Chapter Text
Drip. Drop. Drip.
The sound of a broken faucet echoes down the tight corridors. Wind whispering at every corner. Eyes watching every move I make. All I feel is fear.
Creak. Crack.
The noises are getting to me, the sounds of feet dragging on the ground in an ever-changing pattern. Is that even what they could be called? They’re not feet, they are more like claws; claws that have stomped, ripped, squished, and pulled.
Nothing escapes my ears, the floorboards breaking, stomping of creatures scurrying away, cries for someone that will not come. I hear everything.
The creature is around two times bigger than me, and I’m over six feet tall -- that’s enormous. The way it towers over me when it has spotted me from my hiding spot is horrifying. The way it limps over to me, hobbling and knocking things off the walls leaves me with no sleep for days on end.
The way it looks at me, mouth splitting open into a grin. When its eyes roam over my helpless form, its mouth contorts into an eerie smile. It’s one that knows how powerless I am. One that intensifies the terror festering within me . One that shows how disturbingly elated it is to have won again.
Tap. Tap. Thud.
It has caught its newest victim. The victim this time is a young lad who looked to be in college. He is around 5’10” and thin. He seems to be athletic seeing as he has lasted this long.
I think it has been around four days since he’d wandered onto the mansion grounds. It's a new record. The record holder before him survived for three days. For me, I have lost count; at this point, the sound of bones snapping is too common for me to care.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The creature has been getting more active as of late -- wandering the halls for hours on end when just weeks before it would only come out when it heard footsteps. More people have been visiting recently too, probably trying to solve the mystery of this estate.
With the amount of people who have been coming into the manor, I’m sure the authorities are trying to figure out what happened to them. But they’ll never know. They’ll never understand just how dangerous this place is -- it’s hell.
Badump...Badump...Badump.
I’m running out of breath. My legs are tired, I can’t feel them anymore. My heart is racing fast and it's so loud.
Can the creature hear it? Is that how it keeps finding me?
I can’t see clearly, everything around me is a blur. Whether it’s because of how fast I’m running or if my body is giving up on me, I don’t know.
Badump..Badump..Badump.
Where is it now? I need to get away. I don’t want to go through this again, not again. I need to hide, but where?
I know every nook and cranny of this darn place but when I need that knowledge it escapes me. I can hear the scratching of its nails on the walls and floor, getting closer and closer.
I can hear the huffs and grunts it makes when it’s getting frustrated. I’ve never been particularly athletic, so it’s fitting that I’m the one in this situation. Oh so stereotypical.
Badump. Badump. Badump.
Why me? Why did it have to be me? Did I do something that caused God to hate me? Why is the world against me?
I can’t see anything. My legs are guiding me through this wasteland. I can feel the unstable ground shake beneath my feet. It’s getting closer.
Badump.BadUMP.BADUMP.
I don’t want to do this again, not again, not again, not...again. There is a hole in the floor. It’s not big enough for my whole body, but my leg seems to fit pretty nicely in it as I fall to the ground and sprain my ankle. My ankle is throbbing, but that's the least of my worries; I need to escape quickly.
It’s too late.
The creature is less than a foot from my face, inching closer as if to get a better look at my despair. I can feel its putrid breath fanning on my face, mouth pulled open in that malicious grin.
Why me? Why me? WHY ME!
BUDUMP.BADUMP.BADUMP.
I don’t want to die, I’m only sixteen, I’m so young. I can’t do this anymore, I want out. The creature creeps even closer and wraps its claws around my leg, pulling it out of the hole and in the process breaking it. I want to scream.
Am I screaming? I can’t tell.
The demon drags me away, probably to a more fitting area to rip me apart and devour me. It opens an oh so familiar door and I know that's it.
I don’t want to die, not yet, not again.
The thing throws me into the room and starts limping over, hoping that I will crawl around for a little bit. It likes to play with spirited victims. I don’t have enough energy to get up, I can’t do anything as I see it drag itself over to me. It puts its claws on my already broken leg and my throat and pulls. I can feel my skin stretching, tendons ripping, bones snapping.
I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die!
Its eyes bore into mine as it continues to tear me apart mentally and physically.
I don’t want to die, I don't want to die, I don’t want to die. No. No. No. Please!
Everything is turning black. The last thing I see before my vision goes dark is blood, rivers of life fleeing from my stilling body.
I wake up in some sort of bed, vision distorted and the ghost of pain wrenching at my body in its entirety. A tear slips out of my eye as I stand and make my way toward the hidden passageway in the closet. Inside there is a worn-down crayon and markings all over the wall. I stand there shocked. I guess I was keeping track. I grab the crayon and scribble another line on the wall.
“Twenty-four.”