The Gloaming - II
First thing we heard was this strange howling. We thought it was the wind or maybe the coming rain but I realized the unearthliness of the sound. It was nothing made by nature. After much begging I urged my sister to accompany me to the beach. At first I noticed nothing except the growing foul stench in the air and slowly as my eyes adjusted to the darkness I saw ‘them’. A group of people, by the hundreds it seemed, were making their way along the beach from the north side. As they got nearer it chilled me to the bone to know that they weren’t at all human.
There were beings; dark, mysterious beings. Some short, some tall, some crawling, some seemingly not touching the ground. And they were coming at us from the far off side of the beach. They were the ones making the hideous noise. The stench was coming from them.
We screamed and ran into our village, screaming that ‘they’ were coming. My sister wanted to go home but I knew we won’t be safe from ‘them’ as long as we stayed on this island. Hearing our voices people came out of their house with puzzled expressions on their faces. Some pointed and some called out to us what’s going on. But we didn’t stop. We didn’t dare stop.
A scream suddenly filled the air. Not ours. Someone had seen them. Without thinking I turned around. They were indeed inside the village. I grabbed my sister’s hand and dragged her behind a tree. And from there we stood watching the horror unfold.
The people who had come out to investigate stood there staring at them. And ‘they’ stood staring at the people. But this was only for what seemed a minute, maybe less. They stood within the shadows and almost blended within the blackness of the night but everyone knew they were there. It was almost as if they were giving off this pulsating vibe. Like a rotten heart pumping dirty blood through the nerves.
Suddenly they moved. It was the smaller, the crawling ones that struck first. They had ugly sneering faces with mouths full of sharp teeth. And these creatures ran towards the people closest to them. They tried to run but it was a useless attempt as the crawling creatures were on them within seconds. The whole island erupted in screams. People ran in all directions. And it was the screams that ignited an action from the other beings. The taller ones who didn’t seem to touch the ground flew off towards the sounds. Like shadows that sprung up when the candle was diminished. These beings were fast as they flew but they were also blind and only knew where their victims were from the sound of their screams. It seemed the whole thing was orchestrated. First the smaller beings entered the village followed by the taller, flying ones. Their stage was our island. Their music was our screams. Their act was bloodshed.
Seeing this I slid my hand across my sister’s mouth and beckoned her to follow me silently. We slowly slid out of our hiding place and quietly made our way towards the woods trembling with fear from head to toe. And as soon as we saw the trees we ran for our lives.
We ran and ran. We ran blindly through the forest until the trees gave away to a beach. I was confused at first and didn’t know where we were. Then I saw the little island beyond us, across the sea. My sister screamed that they are coming and sure enough the howling was getting nearer and the stench was getting stronger.
I didn’t know what lay beneath the ocean. Maybe they will grab at our ankles if we were to wade into the sea. Maybe they will drown us. But I didn’t want to muse on this for too long. I grabbed my sister’s hand and made for the water. She let out a strangled scream, panicked and tried to hold back.
I told her in a feverish whisper we should head for the small island and we could walk through the low tide. I promised her we would be safe even if I had no way of knowing that because for all I knew we could very well drown. But I did know we wouldn’t survive on this island. Not tonight.
...Continued
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