Chapter 6: Crescendo

A ball of flesh and saliva hurtles toward him and he ducks, crashing to the floor. Huddles there with arms over his head. Squeezes his eyes shut. One is still bleeding. 

He whimpers.

Instantly, the drooling, fanged creatures surround him, humming.

He gulps as Sully's voice echoes through his head: "They hunt at night..."

Theo's mouth feels dry. He swallows hard as one of the Oculos begins to nibble at his shoes. Their humming threatens to soothe him. Threatens to make him complacent in the event of slaughter.

He refuses to die this way. 

He gets up, yelling loudly, shaking the evil creature from him.

He runs.

The staccato saliva taps follow. They can't move as quickly as he can, but they are unbound by limbs and gravity. They use that to every advantage, hunting as a pack but also not above sending individuals out as scouts.

Bleeding as he runs, Theo's shredded foot begins to go numb. Saliva drips from the remains of his shoe, making running very difficult. If he doesn't run fast enough, his foot will stick to the floor.

Like piranhas of the air, the Oculos dive at his back and slices into his clothes, scraping his flesh like knives to butter. Panting, he hurls himself into a maintenance cabinet and desperately drags the rusty door shut. 

Monsters aren't real.

Or are They?

What's going on?

Why did he accept Sully's dare?

The humming crescendoes into shrieks as the Oculos close in around Their prey.