Malignant

zwei

c h a p t e r t w o

All was silent in the night. The dogs finally ceased their endless banter. The birds stopped their squeaking and screeching. The fish seemed to quietly roll off the edge of the dock back into the water, as to not disturb the peace that settled into the night.

The two stared at one another- never making eye contact. They began to assess each other, all the while taking note of the silence and pressure that slowly began to settle around them.

Lydia slowly raked her eyes across the chest of the beast in front of her. Long, rugged scars were etched into his skin, carved into the beautiful canvass that he embodied. Each scar seemed more painful than the last.

Some scars seemed to have been reopened, and the gash on the left side of his ribs was deep enough to let his bones peak through into the world. At the sudden thought of the pain the best must be in, Lydia allowed a slight intake of breath.

It was almost as if Lydia knew she ruined the moment, and the moment had indeed been ruined. She quickly snapped her eyes to meet his- slightly shocked to find that his has already been staring for quite some time now.

Something shone within his eyes- it was small yes but, it was there nonetheless. A low blush began to creep upon Lydia's cheeks as she lightly admonished herself for staring so long.

"You- you are hurt, yes?" She spoke in an airy voice.

The beast merely stared at her with calculating eyes. Hm, what is he thinking about? Lydia wondered to herself. Quickly shifting her gaze to the gash on his side, her eyes began to widen as she subconsciously took a small step forward.

The slightest move on her behalf was enough to snap the beast out of his trance, as he took several step backwards. Lydia realized what she had done and cursed herself a million times for bothering the beast, even though she can't quite figure out why she didn't want him to be bothered.

Realizing now that his intentions of backing up were purely to slip into the everlasting darkness in the shelter of the nights forest she called out in an almost desperate tone,

"May I at least have your name?!" Although she already knew what the townsfolk called him. But of course, she wouldn't tell him that much.

Dark, mysterious eyes narrowed dangerously onto hers. It seemed like eternity before Lydia realized she wasn't going to get a reply and she watched as the beast slipped into the darkness and out of her line of vision.

Lydia sat to the ground and stared at the water dumbfounded. Who was he? She began to think about the day's events and the hysterical aurora that the town gave off. What is going on with this town? The dogs? Those damned birds? And for gods sake the fish!

Flump

Her breath seemed to be caught in her throat as she snapped her head to the right and saw a lone fish struggling to flop itself back into the water.

Kneeling over, Lydia slowly picked up the fish and proceeded to place it back into the water. As she watched the fish swim away she wondered if this was only the beginning of what's to come.

-

The walk home wasn't so eventful. The dogs instead of barking seemed content on just growling at any sound, even if it was a mere leaf blowing through the grass. The birds circle the town from above, similar to the behavior of vultures whenever death is about. The fish- well the fish breached the surface a few times before swimming once again. It seemed as though the whole town was once again not at rest.

Unlocking the door with her keys, Lydia couldn't help but look over her shoulder a few times as the sure feeling of hysteria began to creep upon her. As quick as it came, it left leaving Lydia relieved and flustered all at once.

Stepping through the door, she called out for her dog Buster. When the usual hyper fur ball didn't come to visit her, Lydia padded through the dark apartment to investigate on the little rascal.

Usually if he is this quiet, it means he either ate the garbage or tore up another pillow and was hiding from the punishment he knew would come.

Lydia did not expect to find her dog in the farther corner of her closet, curled up and shaking in fear. Soft whines left the dogs mouth as it flinched away from her hand as she reached to pet him. She frowned as she didn't understand the strange behavior.

This is when the stench hit her.

It was metallic. Foul. An ungodly grossness that she knew only beloved in deep sewer trenches.

This is also when the sound reached her ears.

The quiet, yes ominous drip onto the wooden floors had Lydia's hysteria quickly building up again and this time it wasn't going away.

Drip

Drip

Drip- Lydia held her breath and closed her eyes as she slowly reached her arm towards the light switch from her place on her place on the ground.

Her hopes of the light actually working reached empty Heavens, as the poor fixture struggled to reach its full potential and began to flicker on and off.

Through the dim, horrifying glow of the moon and the flashing of the light bulb from Lydia's closet, she was able to make out where both the stench and sound was coming from. There, perched upon the bed was the body of the deer she saw earlier. Marred, bloodied and oozing of puss.

Horrified, Lydia ran to the bathroom in hopes of finding an escape from reality. As she flew open the door to her bathroom she took several steps back as her hand flew up to cover her mouth in a horrified shock.

On the sink was the deers head facing straight towards her. The counters were smeared and soaked with blood and the sink was beginning to fill up as well.

What sent waves of hysteria and mortification rolling through Lydia's body were the words written on the mirror with what she could only assume was the deers blood-

The Beast is near.