What Crawled Out
1010 Words
The hallway felt like it shrank the second they bolted out of Emily’s room. Daniel shoved Jonah ahead of him, both of them stumbling toward the stairs as the thing behind them scraped its limbs against the floor. Its movements were wrong—too quick, too quiet, almost deliberate, like it had finally found fresh air after years underground.
They made it to the bottom of the stairs just as something heavy landed behind them with a dull thud.
Jonah didn’t look back. “Tell me that was just the house settling.”
“Jonah,” Daniel muttered, “houses don’t settle by jumping.”
They barreled into the living room. Daniel spun around, gun raised, breathing sharp and fast. Jonah stood beside him, hands clenched, eyes darting everywhere.
The creature crawled into view at the top of the stairs.
And for a moment, all Jonah could do was stare.
It had Emily’s size—but not her shape. Its limbs were thin and stretched too far, like someone pulled the joints out and didn’t bother to put them back correctly. Its head tilted to the side at an unnatural angle, dark hair hanging in clumps that stuck to its face. Only one eye showed through—a pale, milky iris scanning for movement.
But the worst part wasn’t what it looked like.
It was the smile.
Too wide. Too many teeth.
And they wore it like a child showing a drawing they were proud of.
The creature spoke, but its lips barely moved.
“Help me…”
It wasn’t Emily’s voice anymore. It was like someone tried to imitate her after hearing her once—an echo wearing a human voice like a borrowed coat.
Jonah shuddered. “That is… absolutely nightmare fuel.”
Daniel didn’t answer. He fired.
The bullet hit the creature square in the chest, knocking it back—but it didn’t fall. It simply absorbed the impact, body cracking and popping as if adjusting itself around the wound. Then it dropped to all fours and crawled down the stairs, fast, jerky, like a spider learning how to walk.
“Back door!” Daniel shouted.
They sprinted through the kitchen, but the creature screeched—a sound that felt like it scraped the inside of their skulls. The lights flickered. The air turned cold, thick enough to hurt when breathing.
Jonah yanked the back door open, and they tumbled into the yard. Daniel pulled the door shut behind them just as the creature slammed into it from the other side.
The whole door shook. Hard.
“Okay,” Jonah panted, “So what’s the plan? Because that thing does NOT look like it’s going to give us a minute to think.”
Daniel scanned the yard. The fence, the shed, the empty space stretching toward the woods.
“Buy time. Then figure out what we’re fighting.”
The door rattled again.
Jonah pointed at the shed. “We can trap it in there.”
“With what?”
“Hope?” Jonah said weakly.
The door burst open.
The creature rushed out, faster this time—arms swinging wrong, head lolling to the side. Daniel tackled Jonah out of the way and the thing overshot them, skidding across the dead grass before flipping itself upright like its bones didn’t care about direction.
Jonah scrambled to his feet. “What is this thing?”
Daniel drew his second gun. “Something old.”
The creature lunged.
Daniel fired again, aiming for its legs this time. The shot hit, and the limb collapsed—but instead of falling, the creature dragged itself forward on its hands, fingers digging into the dirt. Its nails—long and pitch black—carved deep grooves in the ground.
Jonah found a broken rake by the fence and swung it, catching the thing in the side of the head. The creature hissed and reeled back, just enough for Daniel to grab Jonah’s arm.
“Move!”
They ran toward the shed. Daniel shoved Jonah inside and turned to face the creature, which was already back on its feet—limb twisted but functional.
“Come on,” Daniel murmured, taunting them, “Follow me.”
It did.
The creature darted forward, screeching again. Daniel held his ground until the last possible moment, then dove into the shed and slammed the door. Jonah threw his weight against it while Daniel jammed a metal pipe through the handles.
The creature hit the door instantly, pounding, clawing, shrieking—a sound far too loud for something its size.
The whole shed shook like a hurricane was inside it.
Jonah pressed his back to the wall, chest heaving. “Are we sure this is actually going to hold?”
Daniel braced the pipe with his shoulder. “Not really.”
The creature’s voice seeped through the cracks:
“Daniel…”
Jonah froze. “Oh no. Nope. Absolutely not. It knows your name?”
Daniel didn’t answer. But his jaw tightened.
“Daniel…”
The shed went silent.
Jonah whispered, “Did it stop?”
Daniel shook his head. “No. It’s listening.”
Before Jonah could ask what that meant, something tapped on the roof.
Once. Twice.
Then—
THUD.
The roof dented inward.
Jonah stepped back, hands on his head. “It’s above us. It’s on the—”
CRACK.
A long, pale arm punched through the tin roof.
Daniel grabbed Jonah. “Out the window!”
They smashed through the small back window, tumbling into the weeds behind the shed as the creature ripped another section of the roof apart.
Jonah groaned, rolling onto his side. “We need a plan that doesn’t involve dying in someone’s backyard.”
Daniel stood, helping him up. “We’re calling for backup.”
“Who?” Jonah asked. “Ghost busters?”
Daniel shook his head, already pulling out his phone.
“No. Someone who actually knows what hunts kids and crawls through walls.”
Jonah swallowed. “Who’s that?”
Daniel hesitated.
“An angel.”
- Writer
