PSYCHOSAPIEN

20

The creature burst out of the tree line, snarling and snapping its jaws, racing for the edge of the pool. Faster than a cheetah. A blurred shape. Feet smacking the concrete. Long arms swinging, claws slicing through the air. Hot yellow saliva flying from its lips and tongue.

The backyard was pandemonium. People running and screaming, pushing each other out of the way as they scrambled desperately to get out of the pool. To get away from the man with the gun.

They didn't know it yet, but they had much more to fear than getting shot.

The creature saw only red. People running. Hearts pumping. Blood rushing in their veins. Pulsing in their throats and wrists and groins.

So much food.

So much meat.

So much red.

With a gleeful roar, the creature leapt into the pool. Swimming straight to the bottom, its black belly scraping the tiled floor. All around, human legs kicked and flailed. Board shorts and bikini bottoms as far as the eye could see.

The creature opened its mouth and chomped down on a pale ankle. Felt the skin tear, the bone crunch. Blood gushed out, turning the water dark, filling the creature's throat with its juicy red flavour.

From above the water, the muffled screams grew louder. More frantic and intense. The creature swam and chomped. Mulching flesh. Pulverising bone. The creature kept on going—munching, chomping, tearing, slashing. snapping, chomping, biting, tearing, slicing, gnawing, slashing, gashing. Blood frothed and churned in the water like a saucepan on full boil.

The creature looked up and saw a kid in bright orange shorts swimming through the water, feet kicking and splashing wildly. The creature chased after him, slicing through the water like a torpedo, catching up to him just as he reached the edge of the pool. The kid was just pulling himself out of the water when the creature sunk its claws into his back and dragged him back under. The kid disappeared beneath the surface with a gurgling scream, a geyser of blood erupting from his chest.

Next the creature set its sights on a dark-haired girl in a pink bikini. She was pulling herself out of the water, screaming with terror, when the creature clutched her ankle in its scaly fist.

"No no please no!"

She clawed desperately at the ground, fingernails scraping and tearing on the concrete as the creature dragged her, slowly, closer and closer to the pool's edge. At last she slipped under the surface with a strangled cry, another fountain of blood erupting into the air.

At last everyone in the pool was dead. The creature slowly emerged from the water, blood and bits of flesh clinging to its leathery skin. It scanned the pool area with its one yellow eye. Looking. Searching. But the doctor was nowhere to be seen.

No matter, thought the creature, with a small, secretive smile. He couldn't have gone far.

I can still smell him.

***

Ellie felt like she was going to be sick. The stench was unbearable.

"What the hell happened here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" said Sten, kicking aside a severed shin with a look of disgust. "The creature's here."

The hot stench of raw meat and spilled blood filled Ellie's nostrils, coating her tongue, reaching all the way into her stomach and making her want to puke. The pool was full of blood and remains. Clumps of hair floating like seaweed in the ocean. Chunks of flesh and organs bobbing on the surface like slimy apples.