I had heard the stories. But I didn't believe them. Tales of creatures so terrible, it sent little children running to their mothers for protection, and caused grown men to close their bedroom windows extra tight at night. Many of the village elders have sworn that their ancestors had encountered these creatures several times in the past, but only a few had lived to pass the stories on. These pathetic stories are the ones I had heard countless times through the years and have sworn to put an end to. Yes, I have heard of these horrifying monsters, but I do not, under any circumstances, believe them to be true.
Turning corner after corner I ran for what felt like hours, days even. What is it? I asked myself over and over again. What is chasing me? Left, right, left again I ran on and on. Never stopping, never pausing to catch my breath. I mus t have lost it, I thought. I rounded another corner, sweat pooling in my palms, and fell flat on my face. I must have tripped on something, but nothing lay on the ground, except for me. I tried to get up, but my legs locked underneath of me and I fell down again. Laying on my back, I looked up at whoever, or whatever had been hunting me. The only thing I remember seeing was pair after pair of hateful, evil looking, red eyes. Aimed right at

me.
I woke with a start, the images of my dream beginning to fade as I rubbed the grogginess from my eyes. "Still having those dreams sir?" My butler, Leonard, asked as he poured me a glass of water. "No," I lied. I quickly downed my glass of water and hopped out of bed, looking around the room for my slippers. "Has Roy from the lab called a bout the e xperiment yet?" I asked as I stepped into my closet, sizing it up, hoping something suitable would catch my eye. "No, I’m afraid not" answered Leonard politely. "It was supposed to be finished nearly a week ago." I moaned. "Big things can happen in a little amount of time." Leonard said casually, making the bed and fluffing the pillows as I stepped into the shower. I quickly scrubbed myself clean and toweled myself off as I thought about what the day may bring. I dressed myself in my usual suit and tie and hurried downstairs to eat breakfast.
"The paper came this morning, sir." chimed Leonard. "I thought you might find it interesting." I scanned the cover, but one article in particular stood out to me. It read;
Mont Blanc Mystery Still to be solved. A trio of experienced hikers began the "long walk" to the summit of the mountain early yesterday morning, and they have been out of contact ever since. Police are investigating, but these aren’t the only disappearances. A total of seven people have "vanished" on the dangerous mountain this year, adding up to a total of fifteen missing in the last two years. What has been going on, and how do we put an end to it? Some of the natives believe the cause of the disappearances is to be blamed on "The Monster of Mont Blanc" A said beast they believe lives on the mountain. If this is true, it seems the humans aren’t the ones being cruel this time. More reports are being filed, but the mystery still remains unsolved.
"This is absolutely ridiculous!" I shouted. "Why is everything blamed on monsters?" "I don’t know." said Leonard. "Maybe it’s because they need an explanation, but don’t know how to find one." "True true." I said in between mouthfuls of toast. Just then the phone rang. I ran to pick it up, hoping it was news from the Lab. "Gearhardt speaking." I said into the receiver. "Dr. Gearhardt sir! This is Thomas! There’s been an accident! You need to get down here right

awa..." "Where’s Roy?" I interrupted. "He w as supposed to call me about the e xperiment." "That’s just it sir! Something terrible has happened! You need to..." The phone abruptly hung up and I was left to wonder what Thomas was trying to tell me. What happened? What was the accident? Thoughts like these swam in my head as I walked back to the kitchen.
"What’s troubling you Sir?" asked Leonard. "I... Thomas he... Experiment... terrible!" "You aren’t making any sense Sir." said Leonard, a concerned look on his face. I quickly gathered my thoughts and tried again. "Thomas called. He said something terrible has happened and that I need to get there right away." And with that I grabbed my coat and ran out the door. Leonard followed me to the car, "You may be needing these Sir." He said as he shook the car keys. "That I will." I said gratefully as I took the car keys and revved the engine of my convertible.
I drove down the street, hoping someone from the Lab would call and tell me that it was all a joke and everything was fine. But I knew that wasn’t the case, so I kept on driving. I drove for nearly an hour, the whole time my hands shook on the steering wheel as I thought about what might be awaiting me at the Lab. I turned a corner and saw the pyramid-shaped mountain that was located on top of the building from which Thomas had called earlier with the dreadful news that had brought me here.
I drove up the side of the mountain right to the old pine tree where I had programmed a voice-activated entry system the employees liked to call "Maggie" because it was a lot easier to say than the long title with which it was given. "Corbin Gearhardt" I said into the tree. The air was filled with a slight rumbling sound as a piece of the mountain opened up in front of me, revealing a dark tunnel. I drove into the entryway and the stone door closed behind me. Rows of lights lit up the tunnel as I proceeded to drive. I parked in the secluded parking lot about a quarter-mile into the mountain, and I stepped out of my car.
I quickly walked over to the large, steel doors of the elevator and pushed the "down" button. I stepped into the elevator and descended down to whatever awaited me in the Laboratory. I went down floor after floor and I started to grow impatient. I didn’t WANT to know what was down there, I NEEDED to know what was down there. I needed to know why the phone had hung up , why Thomas had sounded so frightened, and what this a ccident was all about.
I heard the quiet ding of the elevator doors opening and stepped out. My blood turned to ice and chills ran down my spine, causing me to shiver with fear, with disgust, with a horrible sadness that I can’t explain. Tears ran down my cheeks as I stared into the faces of my dead comrades. I searched the room and found the bodies of Reggie, Chad, Garry, Stephanie, Reymond, Rachael, and Thomas. Thomas, laying in a pool of his own blood, with the phone still in his hand from this morning when he had called me. He had been trying to tell me about, about... this. What had caused this? Terror surged through my veins as I realized that whatever had caused this might still be here. I had been so focused on the bodies of the employees, that I hadn’t noticed the room’s condition. Big gashes covered the walls and broken test tubes littered the ground. Papers, soaked in blood, were everywhere. It was truly a scene from a horror film. I looked at the floor once again. My friends, all gone. Their labcoats, once a brilliant white, were now stained red. Their faces, once covered with smiles, and looks of deep concentration, were now vacant. Some with looks of complete and utter terror. But wait... Something... or someone... was missing.
Roy.

Why hadn’t Roy called when the Lab was under attack? Where was he now? "Corbin?" I jumped with fright. Someone was saying my name! "Who was that?" I asked with a shaky voice, turning my head in the general direction of the sound. "Over here." It said in a hoarse voice. I followed until I saw who was beckoning me. "Garry?" I asked confusedly. "I thought you were dead!" "So did I." He said with a sad laugh. "I needed to warn you..." his words turned into a coughing fit. "Warn me about what." I asked quietly. "Warn you about... about...Roy." more coughing. "What? What did Roy do?" I needed to know! " Released the... experiment." "The experiment?" I asked. "He... He mutated it... programmed it to do his bidding. It’s not like anything I’ve ever seen before. It’s not an animal... and It’s not a human... It’s a monster!"

What was he talking about? M aybe his brain is going through some trauma right now and he doesn’t know what he is saying. That seemed like the only logical explanation right now. But then again... maybe not. I looked once again at the huge gashes on the walls, the people I knew and loved all over the ground. No ordinary human could have accomplished such a terrible feat. Maybe Garry was right after all. I’ve known Garry for years, long enough to know that he is not an idiot.

"Where is Roy now?" I asked. There was no reply. Garry had passed. The tears returned and I went around the room closing the eyes of those who had been left open. I was the least I could do for all of them. I slowly made my way back toward the elevator. On the ride back up, I called Leonard and filled him in on what had just happened. I could hear him sniffling through the phone.

Back in my car I made a promise to myself that I would avenge the deaths of all of my friends by putting an end to Roy’s newfound reign of terror. I drove out of the tunnel and a while later the mountain was nothing more than a colorless blob in my rearview mirror. Nothing more than a memory...

The drive back to the Manor seemed longer than I remember it being. I spent the time trying to figure out where Roy and his so called "monster" could be headed. I was left absolutely clueless... again. I had some serious research to do. I was still dumbfounded that Roy was the one behind all of this chaos. I have known that man for nearly my whole life and he never once seemed like he was headed for the dark side. But, like Leonard had said this morning; B ig things can happen in a little amount of time.

By the time I had made it to the Manor, I had been thinking about today’s incidents so deeply, my head ached with the strain. Leonard greeted me at the door, I appreciated his efforts to cheer me up, but I could tell that he was just as sad and confused as I was.