His now pale body was getting colder by the minute as the tentacle held its tight grip. His eyes went from being torn open and scrambling around the room to slammed shut and wanting nothing more than to never see the sight before him again. The tears finally stopped coming, though he still felt the need to cry. He knew the salty liquid could still spew forth, but his body just wouldn't allow for it anymore. And he wanted to scream, and yell, and thrash around with all of his might, but he didn't. He just couldn't.
The rust-colored behemoth in front of him was lurking in the shadows of the far end of the deserted room. The only thing in here besides them was dust and deceased insects. A foul and vomit-inducing odor leaking from the monster and Todd could hear it hiss and snarl. The only source of light came from the still open door from the room he had been yanked from and it was pretty dim. In fact, the whole scenario was even more terrifying with that little bit of faded light to highlight and outline his surroundings.
He could see all of the strange detail that made up the inhuman creature holding him, from the long and overly-dexterous "fingers" to the various "arms" that ranged from fleshy cords to scorpion tails. However, that appeared to be it. There were no sign of the supposed "feet" or "legs," and Todd certainly didn't want to see its head. It seemed to be merely a squishy giant with a temper.
The texture of its skin was different for each tentacle, some being firm and thick, while others were more flimsy and flexible. The various sensations that were aroused by touch were that of extreme discomfort from the tension and pressure being applied to his small frame. All other feeling was being lost as his circulation was being further cut off, but he did feel a stubby little tentacle wrap itself curiously over his left foot.
Gulping, Todd narrowly opened his eyes, and with sweat dripping down his forehead, he focused on the center of the wall, hoping to find out exactly what he was up against. Not like he really wanted to see this thing, but he needed at least a glance to prepare himself. After all, what if this animal could swallow him whole? He probably wouldn't die right away, even if this thing chewed on him.
And with just that little peak, Todd saw that this thing didn't even have eyes. It must have severely enhanced senses of touch and sound if that's the case. Otherwise, it didn't seem very likely that it would have survived for however long it has. Todd briefly remembered Nny talking about painting a wall to keep "it" at bay. This had to be what he was so frantically trying to keep concealed. Nny might have been a deranged homicidal maniac, but at least he didn't ruthlessly slaughter everyone that came across his path. This thing didn't look too merciful...
Finding his body unable to shake relentlessly like it normally would in situations like this, Todd tried to slowly move his arm so he could pull it out from the ever-tightening grip of the monster. However, at the slightest feeling of movement, it proceeded to tighten its hold, gaining a squeak from its victim.
Eyes darting around the room, Todd was desperately searching for anything to help his cause. Remembering the nothingness that surrounded the two, he hung his head and let out an exasperating sigh, earning an ear-shattering roar from the monster. It tightened its grip again, this time applying so much pressure that a few of Todd's ribs actually snapped. And breaking bones did not feel all that pleasant.
"Ahh!"
The sound was high-pitched and pathetic, but it was all he was able to muster with his airway now being restricted. Stretching its "neck" out, the beast inched closer and closer to Todd until its beak... thing... was touching his nose. It appeared to be sniffing him, judging by the awkward sounds it was making. Sticking its razor sharp tongue out, it ran it right across Todd's face, peeling off light layers of skin and leaving behind a rough and painful streak of red skin to take its place.
Savoring the taste of the child's flesh, the creature screeched and hollered, flinging Todd's body violently from side to side. His grip loosened as he let his body slip just enough to suddenly re-tighten around his neck. Hands flying up to hold up his own weight, Todd squeaked in pain and surprise. His sides were throbbing from the pain of the breakage, but he was more concerned about his neck being snapped in half at the moment.
The entire room seemed to shake as the monster moved itself all at once. Todd was dangling, still suspended in midair when he was suddenly hurled to the other side of the room. Having been released, he smashed into the unstable wall, leaving quite the nice hole in it. His body fell limply to the ground and he audibly cried out in pain and utter terror. Never in his entire life had he imagined facing something so horrifying and unspeakable. He had been abducted and experimented on by aliens, bullied ever since he could remember, attacked by mobs of people, surrendered to Satan himself, and locked up in a bogus and pathetic excuse of a mental health facility for over a year. And despite all of that, even combined, it didn't add up to what he was facing now.
No one or nothing could prepare him for this.
Trying to push himself up, Todd made it to his knees before the malevolent demon fiercely wrapped a tentacle around his arm and hoisted him back up. Then, out of nowhere, it slammed another tentacle down. Todd's head flew back as the blood spattered and he screamed bloody murder. The blow had completely dislocated his arm and made a nice, clean tear in his skin. Blood oozed onto the floor, staining it while Todd fought to control his breathing. The initial shock wore off and he frantically squirmed around, trying to free himself.
Being released again, Todd scurried to his feet and made a break for the door, but to no avail. A tentacle swooped down and cut him off, knocking the wind right out of him. As he fell again, the monster wrapped another tentacle around his foot and violently dragged him across the floor. It picked him up and slammed him into the wall face first, knocking out several teeth and leaving quite the noticeable gashes on his head. The blood just dripped as the living nightmare shrieked and made a strange gurgling noise that sounded like a cackle.
Dropping his body to the floor, Todd was now lying on his back, looking up at the ceiling, and just in time for a tentacle to come crashing down on his stomach. His body shot up as the blood spewed from his mouth and open sores while the rest of his ribs broke clean off. It was then that he knew that his lung had been punctured, he could feel the warm liquid fill it and drown him.
Now gasping for air, trying desperately to draw a breath, Todd reached out his only remaining good arm and tried to claw his way to the still open door. And yet fate would not seem to be so kind, for just when he almost made it, he was rapidly snatched from his spot of the ground and his limbs and torso were each grabbed by a different tentacle. Another one reached up and it had very firm, very prickly "teeth" on it, and it smacked him in the forehead and held his head up to hold his attention.
Making more strange gurgling and scratchy sounds, the wicked bastard started to slowly twist Todd's limbs in different directions. He wanted nothing more than to scream as tears flowed down his face like a waterfall, but he couldn't. Now bleeding from every part of his body, Todd had no choice but to listen to the popping and cracking sound emitting from his bones as they tried to resist the breakage. And as he felt each individual crack and break, he could only wonder if this is what happened to Shmee when he was found. Being an unfeeling teddy-bear, he was extremely fortunate.
And apparently being satisfied with Todd's now mangled and hardly recognizable body, the creature dropped him to the ground one last time and watched as he convulsed on the floor, twitching and bleeding out all around himself. He could already feel the infection settle in to his exposed head wounds, but knew that it didn't matter anymore. With no one knowing where he was, not caring anyway, and the fact that his lung was completely collapsed, he knew it was only a matter of time before he died.
And in those final moments, his thoughts were oddly enough filled with Nny. Did he know exactly what this thing was? How it got behind his wall? What it was capable of? Did he know that it was this harsh? Malevolent? Gruesome? And did he ever wonder about his own safety when he approached the rotted wood that stood between him and it? Did the blood really keep this thing hidden? Even though none of these questions would be answered for him, Todd could only hope that St. Peter would let him past the gates and into Heaven. Little did he know that Nny had been there and back and it wasn't going to be as wonderful as he thought.
And then he had a fleeting thought of Devi. Did she know what Nny was hiding in his basement? What would she say if she saw it? What would she say if she saw him right now? Would she be scared? Angry? Uncaring? He still wouldn't believe that she was a bad person. He could only imagine what Nny had put her through before she managed to escape. He knew that she became a recluse after that night, seeing as how you almost never saw her around town anymore.
His eyes started to get heavy and he willingly let them close. The blood made a heavy puddle that pooled all around him and the monster was lapping it up in the background, but Todd no longer could hear it. Unable to move at all, he coughed up more blood and then laid face down in it, finally calming himself enough to accept his fate. It wouldn't be long before his body was torn apart and locked on to the wall just like Shmee's.
"A/N: This is the kind of ridiculous update period I was talking about in the beginning. It's been over a month since I've written anything for this story. But I'll avoid that rant, I did warn you, anyway. I hope you like this chapter; I tried to be really descriptive to give you the feel of how he died. It was pretty violent, eh? And just in case anyone is confused, the monster is the wall monster that Johnny worked so hard to keep locked up. If you need a reference for what I was describing when I wrote about him, just look in issue five. Anyway, that concludes this chapter. Until next time."