CREATURES ON FIRE

He Comes At Night

A/N: This story is a part of my book called "Irresistible Monsters" that is available on Amazon. If anyone is interested, I decided to share this piece for you all to 'taste' the sample of the book. Hope you enjoy!

Thora sat at her PC, browsing through scary stories and modern urban legends. Her friend Marie has recently told her about a strange cryptid that was supposedly spotted somewhere in their area. From what she read, the creature looked pretty humanoid and bore similarities with either a naked skinny human or a large hairless dog. This cryptid was known as 'The Rake'.

"This is bullshit," Thora huffed. "This thing has been spotted in our area? That sounds as unlikely as if a unicorn lived around here somewhere."

Her house was located not far from the woods, and no matter how many times Thora took a walk there, she had never seen anything out of the ordinary. Just the familiar sounds of nature, birds chirping, or some small animal rushing by. It was a pleasure to walk there during the day, and Thora always took the opportunity when she had time. There was absolutely nothing to beware of.

Thora had no idea yet how wrong she was.

At the moment she was browsing through the Gods and Monsters site. Thora had to admit that this website was pretty interesting. There was so much information about different mythological deities and monstrous beings. For those who are interested in such things or studying mythology, this website would be very useful. And even Thora, being not too much into mythology, found some knowledge for herself there. But what caught her attention almost instantly was the true stories section. There people submitted their own experiences and encounters with the supernatural and so-called cryptids – beings that supposedly existed in the real world, but their existence has not yet been proven by science. Thora wasn't sure whether all those stories were believable. She knew that some people tell such tales just to get more attention, but could all of them be lying? That was a good question. There are too many reports about ghosts, demons, and monsters; and it would sound strange if so many people were lying simultaneously. It was just silly. Maybe those people just hallucinated and thought they had seen something? Quite possible. It's only logical to think that monsters exist only in fairy tales and are not real.

Or are they?

Thora understood that she could assume anything she desired, but to find out whether these creatures are real or not, proof had to be found. Otherwise all those stories would remain as they were – stories. As for the being Marie told her about, she searched something about it on Gods and Monsters. There was no information about a creature called 'The Rake' in the list of monsters, but after searching through the section of true stories, she stumbled on one report about it. The story was submitted by a person called Jesse Frank from Varysburg, NY. She clicked on the title.

"I figured I might as well talk about these scary events happening to me, especially since it doesn't know how to read.

Every night for the past week, or week and a half, this thing keeps showing up at the side of my bed every night that I have a bad dream, which is every night. It all started when I told my parents about this thing I've heard about on the Internet. This thing had a body much like a naked man and has started showing up at people's beds for about 300 years. It would stalk them every night and watch them sleep. This might sound crazy but, I think I'm being stalked by the Rake.

On the third day of me waking up to it next to my bed, it told me its name was the Rake, then it did something weird. Something I've never heard of the Rake doing. It somehow knocked me out and made me dream about all the scary things that have ever happened to me.

When I woke up, it told me if I ever told anyone about these encounters, it would kill anything I loved, then torture me into a slow and painful death. But the weirdest thing was that the words he spoke weren't in English, it was some weird language that I've never heard before. Kinda like a gargle-like high-pitched, stuttering noise, yet somehow I could understand everything he was saying.

One night when I knew he was going to come, I recorded the brutal words he said, and the next morning when I listened to them, it was this really high pitched fuzzy noise that was very irritating. Anyway, I figure no one will believe me if I told them, so I decided to record this to myself.

So far, I'm afraid for my 12 year old life."

While reading through the story, Thora felt shivers run down her spine. But as soon as her glance fell on the last sentence, she sighed with frustration. So this was written by a twelve-year old child? This made her doubt the story's credibility. She knew that in most cases kids did such things for fun or for online attention. But what if this case happened to be true? You could never know. And there's no possibility to contact the people who submit their encounters to the site. It could all be fake as well as true.

Thora let out another heavy sigh and switched off her PC. There was no use sitting and just reading about it. The only way to know whether it was true or not, was to encounter this Rake creature. Thora wasn't sure whether she could have much luck considering her doubts about the monster's existence. But in the end she decided not to occupy her brain with this nonsense. She picked up her cell phone to call Marie and arrange a meeting with her in town for a cup of coffee somewhere. It would help her relax and forget about the creature called 'The Rake'.

Thora met up with Marie in the town center. The two young women spent the day walking and chatting merrily; and as soon as the town clock struck five, they chose a café to drink some coffee and took a seat. Marie ordered double espresso, and Thora preferred cappuccino with rum flavoring. After the waiter brought the drinks, Thora decided to start a conversation about what she'd read earlier.

"Hey, are you being serious about that weird being in our area?" she asked.

Marie nodded confidently.

"Absolutely. You don't believe me?" she tilted her head. "Come on, Thora. Have I ever lied to you?"

"No, I'm not saying that you're lying, no way," Thora waved her hands in front of her face. "But tell me one thing, where have you heard about it? Who told you that?"

Marie frowned, trying to remember.

"No one told me directly," she said. "But I overheard two women talking about it. And those weren't some teens or college students. Those were middle-aged women."

"Oh? And what exactly was the conversation about?"

"One of them said that her daughter was attacked by this creature at night. It seems that the Rake tends to sneak inside people's houses in the dark and watch them sleep. If you don't wake up in the middle of the night, it's good for you. But if you do…" She made a facial expression that could be interpreted as 'that's going to be bad'. "And so it happened that her daughter woke up in the middle of the night and saw this monster sitting on her bed. She began yelling her lungs out, and I guess that provoked the monster to attack. Luckily her parents burst into the room in time, and all she got was a few slashes from his claws. The creature jumped out of the window and disappeared in the night. Since then they have moved into the town center to be safe. By the way, they lived in the suburbs when it happened, by the woods. It's the same area where you live."

While listening to Marie's monologue, Thora felt her insides shiver a bit. Could it be that this Rake creature was not only real, but it lived in the nearby woods? Could it really be possible?

"Are you okay?" Marie asked, looking at her friend with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just thinking…" Thora replied thoughtfully. "You know I've never believed in anything like monsters and ghosts. But what you just told me makes me shiver."

"Neither do I actually believe in them, to be honest," Marie admitted. "You know, if those were some kids or college students discussing a monster, I wouldn't believe it either. But when serious people talk about encountering a cryptid… it already sounds suspicious, don't you think?"

"Yeah, you're right," Thora agreed, brushing strands of hair away from her face. "So if this thing really lives somewhere in the woods nearby, I'll make sure all the windows and doors are firmly locked. It's better safe than sorry."

"Exactly," Marie nodded in agreement. She felt lucky living in the town center where no unknown creatures would dare to appear. She and Thora then spent a couple more hours in the town until it was time for them to go their separate ways. The ladies waved goodbye to each other and walked home while it wasn't too dark yet.

It was around eight when Thora arrived home, and feeling no wish to eat anything before sleeping, she went straight into the bathroom to take a warm, relaxing shower. It was still a bit early to go to sleep after she left the bathroom, and she wasn't going to sit at her PC again. Somehow it made her feel a bit tired. Making sure the door and all the windows were locked, she pulled out a book from the nightstand and began reading in bed. It felt much better than staring into the monitor. Thus an hour passed until Thora felt slumber slowly taking over her, so she put the book down and switched off the lamp. In the moment her head lay down on the pillow, she finally fell asleep.

Her sleep was quite restless. Thora twisted and turned in her bed, unable to get rid of the nightmares. She dreamed about all the frightening things that had ever happened to her. She opened her eyes only a bit, being in a state between sleep and awakening, and through the blurry vision she saw a silhouette of someone looking down at her. She couldn't see who it was as all she could see was fog and vague contours. Thinking that it was just a dream, Thora fell into a deep sleep again. And when the morning light began coming into her room, she felt like broken glass. Never before had she slept as poorly as last night.

Thora slept in her underwear in summer, and last night was no exception. Not caring to dress up, she got out of her bed, planning to use the bathroom. But as soon as her vision became totally clear, she noticed something out of the ordinary in her room.

The window was open.

Thora shook her head frantically and rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things. The window was still wide open. She thought she closed it before going to bed, but now it somehow was open. What the hell was going on?

She shook her head again, trying not to think anything bad. Maybe she was careless enough to forget to lock the window and the wind blew it open while she slept? Most likely it was the case. Next time she would lock it firmly so nothing could open it that easy. With that thought in mind she walked to the bathroom.

But right as she turned on the light, the reflection in the mirror made her freeze. Thora felt her blood getting cold in her veins and her heart skipped a beat. There were strange markings on her body in two places – one on her right shoulder and one near the crotch.

There were the four slashes left by the large claws…

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The next day passed in worry. Thora couldn't get rid of the anxiety that plagued her from the morning till night. The feeling that someone else was in her room at night followed her constantly. Now she was sure that it wasn't the wind that opened the window. And those slashes looked like they were made by some large animal. But wild animals don't crawl into people's houses. Besides, there were no wolves or bears in the nearby woods. The largest predator that could be spotted there was a fox. Thora refused to believe it till the last moment, but it seemed that there was no other option.

Only one creature could have done this.

The Rake.

Thora gulped nervously, watching the sky turning darker as the evening was replaced by night. One more time she checked all the windows, this time locking them for sure. There's no way she wanted any stranger roaming around her house, especially a monster. She turned the light off and went to sleep.

No matter how much she tried, it was impossible to fall into a deep sleep for a while. Thora turned from one side to another, but was unable to sleep normally. It was like torture for her. But when it felt like slumber was finally coming to her, she awoke from air being too chilly in her room. But that wasn't what made her heart almost stop beating from the horror that filled her with each second. Something was crawling upon her bed; and when Thora lifted herself on her elbows to see what it was, she started gasping and lost the ability to talk.

A naked, pale humanoid was sitting on her legs, holding her down. She looked directly into his face while he was drilling her with the deadly gaze of his black eyes that looked more like empty eye sockets. But what instilled the strongest terror into Thora was the sight of his claws. She had never seen any earthly being with claws as long as his; and the thought of what he could do with them made her entire body tremble.

She knew exactly who was sitting before her. It was none other than the infamous Rake.

Thora tried to say something but to no avail. The monster pressed her to the bed with his thin and clawed hand, leaving her no ability to get up. And then he spoke to her. Just like Jesse Frank said online, the creature spoke a language she had never heard in her life. It sounded too weird for her, and yet she could understand everything he told her.

"Don't move," his voice spoke in her mind. "You try anything and you die."

Thora still couldn't mutter even one word, and the monster obviously liked her obedience. She shivered when his claws slid over her stomach and chest until it reached the strap on her right shoulder, cutting it apart with one movement. That's when confusion and terror enveloped her, and Thora felt like millions of tiny ants ran over her skin when she began to realize his true intentions. It couldn't be what she just thought… or could it?

In this moment she finally gained the ability to talk again.

"Why are you here?" she asked, her voice shaking. "What do you want?"

"I want you," the creature replied. Thora's eyes widened, feeling even more confused.

"Me? What are you talking about?"

The Rake touched her forehead with a tip of his claw, moving it down her face to the lips.

"I want you. Your body, all of you," he spoke. His voice sounded like high-pitched hoarse noise that irritated her ears, but the words were absolutely clear. "Enough talk. Tonight you are mine to do with as I please."

Thora now knew for sure what he was up to. She managed to lift her head up high enough to see the monster; and when she caught a glimpse of his crotch, it left her no doubts that the monster was male. That was the last rational thought that came to her mind. Before Thora realized anything, the Rake put his clawed hand on her head and from that very second she felt herself getting relaxed and her vision began to blur. Warmth filled her body, filling her from inside and out. The monster had clearly hypnotized her, but Thora was already oblivious to this fact. Neither did she feel her nightgown getting torn to rags, although she felt the creature's claws touch her now bare skin, their sharp tips toying with her hardened buds. And just as his second hand moved to her private parts and touched the sensitive spot between her legs, she didn't resist. On the contrary, she arched her back and moaned to his touch, her slit producing love juices from his manipulations of her body. The Rake hypnotized her for a reason. He wanted this woman to submit to him willingly, and his plan appeared to be successful.

The Rake wasn't going to waste time. And he would not deprive himself of pleasure to take her right now. His member was already hard and ready for action. He received more lustful moans from the human female while penetrating her body, and the monster had to admit that he enjoyed the sounds she made. The Rake began moving his bony hips right away, and his male organ was long enough to hit her sweet spot with every thrust. Thora writhed and moaned underneath his body, and she didn't even notice that her arms instinctively wrapped themselves around his neck like a vine. It only served as a sign that she enjoyed their bizarre but steamy intercourse. The speed of his hip movements soon became fast and erratic, and Thora was sure that no human man could ever move like that. He literally sent her up to cloud nine until she was unable to hold back her orgasm anymore, it was too much for her. Her warm and wet cavern tightened around his member while she screamed out her cry of passion. The Rake made a few more rough thrusts and felt he was ready to release his load into her. His organ spurted out a large amount of seed and before pulling out, the monster made sure every drop got inside her body. He hissed in pure and unadulterated satisfaction while Thora tried to catch her breath. Both of them were satisfied with each other.

Deciding it was time for her to awaken, the Rake allowed her to return to reality and as soon as Thora got back her ability to think clearly, her ears were pierced by the annoying screeching sound again.

The monster spoke once more.

"Remember my warning. If you tell anyone about your encounters with me, you know what the consequences will be. I will kill you slowly and painfully, and your suffering will become legendary even in the underworld."

Saying this, the Rake crawled out through the open window and disappeared in the dark forest. Thora lay in her bed, trying to process the latest events. Did it really happen to her? Did she just copulate with the legendary creature known as the Rake? In the first moment she tried to think that it was all a dream, but the slashes on her body and the wetness between her legs proved the opposite. She then got up and closed the window as the night was rather chilly. Her body was too exhausted from the stormy sex she just had, and not much time passed until sleep finally took over her.

The next day she felt terribly tired which wasn't surprising after what she had gone through. The sex was amazing but today she felt like the Rake had taken much of her energy away. Plus, her stomach rumbled loudly, indicating that it was time to fill it. Thora dressed quickly and walked to the town center where the largest supermarket was located. Besides, she had to buy a new nightgown. The monster tore hers apart with his claws, and it was still too hot to sleep in pajamas. And just as she entered the store, her eyes caught a glimpse of Marie standing by the dairy product shelf. She ran to her friend, startling her a bit.

"Thora! Hi!" Marie exclaimed happily, but seeing her friend's tormented look, she frowned. "Hey, are you alright?"

Thora cleared her throat.

"Well, not really," she admitted.

"Why? What happened?"

Thora then led her into a corner, away from any curious ears and eyes, and then whispered about all the last night's events into Marie's ear. Marie listened with her eyes so wide as if they were going to bulge out of their sockets. She found it hard to believe that her best friend encountered The Rake personally, or even more, had sex with him. But when Thora showed her the slashes on her right shoulder, Marie finally started to believe. But the creature's warning concerned them both.

"I know I should have kept quiet, but holding this all inside me is truly unbearable," Thora sighed heavily. "But now, after I have spoken to you, I feel much better. You know, it's like throwing weight off my shoulders."

"Yeah, I understand, and I'm glad if it makes you feel better," Marie smiled. "But his threat sure is terrifying. I hope you'll be fine after this."

"I hope so too," Thora said. "I mean, how on Earth can he know that I spoke to you or someone else if I'm now in a grocery store?"

Marie shrugged.

"I don't know. Who the hell knows about those monsters?"

As a result both ladies went on with their shopping, forgetting about the monster. Thora felt so hungry that she felt she might take all the tasty goods out of the store. But she just purchased the most necessary things and went home by bus. Her bags were full and rather heavy, so walking home was not an option. And after she managed to satisfy her empty stomach, she felt much better; even her energy was restored at least a bit. She hoped to get a good sleep tonight and locked the door and windows, but if the Rake decided to pay her a visit again, he would find a way to get in, just like he did last night. Thora then lay down on her bed and switched the light off. As she closed her eyes, sleep quickly began taking her in its embrace, but in the next moment it was brutally ripped away from her.

Thora felt the blanket being roughly torn away, uncovering her body fully. She already ignored the open window and cold air in the room. Her glance was strictly concentrated on the creature that was sitting on top of her. Thora's heart began beating insanely fast and her breath became erratic.

The monster was very angry. And before she could say anything, his claws were on her throat, practically blocking the air flow into her lungs.

"You betrayed me."

"Wh…what?" Thora barely managed to mutter through the constricted throat. The irritating high-pitched screech in her ears was back.

"I think I told you not to tell anybody about our meetings," he hissed furiously. "Didn't I say that I would make you regret it? Didn't I?!"

This time Thora could barely nod. His hand was pressing so hard on her throat that she was unable to talk. All she could do was watch with eyes full of terror when his other hand was lifted above her, claws aiming at her stomach.

"It is your fault alone," the Rake growled. "So now don't complain."

Thora's body twitched when a sharp, stabbing pain piercing through her as the monster plunged his long claws into her stomach. But he wasn't going to stop there. He began ripping her flesh apart, making sure she was still conscious. He knew when to lessen the torture, in case she was close to passing out. It would be a useless waste of time then.

The Rake was overwhelmed by pure rage. This woman was so stupid. She naively thought that he wouldn't find out that she let it slip and told someone about him. She was unaware that since the moment he claimed her body, a connection was established. It served as a kind of beacon for him, and thus he could follow her every move. She disobeyed him and now she had to pay the price. He tore her flesh apart with such ferocity that he soon forgot that he wanted to kill her slowly.

The monster finally stopped when there was nothing but bloody mess left on the bed that barely resembled the woman that it used to be only minutes ago. Only the head was left intact. It looked much better this way. The Rake was now ready to leave, but just before he approached the window, he suddenly remembered something.

There was one more little thing left to do. And when he was done, the Rake left the house forever and disappeared in the night.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

When Thora didn't appear at work the next day, her colleagues wondered why. She didn't call anyone to inform them about her absence, and that was weird. But the following days it was the same story. It became suspicious, and one of the workers called the police. Marie also tried to reach her friend but to no avail. She then decided to pay a visit to Thora, but when she arrived at her place, there were police cars parked at the house. She walked towards them, and one of the police officers met her at the entrance.

"Where do you think you're going, madam?" he asked. "Please identify yourself."

"I'm Marie Thornton," she said. "My best friend lives at this house, her name is Thora Davenport. Why are you here? What's going on?"

The officer coughed before speaking.

"Ms. Davenport hasn't appeared at work for days, that's why the police were called. Logically that the first place to begin searching was her house." He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. "I'm sorry to say this, but Ms. Thora Davenport is… dead."

Marie's eyes went wide from shock. She couldn't say a word for a minute or two.

"Thora is… dead?" she stuttered. "But how? Why?"

"We have yet to investigate it. We found her lying in her bed… or… rather what is left of her."

Marie said nothing, just tilted her head.

"I have never seen anyone mutilate a body in such a gruesome way. This… this is inhuman. What monster could have done that?"

Marie gulped nervously, hearing the last few words.

Monster.

"May I see her?" she finally asked. The officer looked at her as if she was crazy.

"Madam, I really don't advise you to look at that. It's truly terrifying. I've seen many gruesome things, but this is just unbelievable."

"Please, officer," she begged with tears pouring from her eyes. "I must see her. I want to know what exactly happened to my friend."

The officer sighed.

"Well, alright then," he finally gave up. "If you insist, go and see at your own risk. I warned you."

"Thank you very much."

Marie slowly walked into the house, heading for the bedroom. A female officer walked out of it, her face twisting in a grimace of terror and disgust. Marie was prepared to see something awful, but her eyes fixated on the bed, she fought hard to hold back the vomit.

There, on a blood-soaked bed lay a severely mutilated piece of flesh that was once Thora. If it wasn't for the head that was left whole, it would be impossible to identify the victim. It was what remained of her best friend. Marie couldn't stand it anymore and burst into tears. The police didn't know who the culprit was, but she had an idea who did this. But the bloody mess on the bed wasn't the only thing that made Marie almost lose consciousness.

When her glance fell on the wall, there was no doubt left about the murderer's identity. There, above the bed, something was scratched on the wall; and it looked like it was done with some sharp object.

His claws.

Marie moved closer to see what exactly it was and stopped right there, deeply shocked.

It was one single word.

"TRAITOR"