UNTOUCHABLE - TIAOM

DEPRESSION

It was broad daylight.

"Huff... huff... huff..."

Sounds of footsteps on the grass were building -- running footsteps.

"Huff... huff... huff..."

Two pairs of feet were running hastily in a place that seemed like a forest. It was a downhill run and they were sliding down while trying to avoid the trees ahead of them.

A balding man, who's in his late 30's, is running with his daughter. He's holding her hand to make sure she keeps up with his pace.

"Huff... huff... huff..."

The man looked behind to see if their captor is already behind them. There was none. He felt relieved. He then turned to his daughter who looked so exhausted now.

"Daddy..."

"Just keep running, baby..." He took another glance over his shoulders to make sure they are still safe.

They reached a bridge and crossed it quickly. They were already halfway when they felt something caught up with them. They briefly stopped, took a glance from where the movement came from and saw a creature standing at the end of the bridge.

The creature resembles a spider crab that's about a size of a horse. Its whole body is covered by an orange armored exoskeleton with white spots along the legs. It has 6 walking legs, about 4 feet each, and two 3-feet chelipeds in front. In the center is a small head that looks more like of an ant except for the missing eyes. The third part of this monster is the abdomen that resembles a spider.

"Creeeeeeeeee!!!" the creature let out a high-frequency screeching sound.

In a heartbeat, the father and daughter resumed running. After reaching the other end of the bridge, the father took out a knife and tried cutting the rope that's keeping the bridge still. This action stalled the monster a bit as the bridge is wiggly.

Seeing the opportunity, the father speeds up his efforts in cutting the rope.

1 snapped.

2 snapped.

The bridge finally gave out before the monster could even reach them. The monster fell into the deep water below the bridge.

It took few more seconds before the creature rose up from the water, struggling to swim. It didn't take long before it stopped moving and floated freely on the water.

The father, amazed at what he witnessed, pulled out the small recording machine from his pocket and turned it on.

"This is Doctor Buranaphan entry number four-five-five. I just witnessed a monster drowning. Although they look like crabs, they can't swim. These creatures need oxygen too to live. A body can be retrieved in Wushu River. I repeat, a body can be retrieved in Wushu River for study."

"Daddy..."

The father turned to his daughter and noticed her uneasy expression. He trailed her line of sight and saw another monster walking towards them.

"Don't move, Kim," whispered the dad to his daughter. "They can't see nor hear us but they can feel us. And if they felt a hard movement, they'll attack."

The young girl nodded and stayed still.

But the monster continued walking towards them slowly, as if figuring out if they are preys or not.

"Daddy, I think it knows we're here..." whispered the girl, trembling.

The father knew that the kid is right. Their trembling bodies and intense heartbeats from the run revealed them to the predator. He looked around. There's no place to go. At their back is the deep river. He looked back at the monster, then to his daughter.