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Tachi ran as fast as she could.
Her lungs burned as her heavy work boots smacked into the tarred surface of the roadway. They were after her. Always in this part of town, she really did not have any choice in the matter. How else was she supposed to get food for the family?
The family had lost the old house and now lived in the slums where this kind of trouble was common.
"Get her!" A rough cry sounded and several other voices concurred.
Tachi put her head down and ran for the nearest bend in the roadway. She found an alleyway and shunted down the narrow path at top speed. There was a sharp corner and she bolted for it. Perhaps she could get out of sight! It was getting dark and gloomy.
Rounding the corner and nearly losing her footing her heart jumped into her throat. It was a dead end.
"Oh no, oh no, oh noooooo." She moaned. "I am dead."
She stopped and tried to catch her breath. She took off the old-school watch that her father had given her before he had died. It had belonged to her great grandfather and it was made of brass. It was heavy and the work inside the piece was exquisite.
"Stupid." She told herself. This was probably what they had seen that make them chase her. It must be worth a fortune but her father had always told her to never take it off or get rid of it.
The footsteps came hammering down the narrow alley. She backed away, facing the direction that they would come from. The first ruffian came into view and then slowed. A wicked grin split his face, revealing crooked teeth and gaps where some were missing.
She guessed that when she punched him in the face and broke a few more teeth that it would not be a new expression for the brute.
Another two men came into view. One was shorter and wider than the first, while the third was tall and skinny. The skinny one seemed to be covered in rashes but he also has an iron chain in his hands.
There were more footsteps behind them but the three of them covered the entire alleyway. "We got you now." The first man said.
"Why were you running anyway?" The short, stocky man demanded.
"We were just wanting a little chat." The skinny man said.
"Stay back!" She yelled, trying to sound fierce but she swallowed hard on the lump in her throat. She felt cold, even after all that running. Her whole system seemed to be ready to go into shock.
"Give us the watch, and we will leave you alone." The leader said.
And then...
...it happened...
There was a growl in the alleyway that made the three men stop. A grating noise followed and another high-picked keening noise. The men that were behind the first three were yelling but there were so many echoes that the noises were deafening. Tachi clapped her hands over her ears.
Screams broke out and a splatter of blood sprayed into view before the turn in the alleyway. The three men had completely forgotten about her and stood facing the open alleyway.
They waited, but they were shaking. In the same position that she had been in moments before.
"What is out there Bobby?" The short man asked.
With a finger over his lips the first man shushed the other, then waved for the skinny man with the chain to go check it out. "You got a weapon. Go. Unless you want to give it to me?" He held out his hand.
The skinny man shook his head slowly and began creeping towards the corner. His chain was ready to be swung at whatever was there. Tachi could hear her own heartbeat in her ears as she watched the man get closer to the corner and the spatter of blood on the floor.
A moment ago this man had meant to hurt her and rob her. Now he was between her and whatever was out there.
A part of her felt certain that they would die now, instead of just her. For that, she was ironically grateful.
The skinny wan was at the corner then, he peered around and then stepped out suddenly, a yell starting in his throat, but then he stopped.
"There's nothin." He said. "They all dead though. Like a wildcat got them or a..."
There came another growl.
Tachi froze. Icy tendrils ran down her spine as she became aware that the THING was behind her. It was above her. It was on the WALL.
A shadow passed over her head just as the men before her began to turn around. All around her, everything went black. She had feinted before. This was not the same.
Darkness simply descended.
As the men had turned, the Thing was upon them. It was massive and dark. There were teeth and fur and scales and claws.
She could not see details but a splash of vital organs slapped into the ground before her. When had she dropped to her knees?
It stalked forward, the three men had been torn apart. It regarded her in the eerie darkness, sizing her up. As though it were deciding how best to dismember her form.
She held up the watch that she had put over her fist like a fancy brass knuckle.
The Thing growled and stalked forward, its hind legs getting ready to pounce. It leapt into the air, straight at her.
It was then that the darkness was obliterated by a burst of light from Tachi's fist.
The world around her disappeared.
Honestly @thinkrdotexe, I felt a like I was being called out on this one... Horror and a TIME-piece? Hmmm... I wonder what I could do to that?
I hope there was enough terror in this one to make it count.
Tachi woke up in an alleyway.
Somehow, she immediately knew that she was not where she had come from before.
The watch was still on her hand.
She walked out of the alleyway and into an unfamiliar street and stared up stupidly at the streetlamp. It did not shine with an electric bulb, but rather burned with a steady blue flame.
The End
Until next time.
Cheers!
@zakludick
