asked in vain.

The animal did not understand the meaning and turned to wander off.

“Where is your mate?”

The creature stopped and turning its head, seemed to suggest that he follow. Ben shrugged his shoulders and allowed himself to be led toward the cave entrance.

As they stepped out into the dimming sunlight, the reporter spotted the butchered remains of the unfortunate hunter.

He ignored this as the animal pointed toward a recently disturbed patch of earth.

Ben knelt and started scraping away slowly until a limp hand came into view. He covered it again and stood sadly.

“She died I see. You have my commiserations.”

The animal took his arm a little less roughly and led him back toward the rear of the cave. Ben accepted this, wondering what was coming next.

He was pushed down gently, where he sat quietly as the animal watched him closely.

“I hope that can understand mate. I really need to make a call.”

He carefully withdrew his phone and tapped a familiar number. After a short pause, the detective answered.

“Eh...Harris...I’m in a spot of bother mate.”

He heard the laugh and waited for it to subside. Then he checked his gps location and told the happy officer.

After yet another pause he whispered, “Hunter John is dead and I’m being held by a yeti...At least it looks like one.”

The humanoid reacted to that unfamiliar word by smashing the mobile from his hand. Ben saw it smash against the nearby wall and shuddered.

“That was a serious mistake my friend. Believe this or not but I’m on your side.”

The animal bared its massive teeth, making it quite clear that he was in charge.

Ben did the correct thing and raised his arms in surrender.

The animal seemed to accept this and picked up the bloody meat once more. He tore off a chunk, throwing it at the reluctant modern man and started tearing off its own portion.

Ben grimaced but decided to eat it just the same.

The animal seemed to coo and grunt loudly as the meal was consumed, before hobbling back toward the entrance once more.

Ben spat out the food and followed at a near distance, savouring the short period of fresh air.

The animal simply glanced at him before picking up a loose twig. To the reporter’s astonishment, he drew a line across the cave entrance before tossing it away.

“You don’t want me to cross that line. I’ll do as you ask but we must start to cooperate.”

The animal blinked in response as Ben wandered back toward the rear. He had only taken a few steps before a voice shouted out, “Is that you Ben?”

The reporter whirled around as the humanoid growled defensively.

“Just don’t shoot,” Ben called out as the armed detective came into view.

“What the hell is that?”

“Meet the local yeti my friend. John’s body is here but don’t cross the line.”

Harris had seen the body but failed to understand the line reference.
Ben pointed to the ground and Harris nodded.

“What do you want me to do?”

“At least put the weapon away. You don’t want to murder the last of the species I hope.”

The detective slid his weapon into the leather holster and placed his hands upon his palms.

“He seems to be watching me.”

“Probably wondering what kind of threat you pose.”

“So what the hell do we do now Ben. A man has been murdered after all.”

“Believe it or not I’m not sure what we can do. This animal is pretty intelligent. You should see the wall painting.”

“Art is of no interest to me Ben. If that thing attacks I’ll have no choice but to fire.”

“Let us hope it remains docile then.”

The animal glanced between the two of them and did something rather surprising. It lowered its large eyes and hobbled back toward the interior.

As it departed, the detective ran forward.

“Glad to see you my friend. You do seem to get yourself in some crazy situations.”

“Never mind me mate. We have one hell of a scoop. The ape man story has been proved beyond doubt.”

“My only concern is public safety, as well you know.”

“We were attacked somewhere out there. It lost its mate. I’m guessing not by natural causes either.”

“How do you know that?”

Ben knelt and began to uncover the hidden corpse. When the chest came into view, the gunshot wound was fairly obvious.

“We will never know who did this but our hairy beast certainly does.”

“So it was only defending itself,” the detective muttered.

“Seems that way. Perhaps trapper John killed it. He certainly had hair samples.”

“So what do you want to do now?” Harris asked with some concern.

“Radio in and eh; put the death down to wolves. Our friend should be left well alone.”

The detective was about to reply when a loud crash was heard from the dark interior. Ben dashed inside as Harris followed at his heels.
They found the humanoid, the very last of his ancient species lying upon the hard earth, hands gripped to his chest.

“He’s having a heart attack!” Ben yelled.

Before Harris could react, the reporter leapt into action. He squatted over the fallen body and began pumping the chest in desperation.

“Come on!”

As he frantically fought to save its life, Harris radioed in for an ambulance.

“Give it up,” he said at last. “The poor creature has gone.”

Ben groaned loudly and climbed off the cooling corpse.

“It’s such a damn waste as well. To think, my editor will get his body at last.”

Harris wandered over and whispered, “Not if we give him a decent burial mate.

When the ambulance crew arrived after a little diversion arranged by the detective, they found only the remains of the faithful hunter.
Harris led Ben back toward the four by four and told him, “Take it to the compound and I’ll drive you home.”

Ben nodded sadly and climbed inside.

The apartment seemed dead as Ben sat drinking his scotch. The television was turned off as his mind replayed the day’s awful events. After his third double, he replaced the top and put it safely away.

“I know what we need my boy. A little fresh air.”

He left promptly, stopping upon the pavement as a full moon rose overhead.

“So peaceful too.”

He gazed at the unlit street, his mind remembering that streetlights would be installed in order to drag this community into the twenty-first century.

“Who needs streetlights anyway?”

Despite the three doubles, his vision was perfectly normal and he soon spied a lonely cat ferreting around at the far side of the road.
A sound reached his ears that suddenly alarmed him. It reminded him of a car.

“The damn cat may be run over!”

He stumbled forward instinctively, passing between the two parked vehicles. His eyes focused entirely upon the startled animal.

As he stepped onto the open road, a sudden realisation struck his nimble mind. He swung round and saw the vehicle bearing down upon him. In desperation, he raised his arms and staggered back.

His eyes recognised the driver as the bonnet struck with a sickening crunch.

His helpless body was thrown over the roof before crashing onto the cold hard concrete. His fading vision saw that vehicle vanish. A car driven by himself.

A memory flashed through his mind. The memory of colliding with a dark clad figure who vanished so mysteriously.

“That was me,” he mumbled softly.

A final thought crossed his mind at that point.

“Fixed points in time. I’m one of them...”

He breathed lightly as sensation left his battered body. His vision failed at last, as blessed release overtook the reporter.

“Don’t worry mate. We’ll get you an ambulance.”

A woman checked his pulse and grimaced.

“I cannot feel it. He is dead.”

Sirens drifted through the dark air, as Ben slept in peace...