Scream for Me

Chapter 1 Darkness

He screams for me—barely a rattle against his brittle ribs.

The veins in his eyes burn against the white.

His dry lips hang wide. His chest barely moves with a breath.

He could have lasted longer. If only I fed him, if only I didn’t crush him to a pulp, but hunger takes over all reason.

His feeble squeals do nothing for me. I must feed.

Hunger. Hunger. Nothing but hunger exists.

I continue to squeeze. Breaking, crying. It’s not enough.

Silence. I roar. Red all around me.

I must find another. Must find more terror.

Darkness overtakes me, and my mind blanks.

All I see are objects, sources of sound.

I know my way to the portal. It’s instinct.

If only my hunger could be sated in my realm.

If only I didn’t waste time traveling to the other side.

The pain drives me, moving me forward to my reprieve.

It hurts to move, hurts to think, but I can’t rest. I can’t stop until I get more screams, more fear.

It’s never enough. I barely remember the day before; the only constant is hunger. Every human barely sates the roar within me, but I must feed. I must fill the ache.

I race through the woods, barreling past limbs pulling my fur, my tail pounding the ground behind me. I must get to the portal—the source of substance. I must find another.

I can only hope that the next soul screams louder and longer, filling the hollow depths inside me. It will never be enough, but I can only feed, only hope for an end to the darkness.