Justice

He slowly walked home that cold, dark autumn night. The cool, crisp air nipped at his
face as he traveled along the old footpath through the woods that led to his cabin. As the man
made his way home, the full moon appeared from behind the dark clouds. Today was the man's
day. Earlier that afternoon a youth was hung in town for a brutal murder, a murder the man
knew the youth did not commit.

The man recalled the crime very well. A young lady was forced into a narrow grove of
trees and beaten to death after she had been assaulted and abused. Yes indeed, the man knew the
crime well, for he committed it. "Poor old youth," the man thought to himself as he made his
way home that night. Then he smiled, for it was clear to the man that he had gotten away with
murder.

Now the man was home and he slowly lifted the iron latch on the solid oak door to his
cabin. Once inside the man locked his door and went to bed. Recalling his wonderful luck,
the man, like a child on Christmas Eve, soon fell into the land of dreams. Not long after he fell
asleep, the man awoke. Suddenly, a fire shot up from a bed of coals in his fireplace. The man
grabbed his pocket watch of the small table by his bed. It was midnight. Quickly the man got out
of bed to put out the fire.

As he bent over the fireplace to put out the low fire, the man heard his door creek open.
Startled by the sound, the man turned around to see his door still closed and locked. After
assuring himself that the sound he heard was only his mind playing tricks on him, the man
returned to bed. Just as soon as the man had once again settled down for the night did the sound
of the door return.

The man slowly sat up in bed and listened to the sound. Quietly the man listened for the
faintest creek, but he heard nothing. Having decided that he was hallucinating the man once
again tried to fall asleep. Once the man had laid down, the strange eerie sound returned. Only
this time the sound was very clear. The man realized that the sound was not his door. This
sound was more natural. This sound reminded the man of the sound made by a rope swaying
and stretching when a heavy object is hung from it.

Almost as quickly as it had arrived, the sound of the swaying rope faded away. Yet, as
this unceasing creek died out, a new sound filled the room. As this new sound grew louder, the
man had the sensation that he was not alone in his cabin. When the last creek faded into the
dark cold night, the new sound became clear. In the quiet night a low growl could be heard from
the far side of the cabin.

This growl was a low unceasing rumble that echoed in the man's ears. This growl was
like a primitive roar that came from the primordial depths of time. The sound was clear, natural,
and sensed of pure evil. Now the man was sure that a gigantic predatory beast was in his cabin
stalking him, watching him. Then almost in unison with the growl came the sound of feet
dragging across the floor.

The man sat straight up in bed and listened to the sounds of a large animal grow louder
and more threatening as they slowly made their way towards him. Filled with an impending
sense of dread and fear, the man frantically tried to locate the creature approaching him. Almost
searching in vain, the man was unable to find the beast, which appeared to be only made of
sound.

Cautiously the man grabbed his old rifle off the wall by his bed, and gathered all of the
courage he had left. Softly the man spoke to the approaching beast,
"Whatever you are, you better scram before I shoot you."
Pausing to hear any sounds of the creature leaving the man waited quietly in bed. Shortly
afterwards the creature moved again, but instead of leaving the creature moved closer to the bed
and its mortal occupant. Now with even more determination and a bit of fright, the man shouted,
"You either leave now or tell me what you want."

The room grew quiet as the sounds of the creature faded away. Assured that he had won,
the man relaxed. When the man had laid down in his bed and returned to his land of dreams, he
was thrown up into the air as a large object fell on his bed. Staring up towards his ceiling, the
man spotted what he believed to be the head of a shadowy beast above him. Screaming in sheer
terror, the man yelled,
"What do you want with me?"
Instantly the eyes of the beast opened up and the man could see the large glowing orange-yellow
eyes against the darkness. The beast stared at the man with his glowing eyes and growled
"The Truth!"

Screaming as he tried to break free from the beast, the man continued to gaze into
the eyes of his captor. The man's eyes burned as he stared at the eyes of the beast, whose eyes
glowed with the same intensity as the gates of hell. Bending down, the beast faced the man
snout to snout, eye to eye, and fixed a ghastly gaze upon the man as if the hideous creature was
reading the mind of his helpless mortal victim. Refusing to admit that he was powerless at the
hands of the beast, the man rolled onto the floor.

Finally free from his captor, the man grabbed his rifle and ran across his cabin to his
window. Nervously the man loaded a cartridge in his rifle. Through the window a faint beam of
light from the full moon shined on the bed. Slowly the beast moved into the light and sat down.
Helplessly the man turned and faced his attacker. Sitting on his bed, the man saw a giant wolf
with silver fur staring at him. With a new sense of hope that his attacker was real, the man
raised his rifle and fired. The bullet hissed as it raced towards the wolf.

Angered that the man had fired at him, the wolf lunged off the bed and landed only
inches from the man. In a loud harsh voice the wolf shouted,
"Confess!"
To the man's horror the wolf was uninjured by the gunshot. The man could see no wound or sign
of blood. Once again the wolf bellowed,
"Confess!"
The man went to load another cartridge when the wolf grabbed the rifle in his mouth.
Wedged in the mouth of the wolf, the rifle began to glow bright red and caught on fire. Shaking
his head from side to side, the wolf wrenched the rifle from the man and threw it across the
room. Then lifting himself onto his hind legs the wolf shouted,
"Confess!"
In a fit of rage and fear the man replied,
"Confess to what?"
Gazing into the man's eyes the wolf responded,
"The Truth!"

At that moment the burning sensation came over the man again. The feeling moved from
his eyes to his head as grew in intensity as if his mind was melting away into nothing. Then the
strange feeling moved deep inside the man and grew even more. It felt to the man like he was
burning from the inside out, almost as if the man's very soul was burning in the hell that sent this
demonic beast after him.

As the feeling grew in intensity in the man's mind and soul, a picture came to his mind.
A young lady dead in a grove of trees, strangled and left to rot in a shallow grave. Next came the
image of a young man being lead to the gallows to hang. Finally all went dark and the man
collapsed.

When the man awoke he found the wolf still watching him. The wolf just sat there
watching and waiting. Getting off the floor the man looked at the wolf and shouted,
"Alright wolf, I did it. I killed the girl. Unfortunately for you the trial is over and they killed a
man. I'm free I tell you, free, free, free!"

Sitting on the floor the wolf continued to watch the man. After moments of silence the
wolf spoke,
"Pitiful mortal, you can't possible understand forces beyond your control. You can never
escape me and you can never kill me. I am sent by Justice to send you to Hell. With your
confession the sentence is set. The laws of men often fail and the punishment is unfit for the
crime. For you the laws of man have set you free, but Justice will prevail and the laws of Nature
overpower. You may have eluded man's law, but you can never escape me!"

With those words the silver wolf lunged at the man and knocked him to the ground.
Then standing over the man the wolf sank his teeth into the neck of his victim, jumped out the
window, and ran off into the woods.

Early the next morning a group of men from the town approached the man's cabin. The
night before a gunshot was heard near the cabin, and these men suspected that the man might be
in trouble. As they drew closer to the cabin, they could see that the window by the door was
broken. When the men looked inside the house they found no trace of the man or signs of
a struggle. In fact the man's front door was still locked.

As the group searched the area, one of them found a path that looked like it was created
by dragging a large object. Following the path, the men found themselves in a grove of trees, the
same grove of trees where the young lady was murdered a month before. After looking around
the grove, the men discovered a shallow grave where the young lady's body was found. Digging
up the grave the men discovered the body of the missing man. When the town coroner examined
the body, no cause of death could be determined. The body had no injuries, no cuts or broken
bones, and no evidence of a struggle. It appeared as if the man died of fright.