Creature of Unknown Origin

5

Its weight slammed into me from behind. My legs collapsed and my chin hit the floor, my

arms having given out with a feeble tremble. I rolled myself onto my back and the creature moved

away from me. It allowed me to push myself up and scoot away. Its shadow paced in front of me.

The creature was a rigid thing, but somehow graceful in a menacing sort of way. Light

poured into the room, brighter than it had ever been before now. The monster radiated in the

moonlight, though it was anything but heavenly. The moonlight was surely hellfire. I turned away

to escape its taunting gaze and demonic face.

It stalked closer. I weakly tried to crawl across the dusty floorboards, but it was an empty

means of escape.

The beast halted its pacing and faced me straight on, crouching low to the ground, preparing

for the moment of the final blow. It drew itself up from its slinking and wound itself up to pounce.

My conscious folded in on itself and I wished for my body to collapse into nonexistence.

At least that would be a painless end compared to the bone-crunching and thrashing fate I saw

standing before me. The only way to go was backward. And that way, too, would soon cease to

exist.

I was cornered.

The creature seemed to enjoy playing with me, its prey. The beast, who was too gruesome

to dutifully describe, reeked of decay and nightmares. Its jaws snapped. It almost seemed to smirk

at me in triumph, a permanent snarl as it studied me.

My heart pounded and sank deeper into the pit of my stomach. My lungs craved fresh air,

though t here wasn’t any.

Any air lef t in the room was musty and filled with dust. Even that would’ve been a relief

compared to the overwhelming odor of acrid smoke and blood and something that could only be

described as aged death.

I glanced at the room around me. There must be a weapon or trap door or angel lurking in

the shadows somewhere. In reality, all there was, were four walls and cobwebbed paintings.

I continued to scramble backward, scooting over the dusty, scratched up floorboards, or

maybe I was shaking so much that I was more so vibrating along the floor like pebbles disturbed

by an earthquake. I was as good as dead, and I knew it.