Sandwiches - and other Demon Drabbles

The Sandwich

‡ Bayley ‡

Alone in my hotel room, I hummed softly to myself: hips swaying absently to the song in my head, as I squirted tomato ketchup onto my sandwich, mindlessly creating patterns with the red sauce.

I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings; tomorrow was TakeOver: Brooklyn, and really I was just focusing on trying to keep myself calm so I could get a good night's sleep and wake up refreshed and ready to take on Sasha Banks. I'd finished training for my match: and now all I needed was a light meal, a shower, and then I was going to bed. I needed to be at my best tomorrow.

What I didn't need was the lights of my hotel room to flicker, and then go out: along with the AC unit. The room was suddenly dark and stiflingly hot.

Deciding to see if the phone was working, to at least try and call down to the hotel reception, I was stopped in my tracks by the inky figure now standing in the centre of my hotel room.

Shadows even darker than those surrounding it, seeped out of it's skin like tendrils of black so dark they seemed to absorb all light, shrouding the six-foot creature - but then the darkness became solid, forming a solid figure: a six-foot tall body, with broad shoulders, a narrow waist and hips, and muscled thighs: all still seeping black tendrils, but now with pulses of crimson red flashing and fading like a heartbeat. They streaked from the crown of it's head, from it's wrists, and striped down one of it's arms, the redness echoed in the strange characters that marked the creature's skin: all over's it's bare legs, torso, and the arm free of the red light. It tilted it's head curiously, cold grey eyes watching me carefully...before the creature hunkered down onto all-fours and began to slink (there was no other way to describe the movement: it was unlike anything I had ever seen...it was a creepy, inhuman movement) towards me.

I pressed myself back against the kitchenette's counter, and the creature paused: drawing back onto it's heels. I turned around: hoping that this was all some kind of strange mind trick hallucination thing, before doing another one-eighty degree turn, only to see the creature was still there, still watching me curiously.

Petrified, I turned round again. Surely this...this thing was inhuman: it must be able to see how scared I was on my face...and I mustn't let it see how scared I was: I couldn't look like prey.

But despite my efforts: suddenly the creature was right behind me. I could feel the oppressive heat radiating off of it, smell the sulphur that seeped from it's skin, even see the tendrils of darkness it gave off writhing at the edges of my vision. Still, I kept my spine straight, locked my knees to stop them from trembling, and forced myself to do something.

Something that turned out to be...making a sandwich.

The only way I could justify it was a vague hope that perhaps if the creature was fed, then it wouldn't try and feed on me. If it ate people. It probably ate people. It appeared out of nowhere in pitch darkness, and moved like an animal - so, yeah, it probably ate people. Not that I wanted to find out. Instead, I focused on making another sandwich, putting on a plate, and then held it out to the side. But the creature didn't take it.

Instead, it pulled back. Not far, but far enough that I could summon up the bravery to turn, and offer it the plate again. It seemed...confused. Like no-one had ever offered it anything before, but before I could speak to reassure the creature, it carefully reached out, oh so slowly...before suddenly yanking the plate out of my grasp, and disappearing.

All of a sudden, the lights flooded back on, and I heard the hum of the AC kick back in: leaving the room too bright and feeling chillingly cold without the creature's oppressively hot presence. Even the air felt lighter without him here...the bright lights, cold, and weightless feeling made me feel sick: dizzy and light-headed. I scrabbled for my cell, unsure of who I was going to call - but knowing I needed to call someone. It was while I was scrabbling to unlock the phone, that it buzzed with a text: