Go For Stories

A serpent, as that was the best description for it, floated in the air before him. The size of a small crocodile, it writhed in the air like an eel in water. The head was as wide as Nigel’s with a jaw like an anglerfish, but teeth like knives. A spiny sail ran down its back, threatening to poke holes in the air itself, ending in a whip-like tail. It opened and closed its jaws as it eyed Nigel off with big, yellow orbs, as if deciding which part of him it wanted to munch on first. Nigel took a slow, deliberate step back. Its eyes grew, lighting up from inside. Its slithering became more insistent. He took another step back. It writhed itself in a tight “S” shape, making no noise yet speaking volumes about its plan.

Then it surged forward. Nigel threw himself to the side as it streaked past him with a speed he had never seen before. The air whistled through the gaps in its teeth as it wheeled around to face him again. He rolled to escape another surging attack. The creature’s eyes glowed so bright now that it hurt to look at. Nigel ran.

He skimmed over cracks in the floor and slid over patches of slimy goo. His feet somehow kept going despite the weakness in his knees. He dodged hanging plaster and leaped over holes, crunching into the floor as he landed. He heard the whistle of the creature coming up behind him and he ducked. It flew over him before coming around for another pass. He threw himself to the side, but not before its teeth drew three sharp lines of blood across his arm. Electric pain shot through him, not unlike the pain in his hand. His heart shuddered in his chest and he staggered.

He was not going to win this fight. A couple more runs past and the thing would tear him to pieces. He surged across the hall and threw himself into the door opposite, bursting it to pieces as he did. Splinters of wood fell around him as he landed hard on the floor. Prone, he looked up through the remnants of doorway to see the slithering beasty come at him once more. It whistled towards him and he threw his arms up to protect his face. Maybe he could grab it and bring the fight in close. He had run out of options.

The thing screeched to a stop just before the doorway, its tail flicking forward as it did. Its shadow flashed on the floor at Nigel’s feet. Pulsing with the hallway lights. It hissed through its dagger-like teeth and wriggled back and forth violently. Its eyes throbbed with brightness. It edged forward, then back. Forward, then back.

“What’s the matter, boy?” asked Nigel, forcing bravery into his voice. “You scared?” A thought struck him. “Wait, are you scared? Why are you scared?”

He whirled around, ignoring the sharp teeth and glowing eyes. If there was something in here that could scare that monstrosity, then it would surely be bad. His eyes scanned the darkness for any sign of threat. He’d landed in an office: desks at the back, cupboards to the side, and partially open door to the other side. There was menace behind that door. Nigel could feel it deep inside his body. He got to his feet as silently as he could; watching the door, refusing to blink. The creature hissed in the hall, but Nigel kept his eyes fixed. He inched his way towards the ominous door.

Nothing moved, there was no sound, yet he was certain there was something in there. He reached forward, placing his hand flat on the door. As he did, a chill ran through his arm and into his body. He shivered and pushed ever so gently. A squealing, screeching noise met his ears as the hinges worked for the first time in an eternity. He stopped. Beads of sweat ran down his head and his heart beat against the inside of his ribs. Whatever was in that room knew he was here now. In one practiced move, he unclipped and drew his taser, holding it in front of himself. It was now or never.

He threw the door open.

And looked at an empty bathroom. The only menace in here was the smell of stagnant toilet water and rotten vines. The floor was slick with grime and the walls were lumpy from mold. He stepped into the room, harnessed the taser again and looked at the mirror. Between the tarnished spots he could see the face of a madman. His eyes were haunted and his face drawn. He could swear that he had begun to go bald, where this morning he had a full head of hair. He rubbed his eyes and leaned over the basin. If he was trying not to vomit, he had made the wrong move. An unknown, twisted creature lay dead in the sink. Its fur hung off in patches and green, festering wounds covered its body. It somehow looked both reptilian and mammalian, like a ferret with a skin condition. He vomited on the poor, dead beast, splashing it with what bile he had left.

“I am not enjoying today at all,” he said to himself, standing straight and turning.

As he faced the door, a dark shadow flashed out of sight. He froze.

“Who’s there?” As soon as he said it, he realised how dumb it was. There was little chance that this was something friendly and he had now betrayed the fear in his voice.

“Nigel,” came a whisper from the dark. That same chilling voice from the elevator.

“What? What do you want? Who is this?”

“Nigel, we found you.” There was glee in the voice. Sick, tormented glee. It gave a barely audible chuckle. “We found you.”

Nigel took a step towards the door, un-holstering his weapon again.

“Who? Who found me?” He had regained some composure now, but his legs still wobbled beneath him. He couldn’t be sure if it was the electric bite from the spiky eel or his legs trying to keep him away from the voice. “What do you want?”

“We know why you’re here, Nigel.” The voice no longer had any sense of glee. It had a very real sense of threat to it now.

Nigel took another step. He could now see the bulk of the office in front of him, but there was nothing there. The fish creature had left, either through fear of whatever was taunting Nigel, or boredom from waiting for him to return. This left the room feeling empty. No, not empty; hollow. He took another step. There was nothing here. He walked into the middle of the room, confident that he was alone. His head was splitting and his mind had frayed.

“We know why you’re here.”

He spun around. As he did, something came out of the air before him, as if it stepped from behind a veil. It was taller than him. At first it was a black shadow, then it took human-like form. Long, grey scaly arms hung from inside a dark shroud made of a black so deep that Nigel could barely see it. Its head was bald and flaking atop mean, entirely white eyes. A smile carved itself across its face in a jagged line, from one ear to the other and it licked its lips with a serpentine tongue, tracing a wet line from cheek to cheek. It raised its arms and surged at Nigel.

“WE KNOW.” It screamed. The sound burrowed itself into Nigel’s brain. He rocked backwards as the spectre shot forward, raking its hands through the air, threatening to shred Nigel’s face with its nails.

He fired his taser.