Sadly the Creeper does not belong to me...
Still day or rather night one...
Taggart and Jacky had just finished dinner when a knock on the door drew their attention away from clearing the table.
"Who could that be?" asked Jacky as he walked out of the dinning room and through the hall to answer the door.
But before he opened it, he grabbed his shot gun from the corner and readied it.
"Who's there?" he asked loud enough for whomever to hear it on the other side of the door.
"I don't know," came a meek reply.
It sounded like a girl and Jacky lowered his gun to open the door. Sure enough there stood a teen of about fifteen or sixteen dressed in dirty jeans and a tattered black T-shirt. Her dark blond hair went down to her shoulders and was matted with dirt.
"Who are you?" asked Jacky more than a little surprised.
The girl frowned.
"I just told you, I don't know!" she said. "I was hoping maybe you knew..."
Jacky scratched the back of his head and stood aside.
"Well you don't look familiar- sorry, but maybe you should come inside. My name's Jacky by the way," he said setting the gun back against the wall.
The girl looked behind her into the dark and slightly shrugged before entering.
"Thank you," she muttered.
"Well, who was it?" Taggard's sounded voice from the dinning room.
Jacky led the way into the room and motioned for the girl to take a seat.
"She says she doesn't know who she is," he said. "I figure amnesia?"
Taggard seized her up and sighed.
"I guess you can stay here for tonight and I'll drive you to town in the morning," he said. "Jacky, show her where she can get cleaned up and maybe give her some of your old clothes. They might fit you missy."
"Follow me," said Jacky and led her upstairs.
After having showered and dressed in some slightly oversized jeans and a button up shirt, the girl had been called down and given some food.
"You can... you can stay in Billy's room tonight miss," said Jacky.
The girl nodded and finished eating her food.
"I can't just keep calling you miss... how about I call you Cassy, after my aunt? Just until you find out who you are of course," said Jacky.
"I guess that'll be alright," she said.
(First person from now on)
I gave up trying to sleep after an hour of tossing and turning. I just couldn't fall asleep. I felt strange not knowing who I was anymore. I knew nothing about myself, like I wasn't supposed to exist. I sighed and knelt up in bed to open the window and let in the cool night breeze. Cassy. I said the name out loud to hear the sound of it and thought it wasn't half bad. Better than no name at all at least. A sudden and fierce growl made me jump and I quickly peered out into the darkness. The barn was very close and I noticed the very walls were shaking! There it was again, but it seemed weaker this time. I hurried to put on my shoes and listened for any signs of Jacky or his father, but heard none. Another look out of the window told me I was able to easily climb onto the roof and jump off of the low rim. I landed with a soft thud and hurried to sneak to the barn, cautiously entering through a small door in the side. The full moon gave me enough light to see, so I hadn't to worry about tripping. Then again, I've been in the dark for so long I could have seen fine without it too. More grunts and growls came from behind a large stack of hay and the walls shook in a sort of rhythm. My heart was going a mile an hour, but my curiosity urged me onward and I slowly edged around the corner. No sense in walking out boldly and then be torn apart by a dog or something.
"Holly shit!" I gasped, so startled I fell back.
Nailed high to the barn wall in front of me was a creature I had never seen before in my life. Even if I had I wouldn't have remembered. But that thing! A real live monster! Black blood was oozing out of its mouth and the wounds from two large harpoons impaling it in its head and chest. His right arm and left leg had been severed and sowed back on and two huge wings- also severed, were nailed above him. It was trying to get loose! I know I should have been afraid, but for some reason I felt sorry for it instead. Nothing should be nailed to a wall like that, not even a grotesque monster like that! It's seemingly blind eyes fixed on me and it snarled, but shortly after resumed jerking against the nails. I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I found myself looking for a ladder tall enough to reach to the monster. I found one behind a makeshift stable and set it up in front of it, climbing up to the top until our eyes were level. Its eyes fixed back on me and it snarled again. I almost fell back, but gripped the ladder tightly and mustered enough courage for the brainless task I was about to undergo. It had stopped snarling at me, but looked very angry, glowering at me with its exposed and very sharp teeth clenched. The creature looked like it had been starved for a long time as its face was skeletal and his bones were showing. But then again, maybe that's how it looked like... how should I know?
"Alright," I breathed. "Now I'm going to try and pull you loose, but you can't go biting my hand off, promise?"
It answered with a long low growl and the claws framing his head folded themselves. Wait a minute, did I just say he? Well, he did kind of resemble a man so...
I steadied myself on the ladder and tightly gripped the shaft lodged in its skull.
"Umm... this may hurt," I said awkwardly.
The thing was stuck in his head, like what I was going to do would hurt more! I fastened my grip and pulled as hard as I could. The creature roared in pain as the shaft came free and I was so startled I fell backwards off the ladder. I hit the ground hard and all the air was knocked out of me. I gasped for air, but for a few panicking seconds all that happened were my lungs pushing out all the air. When I was finally able to breathe I rolled onto my side and gulped in some much needed air. I was lucky I hadn't broken anything and looked back up to the creature. More blood had run down his face and was dripping onto the floor, but he himself seemed calmer now. I hurried to climb up the ladder again, feeling a definite bruise on my butt. He kept his eyes on me except to glance at the shaft in his chest.
"Give me a sec will you? I just took a dive incase you hadn't noticed!"
What I failed to notice was that the ladder had moved a bit and was uneven. I gripped the shaft in his chest and with a deep breath pulled it loose. The ladder gave way and I fell to the ground again, this time with ladder and all. But this time I landed without knocking the wind out of me, until the creature yanked free and fell right on top of me. I was lucky he was so thin otherwise he would have crushed me. But that wasn't my problem right now. The creature knelt on his single leg and grabbed me by the throat, keeping me pinned to the ground. I tried to struggle, but he was stronger than he looked. He bent over and roughly smelled me- as weird as that sounds. He released my throat and grabbed my hair, smelling hard against my neck and face. I thought, this is it I'm going to die. But then he grunted and let go of me, awkwardly jumping towards the barn door. I scrambled to my feet and watched him struggle to get to the door. I looked up and saw his severed limbs still stuck on the wall. I slowed my breath once I realized he wasn't interested in me and slowly approached him from behind.
"Where are you going?" I asked for lack of better things to do.
The creature ignored me so I walked up in front of him. The creature growled at me again and paused on the floor. I walked up a few steps. Big mistake! Before I could jump back it grabbed my arm and yanked me down, clutching my skull. I thought he was going to crush it when a sudden knowledge came to me.
Every 23 years for 23 days it gets to eat. The creature released me and I sat back, saying the words out loud as though that would make it real. He awkwardly leaned on the stump of its right arm and growled softly, looking me right in the eyes. I stared at him for a moment and slightly cocked my head to the side. Now he seemed strangely familiar.
"You... you eat humans?" I asked slowly.
The creature gave a slight nod.
"Then why aren't you... well killing me?" I pressed.
The creature made a face as though it had smelled something rotten and I almost smacked it.
"ARE YOU IMPLYING I SMELL?!"
I quickly covered my mouth and listened for signs of life in the house. I sighed when there were no shouts of 'what's going on out there'.
"So you eat humans, but only those who...umm smell good to you?" I asked quietly.
The creature gave another impatient nod. I thought things over for a short while and decided on a course in life I would have never thought I would ever do. I don't know what compelled me to do it. Put simply: I was going to help him. I hesitated for but a moment and grabbed his wrist, pulling him up on his leg. He was very much taller than me, but still light and I put his arm around my shoulders. He snarled at me and moved to shove me, but I held on to his only arm.
"Listen, you're in no condition to go... kill them like this," I said. "Let me bring them to you and you can jump them from behind. You already showed me you're strong enough to do that."
The creature seemed to think it over and then nodded once. He looked into an especially dark corner and so that was where I deposited him on a stack of hay. I only looked back once before leaving the barn with an uncertain step. The house was dark and the men still asleep. I hesitated. That thing in the barn was a human eating monster and yet I felt compelled to help it...why? I sighed heavily and walked up to the front door banging on the wood.
"Hey! Jacky, Taggard wake up!" I called. "There's something in the barn!"
Instantly the lights went on in two of the windows and Jacky stuck his head out almost falling out.
"Whatever you do don't go near the barn!" he called alarmed. "Stay where you are!"
His head disappeared again. I heard his father cursing and both men literally tripping down the creaky staircase. I stepped back in time to avoid being run over by Taggard.
"What the hell are you doing out in the middle of the night?!" he barked at me.
Boy, for an old guy his vocal cords sure are loud. He was messily dressed and held a shotgun in his right hand. Jacky came out only a second later carrying two guns; he handed one to me.
"You better take this Cassy," he said in a kinder tone. "Just stay here and don't come into the barn no matter what, ya hear?"
"You're not leaving me out here!" I objected. "What is that thing anyway?"
"We call him the Creeper," said the older man. "He's the son of a bitch who killed my son Billy."
The Creeper huh? Didn't ring a bell. Whatever the case they were about to join Billy. Jacky kept me behind him as Taggard took the lead into the barn. Both men gasped when they saw the creeper was missing from the wall. I slightly stepped back and readied the gun as did the other two.
"Come out you rat's ass, I know you're still here," sneered Taggard.
I stepped back a little more when something dripped on my arm and I looked up. It was the Creeper; he was hanging on the ceiling. It was now or never and I fired the shotgun at Jacky before he had a chance to turn around. The gun knocked the wind out of me and I fell back as Taggard turned on his heels.
"Jacky!!" he shouted. "What did you do?!"
He meant to advance on me, but the Creeper got to him first, knocking him to the ground. Taggard shouted all kinds of obscenities and fired his gun in the air as the Creeper tore at his clothes and flesh. Soon I could only hear him scream until a sickening crack silenced him and all that was left were the tearing and breaking sounds; the Creeper was making short work of the man's arm and gulped it down whole almost comically. I crawled back against the wall and watched wide eyed as he did the same with his leg. I gagged once before getting myself in control again. The Creeper went on to take out his eyes and swallow them to. The he just stopped and sat down on the ground next to the body. I watched in horror as the lumps in his stomach began to move. He let out a low growl as a new, human leg slid out of his stump changing into his own grayish, clawed limb. The same happened to the arm. I finally had to look away when he reached to his face to take out his own eyes. I heard a wet ripping sound and dry heaved again. I heard him rip something that sounded like clothes and turned back to watch him punch a hole through Jacky's chest and pull out his blood trickling heart. He growled and turned on me so sudden I jumped. He pinned me to the wall by my shoulder with one hand and thrust the heart right in my face with a snarl. I reluctantly looked at it to see little led pellets where they had torn into the heart from the back. I looked at the angry Creeper and gulped.
"I-I'm sorry?" I said questioningly.
The Creeper let go of me and looked at the heart one more time before tossing it away with a sort of reprimanding growl. He grabbed the shot gun I hadn't realized I was still holding and waved his finger at me.
"I said I was sorry!" I snapped before realizing what he had just done.
Was he for real?! He grunted and walked off and out of the barn.
"Hey wait!"
I quickly got up and ran after him out the barn doors, but he was gone. I heard a sort of swooping sound and before I had a chance to turn around the Creeper grabbed me up in his arms. I held tight to his still thin neck and shut my eyes tight until the queasiness passed. He made a sound that sounded like chuckling and I opened my eyes to see him grinning at me. The wind was rushing through my hair and I turned my gaze down to find we were very, very high up! We we're flying! But when did he grow wings?! Since he obviously couldn't talk I kept my mouth shut and held tight to him, hoping he wasn't planning to drop me anytime soon. A sudden urge to sleep came over me and before I knew it, my eyes closed and I nodded off.
Hmm, I dunno, this seems off somehow. Well, tell me what you think and thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter. I hope you enjoyed this one and look forward to what you have to say. I finished this so I'll (try) update every Monday starting the one after the next (maybe this Monday, dunno yet).
Later days, Imako the Demon Wolf