The Beast

I can't fucking sleep at night.

The dark bags under my eyes seem to imitate some horrible experiment with emo eye shadow. I'm yawning. I'm walking, but the world is barely moving forward. This morning seems slower than usual.

I'm tired and this 20 oz cup of coffee keeps me awake, but my body is antsy. I drink it like water--now my hands are jittery. The last few days, I haven't slept. Some strange scratching sounds are grating against my window every night just as my eyes are about to fall asleep. Every night there is that sound and then some terrifying deep breaths and a low murmuring growl. It whispers to me on the edge of slumber and I wake up scared shitless as I push the blinds aside to find nothing but the street lamp showing the empty street. Nothing. I called animal control after the first night, I figured it could have been some stray rabid dog that found some comfort terrifying me at my window. But, they told me they found no signs of any stray dogs in the neighborhood. Even more damning was that there were no scratch marks by my window. I suppose I could have been dreaming...

I let out a long drawn out yawn...the kind that tells you just how weary you are. No, I couldn't have been dreaming.

I live in the suburbs happily away from all that ruralness that meant semi-daily interactions with wildlife. Don't get me wrong. I love animals but, they terrify me. All those fangs and claws and unsanitary licking. Screw that. I guess it would only be so appropriate that I be terrorized by some invisible creature at night. It's driving me crazy.

I was going to meet my girl this morning. Lord only knows why she chose such an ungodly early hour of the morning to meet and talk. We were meeting in the botanical gardens of the old city park. A quiet, not often frequented place anymore that seemed a bit overrun with vegetation. She said it was wild and free. She loved it. I hated it.

I see her at the usual meeting place beyond the morning haze around the bend of the main path. The leaves hovering around me left wet smears across my jacket and slapped my cheek with a cold satisfying splash that reminded me that this wasn't a dream. It sure as hell could have been.

I wipe my face and make it to her. I put on my best smile. She gives me a half hearted smile which dilutes my attempt to its equal. We both seem ungenuine at this point. I don't know why or when, but this is where we are now. I prepare to break into conversation but, I hear a rustling in the distant bushes behind us. I look around and see nothing, the dew on the leaves remain undisturbed from the quiet morning.

"Good morning," I say.

"Morning, John."

"Well, I guess we're both lost now huh?" I said trying to make a joke. Trying. Failing.

She gives a obligatory giggle and then nods her head towards the smaller path behind her. This place was our place, our secret little path to heaven, at least in the beginning. It had been months since we had been her again but, I took her hand anyways. A cold tingling runs down my spine and I feel cold suddenly. I can hear a faint but subtle sound that alarms me. It sounds like a growl. I turn to her and ask her if she hears anything, almost holding my breath. She shakes her head but, pulls herself closer to my arm. I guess she trusts still. I begin to breathe normally again and we press forward into the path.

It's not terribly well lit here. In fact, it's downright dreary and creepy in this state. The sun had not quite risen high enough to penetrate into this downward sloped pathway. The higher vegetation shields us from heavenly gazes and left a wet, dirty, muddy path. But, this little path had a beautiful little secret that few ever knew, I think it is ours alone to possess. As the morning sun rises and finally strikes through the wooded canopy at the right angle, a magnificent display of lights and hues fills the area and we are left in awe of the life it shows us. We keep it as our own.

But, we aren't in wonderland yet. The sun is still far too low to make this far down and we are trapped in this eerie hell.

"Somethings wrong," she says.

I rub my face and sigh.
"Yeah, I'm damn tired," I reply rather tactlessly.

She sighs and loosens her grip on my arm.
"No, John, something is very wrong now."

I hear another rustle of the leaves around us. I tense up uncontrollably.
"You feel it too don't you?" I ask her.

She nods. I can see a sense of fear in her eyes. She is scared of something. I don't even know what it is. I want to protect her though. I pull her in closely.
"Don't worry..."

She shakes her head. I hear a loud roar that is followed by viscious growls.
"You always tell me not to worry, but how can I ignore this now?"
She is trembling.

I take a deep breath and grip her hand tightly. The growls are vibrating through my bones. My knees begin to shake and my legs are losing their strength. I persist. I move them with the sheer force of my willpower. I don't want to be weak in front of her.
"Let's go back," I say.

I pull and her hand as I hear a ferocious howl. The bushes and saplings around us begin to part as if something were coming towards us. I can feel my every heartbeat slowing to every thought. The terror consumes my mind because I know. The beast is coming.

To Be Continued.