Prologue
Hoot! Hoot! Hoot!
It was the dead of night, in the small hours before dawn, a night so dark that even the moon had hidden itself away among the clouds and left nothing below but blackness. From somewhere far off in the distance, the cry of an owl drifted through the dark.
On that silent mountain, steeped in shadow, nothing stirred save for the night birds; not even a cricket sang... and it was there that the stillness of the night was shattered by the sound of someone's ragged breathing, echoing from far away.
Hah... hah... hah...
"Hah... please... please..."
A man was tearing down the dark mountain path with everything he had, his face twisted beyond recognition.
Tk- tumble-tumble-tumble-
But the night was far too dark. He never saw the root jutting out across the path until his foot caught it, and down he went, tumbling and crashing all the way down the mountainside.
How much time had passed...?
He must have struck his head in the fall, because he came to moments later, groaning under a headache that felt like his skull was about to split open.
Ughhhhh...
A pained groan escaped him before he froze, suddenly aware of his mistake, and hastily clapped a hand over his mouth as his eyes darted across the darkness around him...
And then he saw it: someone walking toward him from far away. Terror seized him whole, and he screamed loud enough to shake the mountain.
AAAAAAAH!
Reflected in the man's eyes was a single pair of crimson pupils, vivid and clear even on this lightless night.
Squelch- squelch-
From far away, the owner of those eyes was drawing closer, step by step.
"M... monster..." the man whimpered, terrified out of his wits.
By then the creature had come close enough for its face to be plainly visible, and it slowly opened its mouth.
"'Monster'... That's the kind of thing that hurts a person's feelings, you know."
That only frightened him more. Trembling like a leaf, the man begged for his life.
"Please... hic... spare me..."
But as though even the heavens had turned away from his desperate prayer, the creature let a sneer curl across its face and spoke in a voice still young.
"I'd like to let you live too, but... what can I do? You saw everything, after all."
Those blood-red eyes, and a mouth smiling wide enough to tear...
And those white hands of the creature's, hands that had no earthly right to be clean, were the last thing the man ever saw.