1 WWT

It was a cold mid-winter night with the occasional drop of snow and chilly gusts. The crunch of snow being crushed under boots was audible in the still night, and the forest was clearly lit by the pale light of the full moon. As it was customary my parents and I were on our way towards the small church that our village had. It was a special occasion, because a ceremony was being held to celebrate the birth of the goddess Gabriel and the protection that she has bestowed upon us. Although it has been 300 years since someone last saw Gabriel, it was still a holiday most of the villagers within the town celebrated.

A comfortable warmth filled the church, which was brightly lit by candles the villagers had brought with them. The town priest Jacob had just started the ceremony by welcoming all the attendants, and explaining that some of the villagers sadly weren't able to attend due to a strange sickness that had recently appeared. He requested everyone to keep an eye out for the sick people, and help them if necessary. The rest of the ceremony passed by like always, but the weather outside seemed to be picking up. A howling wind was causing the windows to tremble, and people were starting to wonder if they had to spend the night within the church. Although the villagers always liked to visit Jacob's ceremonies, they weren't that fond of the idea of having to spend the night with him.

Suddenly Jacob stopped his monologue, when a loud howl and high pitched scream were heard from outside. It was common knowledge that bears and wolves prowled within the forest, but they rarely dared come close to the village. People were starting to get worried that something might've happened within the village, when the doors of the church were thrown open with a loud bang. The cold wind from outside extinguished most of the candles in one sweep, and the comfortable warmth quickly turned into a chilling cold.

However, it wasn't the cold that caused all the villagers to turn pale. Within the entrance of the church a horrifying scene was unfolding. One of the villagers that had stayed home was standing within the entrance covered in blood, and with ghastly claw wounds covering his chest.

This fear was replaced by pure terror when the villagers within the church saw the huge shadow hovering over the bleeding villager. Tales of old had often mentioned a great beast with yellow eyes that terrorized the area before Gabriel bestowed her protection upon this village, but through the ages this beast was often consider another tale to terrify children during the long winters.

What stood before them was certainly not a dream. The beast threw his head back and uttered a pure soul-shattering howl before smashing the bleeding villager against the wall.

Pure chaos, darkness and freezing cold followed in the next minutes. I do not remember what happened, or if my parents are still alive. I am currently lost within the forest trying to hide from this beast that suddenly appeared within our village. I can still hear the occasional howl, followed by a high pitched scream from someone. I just hope that everyone managed to get away safely, and that somehow Gabriel will appear again to rid us of this beast. Legends mention that this beast is only able to hunt during the night for some reason, so my best hope is to make it through the night and gather with the other villagers tomorrow.

Every minute seems to take ages however, and the screams have continued throughout the whole night. I just hope that the sun rises soon and that we can figure out where this beast came from…