Chasing The Dead

Chapter One

I am in the forest watching a girl. I do not know who she is, but I do know that she is a friend. She has a very slender profile and has an air of grace around her. She walks through this forest and it is almost as if the trees and plants bend around her, and not the other way around. She has purpose in this forest as well; she seems to be following something. In the same way that I know she is friend, I know that whatever she is following is bad. It has left a trail of broken branches, trampled vines, and blood.

The girl stops. I still have not seen her face, and I really want to, because I think I know her. She seems really familiar, like a close friend would, but I do not even know her name. She has caught up with whatever she has been following. I cannot see it clearly yet, but it is moving erratically and without much purpose. She is being more careful now, getting closer. The thing she has been following has gotten closer, and it appears to be almost human, but its appendages are in the wrong directions for that. What would be the arms are facing out in almost a groping movement, but the thing cannot seem to hold them still.

As the girl gets closer I can see more of the creature she is stalking. It does have arms, legs and even a head like a human would, but I still can't believe it to be human. One of its legs is sticking out way too far for it to be able to balance. Its head is bent way to far back for it to be alive, if that is its head. One of its arms is bent backwards but as I get closer I can see that the fingers on it are constantly moving, constantly grabbing, groping for anything to hold.

The girl is almost within range, but I do not know what she is in range of. I see the creature get a lucky grab at a squirrel, and catch it. It brings the poor animal to its head and starts eating it. It doesn't try to even kill it before it eats the animal; it just bites in and starts chewing. The squirrel doesn't even make a sound as the life is torn out of its flesh.

The girl makes a huge jump from behind a tree and lands right behind the creature. I can now see it clearly, every detail of its disgusting self. It is a human cadaver. The head has been bent back, just like if its neck was broken before, twice. I see that its right leg has been snapped backwards, and it cannot put much weight on it. One of its arms is missing all the flesh at the elbow, but it still manages to move its fingers on that arm anyways. The other arm is holding a still twitching squirrel. The face  appears to be smiling, but that cannot be. Its lips have been torn from its face, like whatever the cadaver had previously chosen to eat had still been moving, still able to tear at the flash of this thing. Its eyes are the worst. They are still human, they are still locked in an eternal silent scream. It is like the girl is still there, being forced to watch the terrors that her dead body creates.

I do not like looking at this disgusting creature.

My friend is still right behind the creature, almost as if she is waiting on something. The creature starts to turn, and my friend jumps on the creatures back. She scratches open its neck and I get a brief glimpse of some brown liquid before she puts her mouth on it and bites. The creature makes a noise for the first time, and no matter how human the face looks, the noise it makes is not. It is animal, it is pain and it is fear.

The girl finishes and jumps into a tree. The creature has no idea where she went, and so goes on eating the squirrel as if nothing happened. For the first time I am able to see the girls face. She has a very beautiful face, with jet black hair. She has sky blue eyes, that apear to see everything, even going so far as to look into the soul. What are really striking are her teeth. They are perfect, white but they have two long fangs in place of the normal human canine teeth.

I realize something. She is me.

I wake up in a cold sweat.