Just a Spat

Hunted through the forest, stalked by an unknown predator; this is the life of Fernando DuGalle who has dedicated his life to seeking out the truth behind American Mythos. Trekking through the forest in the debt of night, he is greeted by only the distant hoot of owls and his own footsteps crunching under the crisp Autumn leaves. Armed with nothing but his small hunting rifle and an over-the-shoulder camera, his journey to find the mythological beast Cerberus has taken him across continents chasing after every hint of where the gates of Infinity may be located. As his hike draws on, the forest seems to close in on him, crushing his every breath back into his lungs. The tense quiet pressing on him from every direction, even the slightest twig breaking underfoot sends his reflexes into Fight-or-Flight mode. After what felt like a millennium of searching, he finally arrived at what he had been searching for: an Infinity symbol carved into a tree trunk. Carefully, he turns his rifle over and uncaps the butt of it to reveal a hidden compartment. From this, he retrieves a simple pocket knife and closes it over again. Taking the pocket knife, he thrusts it into the centre of the symbol. A white light bursts from his knife and engulfs his surroundings in its glow. Suddenly, the show cuts to a commercial for L'Oreal Hair Dye.
         "Aww, just when it was getting to the good part!" Amber exclaimed, jumping off the sofa and shaking her fist at the flat-screen T.V.. Jacob smiled up at her and pulled her back to her spot next to him so they could wait for the show to continue.
         "Oh, speaking of mythical creatures, I just got this new Mythos Catalogue and I found such a cool creature in it I just have to show you." Amber remembered and jumped off the sofa once again then scuttled to her purse where she pulled out a much-too-large book and dragged it back to where she sat with her boyfriend and opened to the page. Pointing to a picture of a huge gray beast with a snake for a tail, she began to explain, "This is Carrageenan, he's the spawn of Cerbrus and Medusa. Supposedly, he feasts on the flesh of humans who have intense amounts of negative emotions in them, and stuff -- harsh, huh?" Jacob scowled and stared at the picture as Amber continued on her tangent about this creature.
         "It's supposed to be at least ten feet tall when it stands up and weighs as much as a car! And it has the power to possess people in order to lead them to it for dinner." Amber continued gleefully as Jacob sat in silence, attempting to follow along as she talked, but not putting much effort in. Just as she was about to continue onto the next page, the show came back on.
         "Amber, it's back, let's watch!" He nudged her quietly, causing her to close the book, throw it to the side and slip back into his embrace.
After the show ends, Jacob frees his arm from under Amber and stretches out his form, ready to finally get some sleep after watching three hours worth of monster shows.
         "Wait, Finding Bigfoot is on next and I don't wanna miss it! Stay up with me?" Amber begged, putting on an innocent smile. Jacob sighed in defeat and put his arm back around her ready to sit through another episode of her Bigfoot Fantasies.
         "You know, I'm getting kind of tired of your obsession with these shows." Jacob said off-handedly as he began to fall into his bored-nothing-to-do trance.
         "I am not obsessed, I just really like Mythological creatures; is that a crime?" Amber snapped back at him, irritated by being up so late and not having enough sleep.
         "I only meant that maybe it's time you drop this thing you have with all these fake creatures." Jacob retorted, not even glancing over at her. Amber stared at him with fiery intent, not even paying attention to the show she adored so much.
         "How many times do I have to tell you, they aren't fake! Everything these shows talk about are a hundred percent real!" At this, Jacob let out a snort involuntarily as this was the oddest of things she'd ever said to him. Amber pouted and threw a pillow at Jacob then scooted to the other side of the couch where she could watch her shows in peace.
         "I just think that you should concentrate on 'us' a little more; all you ever talk about is Medusa this and Carrigan that--"
"Carrageenan!" Amber corrected, interrupting Jacob. Jacob sighed once again and looked over at her, attempting to get comfortable without her close to him.
         "If you can't appreciate my likes and dislikes, what kind of boyfriend are you?!" Amber said, clearly overreacting as she raised her voice at him. This type of outburst was frequent with the two.
         "This isn't my fault, Amber, you've changed since you got into these things." Jacob said, trying to reason with her although he knew a fight was inevitable at this point. He'd been down this road many times before and knew it well.
         "My fault?! You're the one that's acting as if you couldn't care less about anything I say!" Amber shouted, standing up from her seat and stomping her foot animalisticly. Jacob frowned as he watched her get angrier and angrier and knew there was nothing he could say at this point to calm her down.
         "You're sleeping on the couch tonight." She exclaimed loudly as she trudged up the stairs to their bedroom without another word to him. Jacob cupped his head in his hands and tried to figure a way out of this. At this point, there seemed no hope left for their relationship. Grabbing the remote, he shut the television off and laid across the sofa to sleep.
Jacob awoke to a high-pitched sound, as if a mouse had been stepped on nearby. He opened his eyes and looked around, but could not find the source of it. Blaming it on his imagination, he sat up and looked at the clock. 5:31 A.M..
         "I suppose Amber will have cooled off by now." He thought to himself, and stood up from the couch sleepily. He rubbed his face to try and wake himself up and get ready to apologise to Amber for what he knew he didn't do. He slowly dragged himself up the stairs and stopped in front of the closed door to their bedroom. He put his ear to the door to see if she was still awake and was met with erratic breathing and occasional sobs. He sighed, thinking she must have been crying the entire time he was asleep and he put his hand on the doorknob. He thought over what he could say to her in his head for a moment then pushed the door open and took a step in. When his eyes adjusted to the light in the room, he froze in confusion and fear. What he saw laying on their bed was not just Amber but a guest as well. He saw her laying under it, blood covering her face and arms as she acknowledged him as well and attempted to call out to him for help, but couldn't make a sound through her blood-choked sobs of pain. On top of her was a grey, hairless beast tearing her apart as if she were its dinner. It's huge muscles rippled every time it moved and it almost had the physique of a human, but a snake-like tail and the head of a dog that was grossly bigger than any dog he had ever seen. Looking at it closer, he saw that some parts of its skin had worn away as they were eaten by maggots which still clung to it. Through a huge gash in its side, edged in rotted flesh he could see broken ribs and a black, nearly beating heart.
         "Hey, get off her!" He shouted at it, feeling courageous enough to take on this creature. Hearing his voice, it immediately whipped its head around to stare at him and he was met with black and bright red glowing eyes and a snarling mouth covered in Amber's blood. All courage he previously felt melted out of him and he only felt fear; fear that it had just killed his girlfriend and it would kill him next. They stood there, eyes locked with neither making a move. The creature let out a low, rumbling growl that increasingly got louder. Perhaps it was just Jacob's imagination, but he could've sworn he heard human screams intermixed into its growl. His blood ran cold, hearing this, and the hair on the back of his neck stood up; he felt the need to run as far away from this place as fast as he could, but his body wouldn't let him. For a moment, he glanced down at Amber only to find her eyes closed and the quick rise and fall of her chest to have ceased. There was a loud bark-like sound and the squeak of bedsprings as he looked up to find the blood-red glowing eyes and sharp-serrated teeth quickly approaching him. In that moment, he remembered all the times he had loved with his girlfriend and felt that this was his time to die with her. His muscles moved without his knowledge and the door he still held closed almost in slow motion, just before the creature reached his point. He felt himself turn away and run back down the stairs just as the door feebly blocking the creature from him exploded and crashed to the ground, unable to hold up the weight of this monster ramming into it. Time sped up and he bolted down the stairs, faster than he thought possible as this creature he now remembered to be called Carrageenan crashed against the wall opposing his bedroom door and struggled after him, letting loose a howl that made his skin crawl; it sounded just like Amber screaming. Jacob reached the bottom of the stairs and swung around the supporting pole to head for the front door, the creature reaching the bottom just as fast but skidding into the hallway wall instead. He reached the front door and slammed on the handle only to remember Amber had locked it before sitting with him on the sofa last night. Carrageenan stood up and shook itself off to recover from its slight mishap then howled in the same scream-like manner and returned his chase. Jacob unlocked the door and swung it open feeling the crunch of his driveway gravel under his un-shoed feet as he ran out. The creature fit easily through the door way, as if its size were nothing compared to the opening and lept at him, pinning him to the ground just when he turned to confirm it was still chasing him. The two skidded a few feet and Carrageenan bared its jaws in his face, reeling back momentarily to attack. Jacob flinched, anticipating the pain but was met with nothing. He opened his eyes and was met with just the front of his house and a slowly rising sun. His heart still pounding, he stood up to survey his surroundings. Everything around him seemed normal, as if there weren't a monstrous beast about to devour him moments ago. He stood up and dusted his pants off, then remembered what was left in his house. He jogged back inside, fearing what he may find waiting for him as he marched up the stairs. The door that had been torn off its hinges was in tact as if nothing had happened. Seeing this, he felt hopeful that it may have all been just a dream. He burst through the door, ready to see Amber sleeping on the bed, but was met with an empty room. Utterly confused, he walked over to the bed and examined it for any sign that she had been here previous, but there wasn't a spec of blood or wrinkled bed sheet on it.
"Amber? ... Amber!" He called, as he ran throughout their house, trying to find any sign of her. After spending five minutes searching, he sat on the sofa they were cuddled on just hours ago and pulled his legs to his chest.

Perhaps she never existed to begin with.