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Jack knew that something was wrong the moment he woke up. He had fallen asleep in the warm, soft bed in his apartment after a long day at work, but the rock surface that he lay on now was cold and hard. In fact, a sense of cold had enveloped him, his naked body exposed to icy air. Opening his eyes didn't do much to tell him where he was, for only a dim light shown from an unspecified source. He could only barely make out the rock that made up the surfaces in the room.

A cave, he realized. I must be inside of a cave. But, how did I get here?

Slowly, Jack groggily tried to shake sleep from his mind and to get his limbs to move. He didn't know what had happened or where he was, but instinct told him that the quicker he learned about his situation the better. After a minute he was able get his legs under him and worked to push himself up, his bare feet scraping against the uneven rock floor.

Then from behind him, Jack heard the sound of rattling chains and of metal scraping against the rock floor. He froze, fear sinking deep into his gut, unaware of what was moving behind him. Should he run? No, that wasn't an option. He didn't know how to get out, and even if he did he would hardly be able to see where he was going. He stood stock-still, raptly listening to the noise. There scrapping and rattling continued for a moment, then stopped.

"Hello?" whispered a voice. It was man's voice, raspy and terrified, the words amplified by the walls of the cave. Jack turned around slowly, his eyes now somewhat adjusted to the dark. Behind him he saw the man, his emaciated body filthy and coated in dark, dried blood, slightly stooping near the back of the cave. His hair and beard were long and tangled and the whites were clearly visible in his terrified eyes. As their gazes met the dirty man smiled with a wild and desperate joy, his eyes beginning to brim with tears.

"Thank God," the man said, relieved laughter and anguished sobs mixed in with his voice. "You're awake. I never thought that any of them would ever wake up." The man took a step forward, and Jack saw that the rattling sound had been created by shackles connected to the man's legs. "Please," he sobbed, his voice filled with a desperate plea, "you have to kill me."

Jack took a step back, too alarmed to be able to speak clearly. "What are-"

"No!" cried the man, panic now entering his voice. "There's no time! If you don't help now, you'll -" Suddenly, the man hunched over, a cry of pain entering his voice. "The other side of the cave!" the man cried out in agony. "Go now!"

Too startled to argue, Jack began scrambling away from the man. He stumbled frequently, using his hands almost as much as his feet in order to navigate in the darkness. After a few seconds, his hands met with the cave's wall. He looked around frantically, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do next.

A scream, full of pain and agony, met Jack's ears, and a growing sense of panic made him begin to frantically feel along the surface of the cave wall. After a few seconds of searching, his hands came across small opening in the wall. He moved to look inside it but it was too dark see anything. He hesitated for a moment, but began to put his arm inside.

He blindly searched inside of the hole, slowly moving his arm in further. His wrist cleared the opening, but he still hadn't found anything. Soon he was up to his elbow, and his arm started to scrape against the rock. Jack began to grunt in effort, struggling to get his arm in deeper.

Then Jack noticed that something had changed. The man's pained moans and cries had died away, and a soft, angry snarl had replaced it. Jack whipped his head around and looked back to where the man was. Instead of the man however, he saw that a large, monstrous form had taken his place. It stood on two legs, and its hunched form still stood a good foot taller than Jack. Its muscular body was covered in a thick, dark fur, and a long tail extended behind it. Its head was muzzled, long canines revealed behind snarling lips, and its eyes were full of a feral rage and bloodlust.

Upon seeing Jack, the creature let out a massive roar and lunged forward, going to all fours as it did. It only able to travel a few feet though, before there was the metallic snapping sound and the monster came to a sudden halt. The chain around its leg had become taught. It snarled in anger, continuing to try and claw forward and reach its prey.

Jack, now full of terror, forcefully attempted to push his arm deeper into the hole. He whimpered fearfully, desperately clinging to the belief that there was something in there that could save him. When his arm was up to his shoulder, he finally came across something that had the cold, hard touch of metal. With a desperate hope, Jack made one final push inside, and his fingers wrapped around the handle of a large revolver.

With a sharp snap, the monster finally managed to break free of his chains just as Jack tore his arm out of the hole. It gave out a triumphant roar as it continued its former charge. Jack quickly spun around, pulling back the hammer and pointing the gun at the beast. As it bore down on him, Jack managed to let out one fearful and defiant yell and pull the trigger.

The loud bang of the gun shot came with an explosive flash of light, burning the monster's massive form into Jack's retinas. It let out another roar, this one with pain mixed in with the rage, and continued toward him. Jack fired again, emitting another bang and flash. The creature was knocked back a bit by the shot, but still it didn't stop. Jack fired again. And again. After the fifth shot, the beast finally stopped, falling to the ground at Jack's feet.

Jack stood there, heart pounding, trying to keep the gun from shaking in his hands. He didn't move, fearing that the monster would rise back up and attack if he did. He waited, eyes fixed on the beast's still form, the monster's hot blood beginning to pool around Jack's feet. Eventually, Jack's overtaxed mind couldn't take the strain and he collapsed again into unconsciousness.

***

When Jack next awoke, it was to the blaring sound of an alarm. The memories of the monster jumped to the front of his mind and he sat up, panic once again taking over his mind. After a second though, he realized that he was back in his apartment, waking to the sound of his alarm clock like normal. He sighed with relief, realizing that the events in the cave were just a vivid nightmare.

As he turned to turn of the alarm on his nightstand though, he froze. Laying on the nightstand, along with his alarm clock and regular nighttime reading, were three items that should not have been there: a revolver, one unspent bullet, and a scrap of paper. On the paper, there were written only two words that made Jack's blood run cold:

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