The Beasts in the Abyss

The girl seemed to stick to me like I was her life support. She’d cling to my hand as we walked through the dark place. If I could barely see a few feet ahead of me she could probably barely see her own hands in front of her face.

“Vi, let go of my hand,” I say to the girl whose name I’d barely found out maybe hours ago. 

She sobbed, slowly letting go of my hand, keeping a soft grip on my sleeve, “I’m scared… where’s my mom?”

“I don’t know,” I say, how can she expect anyone to be found in a place where you can barely see. Hearing is a sense you cannot trust, and feeling is the only thing you always know is real, “Go home, Vi.”

She looked around, still holding onto my sleeve, “Can’t… can’t you walk with me a little longer?” 

“I can, I just rather not.” I tell her, “You’re just a human girl, you attract too much attention.” I say, in all due honesty the last human here was an old lady, and that already was some time ago. But I did smell a distant human aside from her. Smell… it was something that wasn’t working as well for me as it used to, sometimes I can’t seem to smell anything at all. 

Besides, there’s no food here for her to eat, no place to sleep at ease… she’ll be dead soon enough.

She grabs hold of my arm again, “No… please… Please just help me get my mom.” She whispers, probably afraid something would hear her. 

It’s a pity such a young girl has fallen into this place, and just because I don’t find the need to eat her, won’t mean others share the same thought. I sigh internally, wrapping a hand around her waist as I begin to drag her along again, “Your mother is more than likely dead, if you hear her it isn’t her, if you see her it’s not her… if you feel her… you should run…” I lean down to look at her sobbing expression, “If you smell her… pray to whatever god you believe in.”

I clench her side, walking just a little faster, I know this place… no, I’ll never come to know it. What I do know is this spot. Where the window is. None of us can really get through the other side unless it’s a specific time, but a human… she might be able to pass. If she came through this one I don’t know, there are too many windows around this place to tell them apart.

What’s beyond those windows however is a world I long since forgot… one who probably doesn’t even hold a trace of who or what I once was. But it surely holds a place for a mortal.

Feeling her tense up on my side I slowed down, “What is it?”

“I feel a chill.” She whispers, leaning closer against me. The smell of her tears was so faint, it almost seemed unreal, “It’s so cold.”

I can’t feel what she feels… but I know what it means. Tightening my grip on her, I run towards the direction of the window, my steps fastening as I hear running behind me. Unsure if it’s real or fake, either way, the danger is there. Once I clasp a hand on the window I press Vi in front of me.

“Try opening it,” I tell her, having her back as I try to keep the focus on anything that might be following. Anything that caught a faint smell of her. Becoming uneasy as I hear her fiddling with the window, pulling at the edges… the smell of blood. 

The smell of blood is coming from her... no, just from her direction, so faint for me… others might have already noticed, and the crazy sounds around me begin to hunt. 

Their steps seem to grow closer yet sound far just at the same time, you can’t tell where they are till they're already on you. 

“I got it.” She said, and I turned, pushing her up to the window and shoving her to the other side as I closed the window after. Holding the doors of the window closed, just in time as other hands start banging at the window, deformed figures pushing me aside as they all ravage at the window. Already too late for them as it’s closed.

For so long, they rage against it, banging and banging. I frown… I wonder if she’s safe on the other side… I got rid of her so either way I win.

Staying as all other creatures seem to hide back in the abyss, while I sat down, and stared at the window. Feeling drawn to it, when looking at the other side, Vi was nowhere to be seen. 

I turn around and begin to walk away. Going wherever my legs take me to, winding up at yet another window. For I’ve done a good deed… taking my hand to the window, as I begin to tap it repeatedly, seeing the person on the other side look confused, their eyes on the window, most likely still unable to see me. 

Their hands trailing to the corners of the window when they should have hidden. Taking my other hand I blow a hole in the window, grabbing the person and pulling them into this abyss with me. But just as I do, those things… like me, pull her away, barely the woman’s arm left in my hand as I bite into it. 

What a sour taste, so boring… this is why I don’t eat. I don’t feel the need, and everyone seems to have lost the great taste that led me here. 

My eyes back on the shattered window, I smile and open it up. Climbing out as I finally breathe fresh air. In this world that’s forgotten all about me, I can finally breathe again.

As I continue to step through this room, it becomes clear in my eyes, a small room, a bed in the middle, drawers to the sides, it’s cozy. I turn around and see how the window’s already repaired itself, grinning… I was the only one to make it out. 

As I slowly step onto the other side of the room, leaning over to look out the other window, I see so many homes. Buildings with lights on, the sound of people talking, and coming out of places. 

All while out on the horizon, the sun seems to be hiding. Stretching before I turn away from the window, only to see a man standing in shock as he sees me. 

Lunging at me, “So you're who’s she’s been sleeping with!” He yells before throwing a punch at me, hitting my chest, but for him, it must have seemed like hitting a brick wall. 

My grin must have frightened him, the fangs I’ve dug into so many people… finally some diversity. Something that for once isn’t a scared little victim… but anger. His scream resounded in the walls just as quickly as I clenched my jaw on his neck.

The man’s restless behavior trying to fight me off while I enjoyed my meal. My eyes glancing to the side of the window… the woman’s corpse lying limply as her soul was no longer a part of this world. 

The man finally fell limp as I got back up, seeing the light shine through the window… How long had I been eating?

I shrug, stepping closer to it, until standing under it, feeling as it burned my skin off before I step back out. Who would have thought I’d miss this feeling?