It's Here!

The sound echoed throughout the dimly lit cellar. A scraping, almost dragging shriek, similar to a metal chair being pulled over linoleum, followed with a heavy rhythmic thump that reverberated over the entire ceiling.

He cursed and ran his hands through his sweat matted hair. They shook uncontrollably. He took another deep breath. The damp smell of mold, stagnant dust, and rusting metal filled his nostrils and lungs, and he coughed— however fear smothered his ability to notice or care.

The presence had entered the building only moments ago, and somehow, he knew… knew it had to do with him and what he had done.

A whimper. The other occupant in the room with him sat crying in the center. The only light coming from a lamp hung above her, leaving most of the room in darkness. The light spread out from the girl, casting shadows darting away from every object, but her. She had her arms cradling her legs and her head buried in-between, leaving no shadow and her body enveloped in a halo of yellow.

For a second he contemplated scooping her up, dashing up the stairs for the exit, and rescuing her. Would that make a difference, alter the intentions of this… thing?

The steady thump continued, and the crash of glass made him wince and turn his head towards the wide-open door at the top of the stairs. Why hadn’t he closed it? The shadows looming in it’s open maw played ungodly hallucinations across his vision, and every fiber in him desired to shut it. As if it would shield him from what lurked beyond. But he was running out of time, and an old shabby, rotted wood, paint peeled, door was hardly the defense he needed.

He scrambled to one of the darkened corners and began feeling around the wall, and the set of empty shelves nearby. Nothing. He moved along the wall, coming across an old car tire and several dirty rags. His foot bumped into a toolbox. He quickly fumbled the lid open and rummaged through it. A few sockets, a broken screwdriver, random hardware, and a pair of pliers. Nothing worth using.

The girl sniffled again, and he glanced back at her only long enough to see she hadn’t moved a muscle. Surely, she heard it coming? She had to know what was at stake?

Another noise overtook the very air in the room. An inhuman inhaling of breath, an abnormally loud intake of air into a nasal cavity. There was a deep hollowness to the sound, like air rushing over a container. His body shivered and he tried to get back to his search when the thing exhaled. The heavy sound was equally loud, however with a chilling guttural rattle rolling through the air that groaned on for longer than his ears could endure.

Precious time slid by as his body was frozen in paralyzed terror. He tried to gulp and found his throat dry. Another involuntary running of hands through his damp hair, and he returned to his frantic search along the wall. His foot smashed into an old 5-gallon plastic bucket and sent it clattering across the floor.

The footfalls upstairs stopped, and the silence became as loud as the horrific steps that it took. He ceased breathing in fear it would hear that too. A heart-sized lump was attempting to clammer its way up his throat. After a minute, the dull scrape continued, and another thump indicated it was moving again.

Slowly he took a much more cautious step and felt along the wall, his fingers disturbing deteriorating concrete, till he got to another set of metal shelves. These at least had several objects on them. An old antique lamp, several stacks of random papers, a few mechanical manuals, and… finally!

An axe and a crowbar sat on the bottom shelf. He grabbed the axe first, the rough wood threatening to leave splinters in skin. An acceptable wound at this point. But even as he lifted it, the handle cracked and split— the head swung uselessly like a pendulum. He swapped it for the crowbar, and its weight was slightly reassuring. It had to be.

Walking back to the center of the room he looked down at the girl. She had not moved even the slightest bit, and her tiny whimper continued to disturb the silence.

He knelt and placed a tender hand on her shoulder. She flinched away from its touch.

“We… we need to get out of here.” He said, trying to get her to look at him.

“It’s too late.” She announced from between her arms. Her voice was cold, absolutely no emotion in it. No fear, no anger, and no hope.

“No, look if we run.” He spoke too fast, too excited, too high. “We might make it.” He was desperate, pleading for her to move. “I can get you to safety.”

“It’s too late.” She said again with a little more force.

In frustration he moved to the foot of the stairs and listened. The thumps never ceased and yet he could not place where it was. The den? Hopefully, not the kitchen. Maybe he still had time? He just needed to convince her to leave with him.

Moving back to her he knelt down again, and this time placed a hand on her knee. With a jolt she recoiled away from him and scurried back several feet. She was now sitting on her haunches like a caged animal and her wild blue-eyed stare unnerved him.

“Look, we need to leave.” He said in a panic.

“Noooo!” She screamed. “It’s too late!”

There was a rapid shift upstairs and he could tell the slow thumping tempo had increased slightly. It knew where to go! He cursed.

“Listen, I’m trying…” His face twitched unsteadily. “To do… to do the right thing.” He said shakily and started moving towards her. With each step she shifted away from him, her all-fours movement eerily similar to a threatened cat.

A floorboard just above her creaked and dust slowly descended till it powdered her dark hair like a baker’s apron. With a glance he calculated that board to be about twenty feet from the hallway leading to the cellar. A new sense stimulated his fear as the smell of decay enveloped him. For a second, he swayed at the sick feeling it brought. Another frightened curse escaped him.

Now was the time to run. Yet if he left her… it wouldn’t end well. Of that, he was sure. Shifting the crowbar to his left hand he lifted his right-hand palm up beckoning her to take it.

“Please come. I… I can’t live… I can’t leave…” He swallowed hard. “With you in here.” He couldn’t stop his voice from cracking.

She just shook her head without taking her eyes off him.

He cursed and ran his hand through his hair once more. A bead of sweat rolled down from his ear to his chin. He tried licking his lips and still had no moisture to assist.

An unsettling sound of drywall crumbling from something unimaginable raking and tearing a wall above him, made him almost lose control of his bladder.

He looked at the girl again and found he could not speak. His lip trembled and he held out his hand to her again and pleaded with his eyes.

That was when she smiled crookedly at him, and a chill ran through his veins.

At that moment, a sound came from the doorway. He spun and looked up at it, and in the dim light all he could see was the opening.

Then four massive spike-like nails attached to a dark gray hand slid along the frame and gripped it. He froze in fear as he watched the talons effortlessly tear into the wood and crack it with immense strength. Unable to tear his gaze away he watched as the rest of it came into view.

The first thing he saw was a dried front mandible of a deer’s jaw passing into the doorway. The full skull was much bigger and longer than any he had ever seen, and charcoal black instead of white. As if it had been burned and dipped in tar, it dripped with an oily reflective rainbow effect.

As the rest of the creature’s head and body came into view, he could see the deep empty eye sockets turn till they eerily stared at him. The eyes. Maybe he was imagining things, but did he see a faint red glow emanating from those dark sockets? Regardless, the menace behind them was easily visible.

Now… his bladder released.

He needed air. Gasping to breathe as if trying to take in as much as possible only to rapidly expel it at an unsteady pace. His body shook. He couldn’t take his eyes off the creature as it slowly and steadily made its way down to him. Each step creaked from the immense weight they held. The black and gray fur hung like tattered shreds, clinging to the hulking body, and seemed to shimmer in the lamp’s light. It covered its entire form except for the face and hands. The unearthly head was crowned with a pair of shattered and broken antlers, and several of their tips almost touched the ceiling.

At the foot of the stairs, it stopped, and its two great taloned hands lazily dragged their tips across the ground and came to rest.

He looked down at the crowbar in his hands and realized how futile it was.

The girl’s movement caught his eye, and he watched as she stood to her full height and casually walked over to the creature.

“Please.” Was all he could say to her.

She hugged one of the creature’s arms like it was a teddy bear. The eerie smile never left her face as she studied him. The creature lifted a talon and almost lovingly caressed it up the man’s body till it rested the tip against his forehead.

“You hurt me.” She stated in a dry fury. Her head turned to the monster, and she shot her arm out pointing at the man. “He hurt me.”

The skull turned to him. The eyes pried the depths of his being. Seeing the past or worse his soul. The moment he had forcefully brought her here. How he had tried to convince her that he was tender, that he was loving her, that she would enjoy it. The boiling eyes narrowed.

“No... no… p… please. I’m sorry.” He cried, and his voice whimpered like hers had only moments ago.

Her eyes blazed into his.

“It… is… too… late.”