Alone In Darkness

Alone In Darkness

I was tugged sharply out of my thoughts. I was hearing that noise again. The howling. I looked outside. The forest was still, there was no wind. The howling sounded closer this time, louder. It made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. I could feel my palms burning again. I laid them face down on the table in an attempt to cool them. It didn’t seem to work. I lifted my hands and blew cold air onto them. Then I caught sight of the marks on the table.  Two handprints, burnt into the wood. I gawped at the charred shapes, then at my hands. They still looked normal but were also burning like the fires of hell…

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A huge shape leaps from the shadows. It flies through the air straight towards me. Before I can act, it slams into my shoulder. I go flying into a wall, whacking my head. I forget fear for a moment and curse loudly as stars erupt in front of my eyes.
The vicious growling silences me. I look around and spot the attacker. A huge black shape, loping towards me. I can see it’s eyes even in the dark They’re glowing a dull, inhuman, yellow colour. The beast steps into a small patch of moonlight and I almost gasp. It’s a wolf. But it’s not like the wolves you see on the Discovery Channel. This wolf has to be the size of a small lorry. It’s teeth at least six inches long and sharp, very sharp. The gigantic fangs are dripping in places with a dark, thick liquid. I pray that it’s not what I think it is.
I slowly get to my feet, not taking my eyes off the creature for a second. A low growl builds deep in it’s throat. It stops pacing in front of me. It lunges at me again, fearsome teeth bared.
This time I dodge out of the way but not quickly enough. One of it's humongous claws rip a long gash across my chest, throwing me to the ground in the process. I roar in pain and start cursing loudly again. There's blood everywhere but the wound isn't deep enough to be fatal.
I stagger to my feet and face the yellow eyed git. It snarls and paces again. I know It's toying with me. It's clearly not as stupid as it looks. I watch it, waiting. I have no idea what I'm going to do if it strikes again, but some inner voice is telling me to stand my ground.
The pain in my chest - and perhaps the almighty beast - had distracted me from the burning in my palms. Now it flared up again. I almost winced but managed to hold it back. I remembered what my hands had done to the table... My reminiscing is cut short when the wolf lets out a deafening roar. He leaps at me again, flying through the air at a terrifying speed. I make a flash decision. I have no idea what possesses me to do it - probably that suicidal inner voice - but I do. I stand my ground, look the wolf in it's unnaturally yellow excuse for eyes and get ready to attack.
The beast closes in. It's jaws are aiming for my throat and it's claws are swiping for anything they can rip to shreds. When it's mere millimetres from it's target I reach out and grab it's jaws. I closed my eyes while I was doing that, sure I was about to die. The beast roars furiously. I feel it reverberate through my arms. The burning in my palms disappears. It's replaced with some kind of build up of pressure below the skin. The beast roars (somehow, I'm still managing to hold it back!) and I wait. I know something's about to happen.
The pressure inside my hands explodes and the beast's roars of fury turn to wails of pain. I open my eyes. My hands are around the monsters jaws. Right on the top, left at the bottom. There's smoke rising from under them and the wolf is shuddering and thrashing around. I'm so shocked by what I'm doing that I loosen my grip. The beast breaks free and roars. It's angry again. I look at where my hands had been.  It's charred and burnt. The flesh has turned to ash and I can see white and black patches of smouldering bone all along it's snout.
Again I was foolish enough to let my guard down. While I was admiring my handiwork, the wolf started to charge. I stumble backwards, my confidence fading.
My back hits something cold. I'm up against the wall. The beast is still coming. It's aim is most definitely to kill. I hold out my hands again protectively, hoping I can pull it off a second time. The monster makes contact. My hands end up gripping it's neck but I'm not strong enough to hold it back. I feel it's massive teeth sink into my shoulder. I try to cry out but my voice won't work. I can feel my collar bone snapping, my left shoulder blade crushed. It releases me then bites again. Further down this time. It's teeth crush several ribs. A lung. I gasp painfully.
Something screams inside me. That stupid inner voice that probably just got me killed. I want to ignore it but I can't.
With my last ounce of borrowed energy (probably a pre-death adrenaline rush) I shove the beast off me. It hits the ground hard but comes straight back, to finish what it started. This time I'm ready. I'm waiting. I wait until it's centimetres away, then with every little bit of strength I can summon, pull back my fist and punch it right between the eyes. It stops, dazed. I hold my fist there, I can see my plan's working. There's smoke coming from beneath my hand. The wolf still hasn't noticed. The skin melts away, the bone starts to burn. The beast suddenly roars and realises what's going on but it's too late. It's skull has burnt away. The front part of it's grey mess of a brain is hissing and falling apart. The wolf's eyes roll into their sockets. It falls silent and slumps to the ground. Dead.
I feel a brief moment of ecstatic triumph, then I remember my little predicament. I glance down at the bloody mess that is the left side of my torso. It's like something from a horror movie. My jumper - which was grey - is stained a dark red. It's absolutely ripped to shreds, much like the skin underneath. There are fragments of bone poking out at every angle.  My last bit of energy drains and I fall, my back slumped against the wall. I find it odd that my chest doesn't really hurt that much. I wonder if that's what happens before you die.  My vision starts to go a little blurry and my shallow, painful breathing echoes in my head.
I can hear voices now too. And footsteps.  Dying is weird, I think to myself as someone's blurred face comes into view. I laughed briefly at the fact that that would probably be the last thought that entered my head before I died and it was probably the most stupid thought that's ever crossed my mind. Then after one last shuddering gasp, the blurry world disappears and I'm alone in darkness…