Chapter 1: Hunting
The monster went after its prey and the hunter followed. Tim laid on his bed in fear for the nightmare which may come for him.
The first time Tim saw it, he was twelve. he was asleep and then was awoken by nothing in particular. He looked up from my bed and saw him. A frail man, with boyish proportions, hunched over in the corner of his room. He could see the creatures spine protruding, casting shadows on his back in the darkness. The being's head was comically large. It turned to face me.
"Hello. My name is Xeg, and I am from beyond."
A rasping male voice echoed throughout the darkness. His words were low, croaky, and in whispering tones. Tim focused on his face; that great, round, yellow disc. With unmoving lips and unblinking eyes, Xeg smiled. A permanent stare, and a permanent smile. From that yellow face, eight beams burst. Golden, twisting, metallic spikes shot out individually, clockwise around Xeg's face.
Tim screamed and woke up again. It was morning, and he was in his bed. Xeg was nowhere to be seen. Tim felt safe, knowing it was just a dream. But then he came the next night. And the next night. And the next. Despite his unnerving appearance, Tim became less afraid of Xeg. He would always greet Tim in the same way.
"Hello. My name is Xeg, and I am from beyond."
One night, after Tim had completely grown used to his appearances, he spoke to Xeg. It was a warm night in the Summer holidays. It was too warm to get under the covers, but doing so anyway, because he felt exposed. When Tim "woke up", Xeg was in his usual spot.
"Hello." He began. "My name is Xeg, and I am from beyond."
"Hi, Xeg. I'm Tim."
"Hello, Tim." Xeg straightened with a creak. His metal lips smiled. His vacant eyes stared. "I'm a little cold, Tim."
"Oh, are you? It's really warm, though." Tim said.
"May I lay next to you?" He gestured to my bed.
"Um, the bed is quite small," Tim said.
"Oh, don't fear, Joe." Xeg took a few steps towards him. "I shan't take up much room." He slithered into the bed, next to Tim. He sat up straight, wrapping the blanket over his shirtless body. His bones poked into Tim's skin as he nudged himself closer to him. He was cold. Fingers traced along Tim's arm. His nails jagged, sharp.
In the morning, Tim woke pressed against the wall. Tim had found a newfound fear of Xeg. He had grown used to Xeg visits, but that dream had rekindled the uncomfort Tim felt when he saw him. He didn't see him for many nights after that. Not until he was thirteen. When the fear of Sundance had finally faded, he returned.
"Hello," Sundance said. "My name is Xeg, and I am from beyond."
Tim silently stared, watching Xeg. He looked less emaciated, though still frail. His spine was less visible upon his back.
"Tim." Xeg snapped. "Are you not going to converse with me?" He swivelled quickly, to reveal his face. Smiling. Staring.
"Sorry, Xeg." I stuttered.
"I'm cold, Tim."
"I don't think I should-"
"Show some hospitality, Tim," Xeg interjected. His croaking voice trickling into Tim's ears, as he slid once more into the bed. That same cold skin pressed against him. Xeg's feet poked out of the end of my covers. Bare, thin, crooked toes wriggled with glee as Xeg wrapped an arm around Tim's shoulders. Yellowed toenails sat atop his writhing worms like little wax stamps.
The next day at school, Tim found myself unable to focus. He couldn't get any of my schoolwork done. He was punished for this and sent to isolation. In isolation, one would have their belongings confiscated, being made to sit in a small room with nobody else present. He was given several worksheets and a pen. He began drawing on the back of the worksheets, as he wasn't exactly in the mood to do maths. Absentmindedly, he doodled.
As he drew many innocuous little things, Tim felt a sharp pain in the nape of my neck. he placed his hand at the source of the pain, and felt thin, waving, twisting metal. He jerked away; and spun around to face what was behind him.
"Hello." Said Xeg. "My name is Xeg, and I am from beyond."
"Help!" Tim shouted. He backed away from Xeg, climbing over the tables and chairs to the front of the room.
"What do you need help with, Tim?" Xeg giggled.
"Get away from me, go away." Tim cried. "Someone, help!"
"Oh, I see." Xeg took his seat. "You need help with these pictures, don't you Tim?"
Tim tried to open the door, but it wouldn't move. The door didn't have a lock on it, but still, it was stuck in place. He watched Xeg as he drew. He held the pen in his fist, much like a child would. He scrawled frantically, stopping to look up at Tim before looking back to the paper to continue scribbling.
"Finished, Tim!" Xeg held the paper with pride.
Tim woke up at his isolation desk. Drawn upon each of my worksheets was a crude picture of Xeg. That same smile, those same eyes. The eight rays of sunshine that poked from his head. He scrunched the pieces of paper into balls and dumped them all in the waste bin in the corner of the room.
Tim became used to being reprimanded for misbehaving over the next number of months. The constant panic I felt that Xeg would visit him loomed over me, clouding my every thought. A persistent fog in his mind, Xeg's smile was lingering in his head. He found it hard to focus, to remember things, to do much of anything. Tim mind would slowly drift back to that cold, wet skin, and those unblinking eyes. He finally confessed about Xeg to his school counsellor. The counsellor assured him that everything will be alright, but deep inside Tim was disappointed. No one could help him.
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"Hello." In that tone Tim dreaded, Xeg revelled in his glee. "My name is Xeg, and I am from beyond."
"Leave me alone," Tim muttered under his breath, covering myself completely with his covers. He has been wake this whole time. This was not a dream.
"That's not very nice, Tim." Xeg tore away the blankets. His smiling face peered down at Tim's curled up body. He was larger than before, he looked fuller, more radiant.
*Damph*
The door of his room swung open. Someone from outside threw a large nail at Xeg. The nail plunged into him. The figure entered the room wearing a strange gas mask in all black, small pockets attached to his belt which contained half-exposed large nails.
"Oh!" Xeg stumbled backwards, he pulled Tim as he fell on top of him. Tim rolled away as he felt the person's footstep from behind. The unknown person sat on Xeg and stabbed him with a large similar nail, and stabbed him, and stabbed him. He kept stabbing him. With every thrust, Xeg let out a little yelp. He kept stabbing him until he stopped.
He sat atop Xeg and looked at the nail. It wasn't wet with blood, but instead with a thick, greasy oil-like substance that layered Xeg's skin. Still, blood poured from him. The boy on top felt a great relief. Tim closed his eyes crawled to the corner with his trembling limbs. Greasy fingertips grabbed the boy's hips, squeezing his flesh, pulling him downwards.
"Now it is my turn to penetrate you." Xeg reached up, lifting the boy by this underarm and shirt. The boy remained calm. Xeg's skin grease caught under his fingernails, he pulled out the last nail he had from his belt and stabbed Xeg in hid forearm. Xeg released him and the boy dropped on his feet. Xeg stab wounds were still pouring blood, but he paid them no notice.
"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica. Ergo, omnis legio diabolica, adiuramus te…cessa decipere humanas creaturas, eisque æternæ perditionìs venenum propinare…Vade, satana, inventor et magister omnis fallaciæ, hostis humanæ salutis…Humiliare sub potenti manu Dei; contremisce et effuge, invocato a nobis sancto et terribili nomine…quem inferi tremunt…Ab insidiis diaboli, libera nos, Domine. Ut Ecclesiam tuam secura tibi facias libertate servire, te rogamus, audi nos." The boy chanted moving backwards and black smoke started coming out Xeg's wound as he screeched in pain. Tim's body stuck to the wall he felt a burning sensation across his body.
Xeg also felt it but his pain was far greater. His body started turning into black smoke. Little by little he broke into black smoke that covered the room. His final expression towards the boy who stood there with his cold face was of disgust. That expression faded away with rest as his body sublimated. The boy looked toward Tim who was now unconscious.
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Tim had believed himself dead, yet he was still thinking, feeling. He slowly opened his eyes, and in the blackness of the world around him, he saw a distant light. He found that he was alone, in what was seemingly in a void, aside from that distant glow. Floating. He looked down at himself. His stomach was agape, and little chunks of myself floated alongside me in the black. Before he could question what was happening, he felt himself pulled towards the light.
Globules formed on his skin, born of the blood that had poured from my stomach. Little red balls floated alongside him, weightless, like tiny cherries. The pull of the light became stronger, and He knew that soon he would pass the event horizon. His thoughts were few as the light grew brighter. Closer. A great orb that encompassed the majority of his vision. In those moments, he only held a melancholy acceptance - this was the light at the end of the tunnel that so many people described. He noticed waves, indentations, spots, and other imperfections upon the light. Slowly, those imperfections shifted to the right, as the great orb rotated.
"Hello." A booming, skull shattering voice called from all around him. Still, despite its omnipresent echoing, it was a familiar croak. First, the corner of a great eye came into view. "My name is Xeg." Lips spoke with thunderous volume. Wide, red lips. Cracked and dry. "And I am from beyond."
In full view, he beheld the great light in all of its terrifying magnitude. Xeg. A vast star. It opened his mouth. Wide, all-consuming, it grew to encompass his entire face. He could do nothing but scream as he drifted towards the chasm. Closer. Closer. Closer still. He screamed for what felt like hours, screamed until my throat was raw, Still, he hadn't reached him. He endlessly floated onwards, and soon felt no fear of Xeg. Instead, only that same melancholic acceptance remained. He had become too exhausted to scream, to feel that fear.
A shadow loomed over me as he approached the final stretch, passing the boundary of Xeg's lips. A thick spiral of tiny teeth lined the inside of Xeg's gaping mouth, and he was sucked towards the central singularity of Xeg's throat. Little laughs resonated around him, as each of the tiny teeth were giggling at his expense. The white stalactites peppered his skin with dripping boiling water. Slowly, the mouth closed, and he was engulfed in darkness.
Tim woke up the next morning not remembering what happened last night. But he felt that his nightmare was now over.
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