The Creature Showed Its Face

Frank and I quietly moved to the corner of the living room.

It was the place that the moon didn’t shine on, as well as the only place to move to if we didn’t want to be seen from the window.

Sniff. Sniff. Sniff…

I bit my tongue.

Whatever the thing at the door was, I hoped it picked up the scent of all the ashes and burnt wood by the fireplace and not us.

We covered our mouths, breathing as slowly as we could.

Control yourself.

My heart was trying to leap out of my chest. Did Frank feel the same way?

No.

He fixed his eyes on the hall. The grip on his sword tightened.

What if his wife, after seeing his side of the bed empty, went out to look for him?

What if either she or Mia wanted a midnight snack, or a cup of water?

What would the creature do if it saw them?

Was that what Frank was thinking about? It was only a guess on my part, but I’m sure I wasn’t too far off ‌from how he really felt.

After one final sniff, the creature shuffled its legs to its left.

And towards the window.

My blood was turning cold, and yet for some reason, I was sweating like crazy.

Did it latch onto our scent?

The creature continued to sniff.

And sniff.

And sniff…

Until there was a thump against the window.

I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to look. Really, that was the last thing I wanted to do.

But I had to.

I mean, what if the creature already saw us and I was stuck here with my eyes shut like an idiot?

It’d mean death!

And it would be a death that would be too cruel and unfair to Frank. He doesn’t deserve that. Not after taking me in for the night and feeding me.

So it didn’t matter how scared I was. For the friendly and kind folks of this household, I opened my eyes and looked towards the window.

And there it was. A dark snout pressed against the glass.

It wasn’t sniffing anymore. Its breathing was normal.

Above the snout were its eyes. Lifeless. And White. Peering into the living room and kitchen.

Its long arms were raised to its face, as if to narrow its vision to see better, something similar to what a person would do.

I bit ‌my tongue harder to keep myself from hyperventilating.

What is that thing?!

I couldn’t see anything else besides that, except for its shadowy silhouette.

The only thing I know for sure is that it’s humanoid, but that’s it

I looked over at Frank. He was in front of me and, from the looks of things, had a clearer picture of the thing than I did.

Terror filled his eyes. He left his mouth open.

It made one thing clear:

That we stand no chance against this creature.

If it saw us, we were dead. Maybe eaten, like that poor woman from earlier.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry.

No, I had to hold it back. I had to keep it together.

I tried to regulate my breathing.

There was no way that thing was going to catch us because of me.

I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen.

The creature continued looking around the house. I glued my eyes to those lifeless eyes.

The thing never looked over at us.

Not even once.

From the neighboring houses, people shrieked and begged for their lives.

Bodies fell onto the floor.

How horrible.

I wanted to puke. I could hear the blood from screaming victims splash and flow onto the neighbor's floor, almost as if it was a slow and sinister river of red.

Soon, the creature backed away from the window.

Taking a step to its left, the creature walked, then paused.

It sniffed the air.

One step, two steps, then three…

It stopped again.

From where it stood outside, was exactly where I was, with my back against the wall—the only thing that gave us cover.

I held my breath and remained still. Frank did too.

It caught us! There’s no way it didn’t!

But if that’s the case, why didn’t it break into the house?

That’s what it did to the neighbors.

Something isn’t adding up…

I took a second to think, breathing slowly as I did so.

Does the creature need to see us before it attacks?

That was the only explanation that made sense. After all, most animals on Earth needed their eyes on the target before they pounced on it.

But there were still holes in that logic.

After one last sniff, the creature stopped and, with oddly soft footsteps, it walked away from the house.

All that screaming from people in the neighborhood must’ve got the thing’s attention. There were easier prey to pick on.

Nevertheless, me and Frank continued standing in the same spot at the corner of the living room. We waited until the creature was out of earshot and went on to wait some more to make sure the thing was long gone.

Frank and I sighed, still cautious, but relieved.

“How is that thing still alive…” Frank whispered.

That thing? I asked myself.

“You know what that thing was?” I asked.

Frank nodded, his brows scrunched with stress.

“I don’t understand it though. They are supposed to be extinct.”

Extinct?

Frank shook his head.

“I’ll worry about that later. Right now we've got to get the girls up.”

I nodded.

Taking the first step forward, the floorboards creaked, creating this sharp sound that I would never wish upon anyone to hear in our situation–even horror protagonists.

It was loud. Eerie.

My eyes widened.

On the ground was a shadow of an arm, winding up for an attack.

Frank grabbed my arm.

“Look out!”

He pulled me away as the strike pierced through the wooden wall.

Bits of wood flung onto the floor. Glass shattered.

The sound of just this thing’s strength was unlike anything I’ve ever heard. Not even video games could replicate it.

I stumbled onto the couch.

“Agh!” Frank screamed.

He fell onto the floor beside me, his hand clutched around his bleeding arm.

“Frank! Are you okay?!”

I knelt at his side, then stared towards the creature that did this.

It stood at least 6 feet tall, with a large, humanoid chest. Covered in fur from the shoulders down, the thing was a canine—with saliva dripping from the sides of its jaw.

The thing stood on two legs, with a hunched posture and claws that could cut through skin as if it were butter.

Its soulless eyes glossed over mine.

With a clank, Frank’s sword fell at the creature’s feet.

It was a creature that always remained relevant in history and fantasy.

“It's…a werewolf,” I said in horror.

The werewolf’s snout twitched as it stood still, sniffing for something.

It lowered its head, looking at Frank’s short sword before kicking it behind him.

Then the thing stared at us with its soulless eyes, released its tongue in the air, and laughed.

I tried to pull Frank up.

The dots were starting to connect.

The reason why ‌the werewolf didn’t break into the house. The reason why it kept on sniffing and looking through the window.

It was because it had caught the scent of Frank’s sword!

Our only means of defense, and our only way to defeat the werewolf in front of us, was now on the narrow street outside of Frank’s home.

And there was no way the werewolf was going to let us get it.

It continued laughing, its shoulders and chest jumping up and down.

It was taunting us, as if to say, “I win.”

And we lose.