The crackle of flames reached Antioch's ears as he made his way to the fireplace, ready to put out the fire and settle in for bed. He grabbed his trusty pail, already filled up with enough water, dousing the fire and filling the room with smoke.
He walked down the hall, rounding the corner and making his way up the stairs, guided by candlelight. At the top, he passed the open room on the right and entered the one at the end, shutting it behind him; tonight would be a long night.
He was already ready, so he got on his cot, and flicked out the candles, signaling his final retreat to sleep. But he could still hear the burning of flames. Through his boarded up window, he could see smoke filling the sky, hovering over his village, fiery blazes alighting the night sky.
A monstrous howl pierced the steady hum of the fires, echoing in the night.
It sounded too close this time, Antioch thought, though he never spotted one of these fiends with his own eyes, and he dared not to. He mentally checked his house, remembering if he had clasped the door and quashed any candle around his home. He did not think of anything, assured that tonight could be one without turmoil.
He rolled over, his back stiff from the straw and stuffing not providing any support. If he was going to sleep at all tonight, he first needed to be comfortable, but that was not a given now.
He started to drift off, something that had dashed him the past few nights since this started, feeling himself sinking into the dark embrace of sleep.
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He awoke, looking around his room, trying to find what shook him awake, he knew it wouldn't take much to wake him these days.
He started to hear more things, his ears adjusting to the sound around him, hearing a scratching noise from outside, which sounded too close for comfort. The flames still stoked outside, sounding closer than before.
Antioch felt his house rumble, the scratching noise getting louder. He stood up slowly, making his way downstairs to one of the windows, peering out beyond the planks, catching the sight of the most horrific thing he had ever seen.
He saw the beast, out in the middle of the path, sniffing the air, looking like it was locating its next prey. The beast stood up right, claws dangling by its side. Each one looked potent enough to rip through a wooden beam like butter. Its arms were covered in mangy hair, matted down and covered in blood, but it looked unharmed. Its feet reached forward, clawing the ground, sinking in. Its knees were high up and legs covered in muscle, looking like it could leap over a home if it wanted. Its chest was caved in, mangled beyond recognition. Its shoulders were broad, holding the maw that caused nightmares.
It had the face of a rabid wolf, a mix of saliva and blood dripping from its mouth. Chunks of meat were stuck in its teeth, its barbed tongue darting in between to grab and scraps left behind from its last victim. Its eyes were dark, filled with hunger and malice, darting around. Its ears stood up, coming to a point above its head.
Antioch stood at attention, still peering through the gap in the window, when the monster turned slowly, and he saw pure darkness in those eyes. Antioch dropped down, moving to the right, out of view. He heard the monster stalk over, clawing its feet into the ground, when finally, everything went silent. Antioch tried to steady his breath, but fear gripped hold of him, making it difficult to quiet himself down.
Then, he heard the sniffing. The monster's nose peered through the gap in the boards, making its way through, blowing steam after every breath. Antioch kept crouched low, watching as the snout moved around, searching for him. He then heard scratches coming from outside, but he was lucky to have a house partly made of stone, one thing the monster couldn't make its way through.
The beast kept scratching, but not at full force. It was playing with him. The scratches sounded like stones grinding, and Antioch wouldn't be surprised if the claws left a mark. Its nose backed out of the hole, and he heard footsteps retreating into the night, hopefully signifying the end of the ordeal.
Antioch stayed still, terrified of the encounter that just happened. He had never seen the beast up close, he never knew how grotesque and nightmarish it was. It turned out worse than he could've imagined.
A few minutes passed, and Antioch stood slowly, rising from the floor, sliding towards the stairs, towards safety, and then he heard a noise. Steady breathing, coming right outside the window. The beast had stayed there, trying to lure him out by faking a retreat.
Antioch, scrambled to the base of the steps, tiptoeing up as fast as he could, hearing the beast lumber in front of the window, letting out painful snarls.
He kept going till he made it to the top of the steps, hearing the scraping resume, the window releasing pained creaks, signaling a breach may be imminent. He was not prepared to face off against such a being.
He heard a crack, and then exploding wood, the slats on the window flying off below, hitting the floor. The sounds of the beast grew closer, as it made its way through into the first floor.
Antioch was panicking, situation after situation playing in his head showing him being disemboweled and eaten, shredded to pieces by the beast. He looked around his room for anything that might be able to stave off the beast. Only one thing came to mind and it was insane: the window.
His upstairs room contained a window at the end of the room, not fully boarded because it was on the second floor. He had to make his way through and try to escape the approaching nightmare.
He grabbed the edge of one board, pulling with all of his strength, and it cracked but did not give. He did not have time for his crafts to serve their purpose now, he needed it to fail, to break off and allow his escape. He tried once more, placing his foot against the wall to gain more leverage, and the board splintered off, falling to the ground.
Below, the beast released a shrill howl, picking up its pace as it tore upstairs, scraping against the walls as it thundered up the steps. The door to Antioch's room remained open, and as he pulled himself out of the window, he turned back to see the beast chasing after, ducking its way into his room.
Antioch pulled himself out, reaching above to grab the edge of the roof, feeling around for a hand hold. At the last second, he lifted himself completely free of the window, as the beast's claw reached through, narrowly missing his feet.
Antioch pulled himself farther up, away from the edge of the roof, when he saw a claw reach over top. The beast clawed at the roof, latching on as its claw sunk in. He heard the beats lurch free of the window, pulling itself up, when the claw ripped free, the beast falling to the ground in a heap.
Antioch dared not peek over and watch the beast, he needed only to listen, for that was what he could muster in the moment.
Down below, he could hear the beast scraping against the house, trying to kill itself back up, but eventually walked off, Antioch spotting it crossing the road into an alley, vanishing into the night.
Antioch splayed out on the roof, facing the smoke filled skies, listening to continued burning of the village.
"Light strike me," he muttered, "and let it keep me from dark." He let out a deep sigh, this night would not end fast enough.