Gary Newell was a well liked member of the community. He was always the first to enter the Mines and always the last to exit, he genuinely cared about his co-workers. He was a creature of habit like most people on Talos IV. He woke up at 5am on the dot, always kissed his sleeping wife and children on the forehead, then left his home at around 6am. From there he would take his car and drive up past the ubran sprawl, various Leisure Resorts that exploited Talos IV's natural beauty and finally the Reservoir; arriving at the Mines by 7am. He would then remain there till 6pm from which time, he would be mining on most occasions. Either that or he was enjoying the fruits of his co-workers friendship. Nonetheless, his untimely death had impacted the tightly-knit community greatly. The Mine itself was situated around a small Outpost that turned into a sprawling town as Miners migrated with their families to live closer to work, abandoning the old "Capital" of Talos IV; Athos and forming "New Athos" near the mines. He left a legacy of two bright children, his sons, and a mournful wife. Of course the initial first-responders would clearly miss all the tell-tale signs. The distinct bootprints in the soft mud, that would later be washed away under the similarly made footprints of the law officials. Hell even the splotches of blood lingering on the leaves for about 3 days or so, all the signs of something that could help explain the bizarre murder of Gary Newell Snr. By the time the Criminal Investigation Department for Outworld Colonies would send their man, all the evidence would be wiped clean. It was near on perfect. Except for the locket. Hidden amongst the squashed compact Earth and fallen leaves, lay a locket. Silver in colour with intricate designs. It was barely noticeable.

Gary could've sworn he'd left something behind. His person felt extremely lighter than usual. Maybe it was the mining, making him fitter and stronger. He glanced down at his stomach and then at his chubby, sausage like, fingers. Maybe not. He frowned before patting himself down again, checking his bright hi-vis gillet. Nope. He patted down his work trousers, checking all the pockets even the back ones. Nope. He frowned again before turning on his heels and making his way through the crowd back through the forest pathways towards the Mine. Maybe it fell out of his pocket? Or perhaps he'd dropped it somewhere near the entrance. After all, it had been in his coat the whole time, and that too had been on the hangars by the exit of the mine the whole time. He sincerely hoped it hadn't been taken. He'd payed a hefty penny for that. Gary trudged on humming a quiet song that the birds in the trees echoed. It lasted all for about 3 minutes until the birds stopped and uprooted from their positions, soaring into the sky. Gary paused before walking on. Poor, poor Gary. If he'd been paying attention to the small Wilderness Sermon given by the Mining Corporation, if ever an employee got lost in the woods, he'd know that when the birds flee; it's probably for a bad reason. But none the wiser, Gary trudged on until he felt a sharp prick in his right foot. "Ooh." He exhaled quietly on pure reflex as he hobbled down towards a log, still unknown to him that he was stepping even closer to his doom. Behind him crawling on the log's underside was some form of spider like creature; native to Talos IV. Locals called it Spiderwick, whereas the Scientists back on Earth had an elongated latin name for it.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Who had time for Latin? Gary most certainly didn't, he was on the clock. Gary huffed as he sat down, stirring the Spiderwick from its slumber, and pulled his large seemingly swollen right foot on his left thigh. He glanced at the sole of his boots and winced as he spotted the metallic colour of his blood. The Spiderwick began to shift forward, sighting the swelling belt on Gary's waist; he really shouldn't have had that second helping of eggs and sausage. Gary's fingers probed at his wound, trying to find out if whatever punctured him was still there. Sure enough it was. A small, slim needle like fang. It looked almost bone like. Gary poked at it before wincing in pain as his body shifted its weight on the log. The Spiderwick shuddered for a minute before crawling forward, its furred legs nearly reaching a foothold on Gary's person. But then it stopped, frozen in its position. It's senses went into overdrive and sheer primal instinct overloaded the Spiderwick. It was confronted with the sudden need to kill anything and everything in its position, but at the same time it felt the need to run away, hide and never come out in fear of a bigger larger predator. Unfortunately for Gary, he did not feel this. Sudden howls erupted throughout the forest and Gary felt his blood run cold. Gary would never see the fluid, ghostly white, almost humanoid figure unfurl from its perch upon the trees, never see it elongate a slim bone like needly object similar to that in Gary's right foot; never see the thing that would mark the end of him. Lurking, watching, waiting. It would drag Gary's fat carcass up into the trees, leaving droplets of blood everywhere. Meanwhile the poor, frightened Spiderwick would find refuge under a piece of exquisite jewelry, with intricate carvings. Inside the piece of jewelry would be a stone, the rarest in the Galaxy so far. The Stone that held the Secret. The Monster's Cry.

This certainly won't be good for the tourism industry.