David was sound asleep in his bed, tucked under his blanket. Blissful and calm, as any child should be in the confines of their own home. The morning might be emotionally difficult to process due to the church being torn apart, but dinner with his mother and sister was always a good moment. Just chatting and eating a good hot meal before bed made a chaotic world seem normal, even if that normalcy would vanish every time he woke up and set foot into the real world. A routine that was stable and comfortable, regardless of how simple it was. Though to a child, it was all he really wanted.

  But that would be the last night of calm. After hearing a loud bang, David shot awake, his heart racing while goosebumps formed all across his body.

  ‘Mum? Miranda?’ He called out, pulling his blanket close to him. Yet despite his cries in the middle of the night, no one answered. He called out to them again, but nothing came of it. He was alone and terrified.

  Jumping out of bed, David grabbed his baseball bat and torch. After a few breaths, he walked out of his room to see if everything was alright. Meanwhile, refusing to flip the light switches, believing that something hiding would notice him. Even though the light from his torch defeated the purpose of concealment. But he was a kid; he couldn’t recognise the slight error in his logic, all while fear consumed his mind. Nor at that moment was he meant to focus on that when there could be something in his home.

  Instinctively, he went to his mother’s room for comfort. However, instead of seeing his mother on her bed blissfully sleeping after a long day. He found her dead. Torn apart limb from limb, blood splattered over every inch of wall and ceiling, while bits of flesh stuck to every surface.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  David’s throat croaked. He wanted to cry and scream, but he was too shocked to bring forth a single tear. David pinched himself, trying to wake himself from his nightmare. Only to sink into a deep depression when he realised that he was very much awake, and chunks of his mother were scattered around before him. The smell was intoxicating. The stench of blood and ripped open organs caused David to cough and gag.

  ‘Miranda!’ His heart slammed against his chest as he remembered his sister. Without a second thought, he rushed out of his mother’s room and bolted to see if his sister was okay. But what he saw caused his body to freeze. His arms and legs locked into place as he stared at the towering horror before him, holding his unconscious sister by the throat with its scaled hands. He couldn’t tell if she was even alive.

  The poor boy noticed only an outline of the monster. Its long avian legs, its scaled hands and three long fingers. His jagged head lacked a nose and ears. Even the feathers on its back shimmered and gave a subtle red glow. David wanted to reveal its true form by shining his torch at it, but he was unable to move his hand to do it. His mind couldn’t comprehend the horror before him.

  The monster smiled at David, and the harsh cackle caused him to shudder. ‘I thought I smelt tears that weren’t from her. I was hoping that ruckus would not wake you up. Sadly, we have to meet far earlier than I would like.’ He said before lightly shaking David’s sister to illustrate his point. ‘But it seems we have to push things forward and get things over and done with.’

  After saying that, the monster put Miranda and spread its arms with an insidious grin. ‘It’s okay, kid. I’ll allow you to have the first swing. Do your best.’