Abomination

Living Nightmare

Breathe in, breath out. In, out. In...

Greye repeated this mantra over and over in his head to remind himself to stay in control. Total control is how he had stayed alive all these years. One wrong yelp would bring... them... The creatures of everyone's nightmares, the kind that mothers used to warn their kids that would get them if they weren't obedient. If he was heard his life was forfeit. He understood this, but the mere thought caused his body to be racked with anxiety. Greye began to work doubly hard on controlling himself.

He shouldn't have let himself get caught outside at night. What on earth was he thinking... He was a fool, he saw the sun as it began its descent and chose not to leave. Finding too much potential loot was his excuse. Too bad he'd die without being able to return with his goods. A perfect situation of greed costing another life. Greye heard their shrieks in the distance, the sounds of nightmares that feast unquenchable appetites on human flesh. To see one meant near certain death and from what he knew, there was only a few survivors of encounters of attacks. But they normally committed suicide, as if the memory was too much to live with. There was the occasional scream that was clearly human, probably some poor soul being eaten alive. But these screams were often short as death didn't take long to welcome those into its warm embrace.

Gradually growing used to the smell of the custodian's closet that he was hidden in, Greye was finally able to calm his body. The dark of the room made the fear inside seem all the more real and it intensified with each passing moment. This could be his last night he'd survived, that would be an interesting way to go... To survive 893 days to die in a closet. Was it really that long since he had faced a normal world? Not the point, he needed to live. He'd done too much, sacrificed too much. So he tried to force himself to relax, until his brain took the cue and Greye began to feel tired.

But right before he fell asleep he heard the moan of one of the druggies that made these apartments home. And his eyes shot wide in terror. Though the sound was really quiet, barely a whisper, and Greye's heart dropped to his stomach as he knew that was more than enough to call those things.

"Please let them not have heard it... please stop moving..." he begged internally, "Please don't let me die today..."

Tears began to run down his face, in a different time he'd be a lot more emotionally stable but after the events of the past years, his soul and mind had been worn bare. He shoved a piece of his jacket in his mouth so that he would not cry out. That would simply make things worse, these creatures were so smart it was terrifying. They could tell different voices apart, so that they could tell if there were more than one meal in the area. So he slowly shifted to the far rear of the closet so that his presence might be more masked than it was. After a long pause of silence he allowed himself to relax as it seemed as if they didn't hear the noise... until he heard the screech of death coming from outside the building.

"No... No... NOOOO!!" He screamed in what remained of his mind, "I'm not ready to die!!"

He grabbed his cloak and yanked it over his body, a memory of him as a child doing the same with his blanket to escape the shadows in his room. He forcibly quieted his breathing, while hoping that the creature couldn't hear the pounding of his heart. He strained to hear any noises, partially because if he could hear the noises it made he could figure out the type, also because he wanted to make sure that if he had to die that it happened on his terms. Greye wriggled to a corner where there was a small crack in the wall that allowed him to peer into the room where the druggie had moaned. So, he pressed one blue eye to the hole that would allow him to observe the nightmare creature.

Scraaaaaape... Scraaaaaape... Scraaaaaape...

The noise of something dragging on the floor in bursts made it clear to the blue eyed man what type it was. It was what was called a Slasher, a creature that was larger then a man, vaguely humanoid with black orbs where its eyes should be, and long, sharp claws on its hands and feet, thus the name. The long claws forced it to jump a little as it walked which caused a distinctive sound of it moving. With periodic thuds and the scraping noise that caused nearly as much fear as the creature itself. The remnants of those who were caught by it were found in thin strips and it could be assumed that it shreds its prey before devouring it.

The Slasher let out another screech as it scraped the wall for an unknown reason. Presumably to scare its prey into arousing, thus making hunting much easier. But all remained quiet until it began moving again, until a thud and the sound of splintering wood happened. The only thing that could be guessed is that it had tried to get into a room and smashed the door to pieces. From there he heard silence until he heard the scraping noise, then the thud again, this time nearby. Again quiet, until the scrape happened on the door to the room he was in. But the druggie decided panicking was a good idea and he screamed as he tried to wiggle open the window. Finally the Slasher let out a shriek that sounded much like happiness. Then it blasted through the door into the room and caught sight of the man trying to escape.

Things happened very fast from that point on. Greye saw a shadow fly across as the Slasher went to slaughter its prey. A scream of terror came from the druggie which quickly became a scream of agony. One could imagine what was happening to the man, as ribbons of his skin and muscle were sent flying from his body to various parts of the room. Finally the man's screams became moans, which quickly turned into silence. There was a wet chewing noise as the creature began to eat its meal.

Soon enough the scraping resumed as it came to the closet and with minimal effort destroyed the door. His eyes widened as he hoped against hope that the shadows would conceal him enough, as these predators hunted by sound. He held his breath as the creature looked around the narrow closet and seemed to have made eye contact. It felt like forever that he was staring into the black void where its eyes should have been before it turned slowly stalked away.

Greye wiggled to the crack and peered out, but all he could see was pitch black space. He strained to see until he saw the blackness retreat upward, and then at that moment he knew what it was. He tried to wriggle back to get away from the creature that was much more intelligent than he gave it credit for. He was trying to put as much distance between him and the hole that could quite possibly end his life. He was just able to let out a scream as a claw pierced the wall and dug two inches into his jugular. His scream became a gurgling sound and thankfully dark tendrils grabbed him and pulled him into the realm of unconsciousness.

"Brother, I'm sorry." That was his final thought before giving into the darkness.

Sadly less than 15 minutes later the first rays of sunlight broke through the sky, scaring the Slasher off. When his body was found by his comrades, it was barely recognizable. His gut was ripped to shreds and half of his face was gone. They wrapped him up somberly and carried Greye back to the enclave. They cremated the body so that it couldn't turn and from there ended the happiness of a poor young boy, whose brother was actually gone.