The cleansing
One bright morning in April the clouds were gone. A night of terrifying events had ended as abruptly as they had begun. And we were left to wonder. Why? All that was spared for me were my memories of the destruction, which had just wrecked my town. Not that much physical damage had been dealt to the city itself, but more that every citizen had been touched by it. Either directly, by simply being killed, or indirectly by having loved ones taken away. Which was worse was hard to judge. Suffering for a short moment, and then not having to feel ever again, or being left to your sorrow for years to come knowing that on that day long ago you lost everything of value to you. Whatever the answer, I was one of those select few who survived the brutal slaughter, for a slaughter it most certainly was. So here follows my tale, and though it may be futile, I write this in the hope of getting some of what sanity I may have left, back.
They came during the night. By the thousands they poured out from the darkness under a scorched sky, none of them human, none of them alike. Without a sound they slipped in and out of the shadows as if they were a part of the darkness surrounding them. In the rain they sought us out one after another, and with fangs and claws of pearly white, they ripped flesh and tore bones from each other. With great swipes they slashed organs and split skulls, and seemingly without effort, they ripped limbs from the bodies of screaming, helpless human beings. Beings as myself. People I knew. Persons I loved.
I woke up by the sound of wood being smashed. It sounded as if someone had torn a tree apart, and in a way someone had. Or rather something. The remains of the door to my room lay on the floor, and a creature of unspeakable horror stood in its place. Towering above me, the creature's head almost touched the ceiling. The lumbering beast's teeth and claws were stained with blood, and as it curled up, its ape like arms touched the floor. I couldn't scream. I couldn't move. I couldn't even flex a muscle. All I could do was stare at this hideous monstrosity standing before me. Stare at the shreds of meat hanging from its gaping jaws, blood dripping down over its scaly hide and onto the floor, mixing with the pool of rainwater that had gathered around its feet. It growled, and looked around the room with its dark eyes, observing, seeking, searching for prey. And in that very instant I knew I was going to die. Any minute it would notice me, and rip me apart. Yet I didn't die. By some freak incident the monster didn't see me, and slowly turned around, and left me to shiver alone. Instead it smashed the door opposite of mine in the hallway. The door into my sister's room. By the faint light cast by a streetlamp, I could see the creature lurking in the doorway for a moment, and then jumping into the darkness. What was I to do? With tears streaming down my face, I closed my eyes shut, and pressed the pillow down over my head to keep the screams away. But I couldn't keep the cries of help out, and though they lasted no more than a fraction of a second before being forever squelched, those screams still haunt my mind. And whenever I close my eyes, I can hear the triumphant howl the creature let out, as it began to feast on the carcass of my sister. Her body. Her flesh. My flesh. I do not know how long this carried on, but suddenly a window was smashed, and after that there was only silence.
Now came the long wait. I was too afraid to move out from under my blanket, so I just lay there. Yet nothing happened. To begin with I was too tense to notice, and I simply waited for the sting of pain as a set of claws were buried into my stomach, or huge fangs penetrated my thigh. I listened, in an attempt to try and predict when it was going to happen, and several times I was sure my time was up. But each time I was proven wrong, and as the hours passed, I carefully lifted my blanket and looked out into the darkness. First there was nothing, But as my eyes became accustomed to the dim light, the contours of my room emerged. Except for the splinters of wood in my room, everything looked normal. Yet the impression was abruptly torn apart as I noticed the pool of red water on the floor. A stream of blood from across the hallway had found its way to join with the red pond in mine. My sister's blood. My blood. Shivering I sat up in my bed, and looked out my 1st floor window. Shades moved around out there with an incredible haste. Speeding in and out of the shadows, jumping in of windows and entering through smashed doors, they ravaged the entire city, seemingly on a killing frenzy with no purpose or meaning. The sight was horrifying, yet strangely exiting, and I couldn't pull my eyes away from the spectacle unfolding beneath me. From time to time I looked away as a scream filled the air, yet every time my eyes wandered back to the window and the dim lights outside. The hunter had become the hunted. We, the dominant species of the planet, were hunted and exterminated like the vermin we truly were. And I just sat there, watching, until at last the horizon turned blood red as the sun rose seemingly from the ocean of blood that had been spilled that night. And they were gone.
One bright morning in April the clouds were gone. A night of terrifying events had ended as abruptly as they had begun. And we were left to wonder. Why? All that was spared for me were my memories of the destruction, which had just wrecked my town. Not that much physical damage had been dealt to the city itself, but more that every citizen had been touched by it. Either directly, by simply being killed, or indirectly by having loved ones taken away. Which was worse was hard to judge. Suffering for a short moment, and then not having to feel ever again, or being left to your sorrow for years to come knowing that on that day long ago you lost everything of value to you. Whatever the answer, I was one of those select few who survived the brutal slaughter, for a slaughter it most certainly was. So here follows my tale, and though it may be futile, I write this in the hope of getting some of what sanity I may have left, back.
They came during the night. By the thousands they poured out from the darkness under a scorched sky, none of them human, none of them alike. Without a sound they slipped in and out of the shadows as if they were a part of the darkness surrounding them. In the rain they sought us out one after another, and with fangs and claws of pearly white, they ripped flesh and tore bones from each other. With great swipes they slashed organs and split skulls, and seemingly without effort, they ripped limbs from the bodies of screaming, helpless human beings. Beings as myself. People I knew. Persons I loved.
I woke up by the sound of wood being smashed. It sounded as if someone had torn a tree apart, and in a way someone had. Or rather something. The remains of the door to my room lay on the floor, and a creature of unspeakable horror stood in its place. Towering above me, the creature's head almost touched the ceiling. The lumbering beast's teeth and claws were stained with blood, and as it curled up, its ape like arms touched the floor. I couldn't scream. I couldn't move. I couldn't even flex a muscle. All I could do was stare at this hideous monstrosity standing before me. Stare at the shreds of meat hanging from its gaping jaws, blood dripping down over its scaly hide and onto the floor, mixing with the pool of rainwater that had gathered around its feet. It growled, and looked around the room with its dark eyes, observing, seeking, searching for prey. And in that very instant I knew I was going to die. Any minute it would notice me, and rip me apart. Yet I didn't die. By some freak incident the monster didn't see me, and slowly turned around, and left me to shiver alone. Instead it smashed the door opposite of mine in the hallway. The door into my sister's room. By the faint light cast by a streetlamp, I could see the creature lurking in the doorway for a moment, and then jumping into the darkness. What was I to do? With tears streaming down my face, I closed my eyes shut, and pressed the pillow down over my head to keep the screams away. But I couldn't keep the cries of help out, and though they lasted no more than a fraction of a second before being forever squelched, those screams still haunt my mind. And whenever I close my eyes, I can hear the triumphant howl the creature let out, as it began to feast on the carcass of my sister. Her body. Her flesh. My flesh. I do not know how long this carried on, but suddenly a window was smashed, and after that there was only silence.
Now came the long wait. I was too afraid to move out from under my blanket, so I just lay there. Yet nothing happened. To begin with I was too tense to notice, and I simply waited for the sting of pain as a set of claws were buried into my stomach, or huge fangs penetrated my thigh. I listened, in an attempt to try and predict when it was going to happen, and several times I was sure my time was up. But each time I was proven wrong, and as the hours passed, I carefully lifted my blanket and looked out into the darkness. First there was nothing, But as my eyes became accustomed to the dim light, the contours of my room emerged. Except for the splinters of wood in my room, everything looked normal. Yet the impression was abruptly torn apart as I noticed the pool of red water on the floor. A stream of blood from across the hallway had found its way to join with the red pond in mine. My sister's blood. My blood. Shivering I sat up in my bed, and looked out my 1st floor window. Shades moved around out there with an incredible haste. Speeding in and out of the shadows, jumping in of windows and entering through smashed doors, they ravaged the entire city, seemingly on a killing frenzy with no purpose or meaning. The sight was horrifying, yet strangely exiting, and I couldn't pull my eyes away from the spectacle unfolding beneath me. From time to time I looked away as a scream filled the air, yet every time my eyes wandered back to the window and the dim lights outside. The hunter had become the hunted. We, the dominant species of the planet, were hunted and exterminated like the vermin we truly were. And I just sat there, watching, until at last the horizon turned blood red as the sun rose seemingly from the ocean of blood that had been spilled that night. And they were gone.