I knelt over my best friend and clutched her so tight I thought she might break. Her face was sprinkled with glistening, salty teardrops. They were mine. Sobs racked my body until my throat was raw and it hurt to swallow. I forced my eyes open, and through tear-blurred vision I saw her pale face, as white as alabaster. The color was almost completely drained from her cheeks and her brunette hair stood out against her ghostly skin. She looked peaceful, though, like she was asleep. The only thing missing was her heartbeat. I wanted to scream at her, shake her, revive her back to life. But some other part of me felt a numbness when I gazed upon her lifeless body. My heart wanted to grieve, but my brain was indifferent. I drew ragged, shallow breaths until my breathing was steady and my own heartbeat slowed. Exhaustion hit me like a tidal wave, and for a second I just felt like lying on the ground next to her, drifting into the black abyss of sleep. I was all alone now, and I didn’t even know where I was.
“Why?” I whispered, my voice hoarse from crying.
In response, I heard a low, mocking voice in back of me. “Why not?” it drawled.
Startled, I whipped around to find its source. Just then I realized I was in a concrete-floored room dimly lit by the door in front of me, a glowing fringe of light peeking in through the tiny crack underneath. The trickle of light from the slot followed the floor and met my hand resting on the cold cement. Instead of fingers, though, my hand had long black claws covered in vermillion blood. I shrieked and bolted to the doorway. It wasn’t locked, and I left it swinging open as I sprinted into the light. I need to get outside. I need air, I thought. The iridescent bulbs shone in my face and I felt I would go blind. How long had I been in that room? Was I the one that killed my best friend? No. NO. It couldn’t be. All these thoughts could wait until later. I had to find the exit. The hallways were devoid of color with that same basement-like feel as that terrible room. Aimlessly I turned left and right, but I seemed to be making no progress.
“Hello?” I called. “Is anyone there?”
“….Just me,” that eerie, animalistic voice said. “Why do you run from me? There’s really nothing to be scared of.”
“Go away!” I shouted.
I have to find a way out. I wasn’t going to let this…thing get me. As if the voice knew what I was thinking, it crowed, “You can’t escape someone you know so well. Don’t. Even. Try.” Then the worst sound I’ve ever heard in my life started. A low echo at first, but always increasing in intensity. The voice was laughing in its own distorted and unsettling way. It rose to an intolerable screeching and I thought my eardrums might burst. Still, I kept running, hands over my ears. Not that it helped much, though. The noise rattled my bones and reverberated off the walls, the echo never ceasing. Just as I was about to stop from running so hard, I glimpsed a shabby oaken door to my right. I ran the fastest my legs could go and reached out for the handle. I yanked the door open and what I saw disgusted and horrified me. With an almost human-like body, the monster had gray, pale skin, purplish blue veins stretched across its surface. Its face had gleaming, red, beady eyes and rows of razor sharp teeth. Out of its back emerged black, leathery wings, each about as tall as an average man. I knew this grotesquery was where the voice had come from. It started to fully open its mouth to reveal more dagger-like teeth when I slammed the door shut on instinct. There was no lock on the door, so I hoped I’d delay its chase maybe for a second before it started chasing me. I ran in the opposite direction, and somehow there was a door at the end of the hallway. It was very similar, if not the same, to the first door. I yanked this one open and that same disgusting creature stared at me, its mouth wide open. It blocked the entire doorway, so there was no escape route. I slammed the door shut and made as much distance from both doors as I could before another one showed up, directly in front of me. Maybe this was the thing that killed her. But why were my hands, or whatever they were, covered in blood? No time. Must get out. Door after door appeared in my path, and this time I didn’t have to open them. The lights on the ceiling illuminated their form. The shadows cast over their wings formed a jagged arrow pointing directly at me. Everywhere I turned, I saw these monsters.
“Help!” I wailed. “GO AWAY!” I cried. Anger overtook me, I didn’t know whether I was being driven insane by all the doors or crying for my dead friend as I charged head on at the closest creature. Out of fear or last-minute bravery, I let out a battle cry “AAARGH!” that sounded very unlike my normal voice.
Instead of feeling the slimy and squishy body of the monster, it turned into a mist whenever I made contact. I thought I was hallucinating and pushed onward anyway. If this thing kills me, so be it. But I at least want to make it out of this horrible place.
A gentle breeze met me before my eyes could adjust to my surroundings. The sun was just starting to break the horizon. The small shafts of sunlight felt surprisingly warm for this early in the morning. I was in a wooded thicket encompassed by birch trees, by the looks of them. There were dead leaves on the ground and a fog hung around the forest like a comforting blanket. I almost forgot about the danger behind me, but when I looked back there was no door, no room, and no monster. Am I sleeping right now? Everything just disappeared into thin air! These kinds of things could only happen in dreams, but I actually felt the leaves under my feet and the dense fog. That could only mean…she’s gone. The realization tickled something in the back of my mind, but I couldn’t quite grasp it. I felt something that slowly makes your body eat itself if not taken care of.
Hunger.
I didn’t know how far away civilization was, but I needed to eat. Now. All the green foliage on the ground had long died away and mostly everything left was thorn bushes. I decided game would be the better option, even though I had never picked up a firearm or a bow and arrow in my life. I picked up a branch, but then let it fall to the floor. Why would I need a spear when I have these weird claws that are probably sharper than a knife? I wiped them off immediately after I was out of the doors, so now they gleaned shiny in the first light of day. I walked slowly through the woods, waiting for a sign of movement in the low undergrowth. A chittering alerted me that a squirrel was near. I saw a brush of a long, brown, swishy tail and knew my target was acquired. I crouched down low, soundlessly, to where it perched on the other side of a tree. With surprising speed, I swiped my claw around the trunk and pinned my target down. I finished the job cleanly and quickly with another swipe. It was much too damp for a fire, so I’d have to make do with raw squirrel. It actually didn’t taste that gross, but maybe I was just starving. The exhaustion from earlier took over my body and I had to find somewhere to rest. I heard the faint sound of running water nearby and followed it. About half a mile later, I saw a small pond with a river leading to and from it. Tomorrow I’ll follow it downstream. Where there’s water, there’s people. I sat up against an overturned log, but I wanted to drink something to stay hydrated. I walked to the water’s edge and stooped down. A frost lipped the shore of the pond and was slowly growing inwards. I didn’t feel cold at all even though it must have been late autumn or early winter. My gaze settled on my reflection in the water. What I saw confirmed my doubts — not only did I have the same claws as those creatures, I had glowing red eyes, pale gray skin, and those ugly bat-like wings that looked so unreal. Immediately my hint of memory blossomed into full understanding. Flashes of it came in short bursts – leading my best friend into that dark room, murdering her with my bloodied claws, trying to remind myself of what I really am as I ran down the hallway. All this time, I wasn’t running from the monster.
That grim, subhuman voice answered from my own mouth. “I am the monster.”
