I was in the middle of a street, under a street light and near an intersection that I didn't recognize.
I couldn't see if there was anybody else out there.
The street lights started to flash unnaturally.
I could tell I was not alone.
Something was out there, though I didn't know what.
It had been this way for a while, the lights occasionally flickering on and off, slowly getting more frequent and for longer intervals.
One would typically try to get away from the area to get to a safer place, but I couldn't for many reasons. One of which was the fact that I was currently tied to a chair after passing out from drinking too much alcohol.
This sounds like in those movies where some cult is trying to sacrifice someone to a supernatural being, I know, but this was real. Something was out there, and needed to be fed.
The ropes around my hands and legs were tight, obviously people before me had tried to escape before as well. All my belongings were still on me, as they clearly weren't worried about money. But what whoever tied me up didn't realize, was that I always have my knives on me.
In my sleeve, there was a knife, in my boots there was a knife in each of them, in my hair even there was a knife. Guess watching all of those horror movies as a kid was really starting to pay off.
I was feeling pretty confident and calm before I heard somebody else scream. The sounds accompanying the scream made me sick.
Crunching
Squelching
Clicking
The sounds of flesh being torn apart from a victim killed moments before.
That was somebody else.
Another person.
A sentient being.
Someone who deserved to live a longer life and die a peaceful death.
I became dizzy at the thought, and nearly dropped the knife I held in my hand.
I had to snap out of it.
I had to live.
The cutting actions became quicker, more frantic.
I could not get out of the bonds quick enough.
Another scream, another death. Farther away this time.
I saw a shadow flit in the corner of my eye, and I looked up to try and see who... what it was.
There was nothing.
One hand was free.
I tried to look behind me, but to no avail.
The cutting resumed.
A loud shriek came from behind me, and it kept going as a creature ran past me.
I nearly dropped the knife again, but I got a better look at the thing.
The body of it was black, perfect for hunting in the dark. Something was covering it, like armor, though I couldn't tell what. It walked and ran on all four of its limbs, and its spine looked like it was practically trying to burst out of its back with how protruded it was. It had a tail, long and thin, with what looked like an oversized saw knife on the end.
And its face, dear god.
Black eyes, it looked slim, but when it roared, I could see inside the mouth. If I hadn't been so accustomed to seeing unholy creatures from horror movies, I would have had a heart attack then and there.
The mouth opened to four, maybe five smaller pieces, with thousands of teeth ready to rip apart flesh.
The other hand was free.
A scream came from the street right next to mine. I had to cut the ropes, and quickly, if I wanted to live.
Those sounds came again, the ones of flesh. I had to hold my snout shut with both hands to avoid puking. That hindered my progress.
I could hear the clicking again, like a bat trying to use echolocation.
It reminded me of my boyfriend. He, too, was a bat, and often used the same method to travel in the dark. He was with me too, before I passed out. Was he the one who brought me here?
I couldn't let those kinds of thoughts enter my mind.
One leg was free. One limb left.
The rope was less than a quarter of the way done being cut through when I felt something breathing on me.
All the muscles in my body just stopped.
Nothing could have moved that silently except for a creature designed purely to kill.
My eyes slowly worked their way up to look at the thing.
That disgusting face just stared at me, unmoving, unblinking, and utterly unholy.
The lungs residing in my chest stopped functioning, refusing to respond even when I told them to work.
Whatever the thing was that was staring at me, it shouldn't exist.
It just kept looking at me. I couldn't tell if it was sizing me up to find the best parts of me to eat, or if it was deciding whether or not to drag out my death. It was most likely a mix of both.
I don't know why, but it turned, creeping away. It was only after a few minutes of me processing that it temporarily spared me that I resumed cutting the rope.
The final rope was cut.
I was free.
Immediately I looked for a safer place to go.
The buildings were probably locked, and there weren't any cars or anything on the streets. It was like this was staged, or maybe the whole town was the cult, I don't know.
1Just to be sure, I tried opening the door to the building I was closest to, and surprisingly it was unlocked. I entered it carefully and quietly, trying to not attract the attention of the thing.
The first thing I noticed was the smell.
Dead, rotting flesh.
I tried not to breathe, to not choke on the smell, but it was just too much. There was a window I could open to air out the smell, so I did.
The window let light into the room, and I wished I hadn't opened it. There was gore everywhere. Blood splatters everywhere, random body parts were spread around the room, with the faces of a few bodies facing me. The carnage didn't end there.
I tried to reach for my phone, but couldn't find it. Maybe somebody did have the sense to remove that from my possession. There was a light switch on the wall that I flipped, exposing an even worse sight. In the next room, there wasn't anything not covered in blood. It looked like someone had taken the bodies of the dead and painted everything with them. Moving further in just confirmed my assumption.
Children.
The bodies of children.
Judging by the sizes, they were between the ages of a few months to around 10 years.
Something struck me as odd, though. The only general species I could find were Herbivores. No carnivores of any sort. At all. Maybe it only hunts herbivores. I thought.
Another scream tore through the night. I turned my head to the door, realizing that since I was a carnivore, the monster wouldn't try and eat me.
The street outside was empty. Nothing had changed.
I made my way to the intersection where the two roads met, and started towards the area where I heard the scream from earlier.
As I had thought, there was another chair that had held an unlucky victim. The body in it was slouched over, still dripping blood. As I got closer, I tried to make out the details of the species, but it was too dark. I could tell that the body was missing its head, so I looked for it so I could bring it into the light.
My foot accidentally kicked something that felt wet and rolled, so I reached down to grab it. I only had to walk about 10 feet to see the general details. Fur covered it, and the snout looked like that of a cat species.
The light shone bright enough for me to see the full details. This was the head of a tiger-woman. Tigers are known for being fierce and strong predators, yet this one was still killed by the monster.
Okay. So, that theory was wrong.
But why did it not kill me?
Something was definitely off.
Thinking about it too much made me develop a headache, which made me regret drinking so much.
A sense of sudden dread spread throughout my body, all of my fur standing on end. My body stopped moving, completely freezing in place. No sound was coming from anywhere. No electric hum of the street lights, no crickets, water, nothing.
It was like the world had stopped.
Just so that thing could hunt.
Nobody here to help me.
Nobody here to help.
The reality came crashing down on me in this terrifying moment.
I was alone.
For the first time.
And it was electrifying.
If I was able to get out of here alive, I wouldn't be belittled by anyone because I alone had survived. I alone had proven myself more capable than anybody else here.
Maybe that was why the creature hadn't killed me. It knew that I needed this. But wait. Then I wouldn't have proved myself. That wasn't the reason.
My mood shifted immediately, realizing what I was thinking. The bare-teeth smile that an insane person would wear was wiped off my face. Something else was at play. Something worse.
I have to get out of here.
My body was able to move again.
I was scared to move.
Maybe it would find me.
I have to get out of here.
My breathing became more labored.
The panic that I didn't feel before decided to surface.
I have to get out of here.
My teeth gritted together, tears beginning to stream out of my eyes.
I have to get out of here.
Get out of here
Get OUT of HERE
GET OUT
GO AWAY