The Monster Within 1995

You are walking through a land you thought you knew very well. It's a beautiful land of rolling plains, scattered with sweet smelling flowers and shade trees. You notice something in the far distance. You walk toward it with curiosity.

As you approach your destination, you see a grand castle. It is well kept, and looks to be impenetrable. The battlements are strong. The towers are tall. The moat is deep. The outer walls are decorated with the heads of others who stumbled upon this place. All eyes are wide with fear. These terror stricken faces warn you, silently.

Slowly, you step onto a bridge. It is strong and stable. You take a few steps along the stone and look into the moat. If ever there was water in this pit, the time has long since passed. For, now the blood of millions surrounds this mighty place of war.You hear a voice of warning. It sounds like a frightened child. Is it coming from the castle, or from within your own mine?

"You've fooled yourself!" it says. You look down and see not stone, but fire below your feet. You fall through the heat. You fall for what seems miles, and splash into the moat. From somewhere within the depths, something is held invisible. Upon your presence, something evil stirs. Your desire to see this awesomeness that is so protected stops you from fleeing to the nearest shore. Instead, you swim for the castle.

Your muscles begin to ache now. You are almost to the shore, but you feel like you may not make it. Below you, something large and predatory swims, quickly, past you. Adrenaline rushes through you and your heart pounds. You press through the deep red with everything you have. By the time you reach the shore, your entire body is numb.

You climb, blood soaked, to dry land and collapse. You lay still for a few minutes before standing and readying yourself to continue. As you begin to walk towards the gate, you hear the voice again.

"Such persistence is rare but you should leave. You will not like what you find," it tells you. The child seems lonely. Is it possible that the ruler of this castle is but a child?

You reach the gates. They consist of an iron gate, very firmly planted into the solid earth. Beyond that is a large wooden door that, no doubt, is also quite secure.

Just as you start to lose all hope of finding a way in, you notice a doorway. It can't be this simple. You slowly push you hand through it. It's really there. You place one careful foot on the other side of the doorway. You look inside and , sure enough, you've found a tunnel through the wall to the far side of the iron gate.

You take a few more very careful steps. Then, confidently, you continue through the tunnel. Two seconds later, you're falling again. Your shirt snags on something and tears. The clothe lest you dangle for a few short moments, as you grope the darkness. You reach to the far side of the pit and gain a loose hold on some kind of ladder. By doing so, you rip your shirt free and begin to fall.

Your grip secures and you manage to steady yourself on this ladder. Not far below you, something growls with disappointment. You feel a strong sense of death from below and begin to climb. Those few feet seem like forever but, finally, you reach the top. You pull yourself up into the tunnel and walk cautiously toward the light.

You make it safely past the first gate. You judge the distance from the outer wall, containing the iron gate, and the inner wall, containing the wooden door, to be about ten feet. You look up at the wooden door. It is a set of double doors, with iron supports. These doors must stand nearly thirty feet high. You ponder for a minute. Then, you decide that there must be an easier way in. You walk along the outside of the inner wall for hours. It never ends or turns but finally you see another large door ahead. As you approach, you see footprints in front of the door. They lead from the outer wall, to the door, and away to the direction you are going. Upon closer examination, you realize the footprints are your own. Somehow, you've gone in a circle.

You push the wooden door. Nothing happens. Using your shoulder, you throw all of your strength and weight into the door. It stands firm. That's going to leave a bruise. You take a few steps back and prepare to try again.

"Do you really want in that badly?" the child's voice asks you.

"Yes," you yell, "let me in!" The doors swing open just enough for you to enter. Thankfully, you step through the opening. It's magnificent. Never in your life have you seen anything like it. An entire city of crystal and gold. Brilliant light and color shines off of every street and building. It's breathtaking.

A tear begins to well in your eye. You blink it away. As you open your eyes, the city begins to shimmer and fade. In it's place appears a forest. The air becomes deathly still, and the only thing you can hear is your own fierce heartbeat.

"You can still leave. Stay away from this place," the child seems frightened now, desperate. You begin to walk toward the center of the wood. The trees of this forest are twisted and ugly. They look old and diseased. All of the light that reflected off the city is gone now. Even as your eyes adjust, it's hard to see. It seems that everything within the castle walls has grown to be the darkest, deepest color possible. You think to yourself, anything might be hiding out there.

You feel the eyes of something evil watching you, stalking you. You begin to walk faster. In the distance, you see a small decrepit building, and head for it. Still, those eyes are following you. You can feel the creature crouching down, about to pounce. It is the predator. You are the prey.

You bolt toward the building. As you run through the doorway, you hear a loud crash from behind. You slam the door behind you and something very large growls on the other side. Things are quiet again. You look around the room. Slivers of light sneak in through the rotting wood. This is a small room, with no doors. You hear something breathing in a shadowed corner.

Concealed in the darkness is a little girl. She can't be older than eight. She's sitting with her back in a corner. Her arms are wrapped around her folded legs, holding her knees to her chest. She's covered in bruises and her clothes have been clawed halfway off her fragile frame. She's been here for a long time. She's become weak and very frightened. You take a step toward her and she cringes. You notice tears forming in her eyes.

"I shouldn't have let you in," her voice begins to crack, "You have to come with me," you tell her gently.

"No," a tear slides slowly down her cheek, "this is my home. Go away before something gets you."

"I can't leave you here," you tell her. Tears are flowing down her delicate face.

"I don't want to hurt you." Her voice is filled with such sorrow that you feel her sadness in your heart. Her arms and legs begin to swell, and her skin urns to light green scales.

"Please..." her eyes are but slits that glow deep red like an angry fire, "go..." she grows larger than you, and light shines brighter through the walls of the hut, "now!"

Before you stands a thing of pure evil. If this monstrosity were to stand straight, it would reach fifteen feet. As it stands slouched over you, its eyes stare into your soul. Terror courses through your veins. It's snout is shaped similarity to one of a wolf, though thicker. It's teeth are like that of no creature you recall. Every tooth is sharp like a fang. Foot long claws extend from each of eight bulky fingers on each hand. It's arms and legs are a deep brown, which fades into its dark green torso and head. It tears through the shack like paper as it stands, arms raised, to it's full height.

It opens it's mouth and your head fills with a shattering rumble. The earth beneath you shakes at the bass of the beast's roar. Your ears are ringing as you pull your dagger from its sheath. You slice into its leg and navy blue blood pours from the wound. It looks down at you and one deadly hand flies toward you. You throw your arms up and crouch. You are knocked backwards as the claws slip though your skin. You stand, painfully, and throw your dagger into it's stomach.

You hear an eight year old girl scream in agony. You run away from the horrid thing while its distracted. Eyes glow and bears growl from all sides. You keep running for the giant doors. Nightmares leap from the shadows. Indescribable horrors are chasing you. Indistinguishable limbs grab at you from above. You can see the wall, the doors, in front of you. You slip through the door and something crashes into it. The iron gate is open and you run though it.

You run with all of your might across the stone bridge, too frightened to look down. The bridge feels solid beneath your feet. You're almost to the other side, and you keep looking forward. As you step off of the bridge you hear a meek, sorrowful, frightened voice inside your head.

"Please forgive me." Scared, angry, you turn and look at the fortress. You spit upon the bridge and watch it sizzle and evaporate. Then, you turn and limp home to lick your wounds. What you don't see, while you tell the armies of the world of this great evil, is the small girl. She's sitting in a corner crying. Not because of the mortal wounds she clutches, through blood soaked hands. Instead, she cries because of someone she hurt. Someone came to her and offered to save her from the evil that binds her, but she could not control her self imprisoning captor long enough to accept that help and escape. Her hopes lay in another's wellbeing, while other's lay in her destruction.