4 The Man

(From Ella's Perspective)

My heart was hammering in my chest. I had never seen anything like this. It was nothing but a monster, perhaps more than that.

Its eyes were red, bright red. The only normal thing was that the pupil was black. Its eyes reminded me of the color of the sky at sunset. The eyes were terrifying, but in a way, they were mesmerizing as well. But I did not think it would be a good thing to see the beauty of a monster's eyes when it was ready to devour me.

Its teeth were a bit yellowish and sharp with pointy edges. The central ones were average in size for its body, but the teeth on its sides began to grow larger. Its teeth were all in the shape of elephant teeth, but they were not that big. Its two fangs protruded downward from the sides of its mouth. Yet the most terrifying part about it was its two fangs that protruded from the inside of its mouth and pointed upwards with a slightly curved but keen edge.

They were drenched in blood. Drops of blood even dropped from its mouth onto my arms. Deep scars ran through the gap between its eyes and nose. Its entire body was covered with fur. The fur was mostly black, but the fur on its face was a bit white which was now soaked with blood.

I could not scream, I could not talk, all I could do was stare at its terrifying stature hovering over my face, its hot breath raining on my face. It was looking down at me with its bloody eyes as well. It was fear. I was sure that I could feel fear. But there was something else as well.

Part of me wanted to reach out and touch its fur. I just wanted to know if its fur was soft. I did not know why, but I had a feeling that my curiosity was going to get me in trouble again. But I needed to touch its fur. I knew it was going to kill me. There was no way I was going to get out of its grasp alive. But then, at least I would die knowing that I had satisfied my curiosity.

I raised my hand slowly. The monster perhaps did not know what I was doing as well. I touched its face. It flinched slightly. Its eyes seemed to widen, which I could not tell if it was from rage or shock.

Its fur was soft. I did not expect this. I ran my fingers on its fur. It was a great thing to do. I could touch its fur all day, even if it had this terrifying appearance. The blood on its fur got into my hand.

I hated blood. It was the second thing that I hated after spiders. I felt as if there was a horrible smell of blood. And my hand was too much bloody now. I brought my hand close to my face and sniffed it.

The smell was terrible. I felt my head getting heavy. It was as if the smell had taken over my head and made me dizzy.

Suddenly the monster growled and brought its face even nearer me. I felt as if the monster was trying to scare me. Yes, I was scared. I was scared of the monster. I feared if it was going to eat me. But I had already accepted the reality. No matter what I did, I would never be able to outrun this monster. There was no point in trying when this creature was on top of me, blocking every way, its sharp teeth protruding from its mouth, its gaze burning on my skin, its hot breath falling on my face, and, most importantly, drops of blood falling from its teeth on my hand and clothes.

My nose was flooded with the smell of blood. I had a feeling that I would not be able to stay put for so long. Probably it was for the best. The monster was going to eat me anyway. So if I fell unconscious, at least I would not have to feel any pain.

And I was right. Blackness filled my vision as I fell to the ground. But I clutched my backpack as tightly as I could. I heard another growl from the monster. But I could not open my eyes. Even if I could, I could see nothing but a vision of blackness. It always happened to me if I saw something I feared a lot.

I would not fall unconscious, I would still be able to hear and feel, but I could not see anything. It would linger for a while before I went completely unconscious.

I heard another sound. It was not a growl, but it felt like flesh being molded into something else. The sound was disgusting. It was not loud, but still, my ears seemed to hear it.

Then I felt a hot breath again on the side of my neck, just below my left ear. But it did not seem to be a monster. Because the breath of the monster was forceful and made a sound as well. But this time, it did not feel like that. The breath was deep, but not monstrous type. I had a feeling that it was a human. But how could there be a human suddenly at the place of a monstrous creature?

Then I felt a hand on my neck. The hand was warm and big for sure. It was surely a human and a man as well. But I did not open my eyes. Not because I would not be able to see anything but darkness, but because I thought that it would look weird to see someone looking blankly at someone.

The person slid his hand under my back and picked me up off the ground effortlessly. My nose brushed up against his hard chest. He smelled like blood. My head started to hurt more now.

He started walking while holding me tightly in his arms. No one had ever carried me like this. But I did not want him to take me anywhere. I did not even know him. I did not see him either.

But with the deep smell of blood filling my nostrils, I felt all the strength I had left my body. I could not move my hands or legs or any part of my body. I could even find the strength to try to open my eyes. My head was hurting badly, making me want to cut it off.

I still tried to stop him. I wanted to fight in his arms so he had to put me down. But I could not do it. No matter how hard I tried, all I could do was moving a finger slightly.

He did not stop walking for a moment. As he took each step, my nose got brushed with his chest. By the way, it felt, I could say that he had a muscular figure. Not way too much, but just enough and perfect.

His arms were strong and possibly veiny. I did not know if it was veiny for sure, but I guessed it.

I felt cold, very cold. I needed a warm blanket right away. The person's warm body was helping a bit, but it was far from enough.

I sensed myself slipping away. I knew I was going to be unconscious at any moment. But I still tried to fight in his arms. Unfortunately, I could barely move anything more than my fingers.

I always wanted to get away from my family. I wanted to live on my own, enjoy life. Now I had been able to get away from my family, willingly or not. But I was not going to live on my own. I could not. I was going to be the dinner of the monster.

The monster was most likely this man's pet. That was the reason that the monster did not do anything to him. He was surely going to throw me to that monster and let it eat me. But I wondered then why would he bother to carry me somewhere. He could let that monster eat me right there.

Perhaps the monster needed to get comfortable to eat. My eyes were already shut, but I could feel and hear everything. But now, I was drifting away, slowly, but continuously.

As the seconds passed, I felt my ability to feel and hear was going away. I was getting numb. For the last time, before I fell unconscious, I prayed, not to the god, but this world, as I always did. I prayed that my family to believe that I was dead and I was never coming back to torment their lives. At least, they were going to be happy.