Startled, I fell back on my butt, landing just outside the threshold to the shed. The kid’s chain’s strained against his strength. My heart raced inside my chest and I found it difficult to breathe as I glared at the boy. He was a boy of sorts, but he was definitely not human.
The strain of the chains continued to register as I observed the creature, scooting back a little and standing to my feet. Its mouth was twisted into an exaggerated smile, reminiscent of the Joker’s from Batman. Its teeth were surprisingly clean, though larger and sharper as if a dog’s teeth had been surgically inserted into a boy’s mouth. It was completely hairless, including a lack of hair where its eyebrows and eyelashes would be. Though it had a relatively thin frame, its arms and legs bulged with toned muscles.
Then the chains snapped and its momentum took it a step forward. I gave a quick gasp and took a step back. The two of us just stood there staring at each other for a few moments. I wanted to run, but for some reason I felt as thought running would only make the creature give chase. Instead, I opted to take another cautious step back. The beast didn’t move forward but crouched down a little, keeping its gaze on me.
Then it ran a long slender tongue across the front of its canines and slowly inhaled, its whole body shuddering with the breath. He exhaled and toward the end, in a deeply unsettling and slow whisper, said “Meat.”
Before I could react it had pounced onto my torso and knocked me onto the ground. All the hours of watching MMA fights kicked in, and I managed to force it into an arm bar, but as I heaved to break the joint, it simply bent the opposite direction like it was supposed to do that, and the creature was able grab my shirt. Its other arm bent the wrong way as well, and grabbed my shoulder. Next its legs twisted the opposite direction so that its feet were able to turn and plant themselves on the ground. I could still feel its bumpy spine against my chest, and I watched in horror as its head slowly spun around until our faces were inches apart. Its hot breath puffed against my cheeks as it exhaled and again whispered, “Meat.”
I struggled against its grip, but even as I lay there on my back with its deformed body twisted around to hold me in place I thought back to the chains it had snapped and knew I was in trouble. It was an odd sensation feeling a back against my chest but still being able to see the face; seeing the torso expand in all the right places but them all still be so wrong.
Failing to loose myself from its grip, I watched in renewed horror as its mouth spread wider and wider. Soon the jaws were large enough to swallow my head whole. Its tongue slithered out and wrapped around neck, squeezing firmly as the splayed jaw lowered down to consume me. Things got darker and darker as it prepared to bite.
The deafening boom of a discharging shotgun made my ears ring. Light was restored as the head was pushed back and the tongue was ripped free. Instinctively I rubbed my neck and felt some blood, but, being able to breathe just fine, I scooted back a little and jumped to my feet.
Tim had been the one who had fired, and he racked the shotgun before looking at me and smirking.
“I told you not to go into the shed.”
His words barely even registered in my brain as I watched the creature push off from the ground. It had been on its stomach, which now served as its back, and it pushed off the ground until it was standing upright. I expected the sound of cracking bones as the joints went in ways no human’s would ever be able to go, but instead there was a soft squishing sound.
Tim pointed the weapon again, but as he fired the creature sidestepped and the shot impacted harmless into the ground. It screeched as Tim racked the shotgun again, but before he could pull the trigger the monster hopped onto him. It did the same thing to him that it was going to do to me, removing Tim’s head with one bite.
Even though the jaw had opened much wider than any human’s, the throat was apparently still relatively small in comparison, and the beast struggled to get the entire head down into its belly. I almost vomited as I watched the head gradually slide down the creature’s gullet. I don’t know why I didn’t start running then. Perhaps it was a morbid curiosity to see if the creature would actually succeed, or perhaps I was too afraid to move. Whatever the reason, I stayed there and watched in terror until the head made its way into the stomach. The beast’s small frame allowed the head to remain visible while in the stomach, and I could barely make out the bulge of Tim’s mouth and nose.
With the head down, the creature lost interest in the rest of Tim’s body, again standing up. It faced me and lowered its head a little, again licking the front of its teeth and whispering, “Meat.”
I was finally able to run, and I booked it as fast as I could away from the beast. For a second I wondered where my dad was and if he’d be okay, but when the creature crouched down before bounding after me, I forgot about Dad and ran for my life.
Putting a little distance between myself and Tim’s property, I reached a neighboring corn field and entered the stalks. Part of me hoped I would be able to lose the beast in the field, but another part assumed the creature would be able to find me easier. With no time to weigh my options I just kept running.
The corn stalks bruised and sliced at my skin as I ran, but the only thing I was concerned with was keeping my head attached to my shoulders. After a while I realized I had no clue where I was actually going so I took a break. My heart kept pumping a mile a minute and my breathing remained elevated, but I strained to see if I could hear anything nearby that might indicate my surroundings. The road we drove on to get to Tim’s house didn’t have much traffic, but I hoped I would be able to hear a car or truck go past. Hearing nothing I risked a jump.
I saw the road but my joy was short lived. As I descended toward the ground I heard the creature’s voice: “Meat!”
As soon as I landed I booked it in the direction of the road, hoping I would encounter a car before the creature caught me. My feet hit pavement, and I kept running in the opposite direction of Tim’s house. I glanced over my shoulder, and thankfully didn’t see the beast. Instead I heard the growing roar of an approaching motorcycle’s engine and hoped it was my father.
When the bike finally reached me it did turn out to be Dad, and he stopped. I hopped on and he gunned it. We put a few miles between us and Tim’s place before Dad pulled off to the side of the road.
“What in the blue blazes was that thing?” Dad yelled. “I saw it bite Tim’s head clean off.”
“I know! But I have no clue. Thanks for getting me out of there. It was after me, and I don’t think I would have made it.”
Dad called the cops and stumbled through trying to explain what he had seen. They said they would need us to go down to the station to give a formal report, but they would send someone out to Tim’s place to investigate. Dad didn’t mention that he had taken one of Tim’s bikes, but it’s not like Tim would miss it anyway.
It was dark by the time we got to the police station. When we entered we noticed the power was out, but someone greeted us at the door and directed us to where we needed to go by flashlight. The officer said the whole town had lost power about an hour into the night.
We were taken to a counter that was connected to a long, dark hallway. I could hear muttering down the hall and the guy at the counter said the holding cells were down the hall.
I gave my account first. The officer managed not to laugh throughout the story, but I could detect the doubt in his voice whenever he asked me to clarify.
While dad gave his account I looked down the hallway and could barely see a figure shrouded in the shadows. Dad finished and the officer tried his hand at a bad pun, saying, “Be safe while you head back home. Neither of us laughed, and as we started walking back to the bike someone or something whispered, meat. We both ran as fast as we could to the bike and Dad gunned it onto the highway.