The Creeping Thing: Part Ten

As the red eyes moved closer, and the scrabbling of the Creeping Thing came closer, Ms. Madison grasped the Green Man's arm, her breathing erratic, eyes speaking of fear. The Green Man turned, raising his torch and his gun.

"Watch Lemon!" the Green Man instructed Ms. Madison. "And turn out that light!"

Taking a good pull at herself, Ms. Madison raised her gun, firing at the powerful searchlight.

"No!" Lemon screamed, as the light went out.

"Now hold me!" the Green Man yelled at Ms. Madison, as the breathing of the Creeping Thing came still closer. "Hold me as close as you can, Lynette! Hold on as if your life depended on it!"

"All right," she chuckled, as she followed his instructions. "But Mike 'll be mad if he finds out. What do we do now?"

The well-dressed blonde clung to the Green Man, closing her eyes and fighting to master herself. Any moment, she expected to feel the claws of the Creeping Thing on her back.

But nothing of the sort happened. The thing rans straight past them, before springing. The scream that came from the far end of the room told her that the Creeping Thing had turned on its master. As the Creeping Thing savaged Lemon, the Green Man and Ms. Madison retreated, keeping the torch beam on.

As they hurried back down the drive, towards the Green Man's mighty car, Ms. Madison heard a low roar. Behind them, something lit up the night sky. Turning, she saw the old house in ruins, ablaze from end to end.

"Lemon must have set a bomb," the Green Man told his secretary. "Just enough time for him to get clear, while the Creeping Thing finished us off. Well," he sighed, "now the creature, whatever it was, is gone for ever, destroyed with the evil mind that used it."

"Are you sure?" Ms. Madison sounded worried.

"We'll need to make sure in the morning," the Green Man told her. "There's a restaurant up in the mountains that's open all night."

"You wait there," she spoke with feeling. "I'm going to bed."