Savage Beasts - 9. The Monster’s Papa

Ezekiel, Joel, and Jacob pulled up to the gate in the high wall around the massive mansion.

“This must be the place,” Joel said, “I don’t think there are any other mansions this size for a hundred miles.”

He leaned out the window and pressed the button on the intercom.

“No solicitors,” the box replied with a curt voice, and then went silent.

Joel gave the other two bears in the car a look, and then leaned out the window again. He pressed and held the intercom button.

“Excuse me, but we’re not here selling anything or asking for donations. We’ve come to see Archibald Arnold on a matter of extreme importance.”

“Archibald Arnold died in 1822, so you’re about two hundred years too late.” the voice from the box said.

“Let me explain who we are,” Joel said, pushing the intercom button again. “We are representatives from a bear enclave in Canada. Among our group is Grand-Papa Ezekiel, the elder bear of the enclave. We are here to discuss the recent actions of Archibald’s cub, Christopher.”

The box remained silent for several seconds, and then a loud buzzing noise preceded the opening of the gate.

They pulled their SUV up to the front door of the mansion, where a large blonde and blue-eyed bear was standing in the entryway.

“He could be Mike’s brother,” Jacob commented as they prepared to get out of the car.

“That’s the Nordic bear stock,” Ezekiel explained. “A lot of the bears from the extreme northern regions of the Scandinavian Peninsula have the blonde fur and blue eyes.”

They walked up to the entryway where the big blond bear greeted each of them by grabbing their forearms to shake.

“I’m Daniel, Papa’s second-eldest cub,” the bear said, introducing himself and ushering the three bears inside the mansion. “We haven’t had any werebear visitors in quite some time, so we had to be cautious at the gate. Papa has heard of you, Ezekiel. Your reputation precedes you, and we’re most excited to have the famous Kermode spirit bear in our home.”

“What has that no-good cub of mine done this time?” a loud voice boomed from the top of the staircase. Another blonde bear began descending the stairs. He looked similar to Daniel, but he had streaks of gray at his temples and in his beard.

He reached the foyer and greeted the three bears by clasping their forearms in the werebear way of greeting as his cub had done.

“I haven’t seen Christopher in two hundred years,” Archibald said. “Of all my cubs, he was the most spoiled and disrespectful. He refused to share with any of his brothers but expected everyone else in the family to share their hard-earned wealth with him. I sent him out into the world to fend for himself, hoping that he would learn how to properly work for a living, rather than expecting everything handed to him on a silver platter.”

“Thank you for letting us into your home, Archibald,” Ezekiel began, “But it seems that Christopher is still harboring a deep resentment over this treatment even two hundred years later.”

“Well then, that’s Christopher’s problem,” Archibald said. “I’ve washed my hands of that ungrateful cub long ago.”

“With all due respect, sir,” Joel said, “He’s about to become your problem again. He’s on his way here, and he’s leaving a path of death and destruction in his wake.”

“Why don’t we go into the sitting room where we can be more comfortable, Papa,” Daniel said. “Let’s not make our guests stand in the foyer all day while they tell us what trouble Christopher is causing this time.”

Archibald grumbled, but led the group down a hallway and into an ornate room with high ceilings and antique furniture. When all were seated, Daniel helped to resume the conversation.

“Now please,” he said, “Tell us of the death and destruction that Christopher is causing out in the world.”

“It seems that Christopher has perfected a method of turning non-kindred humans into dababbi. Half-man, half-bear,” Ezekiel began.

“Yes, I know what a dababbi is,” Archibald interrupted, “But there hasn’t been one for a thousand years since that Viking in Russia. Are you telling me that Christopher has not only committed the sin of breeding a non-kindred, but he actually got one to survive the first change?”

“Not just one,” Ezekiel replied, “Eight. Christopher has an army of eight dababbi monsters, all non-kindred humans who were apparently turned against their will.”

“Fuck,” Archibald said, shaking his head. “How is that worthless cub able to keep eight monsters under control?”

“It appears that he hand-picked humans who were not only massively muscular but were also extremely submissive to him,” Ezekiel explained. “That dominant and submissive relationship continued even after the first change, so the eight dababbi are compliant and follow his every command.”

“Tell us what he has done with his dababbi so far,” Daniel prompted.

“It began a little over a week ago,” Ezekiel said, “Christopher turned his dababbi loose on a werebear village in the mountains of Tennessee. All twelve werebears were killed in the attack and eaten by his monsters.”

“Tennessee… village…” Archibald began, but then the emotions overcame him, and he dropped to his knees and wailed with sorrow. “No! Not my Gabriel! Please, no!”

Daniel knelt next to his Papa and cried with him. After a minute, Daniel was able to regain some composure and turned back to the three bear guests.

“Our eldest brother, Papa’s first cub Gabriel lived in a small village in the mountains in Tennessee with eleven other bears. He wanted to get away from the lifestyle here in the mansion and live a simpler life with others of our kind. It is clear that he was Christopher’s first target. Christopher was always most jealous of Gabriel for being Papa’s first cub.”

After Archibald was able to regain some composure, he seated himself on the couch next to his Cub.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Ezekiel said. “But this explains much. We did not know before now why those twelve bears were specifically targeted by Christopher in his first attack.”

“First attack,” Archibald said, “there have been more?”

“Just one more so far, but much more deadly,” Ezekiel replied. “It seems that several years after you evicted Christopher from your home, he sought refuge with the Hacker Valley wolf pack who live to the south. That relationship lasted less than a year, when the wolves caught Christopher bullying their pups, and stealing food from the pack’s winter stores. The pack, much like you, were forced to banish him from their territory. A few days ago, Christopher finally exacted his revenge, 180 years later, by unleashing his dababbi army on the pack’s town. Fortunately, word of the first attack had already begun to spread and the wolf pack was partially prepared. Over half of the pack took refuge within a fallout shelter where the dababbi could not reach them and they survived. The pack’s warriors fought valiantly but were completely wiped out. Of the wolves who did not seek shelter, only the pack’s Alpha and Enforcer survived because Christopher was taking his time to taunt them before killing them, allowing a local werebear to run Christopher over with his truck and whisk the two wolves away to safety.”

“Run over,” Daniel said, “So, is Christopher…”

“No, not dead,” Ezekiel replied, “His wounds were not enough to kill him. He escaped with his dababbi once again. This was confirmed by our team of werebears who returned to the wolf town yesterday to release the survivors from the fallout shelter.”

“You should have finished him off when you had the chance,” Archibald replied, staring down at his clasped hands.

“That is easier said than done,” Joel said. “The eight dababbi are unable to do much thinking for themselves unless Christopher tells them what to do, but they seem to be fiercely protective of him.

“As he was taunting the Alpha of the Hacker Valley wolf pack, he tipped his hand and said that he was going to ‘Reclaim his birthright and become Lord of the mountains once again’. That leads us to believe that he and his monsters, which he refers to as his ‘children’, are headed here to kill you all and take what it yours.”

“The little idiot,” Archibald said, still looking down at his hands, “He still thinks that we have a vast industrial empire that he can take from us. Our businesses peaked in 1860. We’ve been losing money steadily ever since. What you see around you, this house, it’s all we have left. While we have enough funds to keep our home, the meager income from the last remaining brickworks in town is the only thing that is keeping us afloat these days. Someday, the world will have no more need for bricks, and then the Arnold family will fade into obscurity.”

“Hopefully, you will be able to have that conversation with your cub, and he will believe what you say before there is any additional bloodshed,” Ezekiel said. “We’re still not certain that there aren’t any more persons, bear, wolf, or otherwise who he intends to punish for perceived transgressions, so we have posted two-bear sentry teams at regular intervals between Hacker Valley and Mount Savage. If any of our teams spots him and his monstrous children, we will sound the alarm and move-in to intercept.

“In the meantime, we’ve called for reinforcements. In the next couple of days, you can expect to see an additional forty werebears from our enclave in Canada, and the North American Lycan Council’s 1^st Infantry Peacekeeping Force to show up at your door. They will be here for your protection and to end Christopher’s menace to the lycan world. All you will need to do is allow them entry inside the walls of the mansion grounds so that they can establish their camp.”

“Thank you, Grand-Papa Ezekiel, we appreciate your concern,” Daniel said.

Archibald however, growled and stood up, looking down at the three bears.

“Your concern is noted, but not needed,” Archibald stated flatly. “We don’t need your reinforcements camping out in our gardens. I handled Christopher for the first half of his life, and I think that I can handle him again now, monster children or not.”

“Archibald,” Ezekiel said, “I don’t think you understand the severity of what Christopher has planned.”

“I don’t care what Christopher has planned!” Archibald shouted. “If the spoiled cub thinks that he’s going to steal some vast industrial fortune, he’s going to be sadly disappointed. If he thinks that he’s going to take our home away from me and his remaining brothers, he’ll have to take it over my dead body.”

“Well, that certainly is Christopher’s plan,” Jacob said.

“I have nothing left to say to any of you,” Archibald said. “I thank you for your time and bid you good day. Daniel, please show our guests to the door.”

With that final statement, Archibald stormed from the room.

“Don’t worry,” Daniel told the bears, “I’ll speak with him before your forces arrive. If I have to, I’ll let them onto the grounds myself. He’s being a stubborn old bear just like he’s been for the last five hundred years. He thinks of himself and our family as some kind of royalty who are above the common werebears and the Lycan Council wolf riffraff. Even though we have no wealth or fortune left, he still can’t admit when we desperately need the help of our fellow bears.”

“Daniel, can you give us any additional insight as to why Christopher has become such a sociopath?” Joel asked.

Daniel sighed and nodded his head.

“Ezekiel, you’ve been alive for a very long time, and you’ve had cubs, correct?”

“Oh, yes,” Ezekiel replied. “I don’t remember my exact age, I stopped counting at two thousand, but I remember every cub very well. I’ve had twenty cubs in my lifetime.”

“So, let’s say that you’re only two thousand years old,” Daniel said, “That means that you had one cub approximately every hundred years.”

“Of course, I really am quite a bit older than two thousand,” Ezekiel remarked, “But for the purpose of the discussion let’s say that’s a good assessment. I took a lot of time rearing each of my cubs, and we enjoyed each other’s company for a long, long time before they each decided to leave home and become Papas themselves!”

“Right,” Daniel said, “And Joel, you’re Jacob’s Papa. How long have the two of you been together?”

“Well,” Joel replied, “Jacob and I are more than Papa and Cub. We’re mates, so we’ve been together for about 150 years now.”

“I was my Papa’s second cub,” Daniel said, “And he had a total of five cubs altogether. For one of you, those five cubs would probably be spread out over five hundred years or more. Our Papa had five cubs in just ten years.”

“Ten years!” Jacob cried, “That’s barely enough time for Papa and Cub to properly bond when there’s just one cub. How did he divide his time so that you each received the proper rearing and attention?”

“The answer is that he divided his time poorly,” Daniel replied. “Gabriel was only a little over a year beyond his first change when Papa decided to breed me. Gabriel adjusted as well as can be expected, and he still had a place in Papa’s heart as his first cub. I fared a little better, as I had three years as the baby Cub of the family before Papa decided to breed Christopher.

“Christopher was a needy cub right from the start during his four months of development from human to bear. We were still living in Finland and Papa was busy with his farming. It was usually up to me and Gabriel to attend to his sexual needs during his development, and he yearned for Papa’s touch so badly. After he went through his first change, it seemed like he was finally going to get more of Papa’s attention since he was now the baby Cub, but instead, Papa found and bred our next brother just a week after Christopher’s first change.”

Ezekiel clucked his tongue, clearly displeased with the way that Archibald had reared his cubs.

“Solomon had his first change just four months after Christopher, and then he was the baby Cub of the family for four whole years before Papa finally bred his fifth and brought Raphael into the fold.

“Christopher was always a jealous brother. He felt, and rightfully so, that Papa had overlooked him. He wasn’t one of Papa’s two oldest, and he wasn’t one of the two youngest. He was forever stuck in the middle, and always not good enough for Papa.”

“Gods,” Joel remarked, “I know what horrible things he has done and what things he is still planning to do, but you’re almost making me feel sorry for the monster.”

“He deserves pity,” Daniel replied, “But based on what you have told me today, he doesn’t deserve mercy. If I have the opportunity, I will kill him myself before he causes any more harm to the world.”

****

Sixty-five miles away, Christopher sat hidden with his children looking down into a valley watching a werebear lead a group of human boys with heavy backpacks on a hike through the woods. Gary looked the same as he had ninety years earlier when he’d abandoned Christopher in the middle of the night, just after the failure of his first attempt at creating a child. Gary had not only left him, but he had taken money, sentimental items, and his fucking car!

The children picked up on the Papa’s agitation at seeing this werebear again and began to whine in anticipation that the Papa would soon be sending them to kill and eat again.

Christopher calmed his brood.

“Not yet, my children. I still need another day or perhaps two for my bones to completely heal, or else I will be useless in the attack. We also want this pitiful little band to get further out into the wilderness, and further away from any hope of help or assistance when we attack. Once they are all alone in the woods, far, far from home, we will stomp upon them like the giants in the human children’s fairy tales, won’t we?”

Christopher grinned and stroked the head of a monster with each hand.

“Yes we will, my children. Fee fi fo fum! We’ll grind their bones to make our bread!”

Christopher laughed, and the creatures joined in. They didn’t have the ability to understand the humor in what the Papa had said, but if it made the Papa laugh, that was good enough for his children.