Malignant

vier

The Oakendale Library gave Lydia all that she needed. Probably even more than she wanted to know. She wasn't dumb or ignorant. If the signs all pointed towards a direction, she was not going to raise her chin and look the other way.

The Beast is near.

Lydia didn't especially know what to do. She knew the crazy animals, flying fish, and dead deer were all offerings. What she didn't know, is why exactly the Beast was offering them to her. Was she his mate? Lydia didn't know what to think. What she did know, was that she had a strange longing to see those eyes again.

Lydia had made up her mind. Somehow, someway or another, she was going to see the Beast. She wanted to meet him, know him, and feel him. All the while, she was terrified on what was to come.

A few weeks had passed since the discovery at the library. The bathroom no longer triggered her to remember the gruesome offering the Beast made her and she was slowly getting back into her usual routine. Lydia works at a coffee shop currently, at the corner of 6th and Roseberry. She was sitting down on her couch after a relatively normal day at work when her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey Lydia! It's Geremy! The gang and I want to head down to Levington Park later, you in?"

Lydia wasn't dense. She knew Lexington Park was famous for the ranging bonfires where people gathered tons of Christmas trees  to burn as loud sexual music blasted through car speakers and drugs of all kinds were being passed around. Not to mention- the insane surplus of alcohol.

Eh, what the heck.

"Hell yeah, I'll be there." Lydia hung up the phone and ran to get ready. She needed this. She needed a distraction, she needed some change. Some normalcy.

Lydia showered, and wore tight dark wash denim jeans with a flowery off the shoulder top. She applied her usual light makeup and flat ironed her hair. Great, she thought, I don't look like as much of a train wreck as I thought I did.

The drive to Levington Park was a tedious one. Several winding turns, dark, ominous back roads through the woods and a treacherous skin-crawling  drive on the side of a cliff- all to reach a clearing where a fire was already burning and people were consuming alcohol like it was their mission to kill themselves.

Parking her car in one of the empty spots, Lydia checked her appearance again in the rear view mirror and decided to just get on with her night. She made her way toward the large crowd of rowdy individuals who reeked of alcohol. Through the swaying bodies and orange glow from the fire, Lydia spotted her friend Geremy amongst a group of people.

"Hey Ger," Lydia smiled as she walked up and slid into Geremy's outstretched arms for a warm embrace. In the pit of her stomach, she felt like this was wrong. She shouldn't be touching him.

Frowning slightly, Lydia pulled away and looked towards the rest of the group and nodded her hellos.

Geremy passed Lydia a Corona Orange, Lydia's all-time favorite beer. Gratefully taking the bottle, she uncapped it and took a sip. Oh yes, now I can relax.

Hours passed as Lydia swayed with the other people at the bonfire, sharing drinks with Geremy and finally letting herself go. By the end of the night, she knew it was well past midnight and she was in no position to drive herself home.

Geremy on the other hand, didn't seem to have that problem. He went home with his friends and left Lydia to walk. Lydia snorted to herself, some friend he is.

Not wanting to risk totaling her car, Lydia began the long, treacherous trek home. A few miles into her journey a rustling sound emerged from within the woods.

Lydia was frightened- forget the fact that a raging Beast was making offerings to her- she was more terrified of the animals that lie within the woods.

She picked up her pace as she began a light jog down the winding road. She could hear the sound of the paws of the animal hitting the ground now not too far behind her. When the animal let out a low, threatening growl, Lydia began to sprint through the woods.

She doesn't know when it happened. She doesn't know whether it was because she was out of shape or maybe the animal was larger than she anticipated it to be.

What she does know, is that she hit the pavement screaming in agony by the searing pain of the gash on her calf. The animal, whatever it was, had swiped her calf and was now advancing towards her with drool dripping down its mouth and a disgustingly evil glare.

She tried to scream for help, she really did. After a single look at the blood oozing out of her leg, she knew she wouldn't last long.

Her vision was the first to go. Blackness was all she saw- but she heard and even felt the vibrations of a much larger animal coming toward her this time. The larger animal must've done something to the animal that clawed at her leg- she heard it whimper and howl out until it ran in the opposite direction.

The feeling of her eyes completely rolling to the back of her head and her breathing stop was the last thing she remembered.
___

"NO!", Lydia screamed out into the early morning sky. Her chest ached and was heaving with every monstrous breath she took. She fumbled with her vision and mind, trying to figure out where she is and how she got there.

Taking a look around, Lydia realized she was on her back porch. She was filthy, smelly, and felt like she had been through a meat grinder. Suddenly, she jolted forward and reached for her calf- expected it to be chewed and clawed and horrifying. Instead, she found it to be smooth- smoother than it had ever been before.

"What?", she mumbled. Lydia couldn't believe her eyes. Her calf was just torn to pieces a few hours ago, she can't remember how she got home, and now her calf is fixed.

It was then that the pungent, rotting order hit her nostrils. It was disgusting. The smell crawled underneath her skin and ate at every little fiber within her.

Slowly turning her head to look out onto the grass behind her, she saw it.

It was shredded into pieces. Claw marks, bite marks, blood, fur, anything you can think of. It was terrifying. But she recognized it.

This was the animal that clawed at her leg last night. What used to be a small, brown wolf lay in the middle of her backyard- was now a mauled, chewed up mess.

Lydia knew exactly what this meant.

Breathing in a shaky breathe, she knew in her heart that this was His offering to her. He killed the animal which attacked her and He is the only who returned her home.

He knows where she lives.

The Beast is near.

_______

it's been a while.
thank you all for convincing me to continue this- I owe you one.
this is unedited.