The beast visits me in my dreams, staring at me through my window. It just sits there, watching me as I lay in my bed. I close my eyes to try and whisk away this horrid creature; but it drags its talons across the glass. This creature flashes its huge wolf like fangs at me as my eyes drift back towards it. The eyes burn into my soul as its teeth glimmer in the faint moonlight. Forcefully my body moves out of bed and grasps my nearby flashlight, just as I always do in this part of my nightmare. I shine the weak beam onto the dark mane of a wolf's head as the beast closes its eyes from the glare. The dark mane was shaggy and fell low onto its thin back. The rest of its body as very similar to the creatures back, thin and bony with almost black fur that was so short it was almost non-existent. The creature's claws lifted into the light and the talons circled the beam. The talons looked razor sharp and seemed to be two feet long. With a wicked grin from the beast, it slowly closed its talons around the beam of light. The closing talons seemed to shrink the beam of light, eventually engulfing the entire light and plunging the room back into darkness. A low growl rumbles through my room as the shadowy figure of the beast leaves my window. Reluctantly, I lay back down in my bed, ready to wake from this cruel nightmare and return to the sanctuary of consciousness.
The beast does not return again until the next night, staring at me from the window once again. I roll over and follow our nightly routine. Yet, the beast's talons don't scrape across the window pane. No ear bleeding screech pierces my room. Instead, it sounds almost as if the window opens. I roll back over to investigate the strange sound, yet nothing presides outside the window or inside my room. Laying on back, I stare at the ceiling; waiting for whatever new horror comes next. Yet, no shadowy figure or terrifying sound comes. I close my eyes, listening to my own heartbeat...
The stool near my desk topples over, waking me from my anxious slumber. Sleepily I stumble out of bed to replace my stool. Yet, as the stool is set back in its place, a cool breeze chills my skin. Goosebumps raise across my arms and chest. The window is open and the cool night air is slipping inside.
"I don't remember opening the window before I went to bed..." As the cool window sill chills my fingers, a rustling sound comes from behind me. "It's just the breeze moving my papers." As the window bumps shut, I hear another rustle.
"This world is so different from my own. So much life; yet it can be taken so easily..." The heavy whisper floats around the room on an invisible breeze. My own thoughts and voice are silent, my heart races in my chest. The shadows in the corners of my room seem thicker, darker; almost alive as they seep into the air. A cloud blocks out the moon, snuffing out the slightest hint of light that was illuminating my room. The floor boards creak under the weight of something massive, yet the shadows engulf everything around me. I can hear my heart, pounding in my ears; my breath gets shorter.
"It's so nice to finally be free of your mind. But there isn't enough room here for the both of us..." The whisper forces its way around the room, surrounding me. My eyes scan the room relentlessly, searching for the intruder. The shadows seem to grow thicker as they grow from the corners of the room. "Haven't you figured out who I am? You see me all the time." Its talons drag across my desk, sending a creeping chill up my spine. I can feel its hot breath on my neck, yet the wall is against my back. Curling into a ball against the wall, I try to hide myself from this creature circling around me. The shadows around me seem to seep from the walls and grow like a fungus. "Insolent fool, you can't hide from me." The growl pierces the room's atmosphere and my jaw starts chattering in terror. The beast knocks over my stool again, yet no figure seemed to go near the piece of furniture. My eyes clamp shut to close out this horror and give myself a slight bit of control back. Yet doing so does nothing. I can feel the demonic eyes of the beast boring into me from somewhere in the room.
Once again, I can feel the hot breath on the back of my neck. "Is this even real?" I think desperately. I tentatively let my eyes creep open. I'm greeted by the silver fangs and fiery eyes of the beast. Its muzzle only inches from my nose. A hot breath of hair blows right into my face as the beast quits holding its breath. Frozen in place, my eyes lock onto those of the beast. The eyes of the beast seem to glow brighter as my focus falls deeper within them. Without warning, I feel a sharp pain digging into my foot. The object forces the bones in my foot apart as it slides further and further into my skin. My jaw drops, yet no sounds escapes my lips and my eyes don't leave the beast's.
"Yours will be the first of many souls that I will consume in this world." The beast chuckles menacingly. The beast uses the talon embedded in my foot to drag me away from the wall I've been curled up against. My skin continues to tear and bones proceed to shift as my weight is almost too much to handle. Yet, when the beast has dragged me to the center of my room and I'm lying on my back, the beast stands to tower above me. Its talon leaves my foot and I can feel blood seeping out of me onto the floor. It soaks my heel and the pant leg of my pajamas. I can feel the warm air swirling through the gaping hole left in my foot. But there is no pain, just the emptiness left by the hole.
I can feel the beast's warm talon brushing up along my arm. Its bony body stands above me, staring down it's snout at my frozen form. The silver fangs gnash in front my face, the beast nearly drooling over my soon to be lifeless form. I can still feel my heart pounding in my chest, yet my skin is ice cold. With one paw holding itself up, it traces a line across my throat, gently scratching my skin. "This is almost too much fun to end." The creature breathes. My hand starts to move, slow and clumsy, but moving all the same. It fumbles across the floor and finds the small flashlight I've used in my dreams to scare away this monster. As my hand clasps around the small light, the beasts slams its talon through my arm, pinning it to the floor. A yell escapes my lips; the first sound I've made since the beast entered my room.
"He speaks?! And I thought the first soul I devour would be a mute one." The beast growls while smiling a wicked grin that exposes his fangs once more.
"What... what are you?" I stammer, consumed by the pain emanating from my pinned forearm.
"I am Gardvox. The traveling demon, the soul stealer, the shadow master; among other things." The creature says proudly. "I steal the souls of ever dimension I visit and then move onto the next." The demon twists his talon in my arm, tearing the hole wider and letting the blood seep through to stain the dark gray of his talons. I can feel the life leaving me as my foot and arm create a steady stream of blood to leave my body. The demon's snout lowers close to my face, and opens its gaping jaw. The teeth seem to retract slightly as it lowers its jaw around my head. I feel a slight pressure on my temples and then...
