Demon's Genesis

Chapter 12

Blood.

The sky was the colour of blood. Streaks of darker red clouds raced across the dark crimson background, and as I turned my gaze to the trees the realisation dawned on me: everything had been bathed in this disgusting hue of red.

Thexa, I hate red.

The trees, the bushes, the grass, the flowers, what was left of the little river, it was all just... red.

And silent.

Everything was silent. Only the haunting, faraway whispers of the wind and the increasingly rapid thudding of my pulse filled my ears.

I blinked once, and my eyes opened to a suddenly much dimmer world, almost like twilight had been pulled down onto the scarlet horizon. There was an unsettling feeling sending shivers down my spine, one I was unable to shake off: that someone was there, where I couldn't see them, and that they were watching my every move.

It was then when I heard it: a horrific screeching, which caused me to nearly jump out of my skin. I spun around, trying to pinpoint the origin of the ominous sound. Panic closed around my heart and I was suddenly running, running toward the screaming, searching, tail flapping behind me like a flag.

And then I saw it, just a few metres in front of me. The dark silhouettes of two cats, one standing over the other's motionless body. The air was filled with death.

Incomprehensible guilt suddenly shot through my stomach like a bolt of lightning, and I dug my claws into the dark red soil to keep my balance. I swayed on my paws, unable to comprehend where these inexplicable feelings had originated from. I tried to move, to speak, to go towards the silhouettes, but my paws were rooted to the ground. I was helpless.

Somehow, I knew what was keeping me prisoner there.

The sheer terror.

I didn't know where it had come from, but it was fear so great I could feel the way my gut was twisting itself up into knots and being turned inside out. There was a stench in my mouth, metallic, and hot. It was so strong I felt my stomach clench in an effort to keep my food down. Blood.

Turned almost black in the dim crimson light of this strange place I had become trapped within, the stuff flowed toward me steadily. It gushed from the unmoving cat's body and spilled across the ground like a red waterfall; some was stolen by the ever-thirsting earth, but the rest began to form a pool, a sticky river that grew closer to me with each passing moment. It didn't stop, and I tried to move, tried to run, I had to go... but then it had caught me, and it was too late. The sticky, slimy, red liquid was flowing around my paws, sliding through each hair with ease and turning my fur dark. Beneath my feet, there was a thin layer coating the ground, like a blanket over a bed. And it kept growing.

The tangy metallic smell was far more than I could bear, and I found myself choking and gagging on it. I managed to lift my head and, glancing up at the silhouette bending over the unmoving body, I tried to shout or scream or do something.

Anything.

Nothing worked.

No sound came out of my mouth: I was merely just the ghost of a witness, forced to watch the horrific events unfold before me. The standing silhouette raised its dark head, and I felt my body freeze over, as if frost had been sprinkled across my back. A cold sweat broke out across my forehead and dampened my fur.

The murderous figure began walking towards me. They were slow and deliberate with each step, their paws soaking up the blood like it didn't bother them in the slightest. I felt my heartbeat quicken, thumping in my chest so hard I thought it was going to explode out.