Creature of Unknown Origin

3

My quick footsteps echoed through the house as I pounded down the stairs, my breath

already hard to come by and insufficient for the means of escape I sought. The creature huffed and

growled behind me. Its warm pants were a ghostly tail I wished I could ignore.

In my hurry, I stumbled on the overlooked landing and tumbled down a few steps. My feet

futility tried to get under me again.

The monster advanced on me.

I scrambled up, stumbling. In a burst of desperation, I propelled myself over the banister,

the risk of injury long forgotten now.

My body lurched forward. But even as my knees absorbed the shock of the fall, my feet

continued to move swiftly. Something compelled me to look over my shoulder. Those soulless,

feral eyes glared at me, narrowed even further by the predator’s lust for the chase. From one empty

room to the next, I knew the thing was only steps behind me. The downstairs was a blur of rooms,

much in the same state as the upstairs room I discovered myself in only a short time ago to begin

with. I dug deep into my survival instincts.

Every one of them told me to run quickly, and without rest.

After some time —though it couldn’t have been long— my lungs burned. My legs were

numb from exhaustion, but I had to keep pushing. I gritted my teeth as I scrounged for any ounce

of energy I had left, though the well was nearly depleted.

I flung myself around a corner, back into an area I thought looked familiar. My chances for

escape outside were briefly considered, but something told me I’d never make it. At least inside

there was somewhere to go. Out there, it was one open path to my tragic, and probably painful,

murder.

The harsh puffs of putrid breath became less frequent against the exposed skin of my legs.

I’d gained a decent lead by taking sharp corners and last -minute turns through the maze of the

dated mansion’s chopped up rooms— until a loose floorboard caught my foot by surprise.

I landed hard. My knees immediately throbbed, protesting any movement. Jolts of pain

traveled up my arms and through my shoulders. The resounding thud of my full weight crashing

onto the wide plank floors sounded like an explosion in the old house. I scrambled up, only for my

knees to flash in pain. Another explosion boomed throughout the house. Air rapidly tore in and

out of my lungs as I gulped down stale air and dust. My knees and wrists might as well have been

shattered, but I let my weight fall on them as I huddled, doubled over, defeated.