The Beast

A young man is being chased by a creature.

Breath gasping blurring all I want to do is fall to my knees but I have to keep moving. The beast never stops. I know that for sure, for the last 25 years it has terrorised and haunted me. Blood spilt in every town along the northern plains is on my hands. My Mother, brother and father murdered by it. A howl pierces the night sky; and sends a shiver down my spine. The only thing on my mind is to run. Have to keep looking forward. As I scan the valley, my foot slips and I tumble down the slope. I hit the bottom with a thud and lie there in a heap on the floor. Picking myself up, I notice my amulet has gone. Frantically I check the ground. It is here I sigh and place it in my sack. I need to be moving the more space between it and me the better. My muscles scream out, as I run again. I don’t get far when I see formation of rocks in the distant. Another howl rips through the valley. It is here, need to hide and fast. The closer I get too the rocks they change. It is a settlement maybe I have a chance. Stonewalls have submitted under the weight of over grown vines. They weave through the remains pulling the settlement into the ground. I climb through a gap, there has to be something I can use. A place I can crawl into for the night. Out of the reach of the beast, it only comes out at night. I can run at daybreak.

Moving through the remains, my senses are drowning. Skeletons slump in corners, bones fused that I can’t make out if it is human or animal. Roaming through the homes, I see the doors open in every wooden shack. One door I could see had a red mark on it. When I looked inside it was like all the others. It had not seen life for a long time. I hear something, what sounds like thunder but know it is the beast. I freeze; my mind races. Where can I go? Should I stand and fight? I am too tired. I need to be free from this horror. Some scratching and the beast growling interrupts my thoughts. I slam the door shut and move to the back of the room. The scratching turns to banging, the wall shaking with every hit. Then there is silence, grabbing a shovel leaning against the wall and make my way over to the door. I get within a few inches, still nothing just the wind howling through the valley. As I press my head against the door, the beast starts hitting it. I put all my weight on the door. A paw punches through the door and tries to claw at me. It misses as I fall to the floor. I crawl to the other side of the room. Turning I see the beast peering through scanning the room. It starts to bang at the door again; it will not be long until it shatters. I reach an opening in the wall, when something falls onto my back. As I shake it, off. Crunch, I shut my eyes and curse to myself.
The banging stops and there is silence. It will be hiding somewhere in the silence. I climb into the next part of the house and I can only imagine what used to be a storeroom. Nothing of use to me in here but the room has a door. This could be the last decision I make. Through the door or not, I can’t stay here forever. I lean into the door expecting it to be blocked but it moves with ease. I pause taking a deep breath. Heart races, could it be waiting for me on the other side. Piercing red eyes that can see into your soul, its razor-sharp teeth and black matted fur an image I will never forget.

I step out into the clearing and move to the edge of the wall. Peering round the corner I scan the next building to see if there is a way in. It seems clear so I head to it. But I see something move in the shadows. As I look into the darkness, I see two red eyes glaring back at me. I know it senses my fear as it steps into the moonlight. Its eyes lock on to me. Every move I make it mirrors me. I edge to the building; but it blocks me snapping at my hands. Moving closer it starts to growl at me. I edge backwards into the wall, my legs want to give way but I force the thoughts out of my mind. I can’t take my eyes off the beast it is as if it has put a hex on me. As I move down the wall, it takes a swipe at me. I lose my footing in a twisted vine. I feel its claw dig trenches across my back. I scream with agony, the cold wind flows through my wound bringing with it a cloak of sand that burns like hell. In one swift movement, it is above me peering down its eyes burning into mine.

“Just do it god damn you, finish me off.”

All the beast does is walk round me snapping and growling. Am I prepared to die I ask myself, yes I am. I look into the monsters eyes and see the rage boiling. It is so close I hear its heart beating like a stampede in its chest with every breath I could see its muscles flexing. Saliva fills its jaw with every roar like its feeding off my fear. This will be the last sight I see, pure evil.

“Come on do it!”

The beast stops and sniffs the air. It then moves closer and sniffs at my body. Moving to within an inch of my face, I smell the death. It claws at my shoulder trying to free my sack. I am helpless to do anything; I thinks why it is not moving in for the kill what does it want with my sack. There is no food. It tears it to shreds within seconds and then snarls at me. I start to sit up but the beast pins me to the floor. Its head is touching mine, I feel sick. I have to turn away. It takes a big sniff of me then it retreats and howls at the moon. The beast starts to pace then it heads for the remains of my sack. In its jaw is the amulet of a half moon that I found in my parents room the day they died. I have carried it with me as the only link to my family. I can’t believe this could buy me some time to slip away.

The beast lays it on the floor and lowers its head, places its paw on the amulet. I can see its jaw move but no words come out. As I edge away the beast’s eyes open. But something has changed its eyes are now a dark brown. It looks at me then growls. Then it starts to writhe in pain clawing at the dirt around it. The growls turn into moans as bones start to crack. Its back arches up then it slams to the ground. I try to move but horror has caught me now. What I see next is its fur retract to show flesh. I have never seen a sight like this. On all fours in front of me is a man. His head rises and he tries to speak but no words come out, he takes in a big breath and tries again. What I hear next makes me drop to my knees.

“He... hello, son!”

“This can’t be. How is this possible?”

“I… I can explain”

All these thoughts come into my head as he gets to his feet. His first steps are like that of a newborn. He staggers to the doorway of the house. I wrap my cloak around him to keep him warm, as I gather wood to start a fire.
*
As the fire burns, I start to remember that horrific night. I woke from my sleep by my mothers cries. My brother signalled for me to be quiet. We sat there listening for what felt like an age. My parents were arguing but we could not make out what they were arguing about mother’s cries turned to screams of agony. My brother leaped to his feet and heads for the door. He tells me to stay put but I follow him, as I do not want to be on my own. As we get to the door of our parent’s room, it flies open sending my brother through the air into the wall. I ran to check if he was ok but he lay motionless. I looked into the room, and saw my mother lying on her bed covered in blood. I saw the last spark of life drain from her eyes. That is when I saw the beast. It strode up to me not taking its eyes off me and then it ran out of the house. I curled up in the corner of my parent’s room and cried myself to sleep. I woke to a blinding light I crawl to it. As I get closer, it is my father’s amulet. I then see the horrors of the night before. The amulet is all I take with me.
*
He starts to tell me about how a creature bit him when he was hunting with his father when he was younger. A question is burning away at me.

“Did you kill Mother?”

“I did my son”

“Why have you been tormenting me all these years?”

I can feel the anger raging in me. That little thing could have stopped all the bloodshed.

“Why did you do it?”

“It’s the rage it takes over you. The urge came whenever the moon was at its fullest”

I could not look him. All I could see was the years of torment. Could he change, could he learn to control it? Have I to give him a chance? I rise to my feet and take a deep breath grabbing a piece of wood from the fire I swing for my father. Catching him square on the jaw has he lies there prone. I bind his hands together using some vine hanging from the building. I snatch the amulet from around his neck and sit and wait.

He soon comes round but the first thing he looks for is the amulet. He has a look of horror, but this soon changes to anger.

“You can learn to control it!”

“I don’t think I can my son”

“Fight it, you must”

“I can’t; I can feel it running through my veins. I can’t hide, from what controls the rage”

Watching as he struggles to control it. As the rage grows, he breaks free from the ties that bind him. He falls on all fours screaming with pain as his bones change. Fur rapidly grows from every pour of his skin. Then his face stretches forming the face of the beast. The last thing to change is his eyes. He is gone. This time I will not run, I will stand and fight. The beast starts to circle the fire I move slowly towards it grabbing at another piece of wood. The beast howls then leans back. As I take a step back, it pounces. I swing with the wood missing the beast. Its jaw locks onto my shoulder, the pain rips through me. I fall to the floor it comes at me again. With one arm, I am useless. Grabbing a handful of sand, I throw it at the beast turning to see it shaking its head. As it readies, I grab the wood, it leaps I lunge forward connecting with the beast. I hear a crunch as we both land on the floor. Rolling over I see the piece of wood sticking out of its chest. As I dust myself off and check my wound, I hear the beast breathing deeply. With the pain soaring through my shoulder, I pull myself up. My heart is racing as I think what to do next. As I look around, I see inside a doorway. What I see is a rusted shovel. Will taking its head off stop the beast? With one last deep breath, I raise the shovel high and strike it down. The head separates and the breathing stops. It is over but my shoulder burns.

Reviews

[Rachelle]

Wonderfully descriptive and action-filled! May I suggest, if you don't mind, that you break your paragraphs into smaller ones? I do layout and big blocks of paragraphs are less appealing to readers. Thanks and keep those word flowing!

[Ronnie]

Thanks for taking the time to read it. I will look into breaking up the large paragraphs. This was my first story I actually completed. Back in 2009/2010.

[Rachelle]

Thank you! I admit to being weak at description so it was a pleasure to read this. Am slowly trying to break out of technical writing to creative writing....

[Ronnie]

I haven't done any courses. I just love creating Characters and Worlds. Stick at it I am still learning. I think that's the trick writing i feel is a constant learning curve.

[Rachelle]

No courses, either. It's just a lot of practice and openness to honest critiques. I do technical writing, though. It's not the same.

[Ronnie]

I am open to be honest. First thing i state to people is my grammar is not the best, as I am prone to slipping up from time to time. But I am improving all the time. I met people that slate me for the grammar and don't really talk tonme about the story.

[Rachelle]

Well, it helps to have someone proofread, too! I find that errors become more evident when they are printed out than if you read them onscreen. And never attempt to write with the iPhone. Autocorrect will drive you crazy.0

[Ronnie]

I use my tablet to write at the moment, I have a friend who has offered to proofread my work which helps me out a great deal. But I have arranged to have another person I do not know to proofread and be editort of my first book. I want to release it by next July.

[Rachelle]

Great! Still find that a laptop or desktop is the best. My tablet has an external keyboard to save time. I don't look when I write. I just keep pounding away. Who is doing your publicity work? Co- authored a couple of textbooks that have been in circulation for some years now. Publishing it is just your first hurdle.

[Ronnie]

Going to use Twitter, Facebook, word of mouth and business cards placed in places that they will be seen. I am going to do it all myyself.
I am going to look into gettting it mentioned in my local paper and on the radio, I know a couple of people that may help. I am hoping the fact that i am publishing it on Amazon Kindle and I want to give the book away for free (hopefully kindle will allow that) will all hel .

[Rachelle]

Will Amazon limit your market to Kindle? If you publish with them, will your work be able to come out on other formats, as well? I have only experienced publishing in paper and print - nothing digital yet and as it is a textbook series, a willing and ready market. The fiction market - how is it?

[Ronnie]

I am new to it , but feel it is the way forward, publishers will use sales on amazon kindle to see if something is worth taking a chance on. I have a friend who has sold two books on Amazon Kindle. I have been speaking to an author who published a book via Lulu, he got a publisher and his books are selling in Spain, France, Germany as well as England. Readers are screaming for it in America and Canada, his book is now being turned into a TV show. I have also read up about Amanda Hocking who went via the Amazon Kindle Publishing route and she is now with a publishing house.

[Rachelle]

I was coerced to write this racy thing, which is not me, just to gauge how far I can go.... I have never felt so undignified and dirty. I hope to find an audience who will genuinely see who and what I really have to offer without having to compromise myself and follow the Fifty Shades route... Sorry to those who like Fifty Shades, but it was crap....

[Ronnie]

I wouldn't read Fifty Shades of Gray either I wouldn't even write anything like that. My wife read them all but said she felt they just got worse and worse.
I learned alot about me, my writing and my writing process in my short story titled, A Letter from Laura.