Whatever had been possessing Mona earlier seemed to finally release its grip, her first action being to sprint as fast as she could behind cover. Ducking behind a couch several feet away, she watched as the creature managed to free itself from its improbable prison.
Its skin was blackened and cracked like it had been burning in that fire for some time, though still surprisingly pliable given the sheet of flesh connecting from its shoulders to fully envelop its head that barely outlined its facial features. It seemed to struggle against this covering like it was trapped, frequently sucking in the area around its mouth while choking and gasping for air.
Dragging itself along the ground by its splintered, singed fingers, its lower body seemed almost paralyzed assuming it had ever been useful at all. In place of true legs were two charred, fleshy sacks that seemed to pulse and shake independent of the rest of its body, the most brittle and scaly bits of flesh on them making an uncomfortable scraping noise as it moved.
If this monstrosity was ever human to begin with, it certainly wasn't anymore. All she was certain of was that she needed to leave this place as fast as possible. Mona had nothing on her person that could reasonably approximate a weapon. Even if she did, she wasn't particularly strong and never could defend herself very well. Escape was her only option.
She wasn't sure how that thing was navigating its surroundings, but it seemed to move with some sort of purpose despite the random quivering and spasming it was doing. It seemed at least a bit safe to assume that purpose was finding her. What it intended to do when it caught her wasn't nearly as important as a desire to not be caught in the first place, though.
Biding her time from her hiding place, Mona watched as the creature dragged itself down an aisle away from her. Slowly, she crept away from the couch, clutching her phone as tightly as she could in her hand to avoid accidentally shining it somewhere that could give away her position or, as a last act of desperation, to use to defend herself.
She approached the door. Taking one last look to confirm that the monster was still traveling away from her, her hand moved to the lock. Biting down on her bottom lip and steadying her shaking hand, she turned it. Except it didn't move.
Growing more desperate by the second, she continued to try and unlock the door, her anxiety building with each failed attempt. In a fit of desperation, she began to shake it, realizing at the first clatter of metal on metal that this was a terrible mistake.
Hearing an ear-splitting shriek from the back of the store, she took off in a different direction as fast as her feet could carry her. Despite the considerable distance between the two of them, she could hear the monster clawing its way to her position as if it was right behind her, though she couldn't muster up the courage to look back.
Passing the fire as she ran, the smoke stung her eyes. It only took a moment of wiping away the tears that formed to send her hurtling into a display of several wooden chairs. Her phone clattered to the ground and slid into the darkness as she fell, the only light source left in the vicinity being the inferno behind her.
Trying her best to scramble to her feet, she ignored the pain and bruises forming on her body as she climbed out of the pile. Running didn't seem to be an option any longer, though, as the creature had caught up to her during her crash.
As she looked back, Mona thought she might truly die here. It was a thought that had only occurred to her once before in her life years ago. Among the terror it produced, an equally strong desire to keep living also appeared, both becoming stronger the closer that thing got to her.
Her body was almost moving on instinct, her hand gripping a broken chair leg as she pulled herself to her feet. Grabbing it with both hands until her knuckles turned white, she stood before the creature as it rapidly approached her.
Despite her shaking, despite the fear, and despite her own weakness, she did the only thing she could think to do in that situation and swung her weapon. It cracked against the side of the monster's head with a loud thud, leaving the thing stunned for a full second.
Then she hit it again in nearly the same spot, some kind of white fluid beginning to leak from the gash she'd left.
Then she did it again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
And again.