Morris ran as the darkness chased him.
His feet crashed into the hard stone floor as he frantically dashed through the long stone hall. His lungs were a furnace, a burning feeling growing from his chest. His terrified and staggered breaths echoed in the cavern.
But he knew that he had to keep going, death would be preferable to the fate that awaited him should he slow down. He heard Hunk squeeze a couple of shots out into the darkness with his cannon, barking curses as the mechanical chatter filled the corridor.
"Just a bit more," Morris panted out to his partner as he continued his frenzied run, "the transport is just up ahead!" They would be safe from the creature's grasp if they made it up to the surface. But dread spilled into his heart as he heard a screech. It was close.
It was catching up.
The air seemed to grow colder as time went on, vapor billowing out of his mouth. It was supposed to have been another easy job. Just some other dusty ruins to raid for riches. And for a second he had been right, the tomb was rich and laden full of gold and such other things.
But then he had seen the coffin.
It had been a regular old coffin, nothing really eye catching about it. Only that it had a combination of padlocks and chains surrounding it, making it seem as some kind of cocoon. His interest had sparked, something of value must be inside for all of that extra security.
Promises of riches had lead him to brandish his bolt cutters. It had taken quite the amount of efforts to cut through the thick and heavy chains. But he had noticed something quite peculiar. The chains were actually made of twinkling silver.
Then they had opened the coffin to be greeted by disappointment insides of the coffin was curiously made out of mirrors. Inside they had found only a dusty corpse that was surrounded with crusty bandages. On closer examination the bandages had some strange writing on them, but Hunk had dismissed them as something traditional. Nothing else. Nothing except wooden stake dug into the corpse's chest.
But then something curious happened. Something that Morris simply couldn't understand. Something started to draw him to the wooden stake. It seemed like the world had vanished itself. He was in a dark void alone with the coffin. Nothing else mattered anymore.
The simple wooden stake mesmerized him. It spoke of promises. Riches, power, women, everything that Morris had ever wanted. He would be powerful, a good between men. Nobody would be able to oppose him! He would be a king, a god amongst men!
But only if he pulled out the stake.
It was just a simple stake, what could even happen? Morris chuckled to himself, it wasn't as if the corpse would rise up and throttle him for tearing it out. He stooped down, his hands slowly wrapping themselves around the stake. He then grunted, attempting to pull it out. But to his mild surprise something pricked him, a splinter had managed to pierce through his gloves. Morris watched as his blood slid down the stake, right into the withered corpse.
That was when the creature awoke.
Morris had thought that it couldn't be real, it was just another children's tale to coax troublesome children to sleep. He had even heard a couple of stories from his mother about this terrible creature. He had brushed them aside as a joke when he had taken the job. But the creature was real.
And it was chasing him.
And it was hungry.
But hope flourished in his heart as he saw the transport awaiting in front of him. He felt a final burst of energy coursed through him, a final desperate attempt at grasping his freedom. Morris ran faster than he had ever done in his life. Hunk was still roaring and shooting into the darkness, covering his retreat.
Morris dashed right into the transport, wheezing and shaking. He then turned around, watching Morris retreat from the approaching rush of shadows. "Run!" Morris wailed to his friend in despair.
Hunk was fast, but the shadows were faster.
Then a terrifying screech emanated from the approaching shadows. Morris then felt himself seized up, as if invisible chains had been wrapped around his frozen body. Something was whispering into his ear, insidious remarks pouring into it. The same voice that had tricked him.
In horror he saw a hand moving towards the door. He then realized that it was his own. It was as if he had been turned into a puppet, unable to control himself. Only his hitched shaky breath came out as he tried to scream. He could only watch as his hand grabbed the door's handle.
Hunk was close enough for Morris to be able to stare into his eyes. He watched fear, confusion and anger flicker across those familiar eyes as Morris' arm slammed the door shut. Morris felt himself regain control of his body as he collapsed, and Hunk's shrieks rang through the thick steel of the transport.
The small round glass window on the door suddenly was splattered by crimson as Hunk's shrieks suddenly stopped. Morris regained his bearings as he shakily scrambled back to his knees. "Oh god." he stammered as he lunged to the control panel, slamming the ignition.
The transport rumbled to a start to the relief of Morris as it started climbing up through the rails that lead out of this damned place. He felt himself collapse again to the ground, tears streaming down his face.
"Oh god," he sobbed as he curled up in the ground "sosorrysosorrysosorry." He felt something rise up as he remembered of the gushing blood in the windowpane. The vomit spilled out of his mouth as he continued shaking on the ground. Broken sobs mixed in with the rumbling of the transport.
It was supposed to be impossible, just another legend. He remembered as Nana had told him these stories besides the crackling fireplace. The werewolves from Atlas, the mummies from Vacuo and the ghosts from Mistral. His teeth kept chattering as he pulled himself up to lean up against the wall. He tried to calm himself and think rationally. He had to get out of this place and warn everyone.
Kish.
He gasped in fear, slowly turning towards the door. His breathing suddenly stopped. The glass pane had a small crack. And that small crack was slowly growing.
Morris cried out as he felt his knees fail him again, crashing against the chair. He frantically scrambled to the corner of the room. Cold sweat dripped down his cheek and onto his neck as his frenetic breathing seemed to choke him.
The crackling of the glass continued, as if something was pushing against it. Morris could only watch as the crack ran through the glass. He then shrieked as it suddenly burst open and peppered him with shards. He fell clutching at his bloody face, the cuts stinging all over it.
He groaned as he felt all of the cuts crossing through his face, blood dripping into the floor. He knew those cuts were pretty bad, blood flowing freely as if from a fountain. But he froze as he heard a dreadful screech ring through the door. He slowly turned around. Then something burst from the darkness and grabbed him by the throat.
Morris screamed as he saw those two dreadful red slits glowing in the dark, staring at him. He struggled to get free of the creature's' grip but to no avail. The thing kept staring at him, as if examining him. The blood from his cuts dripped into the creature's arm.
The creature's eyes seemed to be drawn to the blood dripping down his arm. A row of ghastly teeth revealed themselves from the darkness. They were smiling as the creature lunged. The last thing the screaming man felt was something digging into his neck.
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