inquinatum; chapter 04
Chapter 04;
PG-13, however some swearing. Read at your own risk. :)
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The real world is where the monsters are.
- Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief
The cold rain poured down around me, seeping through my jeans and running down my back. In no way was it pleasant, and I was eager to get home quickly. The wind was cold, and the night was dark. I had walked in late evenings from the university back to my house after late classes many times, but rarely in these conditions. I was tired, hungry, and not in the mood for the long walk home. The short cut was tempting; despite the place I had to cross through - abandoned housing where nobody lingered but drug dealers, gangs and all sorts of bad company. Hesitating by the narrow corridor between two buildings, I glanced around. There seemed to be nobody around, and it was quiet. Besides, who was going to be dawdling about in abandoned areas during such a rain? Nobody, I was sure of that.
Quickly turning into the passageway, I pressed myself to the broken brick walls hoping to use the small roof above as some sort of cover from the rain. Turning another corner, I almost ran into a very scarcely dressed woman. She wore nothing but a simple top and some tight leggings and heals, her bright red hair up in a bun and a layer of makeup caking her face. I wondered briefly how she was not cold.
“Are you looking for a tinge of entertainment and warmth on a cold and horrible night like this?” she purred, tilting her head. I shook my head, hurrying past. However, I stopped short a few steps later and whirled around to look at her again. Her eyes, they were… Different.
I wanted to call out, but my voice betrayed me and all I managed was just a soft utter of a simple sound, and watched her figure turn the corner and disappear from view. I blinked a few times; perhaps she was just wearing contacts. After the encounter with the strange cat-girl, I couldn’t jump to conclusions that everyone was something demonic and unnatural. It was probably just a trick of light, a shadow, which made her eyes seem so animal-like. The light that lit up the narrow area flickered and went out with a small spark. Inwardly, I groaned.
I walked on, trying to clear my mind of what it had conjured up and focused on getting out of the place quicker. I had completely lost my way and I wasn’t sure where I was going anymore. Blindly following the crooked passageway, I hoped it would lead me out somehow. Maybe before it was too late, I should have turned to walk back the way I came and continue on with my usual path. I turned around to do so and froze.
Something moved in the shadows. Something large and silent. I was aware that at this point I was possibly very paranoid and hallucinating things, but my eyes did not lie to me. The shadow moved again and a pair of eyes met mine. They were dark, deep and endless. They had no life in them except the strange flicker that occurred minutely, as if some small candle was standing behind the eye. I felt my body shudder, my breath caught up.
“Are you-” I didn’t finish. The thing lunged towards me; I spun on my heel and ran. Splashing through the puddles as I ran, I followed the passage on unaware of where it was taking me. I was scared, I was mortified, I wasn’t thinking properly. The snarling of the thing behind me was becoming louder and closer, and I felt its hot breath on my heels and down my neck.
Pushing my self faster, I opened my mouth and screamed, “Help!” but I had false hope - there was nobody around to help me. The woman from earlier had probably long left and wouldn’t want to call the police to help me.
Feet slapping on the wet brick, I rounded the corner and ran to the closest door, desperately hoping for it to be open or someone beside it. If it wasn’t, I was probably going to die. The thing behind me didn’t look that friendly.
Running up, I pounded on the door but there was no reply. Gasping for breath, I jerked on the handle and to my surprise, the door flew open. For a moment I was too stunned to move, but the howl that came from the creature’s throat drew me back to my senses, and I ran inside, slamming the door shut behind me and locking it. The heavy thud against it as the creature crashed into it reminded me that my life had just been hanging by the smallest thread.
Panting and searching the room for somewhere to hide, I pulled out my phone, quickly dialling Bender’s number. To my dismay, there was no reception. Another thud on the door and I moved away from it, walking through the empty rooms. “Hello?” I yelled out, desperately dialling Bender’s number again.
“Come on,” I pleaded in a whisper, leaning against a wall and glancing at the front door. For an old door, it held strong. “Please answer.”
“You ain’t allowed in ‘ere!”
I straightened up, almost dropping my phone and looked over. A roughly dressed man stood in the doorway to another room, glaring at me with disgust, hate, wariness and fear at the same time. “You get out now.”
“I would if I could,” I gestured to the door as another slam against it rocked its hinges. The man looked at it, surprised at first, then concerned.
“You leave. You leave now.” He said, suddenly very angry. “Out!” The door slammed open. I didn’t reply and I didn’t look back. I just ran past him, shoving him out of the way. He yelled out something, but whatever the words were they were muffled by the scream that then came from his throat. Something crunched behind me, and was followed by heavy thud of something else hitting the floor.
Selfishly, I hoped the man would take up the creature’s time. Rounding a corner, I hid myself in a small room, shutting the door and leaning on the wall beside it, sliding down and trying to gather my breath.
The scream had died down, and now there were footsteps along the corridor just outside the room. I bit my lip to keep from crying out. I didn’t want to end like this, to die from an imagined creature, or to fall victim to an endless horror. I looked down at the floor, pacing my breathing and trying to be as quiet as possible.
My heart hammered away in the silence so loudly I could have sworn the creature would have certainly heard it. The footsteps stopped just outside the door, there was a sniff, followed by a grunt and a snort and then the footsteps moved on.
I didn’t let myself breathe for another certain few seconds to make sure it was gone. Standing, I listened in through the crack in the door. Silence. Slowly, I opened the door and stepped out.
“Micah? Micah! Are you there?”
I almost dropped the phone I was still holding in my hand. Hissing, I pulled it to my lips, “Ssh! Bender please, be quiet. I’m in danger.” I looked around, there was no sight of it. Quickly but cautiously I started to make my way back to the main room to hopefully get out of the house. “Or I’m going crazy. I just got chased by a thing with the most horrible-”
A growl stopped me in my tracks. I couldn’t see it, but I knew it was behind me. I could hear the breathing, the stench that followed it too. The phone screamed static at me, with Bender’s voice shouting my name amongst it.
Slowly, I looked over my shoulder. And I saw it. It was ugly, and deformed, and glaring.
The creature growled, inhaling the air but didn’t move. It occurred to me briefly that it was blind. I twisted and ran, dodging the hobo on the ground. He moaned, still alive somehow, but I didn’t stop to help him. I was looking for options of my way out.
The door was too far away for me to reach it in time, but there was a window that lead to the similar street walkway that I had first entered. Without thinking, I opened the window, and jumped out, dropping my phone somewhere in the process.
I landed with a painful grunt onto both knees and both hands. Swearing, I got up and tried to move forward, falling again to my knees. The jump was higher than I expected, and it hurt my feet. I looked over my shoulder, ready to have the creature come and kill me. Surely it was going to do that. However, what I saw was entirely different.
The creature had attempted to come after me, but its wing got caught in the broken window, and it was trapped, giving me precious time. Knowing it would be a waste of my life to just sit here and wait for it to free itself, I forced myself to stand, turn and ran on, limping and much slower than before.
I was out of breath, and my muscles screamed for me to stop running. But I heard the sound of a car driving past, and I saw a street lamp, and I ran for it. Within a few meters I found myself on the sidewalk of the main street that I would usually end up if I took the longer route. With tears rolling down my cheek, I stumbled home, wanting to forget it all, hoping it was a dream that I could wake up from. But the cut on my arm from the nails in the window happily stung away and reminded me that this was reality. That this was hell.
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A/N: I'm back *breathes and gasps for air* After a week of long assignment work and not enough time to finish editing the last ten pics till now. ....So many questions and things not being resolved/solved?? Well, yes. I admit that. But everything should be all starting to reveal next chapter/chapter 6. Soon!! xD
Hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading!! :)