Summary: Moar creepy!
Disclaimer: I have no idea who wrote the original pasta for this. If anyone knows, leave a review or private message and tell me, please.
The next night went similarly. They sat down to dinner and once again, Merry and Pippin suggested telling scary stories. This time, however, it was Samwise that volunteered.
"If you've ever been to the Shire, you'll know that even we have our share of urban legends and scary things. This is one that my old Gaffer was fond of tellin'. It's also one of my personal favorites." Sam stood up and started to pace around the fire.
"Years ago, back before any of us hobbits could enjoy a half pint of ale, there were rumors goin' around about somethin' gettin' into the crops and killin' the livestock. Nobody knew what it was, and there wasn't anybody willin' to stay out at night to try and catch whatever this thing was. Nobody wanted to die in such a way.
"This went on for a few weeks, and these incidents eventually spread from Hobbiton to Bywater. After another couple months, reports started comin' in from Tuckborough, and eventually even as far as Bree."
"I think I remember that." Frodo said softly. "I used to wake up hearing these awful screaming noises in the middle of the night. I didn't know what it was, but it used to scare me terribly."
"I think most of us felt the same, Mr Frodo." A small smile flitted across Sam's face for a split second before he continued with his tale. "But anyways, all the farmers were gettin' so fed up with losin' all their livestock that they organized a meetin' to discuss what to do about these attacks. They ended up decidin' to set up traps to catch this thing, and a farmhand was to watch to see if anything caught.
"After a few days, they caught somethin'. At first, they thought it was some kind of wolf, but after takin' a more thorough look at it, they noticed that it had some qualities that wolves don't have. It looked… Well, it had the teeth of a wolf, and the torso of one, but its legs were more like those of a cat. Its claws were razor sharp and maybe about half the size of my thumb. And its head… Oh goodness, my old Gaffer had a few things to say about its head. It was this big bulbous thing with its eyes bulgin' out, and its mouth was huge. That thing could have taken someone's hand off with that mouth. It had blood drippin' out of it and gettin' all matted in its fur. It was a sight to see, for sure.
"It was still alive when they caught it, but it died a few hours later. At least, that's what my old Gaffer said. I'm not sayin' that any of this is true, but there's some pretty convincin' evidence. There's a few sketches left of it, but a good few of 'em were destroyed when my uncle's house burned down a few years back." The hobbit sat down and leaned closer to the fire. "To this day, there's not been another problem, 'cept for the usual wolves, and coyotes, and the like… But you can never be sure if there's another monster, just lurkin' in the dark. Waitin'… Watchin'." He sat back and heaved a sigh.
"What do they call this creature?" Legolas asked.
"Lots of different things. Goat Sucker… Chupacabra… Some people say it's a demon, but other people say it's just a deformed animal. I couldn't say exactly." Sam took a bite of his supper. "It ain't somethin' you see every day, I can tell you that much."
There was a rustling noise in a bush behind Boromir, and a gasp from Pippin.
"What was that?"
Aragorn got up to investigate. All he found were two squirrels.
"Just a couple of squirrels. Nothing to panic about." He sat back down and resumed eating his supper.
"I don't think we have anything to worry about." Sam spoke up. "Like I said, it's dead. Besides, it's only been seen near the Shire. Far as I know, Bree is the farthest it went. So don't be scared, Mr Pippin. You've nothin' to worry about."
"I hope not." Pippin shuddered. "Because that was scary."
"That's the point, Pip." Merry grinned. "But don't worry. They don't eat hobbits. Just goats and chickens. Hobbit blood tastes too much like ale for them."
"That's good to know."
I'm aware that Chupacabra is Spanish and that hobbits don't speak Spanish. But I couldn't think of an equivalent.