The Beast In Shadows

The beast roared from the top of the mountain so loud, we had to cover our ears and we dropped to the floor due to the tension. The shockwave lightly pushed us backwards, the power in the cabin went out and a snowstorm immediately started.

Once it stopped, my ears were ringing, my eyes were blurry, my body was shaking and my hands were even filled with blood but that was the least of our problems at the time. A large avalanche of snow started hurdling down the mountain and we all started running to our cabin.

We managed to get inside and shut the door but we were buried under a heap of snow, I fell to the ground clenching my ears. My girlfriend got some tissue and rushed over to me desperately trying to clean up the blood, her eyes were slightly wet.

I held her hand and I kissed her forehead and said, “I'd be fine”. After all the blood was cleaned, I got up and we began to talk about the beast.

"What…what the hell was that shit?!", Max said.

"We don't need to know what it is, rather how we can get out of this place. Do any of you have any reception?", I asked.

Everyone tried their phones but none of us had any sort of reception.

Melissa desperately tried to turn on the match but to no avail, the damned thing wouldn't ignite and that coupled with the power outage means it's only us and the cold.

“Is there still enough food left”, I asked.

“Barely enough for more than a day”.

"So barely any food and no way to call for help. We're goners", Alex says.

"Now let's not lose hope, we just have to ration the food and wait for help to arrive", I replied.

"Alright then I'll do the first watch out incase it comes back, you guys get some sleep".

We brought all our sheets to the living room and shared them equally amongst us, we all stayed at different corners with our partner and Alex just stayed on his own while I sat in the middle.

I began contemplating what it was and if we would even survive this predicament. When I realized something, I was hungry. Like starving I felt like I didn't eat for days while in all actuality I was eating during the party and upon my layers of clothing and sheets I felt like I was dumped straight into a freezer.

In my thoughts and hunger, I eventually drifted off to sleep but I was woken not long after by Alex.

“Can I start the next shift??”.

“You sure?? I've not been here for that long”.

“Yeah bro, don't worry”.

So I got up and went to stay with Melissa, laying beside her.

She was always the energetic type much like her brother and the rest of our group, with short blond hair, brown eyes and a smile that could change your whole day.

She shared mighty resemblance to her brother, other than of course him having a short fade. Fiona had dark long silky hair and dark brown eyes while his best friend Alex had long pink hair with yellow eyes.

I kissed Melissa again while she was asleep but I noticed how pale she looked. While I didn't think much of it, i had a bad feeling about it but brushed it off and went to sleep.

I woke up to Max yelling, it jolted me off the floor. It was barely morning and Max had Alex pinned to the floor, choking him and punching him.

"He ate it, he ate it all!!", Max yelled.

I ran to them and held Max from beating him anymore, the girls ran to help Alex who was beaten and bloodied.

"Bro chill, what did he do?", I asked.

"He ate all our food! All the rations!!", Max exclaimed.

After we calmed Max down, we cleaned up Alex but he had sores on his face and his mouth was swollen and he kept murmuring something.

"Eat…eat. Ear, eat, eat, eat", he whispered.

Fiona leaned closer to hear him and he grabbed her and tried to bite her arm.

But Max quickly pushed him and held him down but something was different, something was wrong. Max who actively went to the gym and was decently muscular and there was Alex a skinny but tall young man who never went to the gym but right here and now he's overpowering Max.

Max was getting pushed back by Alex until he was eventually pushed to the floor then held him down. By some luck I found rope in the closet, I rushed over and with me and Max's combined efforts managed to tie him up.

Max had a few bruises but he was relatively fine but I couldn't say the same for Alex who was still trying to escape.

"So now no food at all, abnormally cold temperatures and Alex has gone crazy. What do we do?!", Max inquires sounding very frustrated.

"I don't know, I can hardly believe what I've seen these past few days but the low temperatures and the constant state of starvation is most likely because of that thing outside", I replied.

"What do you mean?", he asks.

"Well think about it, when the monster roared the electricity went off, the temperature dropped particularly cold even for this time of the year, we became instantly hungry and tired. So what if it's doing something to us?", I asked.

"When you put it like that it does add up but there's no way to truly be sure, so for now it's gotta just be a theory", Fiona says.

We all agreed to go back to sleep as we were still tired even after just waking up, that's when she started acting up.

Melissa started shivering upon layers of clothes and blankets, I tried to hug her but she pushed me away and just looked at me with these eyes. Her eyes were of hate and resentment, almost like she wanted to kill me.

"No", she whispered.

"Melissa, please what's wrong", I asked her.

No answer, she got up and cornered herself amongst all of us. She sat there alone, I wanted to meet her but I couldn't. I don't know why but something told me I should stay as far away from her as possible.

"Give her some time", Max whispered.

We all laid down to sleep but I don't think anyone was actually asleep, I kept pondering the beast we saw and what it caused. The unusual change of weather from a warm, cozy cabin to an extremely cold freezer all of a sudden. We've already run out of food but going outside should be a last result, by all means.

I slowly drifted to sleep after laying for a couple of hours, I had my first dream since I came here. I saw blood everywhere, everybody in the cabin was dead. Every single one of us. Our organs scattered around the floor, the room was basically decorated with it. Our decapicated heads placed on the sharp ends of a chandelier, intestines designed with sofas but there was something even more horrifying.

Something in the middle of it all, a goat or a deer which sat like a man. It had long decayed limbs and was covered all through with our blood it was eating something, no…it was eating me.

I wanted to scream but I couldn't move, whether from fear or from it's power. It slowly got up and turned its head, staring into my eyes or rather into my soul.

I jolted up and for some strange reason I was sweating in this cold, I felt so much fear in my soul. That's when I knew for sure that this bastard was fucking with us but it was far too late.

I smelled a foul stench, so strong it felt almost felt choking that's when I looked up and saw her.

"Melissa?".

She stood tall in front of me holding an axe in her right hand. She was as pale as snow and her eyes were dim looking almost like a void.

"Did you really think I wouldn't know your plan?! Your fault! You want to be the only one to survive! The dream we all had it, I'm sure! It didn't show us the future…it showed us how to survive!", her words sounding like a mad man, she was drooling for what ever reason.

"What do you-", I said before being caught off.

"Don't!! I don't want to hear another word", she said.

Michael rushed over to stop her but one kick sent him flying back to the wall, Fiona rushed over to help him. He was holding his mid section and coughing, barely able to move properly.

Melissa held the axe with her both hands and swung it at me, I used my hand to block the attack but it was caught clean off. We were all exhausted and half dead, so how…how are they so strong.

My hand flew hitting the wall and falling down, blood splashed all over the walls and floor. She immediately removed all her attention from me dropping the axe and lunged to it, she scanned the area and ran to a room next to the living room.

Tearing of skin, breaking of bones. These sounds scared me to my very core, she was eating me.

END OF CHAPTER 8

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***