Not for the Beast

Written for the Daily Flash Fiction Challenge with a word limit of 300.

The prompts: This story must contain the phrase: "It came out of nowhere."

Not for the Beast

Officer Sandra Miller pushed herself deeper into the dark corner.

“It” was lumbering towards her; manlike in shape, nightmarish in all other ways.

Shaking violently, she turned her head aside; away from the inquiring advances of the beast. Its breath was warm and ragged. Globules of something rancid dropped from its thick tangled fur, landing on her cheek and neck.

Only minutes before, everything had been going smoothly.

Then the call came in.

It was hard to make out what was exactly going on. The officer placing the call was in a state of panic. There was shrieking and then gun fire. She thought she heard, “It came out of nowhere.”

Sandra and her partner, Mike Sheffield, hurried to the location. Sandra couldn’t help but notice that everyone on the streets that night seemed to be running in the opposite direction.

They arrived at the scene to find a bloody mess. Sandra wanted to be sick but she had a job to do.

A movement over by the alley caught her eye. She signaled to Mike and they cautiously approached what they assumed to be an armed and dangerous criminal.

They were still a few yards out when it attacked.

The fact that “it” was clearly not human didn’t keep them from firing shot after ineffectual shot into the beast. It stood at least ten feet tall and was covered in long, brown tangled hair that smelled of something rotten, something long dead.

It took Mike first; tearing him apart.

Now it wanted her. Sandra felt her grip tighten on her gun. “It” sniffed her and then gently touched her face with the back of its hairy hand.

Trembling, Sandra brought her gun up slowly. She had one bullet left – and it was not for the beast.

Word count 297



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