The Beast of 1977 (Book 1)

The 5th Dimension's, 'Up, Up and Away', rang out triumphantly throughout the glorious, blue sky as Isaac sat calmly in the Indian style upon a huge rock.

Surrounding the rock were ten children of varying races, all seated Indian style as well. The little girls were wearing pink dresses while the boys were adorned in black and white tuxedos.Isaac was wearing a black and white tuxedo himself, the same one that Lynn noticed in the window at Clancy's.

Upon his face, in the warm mountaintop, Isaac wore a peaceful smile, one that perhaps he wore long before he and Lynnette ever had a falling out. A serene smile that he took with him everywhere before ever meeting Karyn.

All ten children that sat below Isaac were all holding hands while rocking back and forth to the melodious tune that just would not stop playing.

For Isaac, it was a song that he hadn't heard since his youth, and yet adored with all his heart.The young man sat with his hands folded as his normal looking eyes took in all the spacious and wondrous surroundings that were the mountains; mountains that he had never once visited in his entire life.The man pondered on and on until he heard the soft pattering's of what resembled feet creep up behind him on the rock he was sitting on. Isaac subtly turned around to see a ragged looking German Shepherd trot up beside him.

The animal stood for a moment before turning to Isaac and saying in a male's human voice, "I see you made it this far."

Unfazed by the uncanny creature, Isaac, with his head still pointed at the beauteous mountains ahead of him simply replied, "I guess so."

"I can't say that I'm surprised, you were always a trooper. Your mother even knew that."

Smiling ever greater, Isaac said, "Yeah...I remember her saying that, too."

The dog looked down at the children below before turning back to Isaac. "How long do you think it'll be before you fucking die?"

Still smiling, Isaac dropped his head and exhaled, "Oh, I don't know. I figure I have at least another week or so. How long do you think I have?"

The dog began to pant before saying, "It is unknown, my friend."

Isaac wrapped his left arm around the dog's body and patted it on the side while humming the song that he loved ever so much.

The two enjoyed each other's company for as long as the intruder that was creeping up behind them both would allow. It was the naked phantom, and unbeknownst to both Isaac and his canine companion, its ghastly presence was lurking closer than expected.

"Don't look at him, Isaac." The dog warned.

But all the animal's warning seem to do was incite curiosity inside the young man. Without thinking, Isaac gradually turned to see the phantom's face, a face that he had never managed to see in times past.The man had red eyes and fangs that were drooling blood all over the rock that it had ascended. Isaac looked over to see the dog gone. He then glanced back to see the phantom's hands.

With the same hands, the phantom grabbed Isaac by the throat and proceeded to strangle the life out of him.Isaac tried with all his might to pull away from the slathering demon, but no matter how hard he tried, the phantom was entirely too strong to withstand.

Suddenly, and without warning, both the music and children all vanished. With every passing second, Isaac was finding it more difficult to grasp even a single breath.

"I don't know where Isaac is!" Isaac unexpectedly heard Lynnette's hysterical voice scream out loud.In fact, the sound of her voice was so clear and audible that it sounded as if she were right behind him, or at least very near.

Isaac shut his eyes and re-opened them to see nothing but total darkness all around him. Gasping and spitting for air, the man looked up to see the phantom pull away and sink into the wall behind it until it vanished away completely.

Isaac couldn't tell if he was asleep or even alive at that point, all he wanted was to breathe again. Hearing Lynnette and Isaiah scream and cry caused Isaac to fight even harder to regain his breath.

Unexpectedly, he decided to hurl himself off of the soft foundation that he found himself lying on. Once his body connected with something hard, Lynn's screaming ceased, and a series of footsteps slowly began to creep towards his direction.

Isaac wallowed about on the ground like a wounded animal, unable to even let out a simple grunt, let alone a word. He coughed and panted while listening to his helpless son cry out for his mother to return.

Isaac heard what sounded like something twisting. He held his fleeting breath and waited until the sound ended. Like an explosion, stinging light from an opened door blasted into his eyes. Isaac covered his face for a second or two before removing his hand to see Lynn standing at a doorway with a baseball bat in hand.

"Who the fuck is in here," she shouted out.

Without hesitation, Isaac opened his mouth and muttered, "It's me, Lynn. It's me."

Lynnette cut on a light. Isaac covered his face all over again and only removed two fingers to see that he was inside the warm confines of Lynn's bedroom. He himself was completely naked.

"Isaac!" Lynn hollered wildly as she dropped her bat to the floor and ran to Isaac's aid.

Feeling as though his arms weighed fifty pounds each, Isaac lifted his right hand to touch not only Lynn's hair that was wrapped in pink curlers, but also his own sore jaw.

Weeping uncontrollably, Lynn screamed, "Isaac, did you just get here?"

Too stunned and disoriented to reply, Isaac rubbed his mouth and nose and listened as his stomach rumbled and churned. "I...don't know." He pitifully wept, sounding as if his mouth was full of cotton.

arms, Lynn wiped her face and asked, "Isaac, where were you last night? The news said

"I don't...remember." He mumbled, holding his

her hands. "I was just

Without answering another question, Isaac slowly got up from off the floor and staggered his way out of the bedroom and towards

he bounced spaghetti-legged from one end of the hallway to the other like a pinball, until he found

any of that Ben-Gay?" Isaac sobbed, wiping excess waste away from his

and took out a half empty

the cream away from her hand and squeezed out the remainder. He lathered his entire sore face with what was left

"This is it?" Isaac raged before tossing the empty container

rest of it back in November after...after

"Then fuckin' get me some more!" Isaac yelled

up in defense. Just seeing the fear in her eyes, Isaac quickly reclaimed what was left of his senses and lurched

much pain right now." He shivered while crying. "I don't know what happened. It's like every bone in my

As though she had a choice in the matter, Lynnette took

how to help you, Isaac. You have to tell me what happened so I can help you." She nervously muttered

damn thing." Isaac held on tight to Lynnette's arms. "One moment I was driving, and then...everything went

for awhile." Lynnette said as she aided Isaac out of the bathroom and back to the bedroom where she gently laid him down

"Who's

"I don't know." Lynnette answered.

door. He listened as what sounded like two men entered and conversed back and forth.In Isaac's ears, the discussion from Lynn's point of view sounded tense and jittery. He could tell that she was searching for words to say to the men, words that she had no business

as he could assemble, Isaac climbed out of the bed before taking the bed sheet and wrapping it around his naked body. From there, he hobbled his way out of the bedroom and into the living room to find Bruin and Fitzpatrick and

"Here I am, officers." Isaac miserably mumbled as he leaned his sore body up against the

With their jaws practically hanging to the floor, both Linus and Alan stared at

"Isaac...Isaac

"That's me, sir." Isaac replied with his head shamefully hung

"Uh...Mr. Mercer,

"Yeah, I just feel real tired." Isaac

received a report early this morning that you were seen

eyes connect with his in a manner that suggested she was as lost as the

trouble and that you hitched a ride with one, Leroy Cummins." Linus explained.

At once, Lynnette crumbled to the floor in tears, nearly dropping the baby along the way. Fitzpatrick

told us to come here

about

Mercer, we'd love to know just how you were able to

I woke up a few minutes ago, I was

as the detectives handed each other skeptical glances. The young man held on to the wall that he was seemingly attached to with all his might.Isaac then noticed Detective Bruin gawking at him from top

Mercer, how tall

eyes, Isaac responded, "Man, I don't know, six

procedure, sir,"

you're okay?" Fitzpatrick pressed on. "Do you require medical assistance of

"No...I'm fine." Isaac sighed. "I

detectives gave each other one more quick stare before heading out the door. "If it's not too much to ask, Mr. Mercer, we would like for you to come down to the station and provide us with a full statement. Whenever you're up

was pulled shut, Lynnette gathered herself and gingerly got up from off the floor. From there, she laid Isaiah down onto the couch before boldly approaching

"Lynn, I really need some more Ben-Gay

"Stop, Isaac!" She powerfully commanded, placing her right hand in the air and nearly pressing it against his face. "Something isn't adding up. Both the news and those cops said that kidnapper was found in Cuyahoga Falls. Isaac, Cuyahoga Falls is an hour from here. What, you couldn't find a job here in Cypress? What

like in past instances was a dark haze. He was aware that

With a shaking body and red eyes, Lynnette hollered, "I'm

Isaac slurred before dragging his heavy body back into the

From the bathroom, Isaac could hear Lynnette slamming cabinet doors and dishes from the kitchen as

to the medicine cabinet mirror.He had seen his

back in November. It was hard for him to make a simple fist, let alone lift his arms that felt as if they were on fire. It felt as if his bones wanted to explode

curdling shrieks and screams of children played over and over again loud enough to where he thought they were inside the bathroom along with him.Isaac shut his eyes and listened to his rumbling stomach gurgle like a boiling cauldron. He truly didn't remember what had taken place after accepting the ride

before in his life. It overwhelmed him to the point where tears just suddenly began to fall from his bloodshot eyes. He

jumped backwards into the mirror, nearly cracking it in half. His startled face grew a