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Standing there frozen in wonder and fear Lochlin watched without breath as the shadowy creature moved its way slowly down the hall towards the Marines.
Impossibly slow! Time seemed to come to a halt as the creature stopped within a standing leap from its closest prey and reached out with that shadowy hand…impossibly long…if it were not shadow that is.. the taloned hand and arm extended like a shadow does during the long hours of the day to grasp around the ankle of the Marines booted foot.
As quickly as the grasp closes the Marine shutters, grip tightening on the book in his hands, his skin and hair instantly began turning white; the air grew extremely cold if you were able to breath and not just stare in horror you would see the steam of your expiration.
The Marine pivots towards the afflicted appendage, facing half-way towards your position and locks eyes with yours for just a few heartbeats as you watch the life leave them. The glare disappears and is replaced by a dull matte…a now inanimate object.
The other Marine senses the presence of the creature as he stops talking to himself mid-sentence and freezes in-place just as the creature sets it’s deathly grip on his brother-in-arms.
Not understanding his predicament he drops what he is holding on the floor.
Crack!!!
The Marine yells…
Get to the back of the cell! Now!
The Marine steps forward towards the cell door to get a better look and steps right into the path of the shadow. This time with incredible speed the creature wraps its form around the Marines boots and up his legs to his mid-section. A gasp of hot steam comes from the mans mouth as he chokes on his words and his eyes grow sunken in and blood pours from his nostrils and mouth only to quickly freeze at his lips.
The body hits the floor in a heap. The shadow moves towards the prone figure wrapped in the blanket on the bed and begins it slow reach, the shadow slowly moving up the side of the footboard and across the bottom of the mattress pad towards the unconscious persons exposed limb…
The entire building goes completely dark…
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As quick as it left the light blooms bright again and there in the center of the cell across the corridor stands a towering three-dimensional figure of pure void; black tendrils of darkness trail upwards from the humanoids head and shoulders and disperses across the ceiling like smoke.
Behind the monstrous void a half dozen shadows like the one you saw before writhe, capitulate and prostrate themselves around on the floor and walls around the towering menace.
You see the shadow on the bed appear to recoil in fear but only to late as the void menace reaches with blinding quickness and what appears to you as if to peel the shadow from its surface. Bringing up the other hand the menace steadies the now formless shadowy mass in its hand and then begins devouring it in silence.
Even though none of the creatures have made any sound the action of watching the menace devour the shadow causes your head to fill with unearthly screams of utter pain and shear terror.
As soon as the menace finishes its terrifying meal and new shadow emerges on the wall behind it and is quickly set upon by all the others, tearing it to pieces, only to reform and be torn apart again.
The menace reaches down amongst the chaos and picks up the book the Marine was clutching in it cold dead hands and places it gently on the bed next to the unconscious figure. It turns its head slowly towards where you are standing. Your blood pressure drops and you begin to feel very sick...
A familiar sickness…one you have experienced before but you can’t quite place it. Ah, yes now you remember when you were younger living as a street urchin, fighting for your life and that boy…what was his name? Not important now…stabbed you with a knife you had helped him make out of a barrel ring. You sat there and watched the blood leave your side through your fingertips. Coldness moving through your body, weak and nauseous. That’s it like the life draining from your very self. The darkness closing in on your periphery then you pass out.
And just like that the menace and his shadow minions were gone.
You wake your not sure how long afterwards and slaughter is how you recall it from what you had hoped was a nightmare. Figure still unconscious in the bed.