Destiel One-Shots

Creatures of the Night

ONE WEEK AGO
   James crashed through the trees in a mindless fury, ready to slaughter the thing that had killed his family the moment he saw it. He didn't notice the pain creeping into his feet and legs as he strained through the mud. The image of his family all dead and bloody was burned into his mind. He blinked his watery eyes, trying desperately to forget the carnage he had just seen. His family had meant everything to him, and now he'd never be able to play basketball with his son again, or read his daughter her favourite bedtime story. In a matter of minutes, his whole life had been torn apart.

   Several hours later, James stopped to sit and rest. He had no idea how far he had come, or if he was even going the right way. His thoughts went fuzzy with panic, and there, sitting in the mud, propped up against a tree, he broke down and cried. "It's all my fault." He whispered. "It's all my fault!" He yelled. He sat there a long time, till finally, he closed his eyes and before he knew it, he was asleep.

   Meanwhile, the creature perched in a tree nearby, it's glowing eyes burning into the side of James' neck. It barred its teeth and let out a low growl. Saliva dripped off it's teeth and onto the soft forest floor below. It watched as James stirred, then leapt away just as James looked over.

   James jumped. He had been a flash of glowing light just before something disappeared into the night. Quickly, he got to his feet and raced after the dark shape. Before long, however, it had vanished into the night. James crumpled to his knees from exhaustion. His chest heaving, his lungs burning. He looked up at the tree canopy above him, and saw the first light of dawn stretching across the sky. 'I can't stop now.' He thought.

   A few hours later, he had gotten up enough strength to struggle to his feet and press on through the forest. Tears still stung the back of his eyes. The sun had risen high into the sky and was slowly drying the mud below the trees. Suddenly, James felt as though something were watching him. He shivered. As he glanced around behind him, he heard a loud snap further ahead on the trail. Jams snapped his focus forward, but saw nothing.

He took slow, measured steps forward, but the feeling had passed, and the atmosphere around him had returned to normal. Fury flared up inside him again. "I'm going to kill that thing," he spat, "even if it's the last thing I ever do."

Half the day was already gone and James hadn't seen anything. He had felt it nearby on several occasions, but it had already eluded him. This infuriated him. His stomach grumbled, almost as if protesting his neglect. James looked around, searching for something, anything, to eat. Nothing. Nothing at all. He swallowed and realized his throat was parched. Straining, he thought he heard a creek or river or something nearby.

Cautiously, he crept toward the sound. He broke through the wall of forest and saw, to his delight, a freshwater stream. He bent down and happily scooped up water and felt it soak his mouth and throat as it descended into his stomach. He took several long gulps. James swore under his breath at his stupidity. The stream may have been freshwater, but it wasn't necessarily clean. He punched the ground angrily, and growled to himself. If the creature didn't kill him, the water definitely might.

Further into the day. James started getting cramps. Several times along the way, they were so bad that he had doubled over in pain. Everything in the forest seemed to be mocking him. He squeezed his eyes shut and an image of his wife's mutilated body flashed into his mind. He let out a sob and dropped to his knees, one hand clutching his stomach, the other his head. As he let out another sob, he heard several quiet snaps behind him. He froze. Again, he heard everything snaps. Slowly, he turned his head, and standing there was the creature.

His mind went blank. He couldn't think. He couldn't move. He just knelt there, staring over his shoulder at the one thing he had ever wanted to kill. It just stood there. It's thin chest slowly rising and falling, its thin arms hanging limply by its sides. Finally snapping out of his trance, James lunged at the creature.