Beast

in which a beast haunts the town of lakeside. |

My momma always told me a beast roams the Lakeside territory. Every night she'd lock the doors and close the shutters before sundown. It was a strict rule to be in the house by five each evening. No one in our small, little town believed her, even through the endless meetings and proof she took to the council. They'd labeled my momma as crazy and sent her away.

Do I believe in the beast? Yes and no. Maybe. I still lock the doors and close the shutters even though she is gone. But it's foolish to think a man turned animal hunts for prey like us.

That is until, I left the window open one night. So innocently I didn't think nothing about it. Then at midnight, the floorboard creaked. And I knew, from the low growl and the claws against glass, that the beast was real. And he was here for me.