Turnskin

Prologue

The air was hot and humid and created an uncomfortable stickiness that surrounded young Marcus Malana as he stepped from his four-wheel-drive and wiped the sweat from his brow.  There was no wind and the area was a barren dusty plain with just a few dying gum trees standing like tall tombstones around the old abandoned goldmine.  What was once a thriving tent city filled with thousands of goldminers was now, a century later, a deserted land with nothing but the old Gulflander railway remaining, riding through the arid countryside as a tourist attraction.  He was about sixty kilometres south-east of the small country town of Normanton in north-western Queensland; a young twenty one year seeking his fortune in the old abandoned gold mines.

Marcus was a striking figure with broad shoulders, tanned skin and an athletic figure, his shoulder length black hair tied back neatly into a ponytail.  Slipping off his shirt he threw it into the car and took out his torch.  The mine he was after was directly before him.  Having studied the area closely in the archives of the Normanton library he knew that this particular shaft had been sealed off just as it had become resourceful for reasons he did not care to explore.  All that mattered to him was the fact that this shaft contained gold; gold discovered but abandoned over a century earlier.  A mechanic trapped in a small town, Marcus’ greatest dream was to find the gold abandoned mysteriously so long ago.

Ripping the old wooden barriers from the entry to the tunnel, he turned on his torch and shined it into the shaft that had not seen human activity since the area had been abandoned so long ago.  It was deathly dark but his torch illumined the way just enough for him to see the old warning signs painted by the hands of men long since dead.  Cautiously Marcus crouched down and made his way into the darkness, feeling the dirt crush beneath his boots and smelling the familiar stale scent of dust and dirt.

The further he descended down the mine, the darker it became and his strong torch seemed to struggle to light up the fog of darkness ahead.  It took over an hour of careful climbing down the tunnel beneath the rickety old wooden supports until he finally found the area where the gold had been abandoned.  Struggling to breath in the dust filled stale air, surrounded by the darkness of the shaft with no sign of light apart from his torch; Marcus crouched before the sealed area.

His body was dripping with sweat as he turned the light around the area and examined the blockade.  Whatever had happened to cause the mine closure, Marcus surmised that it must have happened quickly.  There were old lamps and picks lying abandoned on the round along with what looked like the tatters of old clothing.  The warnings were yet again painted upon the wood of the barrier that held the rock wall in place.  Being careful not to disturb the roof of the shaft, he began to slowly pry the wood away from the wall.  Plank by plank he undid the barrier.  It must have been a mine collapse, he concluded, that had caused such a mine to close.  In the deep recesses of his mind he wondered if he might see a body within the wreckage of boulders that made the barrier.

As he pulled at one of the final pieces of wood he heard a crack and the ceiling began to move, dirt pouring down onto his sweaty torso to meld with his moist skin.  In a wild panic he scrambled a few metres back as with a crash the barrier collapsed, filling the shaft with a thick cloud of dust that nearly suffocated him.

As he dusted off his jeans and caught his breath, coughing hard, he noticed what the torch, now lying on the floor of the cave, was illumining.  With a yelp he staggered back into the darkness and stood frozen for what seemed like an eternity.  Standing about a metre from the rubble of the collapsed barrier was a metal cage chained to the walls of the mineshaft.  His eyes wide, Marcus stepped closer and grabbed the torch, shining it into the cage.  There, shackled to the chains of the cage, hung the decayed and dried out body of a huge seven foot tall wolf-like beast; its open maw and sharp teeth protruding from the bars of the cage as if in mid scream.

Marcus stepped over the rubble to get a closer look and as he did so he stumbled on a few fallen rocks.  Reaching out for something to stop his fall, he grabbed at the open maw of the beast and fell to the ground clutching the bottom jaw of the skull.  His scream echoed through the dark tunnel as the jaw’s sharp teeth ripped through his hands.  In a wild panic he scrambled backwards as the dried out remains of the creature crumbled to the floor of the cage with a clatter of bones and the horrible hiss of dust.  In the light of the torch, once again lying in the rubble, he looked down and saw to his horror that the sharp teeth of the beast’s lower jaw had stuck into the palms of both hands.

Yelping again he shook the jaw free of his hands and grabbed the torch, dripping blood all over the floor of the shaft.  Taking one last look at the old cage and the now crumbled remains of the trapped beast, he ran as fast as he could out of the mine.  It seemed like an eternity but soon he came scrambling out into the daylight, his athletic figure covered in sweat and blood.  Jumping into the secure environment of his four-wheel-drive, he reached for the first aid kit and patched himself up as he caught his breath and began to relax.  The cuts were not too deep, he reasoned, and nobody needed to know what he had done.  After all, he thought, who would believe him.

After patching himself up with bandages he started his vehicle and drove as quickly as he could back home, not wanting to spend another moment near the horrendous creature’s remains.  Disappearing in a storm of red dust, Marcus left the mine site to stand alone; abandoned once more, as it had been for over a century before.



****



“Remind me again why we’re here.” Twenty-year-old scientist Monique Elliott moaned as she swept back her shoulder length brown hair.  She was a pretty but slightly chubby woman with deep brown coloured eyes and smooth tanned skin.  Dressed in shorts, a tank top and sneakers, her skin still glistened with sweat in the hot, humid weather.

“Because this is what we’re paid to do.” Twenty eight year old Kelly Freyling replied as she stepped out of the four-wheel-drive and tied her lush long light brown hair back into a ponytail.

She was taller than Monique and had a slender physique with beautiful bright blue eyes and an angelic face.  She was dressed much like Monique in a pair of tight cream coloured shorts, a tank top and hiking boots.  Wiping the sweat from her face with a handkerchief, she surveyed the arid countryside and sighed.

As low level employees of the CSIRO they had been commissioned by the Queensland Government to investigate the brutal mutilation of cattle in the region, a problem that, combined with the drought, had been causing major economic hardships for the region over the past month.  Believed to be caused by some kind of wild boar, the specialists in Australian predators had been sent in to investigate the matter.  Now, in the middle of an immense property just south of the tiny town of Normanton, they were facing the horrendous sticky heat of the Queensland outback and neither of them enjoyed it much.

“This is screwed.” Monique grumbled. “Is this what you imagined when you signed up for the CSIRO?” Monique asked with raised hands, gesturing at the surrounding barren countryside.

“Not exactly.” Kelly admitted. “But our work is valuable.”

“Well I hardly see what the point of this investigation is. The cattle are dying from the drought. This boar is doing them a favour. It’s euthanasia really.”

“We have a job to do, Monique. The farmers are depending on us to protect their livelihood and that’s what we’re going to do.”

“You need to lighten up a little, Kelly.” Monique commented. “The reason you get stuck with these crappy assignments is because you’re too frigid.”

“And the reason you get them is because you can’t keep that trap of yours shut.” Kelly replied with a sly smile.

“Well I’m…” As Monique spoke the ground behind her exploded in a cloud of red dirt and dust that rose over ten feet in the air like some abstract mimicking of a war film explosion.  Monique was forced to the ground by the force of the explosion as Kelly stumbled backwards and fell to the ground before their vehicle, her eyes wide as her heart seemed to skip a beat.  For a long moment the entire area seemed as if a red fog had descended while the dust spread out across the landscape.

“Monique?” Kelly yelled as she scrambled to her feet and stared through the cloud of dust in a wild panic. “Monique!”

“What the hell was that?” Monique yelled from somewhere amidst the dust cloud.

Slowly her figure emerged from the mess.  She was dusting herself off and coughing, her pretty face covered in dust that mixed with her sweat to make her look like she was wearing odd war paint.

“Are you okay? I thought…” Kelly froze, her eyes widening as through the settling dust cloud an unnaturally tall dark figure emerged directly behind Monique.  She could not see exactly what it was but she could tell it was not friendly.

Seeing Kelly’s fear filled eyes, Monique turned as the hot breath of something caressed the smooth skin of her face.

“Oh my G…!” Monique squealed as through the dust storm Kelly saw the huge figure descent upon Monique.  Her mouth agape, Kelly struggled to breathe as a panic attack overwhelmed her.  She heard Monique’s muffled squeals as the dust from the explosion moved towards her and obscured her vision.  Then came the distinctive crunch of bones and Monique’s cries were cut short with a horrible gurgle.  Kelly madly stumbled backwards and clumsily fumbled her way back into the driver’s seat of the four-wheel-drive.  Slamming the door closed, she locked herself in.  As she gasped for breath she stared out of the dirty windscreen to see the huge silhouette of the beast and her heart seemed to stop.  The figure’s head was tilted back and it looked as though, through the fog of dust, Monique’s long legs were sticking out of its maw.

Grabbing for the radio Kelly dialled into the police frequency back at Normanton, just as she had been trained to do in the case of emergencies.

“Help me!” Squealed Kelly. “This is Kelly Freyling! I’m near the mines! God help me!”

Dropping the receiver as the radio crackled a reply she did not hear, she reached for the ignition to find the keys gone.  Letting out a squeal of panic, she checked her pockets in a mad scramble and found the keys.  Staring out the windscreen again she froze.  The beast was gone and the dust was settling to show nothing but a pool of blood where Monique had been standing.

“Oh no!” She squeaked as the radio crackled again.

“Miss Freyling? Is that you?”

Realising her foolishness, she fumbled to find the key to the ignition amidst the jumble of keys she had and. Her hands shaking from fear, she dropped the keys onto the floor and cursed loudly as she groped around to grab them from the floor.  Finally feeling the cold metal of the keys, she breathed a sigh of relief and sat up, keys in hand, and froze in absolute horror.

There, standing directly before the vehicle, was the figure of the huge creature, saliva and blood dripping from its sharp teeth as its penetrating red eyes glared hungrily and the angelic woman within.  It was in a crouched position; as if preparing to pounce, and although it looked much like a wolf it was far more terrifying.  She could see pieces of Monique’s shredded clothing between its teeth as it snarled at her.  The moment seemed to last an eternity.  Keys clutched tightly in her hands she began to cry, her hands trembling.  Then, with supernatural speed, the beast launched itself into the air, landing on the bonnet of the four-wheel-drive with a crash that crushed the front of the vehicle.  Without pause it smashed its head straight through the windscreen as Kelly let out a horrendous squeal.