So Little Answers

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Darkness surrounded him for as long as the eye could see. The air was freezing, making his body tremble; although not near as much as the terrifying creature nearing closer and closer by the second. His legs ached from running, the crisp air stung the back of his throat like a thousand tiny daggers, but he didn't dare to slow down. He wasn't going to let that thing get him, at least not without a struggle. However, his actions proved to be in vain as he tripped over seemingly nothing. As he collided with the cold floor, he turned to see the thing chasing him;inhumanly tall–around seven feet tall–skin a pale gray and fading to white towards the end of its limbs. Two horns stuck out from long snow white hair, one broken off almost entirely. A long tail, fading much like its limbs, thrashed violently behind it. Then, finally, those eyes, those piercing icy blue eyes...they seemed to stare into his very soul. He tried to get up, but it was too late! It got closer, and closer, and closer until—

Axxel awoke with a start. Sweat dripped down his forehead like crazy, his heart still pounding against his chest. His eyes darted around the dark room in a panic as he slowly realized where he was. He was in his room, in his bed, safe. It was that same nightmare again, he thought. This was about the fourth or fifth night in a row he'd had that same terrifying dream. It always ended with him tripping and eventually meeting his end. He didn't know why he'd been having it, if it had some sort of meaning or something, he just wished that it would stop haunting him every night.

A small meow across the room cut his train of thought short. He could feel the soft footsteps of Nightfang—Fang for short—his cat, happily trotting across the bed to greet him. He was small, skinny, he looked more like a kitten despite being three or four years old by now. He was named after his fur, black as night, and the oversized fangs that stuck out of his mouth. Axxel smiled and laid back down, patting his chest. Fang quickly curled up on his chest, purring like a madman. Axxel mindlessly stroked his raven colored fur, staring blankly at the ceiling looming above. His eyelids grew heavy with sleep, yet no matter how long he lay there, he remained wide awake. Eventually he just gave up, placing Fang on the bed beside him and slipping out of bed. He grabbed his glasses and placed them on his face before making his way downstairs to the living room. It was around 4:00 AM by now. He flopped over onto the couch. He pulled out a cigarette from the pack that was thrown onto the table the night before, placing it between his lips and lighting it. He took a long drag as he grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. He flipped lazily through channels. He couldn't find anything particularly interesting, so he eventually gave up on finding anything worth while and turned the TV off, leaving him shrouded in darkness. 

He'd have to go to work in three hours; he worked as a pet-sitter for a woman named Claire who lived a couple minutes away from him. She had four cats, Jack, Sparrow, Captain and Starscream. He used to work at some gas station, but he remembered he hated interacting with people. What didn't he hate interacting with though? Cats! Plus Claire paid well. He didn't fully know why exactly she needed someone to watch her cats while they weren't home—cats weren't exactly known to be dependent—I but hey, he wasn't complaining. Her house was massive anyway, and he got free food. He lay there for hours on the very edge of sleep, but never quite managing to finally fall asleep. 

When 5:30 came around, he got up to get a shower. It usually took him a while to wash his hair considering how long it was, and how much care actually put into it. He leaned his head against the cool white tile of the wall, trying to rid himself of the memories of the dream haunting him like a ghost. He let the hot water run down his back, a comforting sensation. Axxel let out a long sigh, relishing in the feeling. He got out and got dressed after drying and brushing his hair. He went downstairs and lit yet another cigarette, slipping his shoes on and grabbing his keys. He said a short farewell to Fang, and headed out the door. 

As he pulled up into the long driveway, he could see Claire trying to get her kids into the car. She had three kids, a four year old, a nine year old, and a twelve year old. Axxel gave her a small smile as he walked past her car. He was greeted by Starscream immediately upon walking through the front door. He smiled and crouched down and stroked his blue-gray fur before venturing further into the house. He plopped down onto the couch where Sparrow lay. He let out a small trill in acknowledgement of Axxel's presence, craning his head upwards to sleepily look at the man. He laid back against the soft couch, letting out a small hum. It was the most comfortable couch he'd ever sat on in his life. Sparrow crawled up into Axxel's lap, laying his head down and falling back asleep. He stared blankly at the TV, which was one some news channel. He quicky grabbed the remote and changed the channel to something more interesting to him. 

Nothing really noteworthy happened, until it came time to let the cats out. The cats were let outside to roam around for an hour every day. They had a huge backyard with tall fencing so that it was not only private, but also prevented the cats from escaping. Axxel was sitting on the back porch, watching as they played and napped in the grass, when he noticed something bright blue laying unmoving in the grass. He stood up and wandered over to investigate. To his displeasure, it was a small, lifeless bluejay. It wouldn't have been too surprising of a sight, there was cats here, but this perplexed him. This was fresh, recently deceased; the cats had just gotten outside, and he'd been watching all of them since the moment they came out, there was no way any of them were responsible. Still, he tried not to overthink it. He dug a tiny hole and managed go get the bird inside before covering it back up.

Finally it came time to go home. Nightfang meowed at him through the window as Axxel approached, bringing a smile to his face. Fang jumped down to rub against Axxel's legs as he entered the house. Axxel crouched down to lift Fang's little body into his arms, placing a kiss to his head as he did so. Fang was purring louder than a lawnmower. 

"Hey baby," Axxel chuckled. "Wanna go for a walk?"

Fang meowed as if to say 'yes'. Axxel grabbed Fang's harness and slipped it over his head before attaching the leash to the little ring on the back. There was a park not far from his house where the two would visit a lot. It was usually pretty empty, so it was quiet and peaceful. The duo went off on their way, reaching the park in no time. Axxel lit a cigarette as they began their walk. They roamed around aimlessly for some time—occasionally stopping for Fang to use the bathroom or play with a bug—just enjoying the rest of their day. Slowly but surely, though, the sun began to set, darkness slowly consuming the area around them. They were just about to leave, when they both heard a loud noise from the shrubbery nearby. They heard a yelp, and then what sounded like mix between a snarl and a yell, accompanied by loud shuffling. They both spun around in an instant; the hair on the back of Axxel's neck stood at attention, Fang's tail growing bushy. They shared a look between one another before turning back to face the noise. Then, out of the blue, something leaped out. Axxel's blood ran cold...

Inhumanly tall, skin a pale gray and fading to white towards the end of its limbs, those piercing icy blue eyes—it was all too familiar.

Without a second thought he spun around and scooped Fang into his arms and took off running in the other direction as fast as he physically could. He didn't know if that thing was chasing him, but he dare not turn behind him to check. Axxel nearly tripped as he turned the corner, but luckily managed to quickly regain his balance. He ran all the way to his house, slamming and locking the door behind him. He ran around the whole house, making sure every possible entrance was closed and locked tight. His hands trembled uncontrollably, his heart pounding out of his chest. What was that thing? Was it real? Did it have something to do with his nightmares? What the hell was happening? So many questions swirled around his mind like smoke, clouding this thoughts. So many questions, so little answers. He collapsed next to the couch, legs no longer able to support his weight.

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