The Horse Kid and the Moon Dragon

Gut Punching a Vampire

I ran.

I don't remember much of the details, but I definitely remember the feeling of my legs burning as I ran back to my house. I didn't want to look back. I feel like it might eat my eyes if I gave it the chance. But I could hear it, the distinct flapping of large wings.  And sometimes I see a large shadow looming over my own.

My eyes were burning, it must be tears. I'm so scared, I'm terrified. Whatever was there, I didn't want to be the next thing on the menu. And so, I ran as fast I could manage.

But I felt something wrap around my neck. I would have screamed if it weren't for its tight grip on me. I immediately clamped my mouth closed when I saw the string move in front of me. A tongue, it was a tongue. And it was aimed at me, at my mouth. 

I felt my life flash before my eyes, and I felt this surge of strength burst within me. I just didn't want my life to end there, and threw all my might on getting the tongue off me. I felt the tongue pry off my neck in barely a second, and I made a mad sprint towards the door with such incredible speed. I could hear the sound of flapping close, but I managed to close the door and lock it.

I heard a scream outside. It must have been frustrated that I managed to escape. I took a deep breath and wiped the tears from my face. That was too close.

But soon I saw a shadow move in the moonlight from the window. I froze up, seeing a long slender shadow moving towards the window. The first memory came in mind as I connected the dots, it eats using its long while its body lies on the rooftop. I had to get away from the windows, all of them. But the house had windows in all the windows. I had nowhere to hide.

I scrambled the center of the living room, at least I wasn't close to any of them. The shadow was gone. The silence of the night was deafening as my ears tried to pick up the slightest of sounds. Breaking glass was loud like a gunshot, I turned to see that the tongue had broken through one of the windows. It was snaking towards me! It was inches away from my face, and out of instinct, I sort of...grabbed it.

I wasn't really thinking there, it was the best thing I did at the moment. This thing wanted to eat me, but I'm not going to go down without a fight! I pulled with all my might, trying to get that thing off of the roof. I tied the tongue around my hand to make sure it didn't slither anywhere without me knowing. I heaved, the thing was heavier than I thought but I soon heard something drop onto the ground and pulled further. I felt resistance but I continued pulling with all my might. And through the broken glass, I could see the predator being dragged in.

It was a woman, at least the body looked like it. Pale milky eyes like the moon and teeth that glimmered like knives. Its skin was white and wrinkled like wet paper, and it screeched with sounds that humans shouldn't be able to make unless in extreme pain. Ribbons of pink and red were dangling from the separated bottom of the top half. It really was like the woman was sawn in half.

But right now, it wasn't a woman, it was far from that. It was flapping around, trying to get into the air. But I used its tongue like a rope and smashed it into the wall. It tried to escape, but I used my hand that's tied with the tongue to keep it in the wall, pressing against the shoulder. And with my free hand, I balled it into a fist. I haven't counted the number of swings that I took at the creature's face, but I think it was enough for it to look like a pulp.

I don't know if it was sheer anger, the drive for survival, or adrenaline. I've heard of parents who had superhuman strength if their children were in danger. Why am I mentioning this now? Because I saw the cracks in the crater I made in the wall grow with each swing of my fist. I heard the sound of heavy breathing, like from a horse. And...it was coming from me?