Chapter One: The Legend of Baganista
Wawanakwa 1734
A young lady was running through the forest of Wawanakwa as fast as her little legs could carry her. A terrified expression was upon her face as she continued to glance back to see if the creature that she was in pursuit from was still after her. She couldn't see it, but she could hear the terrible sound of its giant footsteps echoing throughout the forest. She could also hear the sound of the forests mightiest trees falling to the ground as the creature swiped them away with one slash of its ax. The girl continued to race for her life. But she could tell that no matter how fast she was running, the creature was gaining on her and it meant harm.
Soon managed to clear her way through the forest and saw the village where she and other settlers had made home in sight. She cried for help as she raced for the village. But the village was about half a mile away and the creature was gaining on her with every passing second.
As she was running, however, she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings and allowed her foot to slip into a whole in the ground. She yelped in pain as a loud snap from her ankle caused her to fall to the ground. Immediately, the sharp pain of her twisted ankle shot up through her leg. She couldn't run anymore.
At that exact moment, a loud crunching sound was heard from the edge of the forest. A series of trees had been chopped down as the creature effortlessly stomped its way through the brush. It was not in full view for the girl to see and what a monster it was! The creature stood eight feet tall and weighed 600 pounds of pure muscle. It had purple hair covering its body, blood-red eyes, great teeth that were mightier and deadlier than those of a great white shark, and an ax that no normal human being would be able to wield. It looked at the helpless girl with an evil smile on its face and made its way towards her.
The little girl was so afraid at this point that she had forgotten her twisted ankle and was totally fixed upon the great evil that was making its way towards her. Her shrieks filled the air as the monster continued to make its way towards her, though in vain.
The creature was now standing directly in front of her. By this point, the girl was paralyzed with fear and couldn't even bring herself o scream. It then leaned down in front of her, snatched her up, and opened its mouth, thirsting for the girls blood and soul after a long run.
Suddenly, the creature felt a large, heavy net fall over him that knocked it off balance. Then another. And another. And a fourth. Suddenly, he felt a multitude of human beings jump on him. He thrashed around, attempting to throw them al off of him. During the struggle, he had dropped the girl, who crawled to the safety of her fellow villagers, who assisted taking her back to the village. It took twenty humans, but they finally forced it to the ground. There, they began to throw shackles around the creature along with any rope they had brought and chains. The great beast tried to escape, but it was inevitable. The villagers had captured the great beast that had been terrorizing their Wawanakwa settlement for months: Baganista.
That night, just outside the village, the entire village gathered just outside the edge of the forest, carrying pitchforks and torches. A large whole had been dug. The village elder stood before the mighty hole, holding a young oak tree in his hand.
"Fellow citizens of Wawanakwa," he began. "On this night, we will rid this settlement once and for all of this horrific menace! He has stolen the souls of our youth while attempting to resurrect his army. But tonight, in our paths of righteousness, we have halted the monster Baganista's attempts to conquer us!"
At that moment, a group of villagers were dragging Baganista over to the whole, which was still bound in chains and ropes. The creature had also been covered with sacks so no one was forced to look upon its horrific figure. Some villagers whimpered at the sight of the beast being dragged to the whole.
"My son," one man cried. "He took the soul of my first-born son!"
Most of the villagers jabbed at the monster with their pitchforks, laughing as they heard its small cries of pain. Then, with a thunderous thud, the villagers threw Baganista into the hole.
"This hole shall serve as this creatures prison for the rest of its filthy eternity!" the village elder continued. "The roots of this oak tree will serve as it prison forever! And once we've planted the tree, its roots must never be disturbed, lest this creature shall roam this world free once again!"
Suddenly, a horrible sound filled the air as the creature began to speak.
"Hear me, Jebidiah Allen," Baganista roared to the elder, "a curse I place on you and all of Wawanakwa! One night before an all hollow's eve yet to come, one with your blood running through his veins shall release me from this prison! And victory…WILL BE MINE!"
Baganista thrashed around once again in the hole. The villagers shrieked a they heard the sound of some of the chains snapping. Jebidiah, however, was not intimidated by the monsters words.
"I banish you, horrendous fiend, to eternal darkness!" Jebidiah shouted to the monster before signaling for the villagers to fill the hole with dirt.
Present Wawanakwa
Students of Wawanakwa High School's local history class listened intensely as Gwen finished her report on the legend of Baganista.
"After Jebidiah Allen and Baganista finished their exchange of words, Jebidiah ordered the villagers to bury Baganista in the cold, damp, ground where the town's largest oak tree would feed on him for years to come. It is said, that even today, Baganista is still alive under that tree, plotting his revenge and awaiting the day an ancestor of Jebidiah would finally set him free. The end."
"Excellent report, Gwen," the teacher complimented, signaling to Gwen that she could sit down. "Now, does anyone have any questions for Gwen or about her report?"
Immediately, a raven-haired girl rose her hand.
"Yes Heather?"
"Our reports were supposed to be about the history of Wawanakwa, not creative writing reports…especially about some lame-o monster! Of course, that's right up the ally for weird goth girl over here," she laughed.
"It's not fiction," Gwen hissed. "I read it in a local history book!"
"Which one? Scary Stories of Wawanakwa for Weird People?" she laughed.
"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad," replied a male student with black hair, who smiled over at Gwen.
"Yeah, for you it wasn't…because you've got it for her bad!" Heather contorted. The rest of the class, mainly Heather and her friends, Lindsay and Beth, laughed at Trent
Trent glared at Heather as his face turned beat red. Gwen felt flustered, but couldn't help but find Trent's red face to be cute.
"All right, class. That's enough," the teacher called out. "Now, even though I found Gwen's report to be a little unorthodox, myths and legends play a large role in a town's history. Gwen's report on the town's largest oak tree, how old it is, and how it manages to stay alive throughout all these years is no exception. I, for one, think it was a nice change of pace."
Gwen smiled at the teacher who kindly returned the smile.
"I have a question, Gwen," the teacher continued. "What exactly was the curse that Baganista placed on Jebidiah before he was buried alive?"
"Well, legend has it that the generations of Allen following Jebidiah would get dumber and less intelligent with each passing generation."
Meanwhile, across the street from the school was a teenage boy standing in front of a garbage truck. He was working on one of his inventions that he would hope make him famous and rich one day. The boy had brown hair and his signature trademark: a carefree, toothless grin.
"Yes sir! When the town hired someone to clean up this town, little did they realize that they had hired Cody Allen…the Codester! The Codemeister! The Codenator! With his new invention, I, Cody Allen, have made clean-up in Wawanakwa faster, easier, and more convenient for everyone for this generation and future generations to come!"
A bark came from inside the garbage truck. Cody looked up and smiled at his pet beagle that was happily looking down at Cody.
"That's right Thunder! It'll be easier for dogs too!" Cody remarked.
Cody put the finishing touches on his invention, rubbed his hands together, and pressed the on button on his controller. The machine he had been working on began to run smoothly, picking up nearby trash barrels and emptying the contents into the garbage truck.
"Yes! It works! All right!" Cody shouted in excitement. In his excitement, he began to play air guitar, sounding out the notes. "Today, I am Cody Allen, the master of garbage! Tomorrow, I will be Cody Allen, king of the world!"
Suddenly, the machine began to sputter and spit. Soon, it was picking up more than just garbage cans. The machines claws began to reach for mailboxes, fences, and anything else that wasn't bolted to the ground and dropping into the truck.
Cody began to panic and started to fiddle with the controller, trying to make the machine stop. Rather than helping the situation, Cody began making the situation worse. The claws began reaching for cars, ripping off bumpers and mirrors. It also began ripping chinks of dirt from the ground.
"How do you turn this thing off?" Cody yelled in frustration.
Just then, the claws reached out and grappled Cody before he knew what was going on. Cody tried to break free from the machines claws, but they were too tightly grappled around his waist. Cody shrieked as the claws dropped Cody into the truck. Just as he landed in a soft pile of trash bags, the claws slowly stopped moving and shut off.
"Well," Cody huffed as he sat up in the pile of trash, "that could've gone worse."
No sooner did he say that, the top of the garbage truck closed, leaving Cody in darkness inside the smelly piece of machinery. Suddenly, Cody could hear the sound of gears turning inside the truck. The truck had been activated to crunch the garbage inside the truck and Cody was trapped in it!
"Oh crap!" he shrieked and began to frantically look for the controller. "I must've hit the button when I saw up! Where is it! I'm gonna be squashed if I don't find it!"
He threw pieces of trash around left and right, but he couldn't find the controller. The walls inside the truck were enclosing in on him at an alarming quick rate.
"Thunder!" He called out. "Do something! Turn the truck off!"
Outside, Thunder could hear his master's calls for help and began to push buttons on the truck left and right. The stereo came on, the windshield wipers turned on, and the blinkers were blinking. But Cody continued to scream for help.
Thunder did what he was taught to do in situations like this: he placed his paw on the trucks horn and pressed against it, calling for help.
Back at the school the final bell rang, releasing the students from the building. Immediately, a multitude of students stormed out of the school and raced for home. Among these students was the school's most popular girl. She had blonde hair, a blue shirt and short, blue jeans. Her most striking figure were her lazy green eyes.
"Bridgette! Babe!" called a male voice.
The blonde girl looked up when she heard her name called and saw a teenage guy wearing a cowboy hat, pink vest, and baggy shorts wave to her. Bridgette smiled when she saw Geoff, but still felt a little uneasy.
"How you doing babe!" he said as he approached her.
"I'm doing great!" she replied and greeted him a kiss.
"So, you want me to walk you home?" he asked.
"Well, I don't know…my dad doesn't like it when he sees us together."
"Aw, come on," he pleaded. "Your dad doesn't have to know. I'll stop at the end of your street."
"He's on patrol today," Bridgette explained. "He might see us driving around."
"Oh…that DOES make a problem, doesn't it," Geoff sighed. "I just wish I could get you parents to like me."
"Mom DOES like you," Bridgette assured as she patted his cheek. "I just wish dad could be as understanding."
Just then, Geoff and Bridgette heard the sound of a horn honking. They looked around for the source of the noise. Through the clearing of students, they could make out a familiar garbage truck across the road.
"That's Cody's truck!" Bridgette exclaimed and raced over to the truck with Geoff following.
When they got there, they saw Thunder sitting in the driver's seat, honking the horn. They looked all around, but couldn't see Cody anywhere.
"Thunder, where's Cody?" Bridgette asked the dog as she picked him up. "Show us where Cody is, boy."
Thunder looked at the truck and barked at it, as though to answer Bridgette's question. Right afterwards, Geoff and Bridgette could hear muffled voices coming from inside the truck.
"Omigosh!" Bridgette shrieked. "We've got to get him out of there! He'll be killed!"
Without a word, Geoff raced to the back of the truck and pulled the emergency stop switch. Then, after looking around for a minute, he found the switch that opened the back door of the truck and pulled it.
"Oh thank goodness," Bridgette sighed when she saw the back door opening. "Geoff, you're a hero!"
"Aw, it's nothing babe," Geoff modestly replied, blushing. "I'm sure anyone would've done the same thing for Cody if they had the chance!"
When the door opened fully, they could see that all the trash had been composed into one, large block of trash. With his head sticking out towards Bridgette and Geoff, Cody began mumbling something that couldn't be understood. He continued to mumble as the truck began to automatically push the large block of trash towards the back of the truck. Cody let out a shriek as the block tipped off the truck and he landed face-first on the concrete. Bridgette, Geoff, and Thunder all winced in pain as they heard Cody's face hit the ground with a loud THUD!