In_Darkness_Dwells
Date: 3/11/2024,
Categories:
Fiction
Horror,
Non-Erotic,
Author: Sage_of_the_Forlorn_Path
... soulless eyes. One man screamed in fury and attacked with an axe. Danut dodged and slashed his throat with his claws, only to be struck in the shoulder by another rifle bullet. Having finished devouring the child’s brain, he crushed the hollow skull between his mandibles and went after the man with a rifle.
The beast dodged two rounds as he ran and pounced on the shooter. He raised his rifle, locking it between Danut’s mandibles with the brain tentacles trying to reach him like striking snakes. Sam ran over with a dropped axe and buried it in Danut’s back, drawing another shriek of agony. The beast moved away, facing the villagers now coming together with weapons in their hands. He gave one final threatening roar and then turned around, disappearing into the darkness.
“God help us,” one man said.
“This is not God’s fight,” said Sorine, “it is our own. We’ve managed to drive it off, but it will return, and when it does, we’ll be ready. Next time, we’ll kill it.”
The curtain of terrified silence had been broken. The villagers knew the face of their enemy and could no longer ignore what was happening.
“So, are you ready to believe that this is legitimate demonic possession?” Sam asked Volker.
The German sighed and opened his shotgun, discharging the two spent shells. “I’m going to need new ammo.”
The next day, the townsfolk gathered in the center of the village to devise a plan. The mayor was dead, so all the most respected men in the community were ...
... standing in the tavern, arguing about what should be done.
“Let’s form a hunting party, get out there, and kill it!”
“We should trap it in a building a burn it down!”
“We need to get help from outside the town!”
“God is punishing us for our sins! We must repent or we will all be killed!”
“We must abandon the village! This land is cursed!”
Sam, Volker, and Sorine sat in the back, listening to the rabble.
“We’re not going to get anywhere like this,” said Sam, turning to Sorine. “Shouldn’t you get in there? What happened to all that “this is our fight” puff you were throwing out last night?”
“I’m simply the daughter of a dead priest. You think they’ll listen to me?”
Finally, Volker stepped forward. “ENOUGH!” he boomed, silencing everyone. “Please, listen to what I have to say. Now it’s clear this monster is not something of our world, but it seems to follow the behavioral patterns of a typical nocturnal predator. We’re its prey, and it’s feeding. If you remain scattered in your homes, it’ll just keep picking us off every night. I propose we gather every villager and sequester them here in the tavern and the surrounding buildings.
We’ll put up walls and barricades between the houses to create a box with one opening. Then, when the monster returns, it will be drawn to where all its food has gathered. We lure it into the box and attack it from all sides.”
“We tried that last night,” one man argued. “It’s fast, strong, and doesn’t die. We can’t pin it down, ...