Moments | Sweet Home

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"He's not trying to help you. Can't you hear the monsters outside the door? He's telling you to go out there and die."

Yeonha swallows, slowly she retreats taking small backwards steps, her eyes glued on the door. The scratching continues.

The snarling persists too, becoming more agitated as the monster behind it struggles to open the door.

She has no idea what sort of creature is on the other side though, but what if it was faster than her, or stronger? What if it was some kind of monster that spat poison or acid?

She almost stumbles over the dead body, forgetting it was still in the apartment with her.

Yeonha glances at the blanket covered body briefly. Was the monster indeed coming back for the other half?

The scratching became persistent thumping, the force shaking the door. Whatever it was, was trying to get in. She flickered her gaze over to the bathroom, would it be worth hiding in there? If it could break down one door it would surely be able to break down another.

But what other option did she have?

She looked around frantically, and stopped on the window. Yeonha breathed deeply.

I guess the window it is then.

She slips out the window, manages to scamper along the ledge and climb along to the other window and moments after she does she hears the door break, hears the snarling become louder as the creature enters.

If it comes to the window and looks out i'm fucked. She thinks, knowing that with her hands  occupied with keeping her in place, she had no means to swing back and attack. She waits and waits and waits for what feels like hours, she waits until her muscles are shaking, till her palms start to sweat and she feels like she might just lose her grip and then, she prays to every god and deity she can think of with hope that the monster has gone.

Carefully she slips back into the apartment.

Her assumptions had been right, because now the corpse was gone, and there was an unpleasant trail of blood were it had been dragged through the door.

She bites her lip, still hyperaware of making sudden noise and slowly makes it to the exit.

Just avoid the trail of blood.

She stands in the doorframe and peers out, ice axe braced in her hands.

No sign of the monster. No sounds of snarling or scratching.

Yet.

"You know they're out there, it's only a matter of time before you run into one and die."

Yeonha swallows, and takes a silent breath, then she takes one silent step forward.

She kept her eyes open and her ears alert. In an old building like the one she was in it was hard to tell which sounds were it's old structure and which belonged to something more deadly.
Her thumping heart skipped, before dropping as she composed herself.

You've made it this far, You can do it Yeonha, just keep moving.

Her grip tightened around the ice axe.

She continued down the corridor, stopping in front of each apartment and pressing her ear against each door, listening for any sound of life-human, non monster life. She was desperate to find people. But so far, nothing.

If there were any people she concluded, they'd probably be on lower ground, since they'd probably tried to make it out of the building.

Her only option was to head down then, to find people, find more resources, maybe even a way out, hopefully before any monsters found her first.

"Why are you so desperate to find people? You'll only end up having to watch them die."

She walked past the elevator and didn't trust it. She never had really. Yeonha hated using elevators, it didn't matter if she was the only one in an elevator or surrounded by a group of people, she always felt suffocated, uncomfortable, and she hated the thought of being trapped in one.

I'd rather take my chances with the stairs. 

"Are you sure?"

She reached the stairwell. Her elbow nudged the entry door open and she caught it, slowly pushing it closed so it wouldn't slam.

Keep moving. Don't think. Don't panic. Keep moving.

Yeonha repeated the mantra over and over again silently in order to keep some semblance of calm, even though alarm bells were starting to ring in her head.

"I can feel them near can you? You'll be able to hear them soon. See them. Better hurry if you don't want to die."

In the silence it was hard to ignore the other voice.

The silence was unsettling, making her overthink every small sound that broke through, gnawing at her sanity.

Even the slightest creak of metal under her own feet was causing her heart to race in anxiety.

She makes it to the next floor in one piece.

She swallows her breaths as silently as she could, trying to hurry as fast as she could without making too much noise.

This floor was completely empty, well she had managed to gauge that there was no sign of life on the floor so it was time to move down on the next.

Yeonha was almost Olympic level in gymnastics, she had won school awards, trophies, ribbons, even competed internationally. She could flip and twist and somersault on a balance beam with her eyes closed, without making a single mistake. She was agile, and flexible; her training should be advantageous to her, should have made it easier to evade and survive.

She makes a dangerous mistake and looses her footing as she misses a stair.

She tripped and she fell.

She slid, tumbling, rolling, and she couldn't help but yell as she felt her bones bruise and her skin scratch and bleed, and finally she landed in a loud crumpled heap.

If she hadn't been pursued by a monster before, they would all surely be after her now. She curled up for a moment, waiting for the world to stop spinning and then she forced herself to her feet. She ached everywhere.

Keep moving, got to keep moving.

Keep moving or they'll find you.

She wasn't going to let them catch her.

Yeonha staggers and sways on her feet, lifting a hand to her head.

When she pulls it away it's a sticky red.

She smears her blood on the wall as she stumbles into it, trying to move off the stairs and search for an apartment.

As soon as she makes it to the next floor she heads into an empty apartment.