LITMIR.BIZ

       CHAPTER ONE THE WAR BEGINS

      Like most big and terrible things, the war between the people of Earth and the monsters of the Nether started out small.

      At first, there were just a few isolated attacks. A group of hikers in Maui were set upon by a pack of Dangeroos. The filthy, kangaroo-like beasts stuffed the screaming humans into their pouches and then hopped off into the dense and humid jungle beyond.

      The hikers were never seen again.

      Several postal workers in the small town of Conyers, Georgia were bitten by one-eyed serpents that lay coiled in mailboxes. The shiny purple beasts came to be known as Yeller-Swellers because their bite caused people to yell loudly in pain and then swell up like giant marshmallows. Fortunately, the swelling was only temporary. Unfortunately, when the victims shrank back down, they didn’t stop shrinking until they were half their original size.

      Even the President of the United States was a victim of Monster Attack.

      Although he had some of the best security of anyone on the planet, nothing could protect him from his own nightmares. While sleeping in the presidential suite in the White House, he dreamed that he was walking through his old school completely naked. In the dream, everyone pointed at him and laughed - his teachers, his parents and even his dog, Herbert. In fact, Herbert’s laughter was so cruel and mean-spirited that it caused the President to have a panic attack and, quite unconsciously, he opened a fiery purple portal to the Netherworld.

      A Mimic slithered through.

      Using its long arms and fingers, it quickly abducted the man, stashed him in a cupboard and then changed form to ‘mimic’ him so precisely that even the President’s wife couldn’t tell the difference, although she did mention that he smelled strongly of cinnamon -a common trait of Mimics.

      That afternoon, the thing that looked like the President held a press conference. In front of the entire world, it began rhyming like an insane Dr Seuss, telling everyone that the “Monsters are why, we’re all gonna die - so let’s just eat pie. Goodbye!” Then the creature did backflips through the astonished throng of reporters until its true identity was revealed when it knocked over a water bottle and the resulting splash of liquid caused its skin to melt away like candle wax.

      After the monster was captured and destroyed, the real President was rescued. The shaken man wasted no time before holding another press conference to explain to the world that no one should panic and that things were completely under control.

      But they weren’t.

      Sitting in his parents’ apartment in Brooklyn, Charlie Benjamin watched TV with growing anxiety as CNN showed endless reports of Nethercreatures rampaging through cities around the globe. Flocks of Hags spiralled out

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