Mysterium
an excerpt

She was standing in the exact centre of a clearing about the length of half a house. It was knee-high in weeds and long grasses. The night was chilly. Moonlight streamed down in shafts of light that illuminated the strange little area until it shone an eerie yellow-brown. The trees surrounding the clearing were re-animated carcasses dancing about in jaunty, irregular movements, heralding the coming of pure midnight.

She was scared.

The girl thought of things that crawled around in the depths of night, and she quivered. She could not see anything outside of a small radius around her. To make matters worse, she was in a sheer blue dress, the skin of her arms exposed. The fabric was already marred with gashes and dirt decorating the surface. Her stilettos on her ultra-high heels sank into the spongy ground. She felt like she was on quicksand.

A soft tendril of wind played across the back of her bare neck.

A tiny gasp escaped from her mouth, and she was somewhat confused at the sound that was procured because she had already forgotten how to breathe. She had forgotten all sense of hearing and feeling and time. Goosebumps caused her to rub her arms in an almost violent manner. She froze, and her eyes darted across her surroundings.

A flurry of motion to her left brought her out of her over-imaginative mind which had, a moment ago, been thinking of the worst ways to die. Her eyes widened. A black shape emerged into the safety of her clearing. No, it was many black shapes.

So they had found her at last.

She did not give the figures any time to clarify in her line of sight into recognizable shapes and forms. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her in the direction opposite of whatever was pursuing her.

Her heels had survived the first stretch of running, but they betrayed her now. She stumbled and fell. There was a layer of fallen pine needles and twigs that tore up her skin and her dress. Adrenaline rushed through her as the rasping, guttural sounds of the creatures were coming closer, closer. This place was a primeval mess of death things and scavengers, things that ripped the flesh and fat off of prey and feasted in gory celebrations.

The girl found a tiny part of her dwindling energy in a last ditch effort to escape. She could feel a gusty swipe for her hair, a wave of hot breath making her contract her vertebrae. Her bare feet were probably disfigured and bleeding.

She ran and ran, feeling her strength leave her. In that last moment before she lost all hope of surviving, she regretted skipping gym class the day before. She morbidly grinned at that thought before her lips contorted into utter defeat.

So they had surrounded her.

Something heavy rammed into her back. She fell onto her knees. The something knocked her over and turned her until her stomach was exposed. She felt faint. The blood rushed down her face until she had on a deathly pallor. Her eyes were clenched shut. She did not know when the attacker would first start to devour her.

She lay there, drowning in cold sweat. She felt ghostly tremors playing havoc up and down her body. The scent of something foul entered her nostrils. It was like the creature was leaning down to kiss her. Ghastly coarse fur rubbed against her cheek. She whimpered.

At the exact moment it started to feast on her, she could smell the tangy copper of her own blood. And she fainted.

It was the nature of the beast.