Monsters Within Read Online Free PDF Page B

his book down and went to the living room window. He could just barely make out the ambling shapes of the two men. Saul closed his eyes, focused, and was able to catch most of their conversation with the animal-like hearing most of his kind possessed.
    “…got lucky when he pushed me.” This was Lester’s voice, shaky with fake confidence. “I wasn’t even looking. Cheap shot if you ask me.”
    “Damn Lester, are you sure about this? Seems like we could get into awful lot of trouble.”
    “What’re you, a pussy? Just do what I told you to do!  And remember, keep the story straight! When the police ask, we say he contacted me to apologize and invited us over for drinks. Then he attacked us and we had no choice but to defend ourselves. Got it?”
    “I guess,” Hank said. “Still—,”
    “Shut your face,” Lester snarled.  “You want that fifty bucks or not?”
    Saul lost interest at this point. He went to the door, unlocked it, and then retired back his place on the couch. The only light in the cabin came from a small lamp that sat on an end table by the side of the couch; Saul didn’t think the two geniuses currently walking towards his cabin would think anything of it.
    He’d been in this situation many times before, usually with teenagers trying to one-up each other. Sometimes it was stupid boys, trying to impress their girlfriends by walking up the driveway. Others were just too drunk or high to care where they were; somehow, they would sober up rather quickly when they came within fifty yards of the cabin. Then they’d  turn tail and run back to their parked cars as their friends laughed, not understanding where the bone-shaking fear that hounded them was coming from. Saul would watch them from within the shadows of the Cabin, laughing internally.
    Prey knew when they had stepped too far into a predator’s den.
    Tonight, there was something different in the air. Something different about the smell of fear on them—on Lester in particular. Saul could not quite place it, but it stank to high heavens.
    Two minutes passed before Saul heard the first of their footfalls on his porch. They were slow, but purposeful. Saul eyed the door knob, waiting for the slow rotation as it was turned from outside. He smiled slightly as he tried to imagine what they might think when they found the door unlocked.
    Sure enough, the knob turned and the front door opened slowly. Saul looked up from his book, playing along and acting surprised to see Lester Dobbs and his friend standing in his doorway.
    “What the hell are you doing?” Saul asked in mock surprise. He set the book down and got to his feet.
    Almost instantly, Hank Dooling stepped back. His eyes had widened ever-so-slightly, throat bulging noticeably as he gulped down nerves. Lester on the other hand stepped inside, pushed on by drunken determination. Saul saw that he had a large knife in his hand. Lester had been embarrassed earlier today, so Saul didn’t expect him to back down out of simple fear. When pride was involved, humans had a tendency to become incredibly stupid.
    “I’ve come to teach you a lesson,” Lester said. The booze was slurring his speech and making his southern drawl thicker.
    “Mayb e yo u need the lesson,” Saul said.  “That lesson being that you should learn when to shut your mouth when you’ve been drinking. That’s especially true when you start talking about people’s families.”
    As if he hadn’t heard any of this, Lester nodded to some quiet comment within his own head. “Yeah, I’ve been wanting to hurt you for a long time now,” he said.
    He took another step forward and flexed his shoulder, readying himself for action. Sau l almos t felt sorry for him. Lester was a large man and Saul suspected that whenever he placed himself in situations like this, his opponent backed down. As Lester stepped forward, he appeared to realize that Saul wasn’t some normal loser that would shake in his boots and back away. Doubt