Implode [edited version]

o6 implosion

She was stuck in her seat, her legs refused to push her up and out of the building. The structure was tainted with death, the metallic stench of blood coating the decorated room. Her entirety shook, and her gaze lingered on the pulpit. How had that happened?

There was a flicker in the corner of her eye, and she looked towards it. She fell on empty space and looked back to the front of the church. It appeared once more, less conspicuous this time, and when she looked to it again, a chill ran through her. She couldn’t make out the face of the being, but she could certainly see the hooves and the stifled gait it carried itself with.

Was it what churchgoers always feared, those things that did their dealings in the dark? She assumed that they would look far more hideous than the one she was seeing now, an odd pang of familiarity ringing out. The creature paused, as if sensing Exodus’ stare. There was a creaking as it turned its head slowly—

She couldn’t bear to see.

She whipped her head back towards the front of the church, shuddering. She waited for the nonexistent clop of hooves to cease, and stood hurriedly when she suspected that it had gone. In a whirlwind of motion, she followed the stampede of terrified Christians out the doors and into the light.

It was only two hours later that Exodus found herself wandering. She hadn’t bothered to head home, mind a clutter of panic and confusion. She wouldn’t be able to explain her whereabouts or what had gotten her into such a state. There was no way that she could hide what had happened, her face a perfect canvas for anything. She had never been very good at hiding her emotions, nor could she lie. She supposed it was a good thing, but she could never be sure.

Allowing herself to wander away from the odd creature in her mind was calming her quickly, and she felt she could breathe easier now. Her pulse still raced when her inner voice drifted back toward the subject, but she felt alright for the most part. She slid a hand through her hair, sighed once more, and turned off towards a corner store.

It would have been just an innocent trek, if not for the sudden prickling feeling on the back of her neck. It was only a sensation brought on by useless paranoia, or the occasional eyes on her back. Turning her head slightly, she scanned the area and found no one to be looking in her direction. The feeling didn’t go away, though.

Her mind, so selfishly wired in that instant, ran away with the possibilities before settling on the one thing she didn’t want to return to. Exodus swallowed a lump of betrayal, and ducked into the store. The customers already in side shot her interested and curious looks before returning to their own business.

Left to her own devices, she headed for the back of the store, and the refuge of a corner hidden from the camera. She’d rested her head against the grimy wall when the dingle of the bell on the door drifted into her ears. The woman on her right didn’t seem to look up, as if no one had answered. However, she had been the one to stare at her longest when she’d walked in. Brows drawn, she allowed herself to slide down the wall in an emotionally draining heap.

The clop of…something began to echo, and for a moment, Exodus might have sworn that her heart had stopped. There was a painful constriction in her chest, as if she knew. Oh, if only she did know. She clamped her mouth shut, and slid her gaze over the aisle before her. The clip clop stopped just before the mouth of the aisle, and dark brown tendrils blew forward with an unseen wind.

She had to slap her hands over her mouth to prevent from screaming; only barely registering the concerned expressions of the few customers that were paying her any attention. She was far too caught up in whatever it was that was just standing there, like it was waiting. The nerves in her cheeks protested as her nails left crescent moons on her skin, and the creature drew forward.

She could see its face far better now, not that she’d really want to. The visage of the creature was warped and twisted, but familiar in some way. The lines of the lips were pulled back to reveal a row of teeth, neat set and sharp. She suspected that if one were to touch them, they’d draw blood on contact. The eyes were deeply set into its skull, black and fathomless.

Her stomach rolled and flipped, and her hand tightened on her face. It took one step, then another, and another, and it drew itself closer. It had barely reached the halfway mark when it froze. It was clad in a dress, of all things, despicably human from the knee up; or maybe subhuman from the knee up. Impossibly smooth porcelain skin feathered out to furred haunches of a donkey, the hooves scraping slightly and clacking like heels against the floor. It cocked its head to the side for just a moment, hair falling to cover its face, before lifting fingers that appeared to be more like talons towards her.

In a blur of motion, it was upon her, and she was screaming.

//shout out to Kory Shore, for intorducing me to the song that helped me write this chapter.