The First Book to Fall

Darting down a dimly lit corridor with the book in-hand, the dense air sat heavy on Alex's lungs. Charging at the door ahead, he slammed through it with ease, the lock bounced out into the street. Stepping out into the pouring rain, he momentarily glanced back. Had he escaped his pursuer or was it waiting for him in the darkness?

Glancing down at the rare, first edition book with the leather cover, he'd sworn to protect only hours before, Alex's only goals were to protect the book's spirit and to get it to the library. Sprinting towards the junction, a loud, otherworldly scream distracted him. From behind the broken door, the scream grew louder. Pivoting towards the sound, he didn’t see the oncoming car. Colliding heavily with the vehicle, Alex landed hard on the wet pavement. Writhing in pain, clutching his knee with one hand, he held the book even tighter with the other. Out of the downpour, he saw the almost human-like creature emerge from the doorway; it dressed like a human and had similar physical traits but still carried many differences.

Wincing as he stood, Alex ignored the livid driver's anger, refusing to look back. Seconds later, he heard two sets of footsteps closing in on him. Hobbling as fast as his injured body could carry him, every step hurt more than the one before. Limping passed a row of dilapidated shops and restaurants, and their overflowing refuse bins, the screech rang out again but now, Alex could now only hear his own footsteps.

Turning blindly down an alleyway, Alex prayed the shortcut would bring him to the library, he could almost taste his protected haven. Like a meerkat, with his head firmly on a swivel, he hobbled further down the alleyway, the unsettling sound of his own heartbeat rang around his head. Stopping for a moment to catch his breath, he saw the creature, up close and personal. Fearful, he staggered backwards and tripped over a stray bin bag.

Laid flat out on his back, his injured leg took the brunt of the fall. Composing himself, he hobbled down the alleyway.

Spotting a nearby open door, Alex made his move. Suddenly, as if from nowhere, the creature came into view. Under the streetlight, its porcelain, ghost-like skin gave it a horrifying appearance; its charcoal-coloured veins, moreso. Fear pinned him to the floor. Stepping forward, the creature didn't try to communicate with him in his prone state, it just breathed slowly and ravenously.

Standing over Alex, the creature ripped the book from his grasp. Opening its mouth widely, it revealed row after row of razor sharp teeth. Gazing at the book in awe, the creature bit into the leather-bound book, its eyes turning a bright amethyst as it feasted on the book's content, feeding on its soul. Dropping the book to the ground, the pages fell open at the mid-way point. Alex could see all the words had now disappeared. The creature screeched again and lunged at Alex.

Behind the story.

This story came about from a friend online telling me I should submit a story to this link he sent me. So I thought why not give it a go, looked through some old ideas and this was a concept I once thought about using in a steampunk/dystopian setting. But I found that the concept could be used in a current world setting. So I spent time writing and editing to get it to fit the parameters of the competition rules, a 500-word limit, nothing like a challenge. Where the concept came from is very interesting but I will leave that for another day.