Eternal Darkness - Book One ✔

Chapter One - extra

As if everything was moving in slow motion I watched as I pushed to get the door closed, and even though I couldn't see it, I felt it leap from the back of the room and just as the door was shutting close, it was forced open, hitting me with such a force that it sent me flying down the hallway. I didn't even have time to scream. Pain burst out from my left shoulder, which had taken most of the blow when I landed.

A rattling haggard breath in front of me made my blood run cold. I was on my feet a second later, sprinting towards the stairs that would take me back up into the light. It was right there, safety. My whole body ached and protested against this extreme pace, but I pushed myself to go faster, knowing it would take a miracle for me to outrun it. My right foot hit the first step consumed with sunlight, but my left never had the chance. In mid-step I felt my feet get pulled from underneath me and I slammed into the concrete stairs with a grunt. I kicked and thrashed, feeling my feet connect several times to soft skin, a few times I heard bones crack.

I protected my face with my arms as claws raked my skin drawing blood, which only seemed to infuriate it even further. It was what it wanted after all, but I'd be damned if I'd let it have me. I pulled all my strength together and took a deep breath before kicking simultaneously with both feet. Second attempt and I felt the body disappear from on top of me. I scurried to my feet and scrambled frantically up the steps, breathing hard as the warm light washed over my skin. I was safe – or so I thought.

I was half-way up the first set of stairs when something pushed my body flat on the steps. I groaned, feeling the ragged, rotting breath on my neck, looking for a place to sink its teeth into. I shrieked with fury and trashed underneath it, rocking it back and forth to shake it off. The movement turned me over and I was face to face with the thing. It looked so sick – pale skin that seemed to have been stretched out as much possible covered the thing's bones, patches of hair was all that was left on the head and hollowed eyes as red as blood had sunken into the skull. It was like looking at a skeleton that had put on a human-like skintight costume. The clothes were mere scraps of garments, ripped to shreds by the long nails that extended from its fingers. It must not have fed in a very long time, but I had never seen anything like this.
 It even looked frail, which must have been why I was able to fight it off and not be dead already. It cried out in an inhumanly way and lunged itself at me, but as its fingers came in contact with my sunlit skin, the predatory cry turned into a painful one and one of its hands started smoking before turning into a living torch. Before I had a chance to make a run for it, the flames had proceeded to the creature's arm and torso, causing it to wail and thrash around.

 A pair of strong hands grabbed my arms and hurled me upwards. I cried out in surprise and twisted my head until my eyes came in contact with Dennis'. Comforted by his presence I turned my attention back down towards the creature. It had already been reduced to a smoking pile of ashes in those couple of seconds I had looked away. The smell reached us and we both gagged by the grotesque rotting smell.

"I can't let you out of my sight before you go looking for trouble, can I?" Dennis' voice showed signs of teasing, but also worry, lots of it. I grimaced and looked down at my ripped shirt, smears of blood had seeped through the cloth. Without thinking I lifted the piece of fabric and saw the angry red scratch marks left by what was now an ash-pile. I traced my fingers over the bloodied wound and winced. I needed to get it cleaned out before it could get infected.

"I'd rather not bore myself to death, that would be such a dull way to go, don't you think?" I replied with as light a voice I could muster. Truth was I was shocked to the bone from my near-death experience. We left the smoking pile and returned to where we had made camp. I couldn't help but think about how starved that thing looked. 

"It must have been in there for a long time. It was only skin and bones," I muttered as we made our way down the sunlit hallway. Dennis didn't say much, but a peek in his direction showed him deep in thought.