Boy Meets Beast

✧ 26 ✧

Like a haunting ghost, Ilya couldn't shake Beast's crazy laugh away.

Sprinting from corridor to corridor, Ilya felt his heart beating in his neck. Quick breaths escaped in gasps, bursting out of his lungs. Time wasn't on his side. At any moment, Beast might get hungry and change his mind about the chance he just gave him.

"Run, run, run as fast as you can," Beast's voice echoed, "Don't let me catch you, or I'll rip your pants. Hahahahaha!"

Beast's cackling laugh filled the halls.

Ilya gasped and turned on his heels. Like a bullet, the closeness of Beast's voice punctured his scared little heart. The heart that Beast drooled over just moments ago. That living beating heart knew its demise was ever so near. It would meet the same fate as that dead girl's heart—to be devoured.

Ilya's widest eyes roamed the dim hallways. Luckily, he didn't find Beast behind him. He turned around, ready to run again, but felt something.

Woosh!

Ilya flinched, drawing his arms to his chest. He felt Beast's shadow chasing him, like spiders crawling on his back. But no matter how many times he checked behind him, Beast was nowhere to be seen.

Beast was toying with him in the cruelest way. He wanted him to be scared. He loved hearing that beating sound and smelling that sweat of fear.

Beast's presence was powerful, shaking every limb in Ilya's ill body.

Ilya's heart was beating painfully hard he could actually hear it. And he knew Beast heard it too with his pointy wolf ears, and that he liked it.

Whenever Ilya stopped to catch his breath, Beast howled or laughed just to frighten him to keep running.

The exhaustion from sprinting from one hallway to another was apparent in Ilya's eyes. He'd been searching for hours and he still couldn't find the other exit Beast had mentioned. Despite the fact that Beast was probably lying, Ilya kept hoping, and hope kept him going.

Exhaustion slowed him down and left him panting. His throat felt like a desert. Tired, thirsty, and hungry, Ilya stopped in the middle of a hall. It was darker and dimmer than the previous ones he ran into. Walls painted with blood. Lights flickered and died. Windowless messy rooms on both sides. Remnants of old clothes lay on the floor smelling like death.

"Jesus," Ilya muttered while covering his nose.

His stomach churned. He hadn't been in this hallway before. Even though they all looked the same, he felt from the atmosphere of this place that it was different, and not in a good way.

Complete and utter darkness was in front of him. Every cell in his body told him to turn around and walk away. Yet, another thought battled his fear.

What if the exit's in there?

Maybe that was why Beast was laughing. Maybe he thought that Ilya would be too scared to explore that dark area.

Ilya knew it was foolish to run around in that darkness. So, he turned to the rooms to his left and right. The left one had its door open. The other one was closed. Ilya carefully stepped into the open one in hopes of finding something useful to defend himself against whatever evil lives in that awful reeking hall.

Peeking his head inside, he looked for a light switch. He found it but it didn't work. Ilya cursed through gritted teeth then took a deep breath before setting foot in the room. Relying on the faint light coming from the hallway, Ilya started examining the drawers.

Report papers, medicines, bandages... Oh, scissors! Those can be used as a weapon.

Ilya slid them in his pocket. Then he found the thing he was looking for—a flashlight. He grabbed it and prayed that it still worked after all these years before switching it on. Light flashed and illuminated the back of the room.

Ilya smiled. Finally some good luck. Then his smile dropped when he heard Beast counting.

"One Mississippi, two Mississippi..."

Ilya gasped and turned around. Nothing was there. He could swear he heard his voice right behind him, but then it started fading away.

Then Ilya froze. From the corners of his eyes, he glimpsed that someone, or something, was in the room with him.

Ilya slowly moved his head to where his flashlight was shining. A gasped scream forced him back until he hit the wall behind him, knocking the wind out of his lungs. His flashlight landed beside him. Ilya winced then quickly opened his eyes and stared at that thing.

There, at the back of the room, hanging on strings and patched up with bandages, was a figure of a couple made up of human bones.

Their fingers had wedding rings on them. Thinning dying hair glued to their skulls. Red lipstick colored the female's skull where the lips were supposed to be. A tie hung around the neck of the male's skeleton.

They were placed in a disgraceful position. The man had his hands on the woman's hips while she was on all fours. They were having sex, doggy style.

Ilya covered his mouth in shock. It was horrible and disrespectful.

Ilya's legs couldn't carry him anymore. He slid down and hugged himself into a fetal position. He felt sorry for the dead couple. Even when his life was on the line, Ilya always thought about others' suffering before his. He was a good boy, a nice thoughtful soul who never deserved any of this.

How could he do this to them? Ilya asked himself, but he already knew the answer. He's not human anymore, Ilya reminded himself. He's a monster. And monsters don't feel.

Ilya quietly cried for the dead. As if it was the last straw, Ilya's strength seeped away from him. He didn't want to run. He just wanted to hide and wait for the monster to find him.

And that was what he did.

Ilya turned off the flashlight, crawled behind a flipped bed in that dreadful room, and waited.

"...Nine Mississippi, ten Mississippi. Ready or not, here I come!"

Beast, don't you dare lay a hand on Ilya!

He's a good boy, goddamnit 😭💔

Just let him go!! 😭😭💔💔💔

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