Demon Hound

A New Thriller, from the Author of The Adventures of Fluffy and Mitzi
(sample chapter)

At last he reached the great door.

Gazing up at it, he marveled at the ancient symbols. The legend, thus far, was accurate.

He produced the oddly-shaped key from his pack. This better work, he thought to himself. I've come a long way for this. He took a deep breath, and slid the key into the lock.

It turned.

With a click, the door was free. He pushed it back. Darkness.

The first thing he noticed was the cool air of the chamber, many degrees colder than the sweltering humidity outside. His second awareness was not so pleasant.

An overwhelming stench, simultaneously acrid and strangely sweet, assaulted him with the force of a shockwave, and he gasped for breath as if he had been plunged into icy water, struggling against the urge to retch.

No, he thought. I've got a job to do. It's probably just a dead animal rotting somewhere.

He stepped inside, but almost immediately his left food began to slide out from under him on the slick floor. Something's wrong. Very, very wrong.

And then he saw it.

Gazing at him from the shadows was the beast. She stood, calmly, her head hung low, gazing at him with dead, emotionless eyes.

"What the..."

The beast began to move.

"No...no...FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, NOOOOOOO!"

But it was too late.