The Dark Fairytale

Chapter 1 | What a Way to Die!

When I was a child, I used to wonder what the future would be like. If there would be those flying robots I used to see in the movies or would there be those cars which drive on their own. Would humans be as powerful as a man of steel and diseases won't be a thing anymore? Would there be a place where no poverty exists or would there be peace like everyone used to dream of?

These were the questions I would think upon every night before I would go to sleep. The questions I would try to find the answers to in the movies and even in the books and stories.

But if only had I known how dark our future would be, I had never been so fond of it. I had never wished to be a part of it.

The moment I woke up, I had known something terrible had happened. Call it the sixth sense or simply a gut feeling but the air somehow tasted acrid, like the acid pouring over a metal bar. The eerie silence stretched like the darkness on a moonless night. I could feel my head spinning, a burning sensation in the pit of my stomach.

I could feel a sharp pain in my wrist, like a dozen needles sticking into it, all at the same point. I wanted to cry out in pain, do something to stop it, but every part of me felt like it couldn't move. Like I could only be a subject, who can feel everything that's being done to it but couldn't raise a single voice to stop it altogether. A feeling of exhaustion took over me before I could say a word, driving me to another deep sleep.

*******

I opened my eyes to the cracked walls, water dripping like droplets from the ceiling. A hospital bed at one side of the small compartment. A metal door at the other end, the slight cracks be the only source of light coming inside. I couldn't tell how long it has been, or even where I was. All I could remember was pitch black darkness, and sharp pain jolting through my arm.

I inspected my wrist, covered with a mark of a needle sting I couldn't remember. Although the pain has eased, I could see the redness covering my forearm. What's going on? I seemed to ask myself, looking around the room covered in the cobwebs. It looked old almost forgotten for a decade. There were apparatus all around, but part of me doubted if any of it worked. The walls were painted white, though now, for the most part, they looked yellowish. At others, the paint was coming off.

The iron had caught rust while the glass was covered with dust particles.

At one corner, was a skeleton for a show. The cobwebs made it look more like a grave than a specimen in a glass case. The room seemed awfully quiet like no one has set foot in it. No one ever came here. Whoever brought me here had left already. But who? It's something I do wonder myself.

Click.

The faint but abrupt sound caught my attention. My eyes drifted to the door handle, moving slightly up and down. I could feel my body tense up, adrenaline rushing through my blood as the movement became more rigorous.

I stayed quiet, my eyes set on the handle as it shook aggressively. With some part of my subconscious mind, I looked around for a weapon. To my dismay, I couldn't find any. The shaking, on the other hand, only got much louder and much faster, until something was banging against the door. Standing there, only ten feet away from it, I braced myself for whatever it was to come my way.

I could feel my heart beating, my breath hitching. I could feel a wave of fear deep inside but I kept my eyes locked on the door. 

1

2

I found myself counting.

Panic rising in my throat.

Any second now, I told myself.

And...

3. 

It stopped. Like whatever there was, vanished altogether.

I kept my gaze on the door. All I could hear was still silence, no matter how carefully I tried to listen like the last ten seconds didn't happen at all.

What just happene-

I couldn't even complete the sentence in my mind when the loud blow came unannounced, and everything was covered in the layer of dust. I used my arm to cover my eyes, the cloud of dust blinding my vision. A moment later, when some of it settled, I saw a figure coming into the view.

For the most part, it looked like a human, only much stranger. Its flesh, like insides, turned out and roasted on a grill, a figure like a man but hunched in an awkward position. Its claws were untamed like they would cut through the bark of a tree and eyes red like dripping blood. To say the least, it was the ugliest thing I had ever seen and trust me being a hunter I had seen enough.

It analyzed me like a piece of meat, kept in front of it as it can prey on. As haunting as the thought was for me, it seemed to be brightening as much for it.

I could hear its harsh breathing and feel its murderous stare. The lack of weapon against the inhumane claws was evidence that odds weren't exactly in my favour. And the way it was eyeing me, I could tell it knew it as well. I saw it slithering in my direction while I looked for a place to dodge. The small room didn't provide much of a choice and this wasn't exactly a time to test my strengths either.

When it charged at me, I lunged right with all my strength. I rolled on my back to guide my fall before getting up on my feet again. I looked back, to see it bang its head at the foot of the iron bed. Not bad, I said to myself in content, when I heard it groan in pain.

Though my happiness proved to be disappeared soon. It shook his head, before slowly turning back. Its red eyes glaring me, claws in front almost ready to rip into shreds while I stood there, unarmed. It groaned, before charging at me once more.

It wasn't hurt as much as I expected. On the contrary, it was angry.

Uh-oh.

In situations like kill or die, there's no other ultimate option. But when it comes to a temporary solution, there's always one easy to find.

The words of an old friend came to my mind and without looking back, I ran as fast as I could. I could hear it following me, its steps not far away from mine. With its slouched figure, it was slower than me but that could do me only so much good. I ran through the corridors without looking where I was going, hoping the door I would run into won't be a dead end. I could feel its steps chasing after me. Though after some time, I got a lead when I felt something blowing past me, missing me only by an inch.

For a second, I just stopped. It was long, slick and looked like flesh. I looked back to see it coming from that thing's mouth. Realization dawned over me. It was its tongue. Moving beneath it, I ran faster than I knew I could. I could hear it attacking me with its frog-tongue, but I didn't dare to stop and look back. One blow and my bones will crack in a second. The thought wasn't very appealing to me.

To my dismay and a little relief, the hallways were abandoned. I tried calling for help even knocking some doors as I passed by but they were locked. In front of me, I saw a staircase. Maybe I can find someone once I'm outside. I thought to myself.

With a newfound determination, I rushed towards the steps. I climbed it down taking more a couple of steps at a time. Later I found out, it was my biggest mistake. Turned out, the slouched figure can jump pretty long. In a second, it was in front of me. Its tongue hanging in front of its body. I swear I can see him smirking.

It roared in rage, a cracking sound before taking a step towards me. I moved back only to fall over the step. I could feel it coming closer, its claws almost in my face. Its stench like breath nauseating me and its heartbeat louder in my ears.

This was it. I had no weapon. I had to place to run.

After everything, all I had to was a single thing.

Not to die.

And here I was, in the last five seconds of my seventeen years old life, to be ripped into pieces by an ugly slouched monster with his guts on the outside.

What a way to die!