Chapter Text
The water poured like the entirety of the sky was about to fall into their heads. The thunder cracked, and the shivers mixed with fear and a sick feeling, a feeling that grew stronger and worse the longer they stared at the Beast.
It was smaller, thinner, and malnourished. It had the shape of a kid. The coarse hairs of the Beast weren’t all over its body. Instead, they covered the right amount of its face. It was almost like they were trying to hide something. It was enough for them to cover the dull and fully-opened eyes that died full of fear.
The body wasn’t rigid, as if it was somewhat relaxed while taking the sky’s tears with the warmness that was leaving the body. The body was entirely wounded. And some tiny parts, such as the fingers, were almost torn. Some other softer parts had teeth markings glowing with a red liquid and some pieces of dark skin missing and stinging. Finally, looking at the bigger picture was the hardest part.
The open wounds garnished his chest, crushing his ribs, bubblings of red matter seeping down into the salty cold water. Some sticks still pinched him, especially that one burnt spear nobody dared to take away from his skull, finding a way to penetrate through an eye socket.
The water then fizzled extremely cold and salty, some tiny speckles of luminescence appearing, reminding them of the tropical island they were in. It scared Ralph, who was now wide awake. The drippings from the sky were nothing compared to the icy mass his feet felt. He blinked a couple of times, staring at the dead Beast. His tongue moved and inflated in a savoury metallic and warm taste, suddenly noticing a weak trail of blood coming from his mouth, blood that was not his but the Beast’s.
Ralph shivered uncontrollably at the sight. He felt numb and then a recurring pain all over his body, just as if he was the one lynched to death. The heavy rain made everything so unreal that his mind stopped working properly and ran into the forest. He did not know what he was escaping from since there was no Beast to run from now.
The truth was that there was no Beast. Was the Beast even real at this point?
Maybe if he sprinted fast enough, he would escape the island. Not sure if it works like that, but Ralph still had to try.
He also doesn’t remember when or where he stopped running, but once his legs folded and his whole body landed in the cold grass, his mind shut down too. Ralph didn’t know if he passed out of fear, exhaustion or because he hit his head with something, but at least it was a good thing he wasn’t even able to have a nightmare. Maybe because he knew that the night terror was not in his dreams, but it was being swallowed by the sea, far far away.