"B-blood?"
His gaze fell over drops of blood that followed,
he did not think of it as something serious, "did someone get hurt? This looks fresh.."
He walked the trail of blood, each step carefully placed so as to not make a single sound. His chest became constricted, and his breathing heightened, yet he convinced himself that the accounts he will be witnessing by following this trail will not be what he is thinking.
The human mind is truly interesting, it has a built in cosmic model that allows it to ensure its safety at most times. At times, where lack of knowledge lead to ambiguity, the mind births a complex emotion, known as fear through a process of 'assumption'. Fear is what restrains, an individual, what obstructs them and stops them from exploring unmapped or unexplored areas so as to avoid any potential danger which may come from them.
Yet, another emotion which either erases or strengthens the fear is curiosity, which drives the person towards the unexplored areas and gives them the courage to find out what truly lies. Upon exploring, the 'knowledge' gained can help correct or solidify the ungrounded assumption, depending on if the new information matches the assumption, or turns out to be something else.
Unfortunately, for Mr. Kinsley, his curiosity drove him to his doom, and that is why,
fear exists.. to protect, yet the natural tendency to attain wisdom is what leads to the elimination of fear, even if it means risking your own life.
Before him, stood a beast unlike those from any of the Horror movies he had seen. When his gaze fell upon it, he must have wondered "from what deepest pits of Hell has this creature come from". Its long, black legs stretched over in a subjugating pose over the lifeless corpse of the janitor.
Its forelimbs dug into the torn-open abdomen of the man, his guts dangling from the edge of its claws which could cut through industrial steel.
The teacher was taken aback, this is what true FEAR felt like. His body remained calm, yet his heart pulsated like it was about to explode. Sweat ran down his face, as his eyes became dry from staring at it.
The beast took notice of the old man. Its few black hair scattered over its head curtained over the 2 or 3 pair of eyes which shone with a white light upon facing him. Its jaws opened, revealing the several arrays of teeth as it gave an expression which could be seen as a smile from the human lenses. A smile, shown by a predator before it disemboweled its prey.
It did not roar
It did not shriek
All it did was slowly approach Kinsley, step-by-step before bursting into a sprint. The man who had been overcome with fear ran for his life, the adrenaline hit stronger than ever, yet sadly for him, his struggle to escape was futile, for the 9-foot beast crawled on all fours, chasing him. Its feet left craters in the ground, then it leapt on the wall and threw himself at the teacher, crushing him between its jaws and ripping his body in half.
*The scene widens* Outside of the school—
Arata is seen walking,
"I don't know, that woman has affected me somehow."
"I cannot help but overthink it all, but I guess it should be fine. I am almost here too— HOLY"
He barely dodges the chair which came flying at him and landed on the ground, creating a loud sound. Suddenly, everyone's attention is caught, as they look at the building, with its shattered windows and damaged walls.
"WHAT- IS HAPPENING", his voice was quiet yet the disbelief and fear reflected clearly, but what happened next threw him in total hysteria.
Loud banging could be heard, before the roof door flung open. It was Hina, in a state which broke her friend completely. Her hair was tangled, and clothes messy. Her face moist with tears, as she screamed and called to the people outside with a rough and broken voice. The beast followed her through the staircase, bringing her to a corner of the cemented balcony.
The people were shocked at its appearance. Arata's eyes open wide.
"How— how could so much happen in so little time? Hina—" his voice trembled and became lost. He looked around himself—
The police surrounded the building, a few volunteers worked at the ground level to help the rescue of any possible survivors. Spectators watched the entire incident. A team of the security force was holding back the news reporters who were shouting and trying to get some footage of the beast.
In that moment, a new courage was found in his heart.
*CRASH*
A loud noise, stirred fear within the public, and curiosity in the beast. Arata had picked up a fragment of the chair which was thrown earlier and smashed it on the ground. His teeth gritted, and eyes locked onto the monster, he made a stern expression, desperate to draw its attention away from his friend.
The beast peeked from the balcony, responding to the sound and the police fired multiple rounds, all in vain for its skin was nearly impenetrable to such firepower.
It was unfazed, and uninterested in the tiny figures he saw from up there, and turned his attention towards the girl, who lay motionless.
It rushed forward, intending to finish her
He watched, the last of his hope gone.
A storm raged within his head, as a single thought lingered.
"What now?"
-----------------------------End Of Chapter------------------------------