Fearful Things

Across the Street

I watched another pair of headlights grow brighter and brighter before disappearing as the car sped past me. The dark shape shrank until I could no longer see it. The night sky was clear, and the moon shone with enough light to provide a silver illumination to the surrounding landscape. I sat on a cold, hard bench on the sidewalk. A biting wind blew by, causing me to flinch. Just as I was considering getting up, my head turned to see a figure emerging from the woods about twenty feet from the other side of the four-lane road. It should have been much too dark to spot something from such a distance, yet it was as if my attention was forcibly drawn to it. I also instantly knew that it wasn't human despite its similar shape. My heart thumped heavily in my chest, but a strange sense of calm enfolded me. It stood still. My skin crawled, and my hair stood on end. It was watching me. It began to run.

At first, its back arched inward, and it ran with all four limbs stretched to the side like a spider. Its contorted gait ripped away any semblance of humanity in the creature. It crawled rapidly through the grass, but stopped when it reached the sidewalk. The thing pulled itself up to stand on two legs. Once more, it watched me silently, and once more, I did nothing. From this distance I saw its form more clearly. A nearby speed limit sign indicated that the thing was about as tall as a man, but its disproportionate arms stretched all the way to the ground. Its limbs didn't end in hands, feet, paws, or hooves; they narrowed into sharp points. Fear made my body cold, but moving never occurred to me. It started to sprint again.

It seemed as if all of the night sounds had ceased. No wind. No crickets. No distant engines. The only noises were its arms dragging across the asphalt, and its footsteps. The pounding seemed to resonate at a deafening volume in my head, growing louder and louder. My body reacted to it like any animal set before a predator it didn't understand, yet I could only watch with the same curious interest I would give a squirrel scampering to avoid oncoming traffic. The creature was so close now. It crossed into the lane just in front of me. Strangely enough, it was still seemingly obscured by a pitch black shadow so that I could only see one discernible feature on its body. Lidless human eyes were set into its face, open impossibly wide, focused on me. Just before it reached me, a blaring horn broke the maddening silence, and a car slammed into the creature.

The car skidded to a halt as the thing flew forward. It landed on the road with a series of thuds and cracks. With the influence of its gaze gone, the blanket of tranquility that had dampened my mind disappeared. I immediately slumped over and trembled violently as I was racked by dry sobs. The car door suddenly banged open, and a man stumbled out, disoriented from the crash. He walked over to the creature's body, muttering about animal control. I wanted to yell at him to get away, but the words caught in my throat. I couldn't even scream when the beast's pointed arm shot out and pierced the man's stomach.

He cried out in agony and dropped to his knees. The monster rose up and lifted the limp body. Its mouth unhinged horrifically as it engulfed the man's head and ripped it from his neck. Blood splattered the ground, followed by the sickening sound of crunching. Still holding the body, the creature began slinking back to the woods. When it reached the other sidewalk, it turned and stared at me for a moment. Then it continued on until the forest shrouded its shadowy form.

I ran. I didn't know where I was going to go, but I needed to move, to be anywhere else. I ran until my lungs burned and my legs felt like rubber. After what seemed like an eternity, I stopped and fell to the concrete, panting. I considered what I should do next. Who would I tell? Who would believe me? I didn't know what that thing was, and I didn't want to. I struggled to my feet. Before I could start walking again, chills ran down my spine, and I froze. Something behind me raked across the ground, and a gust of hot breath brushed against my neck.