The Beast runs Free

part 3

Petrified, young Caleb noticed, that the bizarre voice was coming from near the closet. A pitch dark entity was lurking in the corner, near the door.
Caleb was scared stiff, no sound could he utter, no punch could he throw.
He glimpsed towards the mirror and his eyes caught something, behind him. Shiny, like a sharp flame... it started pulling the young boy, in it's direction.

Caleb was covered in sweat, trying to run away. Mouth opened, ready to scream, his pulse beating out of his chest. Yet, again, no sound could be uttered.
Then... he felt some grabbing. An immense pressure had seized upon him, not giving any clear chance to fight back... and slowly, not even to be able to breathe, properly.

As it turned the young boy to face it, Caleb saw its teeth ready to strike and squeezed up as he was... Caleb tried to break free and...

He stood up, breathing heavily. Sweaty, yet his mouth was dry. Looked down at the side of the bed, his bottle was there.
Thirsty, yet no intention to drink... a NIGHTMARE it was!

The young boy took a deep breath of relief, then took his shirt off. It sure did feel heavy, being that it was soaked in sweat.
The sun had yet to rise, but the light of dawn had already started to separate from the dark mantle of the night.
Caleb, couldn't get back to sleep though. At that point, he couldn't even dream about closing his eyes again. He was left, so... confused, he couldn't even find the right state of mind as "Caleb the warrior", to motivate himself.

It didn't take long and the roosters started crowing, one after the other. The villagers would wake up early, and start their chores, each to their own. Caleb's grandfather would go and check on the livestock and prepare to leave with the cows, until midday.
Young Caleb had passed out again, after he had been "shaken" up. And as he slowly started to open his eyes, he could smell the tasty breakfast, his grandmother was preparing for him.

"You can already start, my darling boy. The milk is still hot so be careful."

"Thank you Nana, very delicious!"

"Glad you liked it, you should go and see your uncle after you finish. He said he needed some help with the pipes."

"Alright!" Said Caleb, smiling, because being of help, was one of the things that would make the day count as productive, in his book.

Caleb went to help his uncle and would spend the rest of the morning with him. Around 11:45 o'clock, the young boy heard the back gate opening, followed by some heavy hooves entering inside.
The cattle, had returned and shortly after followed his grandpa.

"Caleb don't let them go inside just yet, we need to bring them to the watering through." Advised his uncle.

"Don't worry, Son. I took them up to the reservoir."

"Yes, I thought you might do that, considering the heat. How did it go? I didn't even hear you walk out this morning."

"It was alright, my son. The weather was a bit hotter than usual but we are already accustomed to that. Ehm... there is something I want to talk to you about. You see, I met Dan today at the Red Hill."

"How's he doing?"

"Not that good, his donkey had been missing for two days now and I guess my sense of smell has started to fail me at this age. I say that, because going down the road after the Red Hill, between the reservoir and the forest we spotted the courpse of his donkey."

"Poor thing. What happened to it? Was it caught in a fence or something?"

At that moment, Caleb remembered.

"Uncle, I saw that yesterday when I went to join grandpa."

"It had bite marks on it's neck and the intestines had been eaten, together with one of it's back legs." Explained the grandfather.