Monster

Chapter 9: We are warm

The silent night had befallen a small town and brought a long quiet as its residents returned to the comfort and safety of their homes, leaving the streets and communal stores empty and abandoned for the night.

The lights of a local diner were switched off and the front door had been shut by an older woman in a waitress outfit. She turned the key to the diner door and locked it, placing the key back in her purse as she began her trek to her home after the long and tiring shift she had.

The woman was a familiar resident of the town and had lived in it for almost all her life. So, even if she was walking alone at night, she wasn't worried in the slightest because of the rare instances of any crimes occurring in their small town.

As she walked and softly hummed a tune to her favorite song to herself, she remained in a state of unawares to the onlookers that followed her.

She did pause her humming however when she heard the sound of a can being kicked or dropped, either or, because the sound of it clanking on the ground was all the same to her.

Her walk came to a halt and she confusedly looked around, finding nothing peculiar in sight. That was until she saw it.

Behind her was a figure off in the distance that was too far and shadowed by the darkened street. She couldn't identify who it was, but she could tell the figure was facing her, watching her.

This, of course, got her nervous and she started walking forward in a quicker pace while clutching her purse tighter. The nervousness increased and fear began to set in within her when she heard the sound of not only her footsteps, but another person's as well.

At this point her quickened pace had turned into a sprint and when she glanced back, she let out a fearful yell as the figure had gotten much closer and was chasing after her.

The closer proximity allowed her to see who the figure was and she could identify a man with sunken eyes and an aggravated expression. That was all she could retain though because she stopped looking back and continued to look forward as she ran as fast as she could.

As fast as she could was not enough though and the man caught up to her, grabbing her by her hair and pulling her back. She let out another, louder scream that was soon cut off by the man covering her mouth and dragging her down a nearby alleyway.

Having heard the albeit brief, but terrified scream, Jane followed the sound, curious to see if the person she was following was involved or if the scream could give her a clue of where she could find her lost lead.

She continued her search as she walked down an empty street, looking around and keeping her guard up, even if she wasn't afraid at all. She had walked down dark and empty streets many of times as well as seen and experienced much worse than letting her own fear and anxiety scare herself.

"Stop moving..." A hushed yet deep voice of a man instructed, "...It'll all be over soon."

Jane slowed her steps upon hearing this and she heard the sounds of muffled cries following up to the man's threatening commands.

Having pinpointed the interaction to an alleyway just ahead of her, Jane slowly crept up to it, preparing herself for what possibly awaited as soon as she turned the corner.

"I said stop moving-ARGH!" The threatening man let out before he was cut off and he let out a surprised and terrified scream.

The woman that had narrowly dodged the attempted assault stood paralyzed as she watched her attacker get dragged deeper into the shadowed alleyway by a black tentacle.

"H-Hey! No! He-Help! Help ME-" His pleas were silenced by more tentacles grabbing him, wrapping around his body as well as covering his mouth.

Her eyes were wide and her jaw was agape as she watched the man get fully dragged within the darkness of the alley, disappearing from her view.