Monsters

Chapter One | Dark and Bloody |

A boy's eyes snapped open as he let out a sharp gasp from a burst of pain. It felt like he had fallen from a high height and hit his head, yet the ceiling swirled above him. There were no holes that he could make out that would signify a fall.

He blinked, trying to steady his vision. As the ceiling and walls slowly stopped moving, he felt the pain fade to a dull throb. Groaning in discomfort, he pushed himself up to a sitting position, holding his head with one hand as he did.

As he looked around the room, he saw strange stains all over the walls and floor. Though, it was difficult to see as the room was swamped in darkness. From what he could tell, there was furniture tipped over and tossed around the room. He slowly tried to stand up, yet when he did, his tired and sore legs caused him to stumble, and he slammed his hand down on the table to steady himself.

It was strangely sticky. Quickly pulling his hand away, he tried to see what covered the table and his many gold rings. The darkness made it almost impossible to see.

What is this..? he silently asked himself, opening and closing his hand. It feels like...blood..?

Although in theory the boy was usually alright with blood, seeing it all over his hand made him uneasy. He wiped the blood on his jacket and tried to ignore it.

Looking around once more, he could barely make out the shape of a window, and he ran to it. As he did, he accidentally kicked something squishy that he didn't want to examine. That's when he realized that the window was boarded up. He was trapped.

His pastel pink cat-like ears folded back as fear started to build up inside him. But he knew he should stay strong and just figure out another way to escape. Turning away from the window, he spotted a flashlight. He grabbed it quickly and tried to turn it on.

It was dead.

He sighed in frustration and disappointment, but decided to bring it with him, just in case. He shoved it in the blue pocket of his black jacket and slowly went to the door of the room. There was a crack in the wood big enough for him to look through. When he peeked through the hole, the worst feeling of danger washed over him.

This was not his house.

A chill went up his spine as he continued to look down the dark hallway. There were a few, dull lights lining it and it was fairly empty. It almost looked like a hotel, the flower-patterned carpet adding to it. The end of the hallway split into two directions.

Pushing the feeling of dread to the back of his mind, he slowly creaked the door open. He cringed at how loud the door was; it seemed to echo throughout the whole building.

Quietly, he stepped out of the room. For a moment, he paused, scanning his surroundings. He knew he had to get to the first room down the hall.

Please just let the exit be near, the boy thought. Just make this easy for me, life.

But as he opened the door to the next room, he knew that it wouldn't be that easy. It was the same as his, but different somehow. Maybe the lack of furniture? There was a small cabinet in the left corner, missing its door. He knew he had to see what was inside. When he looked, all he saw were some papers and a tiny key.

He stopped for a moment, looking at the small, rusted key. Suddenly, he gripped it and stuck it in his pocket, though he was not sure why he needed it. Even if he didn't, he figured it'd be better to have a useless key in the end than not having it when necessary.