The Creature

A story based on a dream I had.

It was a cold and gloomy day as I walked home from school that Friday afternoon. I had headphones on listening to my favourite songs while still aware of my surroundings. I arrived at my apartment and headed to the kitchen to get something to eat, something small as my mom would be home soon to make dinner. I walked into my room, snack in hand and started on my homework. I had a history project due in a few days and wanted it to be perfect. A few hours went by and I had long since finished my project, are dinner, and got ready for bed. I felt sleepy as I scrolled on my phone and decided to get to sleep. Once I fell asleep the dream began, or rather the nightmare did. I was standing in my room and walked out after talking to my best friend, Connor, on the phone. He was in the hospital and informed me he had just been diagnosed with a rare disease, I didn't catch the name as I was panicking. He's my best friend, he's like my brother, and he just told me he's probably dying. I rushed out of my room and into my mom's, holding back tears until I saw her laying in her bed and coughing. She was sick too, I knew it was this disease, I just knew. "Mom? What's wrong are you ok?" I asked, my voice wavering. "No. I just got back from the doctor and they told me I have this disease." She said in a breathless tone. "But they gave you something right? You're gonna be ok? Please mom not you too." The next moment I was standing in the doorway of a hospital with a gown on. I didn't know how I got there but I knew Connor and my mom were now gone. I looked into the hall, the lights flickering and a blue haze over everything. There was broken glass on the ground and no one in sight. The whole place had been abandoned. I cautiously stepped into the hall and looked to my left, chairs were left untouched, gurneys lined the hall, and in the dark at the end of the hall was a broken wheelchair left turned upsidedown. I heard this awful chewing sound and slowly approached the wheelchair, that's when I saw him. A creature crouched in front of what appeared to be a body. He has a hospital gown on too but it didn't fit him, he was white, so so white, his bones stuck out of him as if he hadn't eaten in years, his hair was jet black and scraggly and seemed to be falling out in chunks, he was bent down but I could tell he was tall, too tall to be a person. He very slowly turned his head to look at me. His eyes glowing white and his mouth so wide it looked as though it was cut open. He smiled and had metal spikes in place of teeth, they looked like they didn't fit in his mouth. He was around 8 or 9 feet tall as he stood up, his arms far too long to be normal and his fingers long and ending in dirty overgrown claws. He lunged at me! That's when I woke up, but, I couldn't move. I was stuck staring and I saw The Creature still lunging at me and heard a woman scream. As soon as I could move again I called Connor and asked if he was ok, tears streaming down my cheeks. He calmed me down as I tried desperately to stop hyperventilating and he said, "Hey, Emily, I'm here, I'm ok, nothing is going to hurt you and nothing is wrong with me or your mom, we're all ok, alright?" His words comforted me and I began to calm down, but he was still there in my mind, The Creature.