Demons: Chapter 1 Part 2

Ok, maybe I shouldn't have said 'tomorrow'. Here is part 2....

He was the last to leave the classroom for their break. He waited until everyone had left then looked around suspiciously. After realising there was nothing around, he felt like an idiot for letting the story get to him.

He had completely forgotten about the classmate who had made fun of him, and he had seemed to have forgotten about him too, as he'd left without saying anything. Edwin spent the break looking around the school to get familiar with the place. He realised that the teacher had also forgotten to give him a recap sheet for maths. He didn't much care about it either way.

He was walking up a path on which one side was the back of one of the school buildings, and on the other side were bushes and trees in front of a wall, when he bumped into something and almost fell over. He looked around but couldn't see anything that would have obstructed him, and it was clear daylight.

"Must've been my imagination..." he said quietly, reassured by the sound of his own voice. He started to walk but bumped into it again.

There was something there. Right in front of him. But he couldn't see anything except a clear path. He put his hands out in front of him and felt something there. It was big, and felt wet to the touch. Then it moved.

Edwin scrambled back, falling over in the process. He jumped back to his feet and strained his eyes to see, but he couldn't see anything. However, what he did both see and hear was the bushes moving and rustling as whatever the invisible thing was in front of him started to move. Edwin turned, and ran, as fast as he could.

"Better hurry up! Don't want to be late for class!" came a shout that brought his mind whirling back to reality.

As he ran past he noticed some delinquents hanging around near some trees, smoking. Break must be over.

He headed to his next classroom, still disturbed by what he had witnessed. Had his mind simply been playing tricks on him? If it hadn't then.... were they going to come after him?

The day's classes passed without making any impact on him; his mind occupied with thoughts of monsters. He got handed many, many sheets and booklets to help him catch up. He just shoved them in his bag and before he knew it he was on his way home.

He couldn't help glancing around, paranoid that something was following, and eventually he ended up lost on his way home. Damnit. He was new to the area after all. He started to backtrack his steps, so he could start his route again and hopefully get it right. The day had started to end and night was settling in, the world around him turning slowly dark.

He could see the school in the distance now, poking up from behind some houses. I must be just a street or two away.

That's when he heard it. The sound of something shuffling across the floor behind him. He jumped around, expecting to see someone, but there was no one. Wide-eyed and fearful now, he hoped the sound wouldn't come back, that it was just his imagination, and that there was nothing there.

The sound came back. This time it was followed by a very quiet, but unmistakable, growl. The air in front of him seemed to be distorted somehow, as if he could almost see what was there. Wasting no time with the thing, however, he decided to just run.

He could hear it chasing him. It was just as fast as he was and he couldn't outrun it. He didn't know why, perhaps subconsciously he was still trying to get home, although that wouldn't help, but he ended up running towards the school.

The gate was closed, but he jumped at it and scrambled wildly to climb over it, sure that the invisible creature was about to grab him. Somehow he made it over the gate, and turned around to look around desperately to see if it had managed to follow him. He could still hear it. The sound came towards the gate.

Before his very eyes the gate creaked, moaned, then crumpled and broke, falling in ruins to the floor.

Edwin couldn't breathe, and certainly couldn't believe what he'd just seen. The sound came closer and closer towards him, until it was just a step away, then a terrible coldness came over him.... so cold he was convinced he'd just died.

"You're very lucky!" came a shout. He was extremely confused then. The sound of a normal, human voice had come from behind him. Then, before his eyes, when had no desire for another otherworldly extraordinary sight, came an explosion of ice, followed by an ear-splitting roar and an inhuman squeal, all so very close to him. He fell backwards, scrambling to get away. As he somehow managed to get to his feet and turn around he saw the source of the human voice he'd heard. It was a boy who must have been a year or two older than him, with short blonde hair. It looked naturally blonde, rather than bleached blonde colour of the boy from his class. He wasn't wearing any school uniform though, he was wearing an array of blue-coloured clothes; jeans, a t-shirt, and a jacket.

"So, you've seen them." he said, looking straight at Edwin. "There's no escaping now. Turn around and watch. The sooner you accept them the easier it'll be"

Edwin had no words, but turned around nonetheless towards the chaotic noises. He watched in horror as 'something' crashed through the air time and time again. Ice seemed to form on the floor.

As he watched, the distorted 'thing' that he hadn't been able to see became distinguishable. A creature came into view, one that was jumping through the air at this other creature. As he looked closely he saw that the creature was some sort of wolf, except larger than any wolf Edwin had seen. He was attacking something even larger, and when it jumped towards it the floor was frozen over where it had been standing.

The creature that it was attacking was the creature that had been following him, Edwin knew when he looked at it. It was a gigantic lump of thrashing tentacles and was covered in gaping, fanged maws. Edwin felt sick looking at it. He backed away, turned once to the boy who had saved him, then ran.

"Wait!" shouted the boy, as Edwin ran towards the gate. The fight between monsters was in his way, but he gritted his teeth and ran through. A tentacle lashed towards him, but the wolf intercepted it and bit it off. Edwin stared, wide-eyed, then tore his eyes away from the scene and ran on, through the broken gate and out of the school. It was all too much for him, and if the monster was busy being attacked then at least it wouldn't be able to come after him.

This time, as he left the school, he found the route home all too easily, and ran straight for it, ignoring the strange looks he received from people as he ran without stopping.

He found his way back to his lone flat without incident. He didn't feel hungry, and had no desire to watch TV like he might normally do. He went straight to his bedroom, and straight to bed, never before wishing for sleep so badly, so he might wake up in the morning and imagine it all a dream.