It was just me. I was the lone survivor, but for how long? The village was small. There were no more than 2000 citizens. All of them had been killed. Not just killed; they were murdered savagely, in grotesque ways unimaginable to the sane mind. One by one, they were picked off, all of them very creatively and vivid.

Who was it? Not who, but what. The answer is unexplainable. It lurked everywhere. Here one moment, and then there the next. Sometimes it never even appeared. But always when you were sleeping, always when you least expected it, you died a slow, horrible, hideous death.

This village was once a peaceful, tranquil one. It was a bustling, enjoyable, simple life. The location was on a flat land in the middle of the Great Plains. Surrounding cities weren’t too far off. Being one year now, you think I’d have escaped. The reason why I haven’t, you see, was what it brought with it. You could call them barriers. To one side of the village was a vast pit. There was nothing there. Falling into it meant falling. Just falling. Suspended for eternity. To the other side, there was a clear path. It was straight, but if you traveled along that road, you would realize you ended up in the exact same place you started out at. There was no escape.

So, why had I not died? It was playing with me; toying with me. Torturing me. Once with scalding whips I could not see nor touch. Once with gut wrenching pain searing through my abdomen. Another time I had increasing weight on my body and limbs. It got to the point where I could not move. I was pinned there for several days, then the weight ever so slowly decreased.

I wished I could just give in. I wished the insanity of it all would just engulf me. Oh, how I wished I could sleep one night and just never wake up in the morning. None of this came. Suddenly, on the verge of insanity, the monster appeared; it finally showed itself.

The thing…the creature…surrounded me. In front of me, then whirling to the back! Both at once! Disgusting, vile eyes stared into me, seemingly into my very soul. Twisting, razor-sharp tentacles snapped and whipped back just as soon. Darkness covered me. I tried to scream, but the sound would not come out. Left defenseless, I lashed out with my fists as hard as I could. Almost gleefully, a burning, smoky claw grabbed my wrist. With a violent upward jerk, my hand popped off. I bellowed and kicked at the claw with my foot. The moment my foot made contact, my leg withered until my leg from the knee down was just a bone. Fighting unconsciousness, I threw one more blow. My hand was stopped and forced far down my throat by an invisible force. As my arm popped out of socket, I welcomed the clotting blackness seeping over my vision. Never again did the body move.

Now I am dead, and my spirit is made to wander the village. Never to stop, never to rest, never to look back. The souls of the others glared blankly onward. The killer had left, but its deed was done. My warning to you: be careful when you next sleep, it is not dead. And most of all, don’t look behind you.