Story Sharing Week: The Creature

The Creature
Amalia Tadday

It all started one night, similar to any other. The wind howled, crashing against the windows of a small cottage, rain poured down, splashing over the village. The next morning it would seem like the whole world was drenched. Autumn looked out the window, shivering slightly as a breeze rushed past. It was late but she knew she would not be able to get back to sleep, so she stepped outside, smelling the fresh air. At that moment a hand, bony and strong, gripped her ankle tightly, she jumped slightly. The hand continued to grasp her ankle, pulling her away from the house. Autumn stood on one leg violently shaking the other until a creature flew off, it was small but surprisingly vicious, as it sailed through the air it gave a quick snarl before falling to the ground, winded. There was a flutter of wings as it tried to fly onto her shoulder. Autumn ran back inside to her house deciding not to investigate.
     When Autumn awoke the next morning, she knew something wasn’t right, it took her a few moments to process her nightmare. But was it a nightmare or had it actually happened? This question troubled her for a while and after that she was still not sure. Autumn made herself some breakfast, then sat and ate as she thought. She frowned, puzzled, where were her parents? They were usually up by now.
     Autumn went to her parents’ room, leaving her breakfast half finished. What lay before her was utter chaos, feathers from the pillows were everywhere, the mattress was torn to shreds, strange powder that looked something like fingerprint dust was heaped on the floor, and the ornamental swords that hung above the doorway were gone, but what worried Autumn most was the blood, a large puddle of crimson liquid, there was just too much of it, her parents must be dead or seriously injured. Autumn collapsed on the floor, horror stricken, and then her mind returned to the creature… A fox kills all the chickens even if it doesn’t eat them all. It hit her that the creature must have been trying to kill her last night, and that it had similar traits to a fox. Her parents’ room was a kind of proof that that the creature did exist and it wasn’t just part of a dream or her imagination.
     Autumn decided that the only way to relieve her anxiety and the empty feeling inside her stomach was to investigate further, she knew that there were books, many books on animals in the family library. Maybe if this creature had been spotted before, it might be recorded in one of the books. Whether it was or not, Autumn knew she would release revenge on the creature for possibly murdering her parents.
     Autumn stood up shakily, hoping each book in the library was still intact and that the creature hadn’t got to any of them. She walked up the long winding stairs, towards the attic where the books were stored, terrified at what would await her, she pushed hard on the door, nothing, then remembering you had to pull, she pulled, but to her horror it was stuck fast, the tool-shed was the only answer.
     Autumn ran downstairs charging into the front door. Trying violently to push it open. But it didn’t open, it was locked. Autumn tried to think of a way to escape from the house to the tool-shed to find some tool that might open the library but she could think of no such escape route. “I know the windows won’t open” she said to herself “I can’t smash them they’re made of bulletproof glass; how else could I escape?” no other ideas emerged. A shadow scuttled across the floor before disappearing from view, it was the creature…
     Autumn, armed with a kitchen knife, stood terrified, eyes scanning back and forth. She was sure the creature was somewhere, hiding, waiting for her. the creature appeared again, out of nowhere, it seemed. The creature ran towards Autumn, its bony hand once again clutched her ankle, tugging on it leading Autumn somewhere unknown. Through the kitchen into Autumn’s own room, there on her desk was a note [it had been there the whole time but she hadn’t noticed it].

Autumn,
I am sorry I didn’t tell you this myself, but you were asleep and I didn’t want to wake you. Last night, after you were in bed, I cut my arm badly, and am in hospital. The front door is locked, as is the library door, your mother is in there working, if there is anything you need just knock on it.

So, my parents mustn’t be dead, Autumn realised. The blood in their room must be from my father’s arm “but what about the ripped mattress and the feathers from the pillows?” She said this part aloud, and the creature looked up at her guiltily. “So, it was partly you,” she said to it “sorry I blamed you for all of it”.
     Over the next few years Autumn and the creature, which she named Erasmus, became great friends. Autumn never found out what species Erasmus was nor what gender. Erasmus was sometimes like a dog though much more intelligent, Erasmus could understand everything that Autumn said. Erasmus was always there no matter what, whenever anything bad happened Erasmus would appear from nowhere, even at school.
     Unknown to Autumn her father had gone somewhere quite different to hospital, and her mother was doing something much more exciting than average work; the bulletproof glass and the stuff that looked like fingerprint dust all added up to the same thing…
​