The Beast

5:- Include the line “We’re not alone “! Or  “Did you hear that” in your story.

             Who goes there?

              I was awoken by the distant sound of screaming, which came from a terrified female, “I think”, and this was quickly assumed because of its high pitch, but I couldn’t hear a happy conclusion, with the sound of relief, and I was disturbed by not hearing this!

     This hideous screaming was heard again, only this time it sounded like it was coming from somewhere, or someone, that was close to this house, and I definitely couldn’t get back to sleep now!

     I sluggishly went to the bedroom window, and I peered outside, and into the dark cul-de- sac, of this small bungalow estate, which was darkened by the fog, and the usual bright glow from the street lights now had a watery blur to them!

     Screaming was heard again, and its clarity would suggest that it came from someone close by, and that thought was disturbing!

     The sound was clearer, and much deeper now, which suggested that it was getting closer, but its presence in this cul-de-sac was yet unseen, and its absence, along with the frightening anticipation of its imminent appearance, was accelerated by the sound of its deep grunting, and its growling!

My wife was unperturbed by this noise, but I still asked the question “did you hear that”? I wasn’t expecting an answer, because this noise had ceased now, and she was very sleepy, I think that her response to my question of ‘did you hear that’, would have been “can you go and investigate that noise, and try not to disturb me again- “you moron”!

   “Where can it be”? I nervously whispered to myself, “I know you’re around here somewhere”, and my eyes scoured the cul-de-sac, in fear of this ‘thing’, that forbade me to sleep! 

    “Screams”

    “More screams”

    “Screaming again, but this time the screams had words……. and these desperate words were “no….no…………no”! And then there was a deathly silence, which would only be concluded by your imagination!

    ‘So far’, nothing was seen…….. ‘only heard’! But, as soon as I thought this, it appeared, a big brute of a being, a ‘thing’ that was carrying something, something that, from the distance, looked like a ball with a long strap! It was looking for something, and it was looking inquisitively around; “What was this thing, what was it doing here”? “Why was it here… what did it want”?

      I couldn’t tell if this beast was an animal, or a human, because it seemed to be very adaptable in its movements, and it would sometimes be on ‘all-fours’, or on its two feet, and it showed this adaptability, by quickly returning to using all four limbs, ‘as it’ continued scouring the gardens, and it appeared to be hunting for something, or maybe someone?

      The fog had noticeably increased in density, which increased the eeriness that I now felt, and this ‘thing’ continued in its investigation of each garden, and was now on all of its, long taloned limbs, and was focused on looking for another unfortunate prey!

      Despite the drifting fog slightly obscuring the cul-de-sac, nobody else could be seen at their windows, and were obviously oblivious to this prowling beast, who, even on four of its limbs, was still dragging this object with a strap- “but what was it”?

       Cats were hissing, but then ran underneath nearby stationary cars, and this ‘thing’ barely showed them any interest, either because it was no longer hungry, or because they were not large enough prey, or even because, they were not the right type of prey that they were hunting, and maybe it was the bloodied meat of human flesh that it craved?

       ‘This thing’ was getting closer to our bungalow, and the object that ‘it’ was carrying, was now leaking bits of its insides, and some pieces were in a congealed liquid, which was dripping onto the concrete ground………so, maybe this object was a human head, that was being, firstly carried around, and then dragged around by its long hair?

        This creature was now getting adventurous, and it started to investigate the back gardens of the neighbourhood-“what did it want”?……. “What was it so desperate to find”?……. I had changed my stance, and my observation boldness, to now adopting a rather cowardly pose behind the curtains, for fear of being seen by this creature;

        ‘Since it’s disappearance into a neighbouring back garden, my inquisitive mind expanded with bravado, and I edged closer to the window, which increased the condensation, with the addition of my warm breath, but I refrained from ‘drawing’ anything childlike in this wet steam, and I instead, quickly ‘wiped it away,’ ‘so that’ I had a clear viewing of this beast, when it reappeared!

         My wife’s soft breathing could be heard in the bed behind me, and I was momentarily relaxed by her presence, and her soothing sound, She would have her usual glass of water (which had now adopted a yellow glow, that was courtesy of the yellow moon, that was softly shining down, and into our bedroom, and then my eyes were focused again on looking out for this beast, but there was still no appearance, and only the evidence of its previous destruction was scattered wildly around the cul-de-sac - “could I see a human head”?…….. “were those, ‘thought’, pieces of paper, actually torn pieces of flesh, and were those puddles, actually pools of blood”?

         How could I return to my warm bed now, my mind was full of unwanted thoughts, and fears, and I would be too afraid to close my eyes now!

       There was a noise at the front door, and when I listened with greater concentration, there was a desperate, almost frantic, scraping, and I thought that the door handle was tried, and its attempt to gain entry into the bungalow, fortunately, had no success, because I had remembered to lock the door earlier in the evening, which was reassuring for my disturbed mind, and I looked down again at my wife, and she still slept, and was undisturbed by this noise, which was very surprising, because she is usually a light sleeper!

        There it was again, the front door sounded as though it was being scraped, something was threatening our safety…..our privacy…..and our lives……..but still my wife slept, but how could she sleep through this, ‘had she been possessed’?

        Should I go to the door? “No”, was my immediate answer, because my disability would allow me to stand, but any motion would upset my balance, and, for my safety I usually crawled around, and shuffling to the front door on my ‘rear’, would put me in a very vulnerable position, and so, my attention would be restricted to looking outside of the window, which, I had made clearer now, via the sleeve of my bed top, and the eerie darkness still remained without the reappearance of this beast, had it gone now, did we escape its attention, and I turned to go to check the front door, and to see if our safety had been compromised in any way, and I turned to have one final look out of the window to ease my mind about this beast being gone………………. when very suddenly, the beast appeared in the window, and in the eerie darkness, like a ‘Jack in the Box, which caused me to omit a frightened shriek, and unfortunately for my wife, this shriek could not be contained, as the beast boastfully showed me its red-stained teeth, that were adorned with pieces of flesh- ‘human flesh’ maybe?

       I then felt droplets of liquid from above me, had this beast got an accomplice? Was ‘it’ on our roof, and had it stripped the roof of the slates that once adorned it, to take occupancy in the loft, and maybe this beast was dribbling the blood from its latest victim onto my head!? 

   The scraping of the front door intensified, this beast, that once stood in front me, had now disappeared with its determination to get in, and the droplets of blood on my head increased!

    I remained standing, but my balance only remained stable, because of my hands desperately giving me the extra support, and the security that I required, and I would require the assistance from my wife, to defend our home against these evil beasts!

   Even more blood came from above, but now this flow was constant, and it ran into my mouth, but there was no distinctive flavour as I expected! The disappearance of this beast, only increased the wild possibilities in my mind- ‘had it discovered an open window’? ‘Was it already in the house’, and might it even be above me in the loft?

    As the flow of the blood intensified, the fear that I felt could not be contained, and I screamed, ashamedly, loudly, and I turned to see if I had awoken my wife, but her body had vacated the bed, and she was instead standing behind me, perhaps to comfort me…….stand guard with me……to reassure me perhaps?

“No”, she was shaking her head in despair, and she continued to flick cold water onto my face, with the unwanted addition of pouring cold water over my head!

     “Wake up, you idiot”, were her words to me, and I was desperate to warn her about the horrors that I had just witnessed!

The destruction outside was undeniable, but the beast had now disappeared, and was probably alerted by my wife’s loud, and scolding voice!

       I was reasonably, but uncomfortably refreshed, as I tried to explain the carnage outside, that was caused by this beast, which seemed convincing to me; “There was a savage beast outside, and it was roaming the cul-de-sac with menace, and with killing intentions”! I confidently said, before I continued to say “look, you can see a discarded human head on the ground”, and I paused because of my upset, before I continued to say “and bits of the brain are laying in a pool of blood, and the beast was carrying it around by the hair”!

I looked at her face, and I expected it to be one that looked horrified, but instead she smirked, before she started to laugh, which provided her with another opportunity to call me a name, and then she despairingly said “you burke, the item, that you claim is a head, is actually a cabbage, and as for it being carried by the hair”, she continued with laughter, “well, it was probably carried around by a cabbage leaf”!

“But what about those bits of brain, and the pool of blood”, I said, foolishly thinking that I had some solid evidence to support my claim, but it was just another excuse for her to call me another name, “you pillock”, and she laughed at my false observation, with the correct observation being, that they were actually baked-beans, in a thick tomato sauce!

“But, I saw this creature, that was mostly on four legs, but it would sometimes be on two legs”, and I thought that this observation would confuse her, and possibly justify my claims, but, “no chance”, and she quickly replied “that was probably a fox scouring the bins, and it was on all four legs, before it lean’t on a bin, whilst being on two legs, to get the lid off, and to then scatter the contents about, ‘you dipstick”, she confidently stated, and, although I was a six foot man, who slept in an adult bed, I now felt like a babies cot would suit me better!