Monster of North Woods
By: Aubrie1234
"Sure you'll be fine going to Callie's?" Joe asked his brother, "Remember, we just got off a case-"
"I know, but I'm not as helpless as I look." Frank said. Both brothers were home alone after a hard kidnapping/extortion case, with Aunt Trudy out shopping; their father, Fenton, out of town on another case; and their mother, Laura, visiting friends. Joe was worried that they might be vulnerable after such a case, but Frank was more confident.
"What's the chance of something happening right after we got back home?" Joe had to agree, but it was possible. Frank assured his brother that he would be fine before leaving on foot, as Callie's house was not far. The blond, seeing as he had nothing else to do, decided to watch the news. During a particularly boring bit, he fell asleep.
"You know, Callie, I should be getting home soon. Joe was worried enough as it is." Frank told his girlfriend. It had been over an hour or two since Frank had left the Hardy home, and the boy had expected his brother to call and check on him. However, the phone hadn't rung since he had gotten there.
"Does it have something to do with your previous case?" she asked. Frank nodded.
"Yeah. See, we were dealing with a animal biologist who wanted money for continuing his research. So, he had this girl, about our age and a politician's daughter, kidnapped and asked for an extortion ransom."
"What's an extortion ransom?" Frank smiled.
"Joe came up with the name, since we've seen nothing like it before. The biologist kept giving demands for money by pigeon. After getting the money, he would change locations and use a different pigeon. However, the girl was in a different place the entire time, and she also kept changing as he did, just as different time, usually a day or two after the biologist changed."
"How'd you solve it?" Frank sighed.
"It was just a stroke of luck, really." he explained, "I had been searching a warehouse district when I came across this warehouse and heard these men talking inside about the case, mentioning that they had the girl. I managed to call Joe and tell him where I was before the men found me. They then trussed me up and put me with the girl, which was in a secret basement of the warehouse."
"How did he find you?"
"He said he had managed to find and arrest the biologist before I called, so he got some of the police force to help storm the warehouse. At hearing their boss was captured, the men squealed about everything." They stood up from the couch.
"Well, thanks for telling me. No wonder Joe's worried about you." She glanced at her cable phone, "If he was so worried, wouldn't he have at least called?"
"That's what's got me worried." Frank started for the door, but Callie joined him.
"Let's go together. Safety in numbers." Frank nodded and they took Callie's car to the Hardy house. They saw immediately that there were no other cars in the driveway, indicating Joe was still home alone. Trying the front door, however, the brunette found it unlocked. Alarmed, he threw opened the door. Normal greeted him, but onto reaching the living room, it seemed as a scuffle had happened. The coffee table was overturned and the TV was still on, and there was a clothing lying in the floor behind the couch. Taking a quick sniff, Frank grimaced.
"Chloroform." Frank told Callie, who had followed behind, "The lock on the front door was probably picked and they knocked out Joe before taking him. The alarm was probably tampered with as well. Joe was right. It was his gut instinct, I bet. Why didn't I believe him, or at least stay with him a little longer?" Callie put a hand on his shoulder.
"You can't change what happened. All we can do now is look for him, after calling the police." Frank nodded regretfully and went to the phone.
I am the worst older brother in the world. I shouldn't have left him alone! Frank thought as he searched through his father's files, hoping to find a clue to who might have taken Joe, with the radio blaring news beside him. Callie had gone home and the police had come, but there were no fingerprints, nor evidence except for the chloroform-filled cloth. They had found scratches on the doorknob and the alarm wires cut, proving Frank's theory, and there was a bulletin out for Joe, but Frank knew that it may take longer than a few days to find him. The people were professionals, having worn gloves to leave no fingerprints and leaving as little evidence as possible. Suddenly, the radio's newscaster brought forth new information.
"We have just learned that Simon Mathews, an animal biologist arrested yesterday, escaped from his jail cell a little over three hours ago." This gave Frank a start, as that was the man the brothers had captured on their latest case, "The bulletin was delayed, as the police did not want to alarm the public, having thought he had not gone far. However, with no sign of him, they now ask you to please be cautious, as he has charges for kidnapping and extortion." The newscaster then relayed what Mathews looked like and such, but Frank did not pay attention.
How did he escape so fast? He hasn't been in jail for 24 hours and he's already escaped! Is there more to him than we think? Frank, going along the lines of his thoughts, started to search for Mathews' file when he heard a car pull into the driveway. Looking out, he saw his aunt's car in the drive, Trudy stepping out of it before getting groceries. Frank debated whether to tell her the truth or not, as he did not want to worry her, but he saw that he may not have had a choice. If Joe stayed missing for much longer, Trudy would pester him until she knew, and then would worry herself, and consequently Laura, to death. Deciding, Frank left the room and went downstairs to help.
"Hi, Aunt Trudy! Need some help?" As Frank wasn't usually this cheerful, Trudy was suspicious.
"Did something happen, Frank?" she asked, "You're not usually this cheerful."
"Well, something did happen-"
"Tell me what it is right now, Frank Hardy!" Frank sighed.
"I don't want to worry you, but Joe's been kidnapped."
A week after having to break the news to his mother and aunt, Frank and his friends were still looking. He had tried contacting his father, but with no success, he had decided to look for his brother with his friends, despite the police doing all they could. It was during a break that a strange case came to the Hardy home.
"Don't stay so down, Frank!" Chet tried to cheer his friend, "I'm sure we'll find him soon!" The entire search group, consisting of Frank, Chet, Callie, Phil, Biff, and Tony, was sitting at the Hardy kitchen table, having lunch and taking a small break from their search. Trudy and Laura, though worried, were out doing their own things, leaving the teens alone.
"The longer he stays gone, the more likely he won't be found." Frank said, head in his hands, "I just wish there was some clue we could go on. No witnesses, no evidence..." He sighed and Callie laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Chet's right, though. We can't give up on him." Callie said. Just then, there was a knock at the front door. Tony got up to answer it, and in a little over a minute, came back with a large, burly man.
"He says he's got a case for you, Frank." Tony sounded surprised as Frank got up to address the man.
"I'm Frank Hardy." he shook the man's hand, "Who are you?"
"Daryl Lloyd." the man said simply, "And I've got a big case that needs to be solved." Frank allowed him to take his seat at the table and assured him that his friends would be able to help before Daryl began.
"I'm a hunter, and it's buck season in the North Woods." Daryl explained, "Two days ago, a friend of mine and I were out hunting when we came across a buck carcass. But, that's not the weird part. The weird part was, when we examined it, it looked like it was just killed and there was only a small cut on its neck. There was also no blood."
"If the cut was covered, there wouldn't be any blood, but I don't understand how it could just die that way." Biff said. However, the hunter shook his head.
"That's not what I meant. There was no blood around it or inside it, like it was drained." This surprised the group, "We found two other bucks the same day, dead in the same way as well. And, when we went out yesterday, there were even more out there, and some of the other hunters we met said they had the same experience."
"Sounds like something straight out of fiction!" Phil commented.
"More like vampire fiction." Chet said, "But, we've already got something we're working on-"
"Hmm..." Frank interrupted Chet before nodding, "Alright, we'll take it." This surprised the rest of his group.
"But what about-?" Callie let the question hang.
"I'll explain later." he whispered to her before guiding their guest out of the house. When he came back, he returned to his chair.
"Somehow, I can't explain it, but I just got this feeling that Lloyd's case was connected with ours." he explained, "Maybe we can find some clues to Joe's whereabouts in the woods while we solve Lloyd's case."
"Usually Joe's the one with the gut feelings, but I think you're right, Frank." Tony nodded, "We haven't even looked in the woods yet to see if Joe was taken there."
"Then let's go." Frank stood, and the tone in his voice left no room for argument.
"Callie, you and Biff check the West side. Phil, you and Tony check the East. Chet, you're with me in going through the middle." Frank gave these orders as they exited their cars on the edge of the North Woods. Some of them were also carrying backpacks and flashlights.
"What about wolves?" Callie asked.
"Do whatever you need to. We need to find out if anything is going on around here dealing with Lloyd's case, especially if it connects to Joe."
"And if it doesn't?" Biff asked, making Frank hesitate.
"Then we keep looking." he finished, "Joe's a strong little brother, and he doesn't go down easily. I know he's still alive, somehow, and I'm going to keep searching until I find him if it's the last thing I ever do." The others glanced at Frank. The teen wasn't usually this harsh or determined unless it came to protecting his brother, and they knew that well.
Hopefully, we'll find Joe before Frank gets worse. Phil thought before they began searching the woods.
"See anything?"
"Just bushes and trees." The flashlight beams played over the brush like spotlights. The trees blocked the sunlight, making it harder to see, which is why the lights were used.
"You know, Frank," Chet said as they walked on, "I wasn't sure if we would find anything, so I brought this." He showed the dark-haired boy a whistle.
"It's a dog whistle." Frank stated, "You think that if you blow on it, it might bring out whatever creature has been attacking the bucks?" Chet nodded.
"Yeah, but I'm kind of afraid to use it. What if what we're dealing with isn't what we think they are, like a giant bear or a ferocious wolf?"
"You could certainly bring out one of those things with that whistle." Frank admitted, "Here, let me hang on to it, just in case we do need to use it." As Chet handed over the whistle, Frank continued, "If something does come after us because of the whistle, I would like it better if it was me instead of you, since I don't want you getting hurt."
"What if it goes after both of us?"
"Just hope it doesn't." The two continued to walk on in silence until they found something interesting. Chet's light caught on something shiny at the base of a tree and, bending down to inspect it, the boy gasped.
"A bear trap!" he said. Frank's eyes narrowed.
"Someone's in these woods, and is after something." he said.
"What if it's just one of the hunters?" Chet asked.
"I doubt it. We've walked quite a ways and hunters usually don't use these kind of traps if they're hunting deer. And you can't hunt bears unless you're on some sort of special hunt."
"But why is it up against the tree like this? Shouldn't it be in the middle of the trail, covered in grass and stuff?"
"Yes, to make it more effective, unless..." Frank's pause made Chet worry.
"'Unless' what?"
"Unless you want to catch something large that can climb up and down a tree, like a person or a monkey."
"There's more to this case than we think, isn't there?" Chet asked sadly. Frank nodded.
"Afraid so. Let's mark our place here, so we can return later, and head back." Taking a stone from the ground, Chet scratched the initials FH and CM into the tree where the trap was, and the boys then started their way back. However, they didn't notice they were being watched.
"Find anything?" Tony asked when they met up.
"We found a bear trap and headed right back." Frank said, "You?"
"More bear traps. We found two, right beside some trees." Phil said.
"We found something else." Biff said, swinging his backpack off his shoulders. He then reached inside and took out a metal net, which was broken in places, "This was on the ground, and the whole area was trashed, like there was a fight."
"But what I don't understand is this." Callie pointed to some of the breaks, "Metal nets like this one don't break unless they're cut, and this one isn't cut. Something managed to pull the net apart."
"There's definitely something going on here." Frank said, "Could you show us where you found the net?" Callie and Biff nodded as the boy returned the net to the backpack, swinging it back on his shoulders. They then led the group back into the woods and to the place where they had found the net.
When Biff had said the place was a mess, he hadn't been kidding. The ground was scuffed and scratched badly with various marks and trees had slash marks on them, along with broken branches. Frank crouched to examine the area and noticed right away that the marks in the ground weren't made by shoes. They were made by claws, and large ones at that. Spotting something, Frank leaned down to grab something from a slash, which turned out to be some sort of leathery cloth.
"What's that?" Chet asked.
"I don't know, but it could be a clue. Think you could search for it on the Internet, Phil?"
"Probably." the boy nodded, glancing around, "But, aren't you guys feeling like something's wrong?"
"I know what you mean." Tony said, looking around himself, "I feel like someone's watching us."
"Maybe we should-" Callie said as Frank stood, but was interrupted by a frightening sound. It sounded like a scream, but at a higher, louder pitch, and more animalistic. Scared, everyone covered their ears and took off.
"Did...did we...lose it?" Chet panted, leaning on his legs. After running for quite a while, the group finally stopped, finding that the strange scream was gone.
"I think so." Biff said. Glancing around, he found Callie peering at something in the distance.
"See something, Callie?" he asked.
"I'm not really sure. I can see something, like a building, but I'm not sure."
"Here, let me come with you." Frank offered, "You guys don't mind if we go alone, do you?" Glancing at each other, the teens smiled.
"Naw, but call us if you need us." Frank and Callie nodded before walking away.
"Did you really see a building?" Frank asked his girlfriend. She nodded.
"I'm pretty sure." she said, "But it looked like it was camouflaged."
"This is looking more and more like someone's trying to catch something and hide it, as we haven't even heard anything about this."
"Do you think the hunters knew about this?"
"Maybe. They would have stumbled upon the bear traps as well, if they weren't the ones who-" Both of them stopped as they found the building Callie had spotted. It was colored with camouflage paint and foliage, as Callie had said, but the windows were shattered and the door knocked off its hinges, despite looking new. Frank's eyes narrowed.
"Callie, get the others." he ordered, "I need to investigate this." Callie hesitated, but ran off. Frank watched her leave, then walked to the doorway, placing his hands on the sides of the entrance.
Please be here, little brother. Frank took a deep breath, sighed, and then stepped inside.
Let me begin with saying that this will not be a regular story. If you think you know what's going on, then say it. I won't confirm anything, as I don't want to spoil the story. But, honestly, what do you think is happening and what is going to happen? Read and Review, readers!