Chapter 12

Blanca faces something she never dreamed of, even in her nightmares.

Blanca still couldn’t get the images out of her head. The sight of the birds, slamming themselves against the glass, sending bright streaks of blood in all directions…It was horrifying. Being surrounded by them, feeling their wings beat around her in a such a flurry was like a nightmare she could never forget.

She wondered how long it would take for the fear to subside.

Even the police had been dumbfounded by the event. Not since Alfred Hitchcock’s,The Birds, had avians attacked people, and that was a simple fiction scenario. Blanca’s life was not, and she was sure the rest of the people trapped in the small cafe were just as confused and terrified as she was.

The police had put some of their questions to rest, fortunately. The group of ravens was discovered to have been diseased, though with what, no one seemed to know. Rabies did not affect birds, adding to the confusion. However, all injured victims, including Blanca, had received multiple vaccines, just to be sure.

After a necropsy had been done on one of the birds from inside the cafe, the medical examiner had discovered it’s brain to be in the same state as it would have with rabies: inflamed and swollen. Just today, Blanca had heard word around town that the birds corpses were to be gathered and sent to high-end medical facilities, to examine the strange disease, and possibly find an answer.

The medical examiners opinion on the attack was that the swollen brain caused confusion among the animal, just like rabies, and the birds had become aggressive.

The answers stopped there. Ravens did not travel in large groups, nor were they ever aggressive toward humans, so the event was still clouded with questions.

Blanca’s only escape from the confusion and anxiety was her writing.

Her fans were going to clamber for more after the release of this newest book, Blanca new it. She had to start writing the next one, even while her last was still in phases of editing. She had left the end of the book with a terrible cliffhanger, that she knew would draw in new fans of the series.

Now, she sat yet again in the peaceful park outside her apartments, staring at her laptop blankly, unsure what to write. She knew where she wanted to go with the plot, but she had no idea on how to start it. She didn’t want to follow-up immediately with the cliffhanger of the last book, she needed some kind of suspense between the two, but she had no real idea of how to do it, or what exactly to put.

Instead, she gazed lazily around the park, searching for idea’s hidden in the lush trees leaves.

The sun was steadily sinking far into the western horizon, disappearing behind the dense forestry of the park and casting a blood-red glow across the sky.

A light gust of wind buffeted her from behind, blowing her hair into her face.

The air was becoming chilly. It was hard enough to concentrate with the subtle yet gripping fear she still held, and now the wind had begun to raise goosebumps along her arms.

Obviously, it was time to head home. She was not being productive, simply being stuck in a rut of anxiety and pondering.

She closed her laptop, but did not get up. Something was wrong.

Her fear must have subconsciously been controlling her again. She felt she did not have the strength to stand, that if she tried, she would fall back onto the bench.

Instead, she tilted her head back and closed her eyes, forcing her fear to become lethargy and sleepiness.

She had no idea how long she’d slept there, only that it was far into the night. The sky had changed from red to a deep, dark, blue. A thin layer of clouds had rolled in, blocking her view of the stars and dimming the light of the moon so that everything around her appeared monochromatic, blending with the shadows.

She opened her laptop and check the small time indicator in the corner.

12:23? She been asleep for almost four hours. She had no idea how this had happened, it was freezing outside. Her breathed plumed in front of her like smoke. It must have been well below freezing, and somehow she’d slept.

Now that she was thinking about it, the cold was penetrating her skin like icicles, her clothes a worthless barrier between her and the frigid air. She slammed her laptop shut and forced herself to stand, her legs screaming in agony at the abrupt movement. She stretched, closing her eyes and throwing her arms up over her head, stretching her cramped muscles.

A sharp, throaty growl from the trees snapped her eyes open.

Her heart skipped a beat. Bright white eyes watched her from the shadows of the tree’s, unwavering.

It was a nightmare, she was stuck in a nightmare, it had to be.

Yet she didn’t feel like it was a nightmare. She felt fully conscious, and awake, but she knew she couldn’t possibly be.

She could hear the beast breathing. It was a 30 yards from her or so, it’s eyes not leaving her.

She had no idea what to do. It was just a dream, right? The creature couldn’t hurt her. She was safe.

Without taking her eyes from the beast, she reached down onto the bench and felt for her laptop, wrapping her fingers around it’s cool plastic case and picking it up, holding it to her chest like a stuffed animal.

It was okay. She was probably still asleep on the bench in real life. Maybe if she just went home in this bad dream, she’d wake up on the bench, cold and tired, but unharmed and unwatched.

She edged her way around the bench, tearing her gaze from the white eyes that watched from the shadows.

It had to be some stray animal. Most animals had strange eyes in the night, like cats. That’s probably all it was.

That growl didn’t come from any cat…she thought, then swept it away. It was a dream, dreams were strange things that never made much sense at all.

She had only walked a few feet when the growl came again, louder this time, and much more angry.

She swung around just in time to face the beast that collided with her, knocking her to the ground and pinning her.

It wasn’t an animal at all, but a huge, gangly man with a set of gleaming, sharpened teeth that hung in her face as he breathed on her.

Then she saw the wings, those horrible arms protruding from his shoulder-blades, with long, thin fingers, each with a papery membrane connecting each. They were bat wings.

Spittle collected on her face as the creature screeched down at her.

Out of sudden reflex, she hefted her laptop up above her head and beat the man-monster in the face a number of times, hearing the satisfying crack of contact and the beast howling in pain.

The moment he let go of her with his taloned hands, she scrambled away, fleeing into the night.

The monster behind howled into the sky, a voice filled with rage and hunger.

The first thing she thought of were the vampires from all those horror movies her friends loved to talk about. Was that where her mind was getting this image.

But it seemed so real. She felt that monsters claws against her skin, and she could have sworn the spit dripping from his teeth had actually hit her face.

But monsters like that didn’t exist in reality.

Right?

This man was huge, probably a good eight feet tall or higher, and almost emaciated looking, with thin, long arms and legs. As she turned to look, she saw his feet, his horrible deformed feet, stretched at the ankle like a dog-leg.

Those wings spread, blocking her view of the moon on the horizon.

This was not a dream, she knew that now. This monster was as real as the night, and just as dangerous, if not more.

With heavy steps, the man-beast chased after her, his clawed toes clack clack clacking on the pavement.

It was only a matter of seconds before she felt a heavy thud on her back and was sent far across the park, landing on her back yet again.

The hit knocked the wind out of her, forcing her body to become limp upon impact of the ground.

Down on all fours now, the creature lumbered after her, wings folded and flattened against it’s spiny back. Mouth open and teeth gleaming in the moonlight, it lunged at her throat.

Adrenaline saved her yet again, allowing for her to swing her laptop again in a crazed frenzy.

This time, it hit the monster’s lower jaw, hitting like an uppercut from a boxer. His neck snapped back, forcing him to stumble and fall to his knees.

Blanca commanded her legs to raise her and run, and with little effort, they obeyed, adrenaline flowing through her like a jolt of electricity.

What was this?! She shouted to her brain. Who had made this repulsive creature?! Why?! She had so many questions, so much confusion. This couldn’t be real, but it was. She was being chased by a monster. What was she to do?

She had to get to the police station. They would never believe her, but they would if the creature followed her there. She’d be safe there, anyway, with all the firearms and trained policemen.

She dashed quickly through the shadows of the park, glancing back over her shoulder periodically.

She could just see the silhouette of the thing hunching over the pavement, glaring at her with those fiery white eyes. But it was not following her.

***

The beast that was Crest stared after the girl. With what control of his mind he had left, he let her escape. There was much easier prey out there. This girl had a weapon, and was willing to use it. It wasn’t worth the fight.

But the beast wanted blood, and the girl was the closest to him.

Crest was overwhelmed by the monster within, and lost himself to the bloodlust.

***

She paused, walking backwards toward the exit to the park, keeping her eye on the monster.

What should she do? She was too nervous to taunt it to get it to follow her, but she needed to to get the police to believe her. If she did taunt it, however, there was no guarantee she’d live long enough to make it to the police station.

Her obliviousness hit her like a slap to the face. She had a laptop. She had video chat. She had friends.

She didn’t care that she’d be waking her friends in the middle of the night, she could die tonight.

She slipped behind a large tree just outside of the park, slumping down into the shadows and opening her laptop frantically.

She was hardly able to type, her hands shaking uncontrollably.

Managing to move her cursor over the Skype icon, she double clicked and waited for a connection.

She’d never been so thankful that the park had wifi.

She looked around the tree cautiously. The monster was no where to be seen. She didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. For all she knew, it could still be hunting her.

She jumped up and ran quickly across the street. Sometimes, out in the open was more safe than being ‘sheltered’ beneath a tree.

She slammed her back up against the wall, just as her friend picked up the phone on her computer.

“Karen, help me!” Blanca cried, for the first time tonight tears flowing down her cheeks.

“What…? Blanca, what’s happened? Why are you outside in the middle of the ni-”

“There’s something in the park, some kind of monster!” Blanca was hysteric now, sobbing as if she’d just witnessed her mothers murder. “Help me, please help me…!” She closed her eyes, sliding down the wall onto the sidewalk.

“Blanca, what is going on?! Why are you at the park?!” Karen’s eyes were wide open now, concerned for her friends sudden bizarre outburst.

“Shut up Karen, it doesn’t matter!” she shouted into her laptop. “There’s a MONSTER IN THE PARK!”

Karen put a hand to her forehead. “Listen, Blanca, where are you? I’ll come pick you up, you’ve never handled alcohol well, and-”

“I’m not drunk, you b***h!” she shouted angrily, her face gleaming with tears. “There’s something in the park! It…It looks like a man, but it has WINGS! And CLAWS! F**k…” She sounded so crazy, so psychotic, it was no wonder her friend didn’t believe her.

It was then she saw the shadow shifting underneath the trees.

It was back.

“THERE!” Blanca shrieked, spinning the laptop around as the creature crept toward her.

“What? Blanca, there’s nothing there…”

The creature lunged, wings spread as it jumped across the street straight at Blanca.

She could hear her friend scream as the beast smashed the laptop and swiped at Blanca, narrowly missing it’s sharp claws. She ducked and scuttled away like a mouse from a cat, sprinting down the sidewalk in the direction of the police station.

The laptops’ screen was frozen on the image of the furious monster, teeth bared and eyes gleaming with hunger, captured by the webcam.

***

The hunt was fun. Crest enjoyed this night, the fear that emanated from his prey.

It was humorous to him, even to his monster, that she had tried to hide from him. She had no idea how well he could hear her heartbeat, her terrified breathing; no idea that he could see the electricity through her muscles; she had no idea.

***

The police stations lights flooded the sidewalk with a warm glow.

Blanca felt as if she were about to faint. Her legs were screaming for her to stop, and her lungs burned with a fierce fire.

But she had made it, and she was not injured.

And the creature didn’t seem to be following her.

She burst through the stations doors, tears still streaming down her face.

“Please….Please help me…” she gasped, trying to catch her breath with her hands on her knees.

“What’s wrong, ma’am?” The policeman behind the desk jumped to his feet.

“Something….Something’s following me…”

She couldn’t hold her consciousness any longer. She collapsed onto the tile floor.