Byron Starr - Doppelganger

PRAISE FOR DOPPELGNGER

Byron Starr seems to be the potential heirto the uniquely East Texas horror crown presently worn by Joe R.Lansdale.

- Ardath Mayhar

Byron Starr follows the trail blazed sofamously by writers like Stephen King; put average people in aneveryday situation, then introduce a supernatural element and watchthe sparks fly.

- Jeff Edwards, The Harrow.

Vivid and suspenseful, this is a great takeon the classic tale of a monster terrorizing a small town. Thepacing and action are excellent, the monster a real piece of work,and the townspeople likable and believable in the situation intowhich theyre thrust. Dont miss this taut thriller.

- Kim Paffenroth, author of Gospel of theLiving Dead and Dying to Live.

Doppelganger is a good old fashionedrip-out-your-throat monster novel with a furious spirit and a lotof heart. Byron Starr brings his main characters to life withcareful strokes, only to run them through the pain mill and makeyou feel it with them. A strong beginning, a powerful end, and acreature to remember for all time if youre a fan of fast-pacedhorror with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing, dig intoStarrs latest offering and have yourself a feast.

- Christopher Fulbright, author of When itRains and Of Wolf and Man

by

Byron Starr

Published by Graveside Tales atSmashwords

Doppelgnger

Published by Graveside Tales

All rights reserved. No part of this book maybe used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without writtenpermission except in the case of brief quotations embodied incritical articles and reviews. For information address

Graveside Tales

P.O. Box 487 Lakeside, AZ 85929, USA

www.gravesidetales.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters,and incidents are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actualpersons, living or dead, or events is entirely coincidental.

Copyright 2009 Byron Starr

Cover Art 2009 Bret Jordan

www.bretjordan.com

This book is available inprint at GravesideBooks.com andother fine retailers

FIRST EDITION eBOOK

This ebook is licensed for your personalenjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away toother people. If you would like to share this book with anotherperson, please purchase an additional copy for each person. Ifyoure reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was notpurchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.comand purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard workof this author.

For Ardath Mayhar

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Shelly for putting upwith me, Abby for being so much like me, and J for being the calmone in the family at the tender age of one.

Thanks to those who have been with me for thelong haul: Chris Philips, Pete Allen, Lavern Harris, Pat Payne,Adrienne Jones, Megan Bulloch, Bret Jordan, and Ardath Mayhar.

And to some of the new friends Ive met alongthe way: Patricia Esposito, Mike Stone, Gabrielle Faust, KimPaffenroth, Marcy Italiano, and Chris Fulbright.

Prologue

The October wind whispered softly between thetall pines. In hushed tones it spoke of secrets long hidden fromhuman eyes. There was a sharp chill in the air which spoke as well.It told of the coming of winter.

There were no moon or stars out, but thebeast had no trouble seeing as it lurched through the underbrush.It loped on all fours, propelling itself along with its legs andpowerful arms like an ape. Coming to the edge of a clearing, thebeast stopped, raised itself on powerful hind legs and sniffed atthe wind. Its sense of smell was amazingly keen. The smell of pinewas strong here; however, there was another faint odor in thewind.

The beast lowered itself to all fours andcontinued into the freshly logged clearing, bounding over stumps,fallen trees, and broken limbs, until it came to a set of tracks inthe mud. The prints were large and flat, not unlike the impressionsof the beasts own feet when it walked upright. Lowering its headto the ground, the beast inhaled deeply, bringing to its nose astrange odor, unlike anything it had ever smelled before. Raisingits head, the beast began following the tracks, which seemed tomove almost at random throughout the clear-cut, finding five othersimilar sets of tracks. These prints all began and ended at a setof ruts in the ground. Like the prints, these furrows were presentin seemingly random pattern throughout the area, before theyfinally merged at a wide path in the trees that leading out of theclearing.

Then another smell caught the beastsattention. It rose on two legs and sniffed again, then set off inthe direction of the smell. It moved at a faster pace than before,stopping frequently to raise its snout to the wind and sniff theair. After loping through the woods for several hundred yards, thebeast came to a stop and once again stood upright and raised itsnose to the wind. The scent was much stronger. It was close.

Still standing erect, the beast shut itseyes, yet could still see. All its senses sight, vision, hearing,smell, and even taste seemed to leave its body and float forwardinto midair. Then, flying at an incredible speed, its detachedsenses passed through several hundred yards of woods and underbrushbefore coming to a slender doe timidly munching on grass,completely unaware that it was being watched from a distance ofless than twenty feet by a creature that was almost a half a mileaway. The beast watched the deer for a few seconds, then itsdetached senses moved closer, circling toward the deers head as itapproached, until it was directly in front of the deers face. Thebeasts senses paused briefly, a mere two inches from the doesface. A tuft of hair was raised just above the deers nose where atick had burrowed in for a meal of its own. Unaware of anypresence, the doe continued the meal that would prove to be itslast. The beasts senses slowly continued forward until they passedinto the unsuspecting does right eye.

Once inside, the beast briefly saw the worldfrom the does eyes, then it began to sort through scenes in hermemory sights and smells of the woods, other deer, othercreatures of the forest, a long grey path with a yellow striperunning down its center, large objects with a pair of lightscutting through the darkness ahead of them flew along this path atamazing speeds. All of these scenes flashed by rapidly until one ofa small fawn with white flecks along its back appeared.

This memory froze in place for a moment,then, two hundred yards away, the beast opened its eyes. In aninstant, its vision returning to normal, the beast lowered itselfto all fours and started in the direction of the deer at a muchslower and more cautious pace than it had traveled earlier.

As the beast drew near, the doe couldoccasionally be seen through the gaps between the trees. Her earswere perked and she was intently looking in the beasts direction,but she did not flee. Soon she was in full sight. The beast stoppeda mere ten yards from her.

The timid doe took a cautious step forward,pointed her nose in its direction, and sniffed. No alarm. The scentwas familiar and registered as friendly. She took another step andcontinued inching closer until she was right in front of thebeast.

As soon as she was within reach a powerful,clawed hand lashed out. The blow landed on her neck, the clawsripping out her throat and the impact driving her to the ground.Mortally wounded, the deer still tried to rise, but a powerful handwas on her shoulder, holding her down as a set of jaws descended totake a savage bite out of her side.

* * *

James Taylor jerked upright in bed, his heartpounding in his chest and his body drenched in sweat. The suddenmovement woke his wife, Angie.

Honey, are you okay? Angie askedgroggily.

Yeah, just a bad dream, James answered,lying back down.