A tiny treatise on true terror.

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I was the last; I had to have been the last. Mark and I had been the last for weeks, calling each other every night to make sure we hadn't been compromised; I had taken to using disposable phones and throwing them away after each use. After Jeffrey had vanished, it seemed a reasonable precaution.

Right now I was pondering a rather extreme precaution; that of moving, and rapidly. Tonight, leaving everything behind. I could afford to do it, buying replacements of anything I found myself missing. What did money matter to one such as I? Material goods were only fleeting after all.

And yet I found myself hesitating. This locale was known; safe. Even the dangers in it were well known to me. I blended in best here, and in another location I would be exposed. Perhaps too exposed. I was too restless. I decided on a walk.

I took my wallet and keys only, though I had already half convinced myself to leave this place. One last look around, then off into the arms of a travel agency and to one of the few remaining countries more suitable to our habitation. Perhaps Indonesia, or the wilds of Africa.

The moon shone large and gibbous, the face especially bright and leering tonight. The air was crisp and clean, with just a hint of winter's bite. The wind stirred the scents and made the leaves dance. The night was like few of it's cousins, somehow less dreary than the others along the staid march of years.

The night was also quiet; peaceful. Within it I was a supreme predator, and none could stand against me. Such it was with all of us; at least, until they came. But even now, I feared no simple mugger or murderer.

Which was a shame, for there were none. None challenged my right to be about. There were, on this night in which so many of the old specters and ghouls were imitated, not a single moving soul within all of my dominion. A mere handful of minutes into my walk, I knew. It was time to leave.

After all, the only reason other creatures were silent and still in their environment were sleep... or the introduction of an unknown predator into their midst. I, being a known factor, would not provoke this reaction.

However, some feeling, some imp of the perverse, had me now. I decided to go back to my home for the better part of ten years, to see if I could race it's impending doom. As it turns out, I could not.

It seemed that when I had left the first time for my walk, I had been mere loaded moments ahead of a fate far worse than death; they had arrived, and were currently surrounding my dwelling. I shuddered.

Yes within my domicile I could have withstood a siege of weeks, perhaps months. But with nowhere to flee, I would eventually have been overwhelmed by the detestable creatures currently massed outside it. What would have happened next would make death seem a merciful release.

Yes, it was far past time to leave.

Luck it seemed, was not with me however. As I turned to leave what must have been sentries spotted me. They probably had designated sentries after Benholdt's miraculous escape, made in a similar manner to this. Bernholdt had not lasting long to boast of his good fortune however.

“There he is!”

“Are you sure? He looks so....”

“We can fix him. It shouldn't take more than a week.”

“Yes, that's him. He was headed right for the address, and turned the moment he saw us! Teams ten through twenty, get him.”

There would be no reasoning, or talking my way from their clutches. The only way to escape this horrid fate would be to run, swiftly and ignobly. So I did.

Somehow these loathsome beasts were as fast as I.

Putting on a burst of speed, I decided to head straight for the airport. There were ways to make a plane more accommodating, and I needed as swift an exit as possible. Even with the speed I was capable of, the fearsome creatures had beaten me there.

“There he is!”

And the chase was on again. I led them to the darker alleys, the more eldritch locations where man's dominion held much less sway. They seemed to anticipate this.

“Quit running, stud. We'll make this painless.”

The alley was dark, slimy, filled with unspeakable things, and I felt at home here. Somehow they knew that. Backed into this corner, more my true home than any house, I felt comfortable... unstoppable. Surrounded by them all, yet for once feeling little threat, I bared my fangs at one and all of them, and hissed my challenge.

I knew it was a great mistake when, rather than respond in the accustomed fear, they instead grinned large Cheshire grins and pulled out the body glitter.

“One of ours, one of ours, one of ours....”

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Comments

That was certainly unexpected!

D. Eden's picture

Body glitter!?!?

This just went from sublime to bizarre. Now that you reeeeeeaaaaalllllly have my attention, we need more!

Dallas

D. Eden

Dum Vivimus, Vivamus

WELL!

Finally a comment. Was beginning to think everyone here was a scaredy-cat.

Unfortunately Dallas, there isn't more. This is a small one shot. But think, twilight tweens from the vampire's point of view. Our poor ruler of the night was shown the face of true terror, and it was a mob of little girls with team Edward tee shirts. Halloween will never be the same.

If any of you out there, reading this story, went "wtf just happened here?" in your heads, well the story served it's purpose. Sorry about that, I couldn't resist, and thank you for reading.

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Yes it did.

tmf's picture

Yes it did.

Loved it

What a lovely little story and I did go "what the ???" Then it all fell in place, albeit a tad slowly for me.

Thank you for this.

Connie

Connie.

You're welcome. I feel it actually does make a statement on the nature of terror; it's not a throw away piece. Glad you liked it.

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If you appreciate my tales, please consider supporting me on Patreon so that I may continue:

https://www.patreon.com/Nagrij