AKA: Fireco Varmint, Fire Co. Monster He heard it every night, felt the tremor of its proximity—the creature’s rough, lengthy body under his house, scraping against the foundation before settling into silence, stillness. The behemoth lay just below his bedroom, so near he could hear the irregular snap of its unseen maw: ‘clack’, ‘ka-lack.’ There it taunted him with a one-note thrum, a sound so low he had to focus to hear it. Then, as always, a nightmarish scene began. Forms of a shadowy creature with a pointed head and snake-like body plagued his walls; it moved like a living being, swimming in curving patterns, snapping the heads off of other figures that ran across the wallpapered backdrop. Time feeling sluggish, the shadow took a more concrete form, turning towards him and off the wall, leveling to allows its empty eyes to meet his own. Compelled to run and fight, yet lulled into a stupor, he watched, listened, and lay as the beast strangled him, mocked him, and consumed his sanity. - West Virginian folk story The Fireco Monster is a large millepede with fifty pairs of legs; these appendages end in baby-feet-shaped nubs tipped with sharp, black claws. From the front, dark, ominous eyes gaze forward－both unmoving, glassy, and deep-set on either side of the snout. Above, two long, ebony antennas protrude from its head; from below, a wide mouth with thousands of tiny teeth are protected by sturdy mandibles. Firecos have black, shimmering, armored bodies with tan undersides that are often coated in mud and debris. When the arthropods surface during heavy rains, they leave behind footprints as large as a man’s fist; when a shower turns to a drizzle, their pointed heads tunnel quickly and easily back underground. The giant millipedes’ tunnels may stretch for miles through rock and soil before resurfacing; on average, the passageways are 1 - 2 ft. in diameter. At their fastest, the creatures can rip up 50 lbs. of dirt in a minute. When moving at top speeds, the number of legs and claws they appear to have double, blurring together in a frenzy. They are most active on cool, damp nights; yet, the millipedes move at all times of the day, though at a slower pace. It spends its days tunneling and consuming dirt, rocks, and anything else that happens to be in front of it. Though it does not seek out organisms to eat, the centipede enjoys being near other beings - especially people;they find human voices and the bustle of activity soothing. It, however, does not have the same effect on those above. Aside from causing great destruction underground, this cryptid is known to influence sentient beings around it with a depressing, irritating aura. The Fireco Monster impresses several negative inclinations upon those residing on the surface, such as: substance abuse, gambling addiction, theft, lethargy, mood swings, aggressiveness, greed, and irresponsibility. The creature does this by producing several mind and mood-altering frequencies; prolonged exposure to the arthropods’ sounds cause those in range to experience hallucinations and delusions. Most often, humans report hearing disembodied voices or seeing several giant, monstrous shadows. When several of these creatures gather under one community, they can completely ruin the lives of those in it within a short time. Thankfully, the millipedes live no longer than a year. Yet, the amount of damage they can cause in their lifetime is substantial. Before their death, males and females meet to mate. Eggs are laid underground in pockets deep within their tunnels; once reproductive instincts have been satiated, both die within seven days. Up to thirty eggs can be spread throughout their maze-like domains - unprotected, but well hidden. Set in the ceiling, the eggs are coated in a thick, green, slimy substance that keeps them in place; they incubate for five years before hatching. Efforts are made each during quiet periods to find these hatcheries and destroy them. Once free from their gooey encasing, newborn Firecos grow rapidly, reaching three ft long in one month; they then continue to enlarge for the rest of their life, tunneling under and around human gatherings.