“What was that?! What is it?!” Liam couldn’t help but shrieked in question as he ran for his life. “When did my life turn into a horror movie?!”

(Well, it turned into one when you woke in a coffin in some goddamn forsaken graveyard of all places.)

Yes, you heard that right. Run for his life. He’s currently being hunted by some sort of monster. Well, Liam doesn’t know what exactly it is but from the way its eyes gleamed as it stared at him in what he was quite sure was bloodlust, and the size of those orbs it calls its eyes and those teeth or fangs or whatever, well, don’t let him start with that. Just no. Monster is quite an apt name for it.

Liam pumped his legs harder, using all of his might to run just a little bit faster so that it wouldn’t be able to catch up to him. Liam didn’t know how fast it is so the greater the distance he creates between them the better it is for his continued existence. He passed by so many gravestones already, the grass underneath him practically a blur as he flew past them. He could still hear the monster’s large pounding steps as it chased after him.

Liam ran faster than he had ever ran before in his life. He wanted to look back to see just what exactly is chasing after him but he didn’t. Liam, you see, is a genre savvy guy. He knows that looking back is an action you don’t ever do in horror movies. He has watched horror movies before, you know, he knows exactly how it will end if he looks back. He will somehow trip from an innocuous looking pebble or stone or grass or grave, and then he will be eaten in a gruesome manner. So no, not happening.

Ugh! Horror movies! The genre of his life seemed to have shifted from Slice Of Life into Horror when he wasn’t looking. Red Moon, Monster, Graveyard, hello? The setting practically screams death and murder.

Liam’s chest and sides were hurting from too much running but he still didn’t stop. He didn’t want to die and get eaten, thank you very much!

His hands were gripping his knife and gun tightly, he needed them now more than ever. And to let go of them is practically an act of suicide. Without Bringer and Gardener, Liam’s defenseless. A rabbit in front of a wolf. A delicious morsel in front of a hungry beast.

“AAAAAAAAAWWWWWWHHHHHOOOOOOO!!!” Liam heard a howl from behind him. Blood drained out of his face, leaving him pale-faced.

Too close! It was too close. He’s gonna get caught!

It was at that moment, in the middle of his panicked thoughts, that something inside of him, that small instincts that he retained from his cavemen ancestors who were hunted daily by larger predators, that was hiding somewhere in his hindbrain, started to ring wildly. It was shouting inside of Liam. ‘Behind you! Behind you!’ it shouted.

‘MOVE!’

And Liam unconsciously followed the voice of his instinct. He pushed with all of his might against the ground with his legs and jumped towards the side. He tumbled and rolled, and then immediately righted himself, positioning his body into a ready to run form while facing the place he was in just a few moments ago. His eyes practically bulged at the sight that greeted him.

Liam made the right move because a second later, a loud ringing crash resounded out within the graveyard. The monster that had been following him had pounced on the place he was in just a moment ago. If he hadn’t move, he would have been caught already, too injured by the crash of its large body against his own frailer human form to escape. It might have even killed him at impact if you consider the size and mass difference between Liam and the monster.

Liam thanked all of his lucky stars that he listened to his instinct because if he hadn’t, well, it would have been game over already for him. And game over means death.

The monster’s body destroyed a tombstone and shattered the ground. The force of its attack causing a large dust cloud to rise up into the air, hiding its form just like how the shadows hid it earlier. Like the monster hidden under the bed or the closet, waiting to devour its victim.

Panting, his lungs screaming, his mouth gasping for more air, Liam aimed his revolver at the gigantic figure within the dust cloud. Obscured as it might be, the dust couldn’t completely hide its monstrous form. The gun was aimed towards the main body part that Liam could ascertain. He might miss if he aims at the extremities of the monster like its arms and legs, so Liam just aimed at the hardest part to miss, the abdominal and chest area.

Liam hadn’t used a gun before but something mystical happened. It was like something was guiding his movement because his body automatically shifted into a position that made it easier for him to aim, and somehow the knowledge of how to shoot Bringer popped up inside his own mind. The knowledge was suddenly there in his mind, as if he had studied it before even though Liam couldn’t remember any instance or time he had ever did.

With fingers curling delicately yet firmly over the trigger, and the knife in his other hand ready to slash in any moment, Liam waited with baited breath as the dust cloud slowly started to settle. He gritted his teeth so tightly that it almost hurts and his eyes narrowed into slits in hyper focus. His arms wanted to shake but he didn’t allow it. Later, not now. He needs to survive first before he could break down.

He didn’t know why he wasn’t running for the hills already but it seemed like his body wouldn’t listen to him. Something inside of him split into two sides and warred with each other over a difference of opinion. A part of him was screaming at him to run like a coward, to grasp survival with every chance he can. But the other part of him was ordering him to stand his ground because it was the only way that he could grasp survival.

Liam didn’t know what to do. But it seemed the choice was taken away from him because a moment later, the monster howled, the mere force of its voice scattered the dust away from its body. The dust got blown away, finally showing the figure of the being that had been chasing after him after waking up in his own grave.

Which, by the way, he still have yet to finish from freaking over. He still needed to figure out why he was in a coffin. But he shelved that thought for later. He still needed to survive his encounter with this monster after all.

The sight that greeted his eyes made him swallow hard. It also made him tilt his head slightly to the side in confusion as to what it was exactly. It was horrifying, yes, frighteningly so. It was, just as Liam guessed earlier just from its silhouette, gigantic in size. It had a leather like skin in its torso and back, but its legs and arms had something sort of like scales covering them. As for the head? It had something sort of similar to human skin, if human skin was dark and purple, and had too many veins throbbing wildly under the skin to create a horrifying visage similar to a burned victim. In what would have been the head, Liam figured, was its hair, a combination of thick strands of hair that seemed more like tubes than hair and blood red feathers with eye like designs within their body. It trailed along its shoulder before coming into a stop into its midback. And it was floating as if it was under water, creating a halo effect of dark shadows with red eyes hidden underneath.

It had a body that was crossed between being similar to a human and something like a wolf. It was like the monster stopped its evolution between being a bipedal being or a quadpedal creature. Muscles rippled underneath its outer covering as it lowered itself into a more ready position. Its eyes literally glowing as it focused onto its prey, onto Liam. The figure of Liam with a gun aimed at it was reflected on its eyes.

‘KILL!’

‘SAVE!’

Liam couldn’t look away from its face. It was so familiar, as if he should know who it is, but something inside of him was rejecting the monster’s mere existence. His grip on his weapons tightened, his breath started to become faster. Something inside of him was telling him to kill the monster in front of him. A mixture of bitterness, regret and something sweet, maybe something that could be called love, welled up inside of him. It was too much, it filled him so much that before he knew it, Liam was already crying. Uncontrollable tears slid down his cheeks.

‘KILL!’

‘SAVE!’

Choked gasps escaped his mouth as salty tears dripped out of his eyes, leaving sad trails on his porcelain skin. His hands wavered, his hold over Bringer and Gardener shaking. Something was screaming inside of him. Like rattling chains nearly breaking apart, something was clawing inside of Liam, just begging to be let out. He didn’t know what it was. But his intuition told him he shouldn’t, that it wasn’t the right time yet.

‘KILL!’

‘SAVE!’

“I… I… You…” Liam winced, a sharp pain striking his head. Using the hand that was holding a knife, he grasped his head with unsteady hands. “Just… Who… Are you…?” Liam whispered.

The connection he has with this monster was pretty clear. But for the love of God, Liam couldn’t remember. He doesn’t know. He had so many questions.

The monster’s head tilted to the side. It would have been cute if it was a dog but it was a monster, the effect it created was frightening. A long tongue, longer than humanly possible, slithered out of its mouth. The flesh was tar black and it was slit in the middle, appearing like a tongue of a snake. It escaped from a mouth that was nightmare inducing, it had too many sharp teeth, some still bloody from its previous kill. An ivory horn stood straight on its right forehead, sharp and deadly.

A quarter of its face, the part that encompassed its red eyes, was human. It was this part that made Liam confused with emotions he couldn’t name. Whispers seemed to appear in his head, whispering a name over and over again. But he couldn’t grasp what exactly it was. It was too faint, like it originated from a very faraway place. It was too much. Liam felt like he was gonna explode, like his head was gonna split apart.

Growling sound escaped its mouth. The peace was broken and the reality of their situation came crashing down on Liam. Something inside of settled down, not satisfied but knowing that it wasn’t the time for it. What the ‘it’ signified was lost to Liam. Well, it wasn’t like it was new to Liam. He had been lost ever since he woke up. It was nothing new really.

Prey and Predator.

Food and Eater.

Victim and Killer.

Liam and Chernobog.

‘Who…?’ Liam was confused. He didn’t know why the name Chernobog appeared in his head. He shook his head as he focused back on the stand-off he was having with the monster in front of him.

His breath evened out as his hands became steadier. His aim became truer as the barrel of Bringer moved to aim itself on the monster’s forehead.

‘Kill or be killed,’ Liam thought sadly.

He breathed in deeply, the cold midnight air filling his lungs, and then he breathed out. He became hypersensitive to everything, it was like there’s current underneath his skin filling him up with energy and strength.

Liam and the monster’s eyes met, focusing deeply on each other.

His finger curled and pulled the trigger decisively.

The monster’s tongue flew like a blade towards its next kill.

Bang!