# Year 1985
"Do you see.. monsters?"
A feminine voice broke the silence, shaky and breathless
"What? What are you talking about?" I replied, my face slightly raised in confusion
"You mean like giant rampaging monsters?" I added, trying to lighten the mood
She sat next to me, with her hands resting on her thighs tensely.
"This is serious Kyo, have you?"
I slightly hesitated, searching her face for any clues of a joke or some prank she was trying to pull.
"No," I said quietly, "I haven't seen any monsters. Why?"
She leaned closer with a horrified look.
"Oh," she paused, her eyes dropped to her skirt as her fingers began curling into the fabric.
"I've seen one before. It even looked at me, it had an ugly figure… it sort of looked like it—" she paused once again, her body shivering as she recalled the memories of the sighting. Her voice dropped to a whisper "It had shifted its own body…"
My confusion quickly shifted into concern, I reached out gently touching her arm.
"Look Yuri, I'm tired and I just want us to get home."
"So are you sure it wasn't just some bad dream or you weren't hallucinating?"
Yuri looked at me, her eyes rolling in disbelief at my skepticism. She pouted, crossing her arms.
"No, I know what I saw Kyo."
"You have to believe me!"
Fine, I guess I can hear her out. My eyes narrowed as I considered her words.
"Okay, I'll humor you."
Her face brightly lit up with a smile reaching ear to ear before she spoke excitedly.
"ALRIGHT, I'LL LEAD THE WAY!"
She stood up brushing imaginary dust off her skirt. "I'll show you where I saw it."
"Let's go get lunch first, then we can go."
I suggested, rising from the bench. I haven't eaten all day so I hope she doesn't mind.
"Yeah, I'm pretty hungry myself."
She replied, she then swiftly grabbed hold of my hand.
A few hours passed…
"There better be a monster and not some well thought out prank." I muttered
Yuri rested her hand on mine.
"I promise, I saw it yesterday."
I stepped on the gas, and she leaned on my shoulder as we drove.
The drive there took about an hour. We arrived at an abandoned warehouse, stepping out of the car.
"Is this the place?" I asked
Yuri's expression switched again, a frightened look dwelling on her face. She fidgeted with her hands before answering up, her voice cracking
"Y-yeah.."
I looked down at her. So this is where she saw that 'monster'? I slightly clenched my fist, my eyes darting from one place to another scanning the area for anything unusual. Nothing out of the ordinary, yet.
"Stay behind me. If there really is a monster, run straight to the car, okay?"
Yuri nodded, her body still trembling, though she clung to me for reassurance.
I grabbed the door handle and opened it, the loud creaking echoed throughout the warehouse. It was empty but it seemed to hum with a strange aura.
What is this feeling? The hairs on my arm stood tall, and every step felt heavier than the last.
We both slowly walked through the building, the descending sun illuminated our surroundings.
"I don't see anything, Yuri. Where is it?"
Yuri lowered her head.
"I don't know, but I saw it here when I drove by."
We continued deeper into the warehouse, weaving between several crates and large boxes lying everywhere.
The corners were brimmed with shadows, as if they were concealing something waiting beyond my view.
I heard a gasp from behind me, it was Yuri. She halted, pulling me back briefly before pointing at a dark figure across from us.
"D-do you see that?"
My eyes widened. Even when it was dark we could see its outline clear as day, it was unmistakable.
The creature's spine jutted out, almost like an extended tail. It had an enormous head with long lanky arms, Its legs looked similar to a dog's. Though it stood 10 feet tall on its hind legs, was this really just an animal?
"Back up quietly. Don't make a sound," I whispered.
The creature growled loudly, its body slowly turning towards us.
But we didn't just stand there like frozen— I grabbed Yuri pulling her behind one of the large crates. We sat there and hid while holding our breath, the creature crawled across the floor actively hunting for us.
"I'm scared..!" Yuri whimpered, her voice trembling with tears beginning to form in her eyes.
I quickly wrapped my hand across her mouth gently in order to silence any further noise she made.
"It's okay. We'll get out of here." I murmured, forcing myself to stay calm while I thought of a plan. She was telling the truth—there really is a monster here.
"I need you to run to the door. I'll cover you."
Yuri nodded, her eyes wide with fear.
She carefully got up, ceasing any external noise.
I stood with her, keeping close behind her as we crept towards the exit.
Suddenly, a loud thud echoed from behind us, the creature had knocked over one of the crates and in doing so noticed us.
Yuri screamed running to the exit, I followed behind but the monster was too fast.
Within a split second, it was already in front of us. It blocked our path, towering above us.
It swung its large arm in a wide arc at Yuri.
I quickly reacted by shoving Yuri into a stack of crates. The creature's claws gashed deep across my chest and abdomen.
Blood gushed from my wounds, pooling on the ground where I collapsed.
"NO, KYO..!" Yuri screamed, her voice echoing throughout the empty warehouse.
She tried to run but the exit was blocked.
I tried to raise my hand in a desperate attempt at telling Yuri to run, but it was useless.
The sun had set. Darkness pressed in all edges of my vision. The monster's attention was focused towards Yuri, advancing towards her with immense speed.
My eyelids grew heavy, the darkness encompassing my vision. The world faded to black, and my consciousness faded at that very moment.