Bits of Dreams: One Shots, Quotes, and Other Random Writings

Bestial

A young woman sits with her back against the wall, listening to the barely-muffled sound of her neighbors arguing—again. A few months ago, she would have pounded on the wall and yelled at them, but now she's just grateful for the reminder that there are other people around. After months of being locked in the tiny, featureless room without seeing another person, even the tiniest sign of life is a comfort.

Unbeknownst to her, a man diligently watches a monitor in a room down the hall. The monitor shows an image of a large, hairy, humanoid creature leaning against the wall of a bare containment unit, studying its claw-tipped fingers. The man has only known about the creature for a couple of weeks, but during that time, his fascination with it has only grown—particularly because the creature used to be a human but turned into its present horrific state after an unknown incident.

As he watches, the creature wraps its long tail around its legs and sighs heavily. Feeling that the time is right, the man quickly flips through all the camera feeds on the floor, and seeing nobody, he pauses the feed in the creature's cell and quickly leaves the surveillance room. He hurries down the hall and stops in front of a heavy metal door marked with various caution signs. Ignoring the warnings, he shoots one last glance around the empty corridor before opening the door and slipping through it.

Inside is another short hallway, lined with containment units. The front wall of each unit is made of one-way glass, allowing the man to see into the cells without their inhabitants seeing him. He walks down the hallway and stops in front of the unit containing the creature. Tuning out the talking ducks in the next unit who are arguing loudly, the man unlocks the door and slowly opens it.

The young woman looks up from her clawed hands as the door of her cell opens for the first time in a long time. She finds herself staring into the nervous eyes of a young man, the first person she's seen since she was roughly thrown into her cell.

"Um, hi," he says, waving awkwardly.