The Edge Chronicles- Chapter One- The Unknown
The first story in this series!
And the first series I ever wrote.
THE UNKNOWN
This whole mess started one July the 3rd, 2011.
It was supposed to be a normal day; I only wanted to wake up, go to school and maybe relax a bit afterwards.
... But this? This is just too much, even for a guy like me. But before I get into details, I guess I should provide some back-story...
***
It was a dark and stormy night... Sorry, I always wanted to write that, but it's true. I was still awake, even though it was half past eleven p.m. I was supposed to go to school tomorrow, but I just couldn't make myself go to bed just yet.
As usual, I was on my laptop, checking my accounts on various social networks. Seeing that there was nothing new or interesting, I finally logged out, turned off the computer and started to get ready for bed. I was just about to plop down in bed, when I got that feeling... The feeling I was being watched.
As always, whenever I get that feeling, I trained my eyes and ears towards the window in my room. I thought that it was stupid, because I never actually saw anything there, so imagine my surprise when I found a pair of amber eyes staring right back at me!
Somehow, right at that moment, I managed to trip over my own paws. With a yelp, I landed straight on my face on the floor.
I hurriedly scrambled back to my feet and looked back towards the window. The eyes were gone. I walked over and closed the curtains, trying to convince myself that they were just a figment of my imagination. I mean, they must have been! There was absolutely no possible way that someone could have climbed up here, even if they wanted to. I mean, my room is the second floor of our house. I shook my head, wanting to forget about it.
A couple of minutes later, I was laying in bed, drifting off to sleep...
?
... Where am I?
This is so strange... It looked just like my town, Hadenview, but... It was wrecked. It seemed like the Apocalypse already came and gone. The sky had a red-ish tinge to it, and I could see thick plumes of acrid smoke rising through the air in the distance. The buildings around me were crumbling and most of them didn't even rise for more than a couple of floors. There was a putrid smell, like rotting meat, coming from somewhere.
After I had a proper look around, I noticed that, in fact, this was Hadenview. I was standing next to the mall. All the mechanical doors were either smashed to pieces or just left wide open, like the ones closest to me...
And then I heard it. A terrifying, bone-chilling scream. It sounded like a small child... I swear my heart stopped. It was coming through the open doors of the mall, and it sounded extremely close...
Now, I've seen enough horror movies to know that you should NEVER go towards the noise, but there was something about it that just made me want to go help whoever was making them. It was so pitiful and heart-wrenching that I couldn't stop myself from hurrying into the mall.
?
I almost arrived at the location where the wails were coming from when they stopped abruptly. This unnerved me even more, but not as much as the sounds that followed the brief silence.
Have you ever seen a stray feral dog happen upon a nice, juicy steak? Have you heard the sounds that the dog makes while swallowing the tasty morsel? Then imagine that sound, only a million times worse. I almost threw up.
As I neared the source of the sounds, I felt... fear. Not the everyday, oh-my-god-I-think-I-forgot-my-homework kind of fear. I mean vicious, near-death-experience, sh*t-your-pants-and-go-lock-yourself-in-the-closet fear.
I almost dropped dead when I turned the last corner. I would never forget that image...
There, right in front of Gap, was the mangled body of a little cat-girl. She couldn't have been older then nine... And as if that wasn't enough, there was a hideous... thing crouched over her. It was ripping her flesh apart, piece by piece, and stuffing them in its carnivorous mouth, filled to the brim with razor-sharp fangs.
I tried to back away slowly, hoping that the monstrosity wouldn't notice me, but, (curse my luck) I accidentally tripped over a discarded mannequin, which sent me sprawling head over heels onto the blood-stained floor. I think I broke my tail...
There was no way I was getting away without it noticing me now... And I was right. The beast slowly stood, blood dripping from its mouth, and turned its head towards me. Words cannot even begin to describe that being, but I will try my best. It stood about eight feet tall, with extremely long, sharp limbs and a proportionally small head. It's whole body seemed to be designed to kill... The long arms and legs ended in unbelievably sharp ivory points, which emerged from its jet-black skin that was stretched over its entire body, with the exception of its red-rimmed mouth. The skin was pulled so tightly over its innards that could actually begin to make out the outlines of it inner organs. I could see every pulsing vein, every individual bone through it. But the worst part, I think, were it's eyes... Two hideous, milky white, blood-shot orbs set into the dark sockets of its skull.
The same eyes that, filled with pure hatred and fury, seemed to bore a hole through my soul as it took a single, staggering step towards me.
?