Quietly, Quiggly stepped into the darkness as he stealthily approached and steeled his nerves in preparation for facing the beast. He stood within the shadows and the dark, where he kept his stash of junk. As he waited for his quarry, he felt nothing but the icy cold emanating from within. Finally, from the depths of the darkness, a slight whimper emerged. It sounded like a dog. It was the sound of a very feral dog, one that had grown up in hell itself. The dog must have been tortured as it was ripped apart and slaughtered from nose to tail. Once it was dead, its bones had probably been used to make a necklace for some woman—the necklaces she wore every day. “I'm hungry.” Quiggly tensed at the sound of the voice, its tone almost childlike. “I'm hungry.” The voice reminded him of the sound of ice breaking. “I'm hungry.” The voice sounded pained. As he stood motionless in the darkness, his jaw clenched in anticipation of the beast that approached him. Then, he noticed something glimmering. Was it the moonlight, or was it his reflection? It was the reflection of Quiggly, standing upright in the darkness. He slowly edged his way to the opposite side of the garbage cans, careful not to move quickly and draw attention to himself. Another howl sounded from the darkness, followed by another, slightly louder howl. Then, silence. Quiggly tensed up again as he waited, but no more howls echoed from the darkness. Eventually, he emerged, the dark specter of the night, the hunter waiting to snare its prey. Quiggly had no way of knowing if the creature was aware of his presence, so he kept a keen eye out for it as he slinked around the side of the warehouse. He listened, careful not to let the noise from his feet echo and give him away. As he crept closer, he could see several small spots of light shining from the roof of the building. He moved toward them and stopped just short of the side of the warehouse. In the darkness, a light suddenly flickered to life, and Quiggly's heart stopped. A blinding blue light flooded over the warehouse wall and lit up the entire area. The light shined from the eyes of the creature. Its eyes were the source of the eerie blue glow. The thing hissed in a low growl and leapt off of the ground, flying straight at Quiggly. He fell backward into a wall, the full weight of the beast smashing into him. His entire body shuddered with pain, but he somehow managed to keep his hold on his weapon. The creature hissed in fury and attacked, slamming him against the wall again and again. Its fangs were as sharp as razors, and Quiggly gritted his teeth against the pain of its gnashing teeth, while shielding his face with one arm. The creature slashed him again with its sharp teeth, hissing as it did so. Quiggly managed to block the attack, but it sliced his arm open and blood drenched his lower arm. He winced in pain. The creature finally stopped and stared at Quiggly in surprise. “You're hurt!” it said, a sharpness in its voice. “Where's my food? I'm not your fucking servant! Stop hitting me!” The beast growled and lunged at Quiggly once more, this time missing him and landing in the trash cans. “I won't tell you again!” the creature barked. Quiggly rolled out of the way and kicked the creature into the side of the building, slamming his injured arm against the wall. He was in shock, still reeling from the attack, and was slow to react as the creature lunged forward again, its jaws clamping down onto Quiggly's hand. Quiggly wailed and his body spasmed with pain as the beast bit through his hand and deep into the soft skin of his forearm. He could feel the hot blood running through his fingers, and his face twisted in anguish. The creature stared at the blood running from his face and bit down into his neck. Quiggly was in agony, but knew that he needed to focus on his surroundings if he wanted to live to see another day. The beast began to drink his blood. Quiggly tried to think of his next move, but his mind was clouded with pain. The creature began to roar in satisfaction as Quiggly's blood ran down its throat. It pulled its jaw away from his arm and looked into his eyes, daring him to try to grab it. As the monster drank Quiggly's blood, he knew that it couldn't harm him—not if he was still in control of his body. The beast would grow weak with every one of Quiggly's pulses. He also realized that he could move its arm, and that meant he could control where the beast would lead him. With a deep, dark growl, Quiggly reached down and grabbed the creature by the arm. The beast screamed and struggled to break free of Quiggly's grip. “I won't hurt you,” Quiggly said. The beast shook its head, and then tried to twist free, but the hand holding its arm prevented it. Quiggly twisted the arm as he had before. This time, he bit into the flesh of his victim. The beast roared, the blood from its throat dripping onto Quiggly's face. The demonic creature was furious. The beast grabbed Quiggly's hand in its mouth and shook him hard, forcing Quiggly's hand open. Then, the monster turned back to Quiggly's wound and began to drink from the open wound. Quiggly gritted his teeth as the creature devoured him. Eventually, the creature was finished. Quiggly removed his hand from his wound and wiped the blood from his mouth and chin. The beast fell back into the trash and stared up at Quiggly, growling as it licked its bloody lips. Quiggly grinned at the beast, knowing he would soon be free of its torment. He withdrew his bloodied hand and gripped his blade. “I should kill you,” he hissed, “but I won't. Not yet.” Quiggly smiled and stood up, staring down the creature with hatred in his eyes. He knew that the thing would not dare do anything until he took a step away. Then, it would attack in a fury, and that was all Quiggly needed. Quiggly slowly began to stalk toward his enemy. He would soon be free of his misery. He would be free of his hunger. Soon, the only thing left would be the pain that came with waking up every day. Soon, he would be free. The beast suddenly rolled forward onto its feet. “Run!” it screamed at Quiggly. Quiggly looked down at the creature. He stood over him and raised his blade to strike. The creature suddenly lunged forward with a growl. Quiggly brought his blade down, slicing through the creature's face and cutting off one of its eyes. The beast roared in pain and stumbled back, falling into the trash cans and bleeding profusely. Quiggly leapt on top of the creature and brought his weapon down, severing the creature's head from its body. As it lay lifeless and bleeding, Quiggly leaned down and picked up its head. The beast smiled and grinned widely as Quiggly took a long, deep breath of the foul air. The beast's mouth opened, and Quiggly peered down into the eyes of the mangled head. It spoke to him again. “I'm hungry. I'm hungry. I'm hungry.” Quiggly smiled. The thing didn't understand its own position. Quiggly had found its weakness. “Goodbye, friend,” he whispered as he held the head by its ears. He opened his hands, and the head fell into the dirt at his feet. Then, Quiggly lifted his eyes up to look at his face in the reflection of the moonlight. The blood from the creature's mouth spilled down his chin. Quiggly smiled at his reflection as he dropped the creature's head into the trash. Then, he turned and headed home. **** Johnathan looked at the creature lying at his feet and shuddered. It was a horrifying sight. It was bloodied and mangled, most of the blood was pooled around the thing's feet, and there was dried blood stre