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Book: Beneath the Flesh: They kept all the demons out … except one by Alex Kings
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Authors: Alex Kings
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entire arm, multi joined, snaked out from behind the door, with its continually clenching and unclenching hand at the end.
Outside in the corridor came the shriek-bark of a dog.
The arm withdrew instantly, and with astonishing speed the thudding, irregular footsteps of the creature moved away. It a couple of seconds it was already in the distance, moving off, by the sound of it, towards the main corridor.
Silence reigned.
“Fuck,” whispered Luke.
“Let's move to another ward,” said Jess. “In case it comes back to look at this one.”
“Yeah, good idea.”
They moved as quietly as they could, though the cart's clattering wheels now seemed impossibly loud. Jess left the door open at the same angle the creature had, and they settled in the ward across the hallway.
Very faintly, they heard in the distance another bark cut off in the middle, another groan.
Of the eight beds in that ward, they pushed one against the doorway, and surrounded it with another three to keep it steady.
Finally, for themselves, they chose the furthest bed, and pulled the curtain all the way around it, except for a small slit with which they could watch the door. It was almost completely black. According to Jess's watch, it was only 9 o'clock.
For the next hour they sat on the bed in the pitch black, holding their guns, watching the door. The dog-killer demon came back at one point, thumping along the corridor, but it passed by quickly without trying the door.
After that, nothing.
Eventually, they put their guns aside, still in easy reach, and lay down.
The presence lightly skittered across Jess's mind.
She fell asleep.
Chapter 12
Bad dreams:
Alone. Trapped. Everyone's forgotten about you. Nobody to turn to. Caught alone between two extremes, neither one thing nor the other. Anger. Fear. Killing the vermin to try and make it all go away.
It wasn't meant to be like this, was it?
The feelings of dislocation, of pure wrongness grew, peaked, and –
Jess woke.
She was lying on her left side. It was too dark to see. She could feel the hard presence of the bed beneath her. She could feel Luke lying on the bed beside her, hear his slow, steady breathing.
And she could hear something else. Something rustling softly in the darkness. It was close. Almost above her, in fact. She took a second to steady herself so she wouldn't fumble, then reached up quickly and quietly to grab this pistol and the flashlight.
She shined the flashlight into the darkness. A circle of pale white wall appeared. No demons. She moved the flashlight beam towards the rustling and saw.
Thin brown stalks. Multi-jointed. Half a dozen of them at least, waving about in the air. Like spider legs.
Then she realised. Following the spider legs down to their origin, she saw they were spouting out from the bottom her her jacket. She felt crawling against her belly as they made the journey from whatever hole they'd come from, underneath her clothes.
She stifled a cry of revulsion.
The spider-legs, as if aware she'd noticed them exploring, began to slowly retreat. She watched them for a few seconds, then grabbed one of them.
The spider-leg she'd grabbed stopped retreating. It was dry to the touch, almost like a thin twig, but warm. And far stronger. She felt the presence in her mind twist, and the spider-leg wrapped around her hand. Not in an aggressive way. Almost lovingly it seemed.
She pulled at it.
The presence twitched. A white-hot bolt of pain lanced through her belly.
It came so suddenly, and was so intense, that this time she really did cry out. The spider-leg unwound as she opened her hand, and retreated into her body.
But before the tip of it vanished beneath her jacket, another flashlight spot appeared on it.
Luke had woken up, and he's seen the spider-legs.
Things were silent for a few seconds. Jess felt the
Outside in the corridor came the shriek-bark of a dog.
The arm withdrew instantly, and with astonishing speed the thudding, irregular footsteps of the creature moved away. It a couple of seconds it was already in the distance, moving off, by the sound of it, towards the main corridor.
Silence reigned.
“Fuck,” whispered Luke.
“Let's move to another ward,” said Jess. “In case it comes back to look at this one.”
“Yeah, good idea.”
They moved as quietly as they could, though the cart's clattering wheels now seemed impossibly loud. Jess left the door open at the same angle the creature had, and they settled in the ward across the hallway.
Very faintly, they heard in the distance another bark cut off in the middle, another groan.
Of the eight beds in that ward, they pushed one against the doorway, and surrounded it with another three to keep it steady.
Finally, for themselves, they chose the furthest bed, and pulled the curtain all the way around it, except for a small slit with which they could watch the door. It was almost completely black. According to Jess's watch, it was only 9 o'clock.
For the next hour they sat on the bed in the pitch black, holding their guns, watching the door. The dog-killer demon came back at one point, thumping along the corridor, but it passed by quickly without trying the door.
After that, nothing.
Eventually, they put their guns aside, still in easy reach, and lay down.
The presence lightly skittered across Jess's mind.
She fell asleep.
Chapter 12
Bad dreams:
Alone. Trapped. Everyone's forgotten about you. Nobody to turn to. Caught alone between two extremes, neither one thing nor the other. Anger. Fear. Killing the vermin to try and make it all go away.
It wasn't meant to be like this, was it?
The feelings of dislocation, of pure wrongness grew, peaked, and –
Jess woke.
She was lying on her left side. It was too dark to see. She could feel the hard presence of the bed beneath her. She could feel Luke lying on the bed beside her, hear his slow, steady breathing.
And she could hear something else. Something rustling softly in the darkness. It was close. Almost above her, in fact. She took a second to steady herself so she wouldn't fumble, then reached up quickly and quietly to grab this pistol and the flashlight.
She shined the flashlight into the darkness. A circle of pale white wall appeared. No demons. She moved the flashlight beam towards the rustling and saw.
Thin brown stalks. Multi-jointed. Half a dozen of them at least, waving about in the air. Like spider legs.
Then she realised. Following the spider legs down to their origin, she saw they were spouting out from the bottom her her jacket. She felt crawling against her belly as they made the journey from whatever hole they'd come from, underneath her clothes.
She stifled a cry of revulsion.
The spider-legs, as if aware she'd noticed them exploring, began to slowly retreat. She watched them for a few seconds, then grabbed one of them.
The spider-leg she'd grabbed stopped retreating. It was dry to the touch, almost like a thin twig, but warm. And far stronger. She felt the presence in her mind twist, and the spider-leg wrapped around her hand. Not in an aggressive way. Almost lovingly it seemed.
She pulled at it.
The presence twitched. A white-hot bolt of pain lanced through her belly.
It came so suddenly, and was so intense, that this time she really did cry out. The spider-leg unwound as she opened her hand, and retreated into her body.
But before the tip of it vanished beneath her jacket, another flashlight spot appeared on it.
Luke had woken up, and he's seen the spider-legs.
Things were silent for a few seconds. Jess felt the
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