Taking deep breaths, Bernard continued shaking, tears streaming down his bloodshot eyes. He crawled to the alley's wall and sat against it, still shaking, when suddenly, he burst out into maniacal laughter, muttering to himself with obvious disdain, "You're truly pathetic, Bernard. Imagine if your sister could see this." Raising his hand to his hair, Bernard clutched some of it with a pale smile forming.
Grimacing, Bernard crawled over to the bald man's body. After searching the corpse for a while, he found some dark green paper money; on the back of it there was the face of the current emperor, Leonard III. His face on the note looked handsome and regal. On the front was the denomination of the paper note, fifty.
'Fifty pounds...' Bernard thought in shock. Coming from a poor background, the most money his family had ever owned was one hundred pounds, putting them as a relatively middle-class family, but that was when his eldest sister and father were still working.
One pound could buy Bernard's family a month's worth of food, and now he had one hundred pounds! Smiling slightly while putting the money in his trouser pocket, Bernard got up. Looking at the bald man's body, he sighed and shook slightly; biting his lip, he walked away, trying to remember where the marketplace was.
***
After walking for what felt like hours, Bernard's eyes opened wide as he heard talking somewhere. Scanning the streets, Bernard turned to the left—where he thought the talking was coming from—and from the looks of it, he was correct, seeing a man walking towards him.
The man had blackish brown hair with cold cerulean eyes; wrinkles marred his face—presumably from age. His skin colour was a deep olive tone, and his aged face was expressionless. On his hip was a glistening silver revolver which was holstered on a black belt.
'Why am I so fucking unlucky? ' Bernard felt like fate was targeting him; by now he had run into three police officers in less than a day! Inwardly he was indignant at how unfortunate he was; putting on a smile outwardly, he walked over to the gruff-looking officer and quickly decided to ask him a question.
"Hello, officer, do you know where I am? This city is quite huge; I get lost all the time." Bernard chuckled at his last remark slightly, trying to lighten up the tense atmosphere.
The officer looked at him for a few moments, as if trying to remember something, until suddenly, his expression became grim. The officer spoke in a low tone while reaching his hand onto his silver revolver. "You're that murderer who ran away! I've found you. Don't try to run, or else I'll have to shoot!" He shouted in an angry tone.
Sighing, Bernard stood still as the officer grabbed some iron shackles from his pocket, clicking them onto Bernard's hand. Shivering from the cold metal, he tried to look at the positives of the situation. 'At least I'll be in a jail cell; it's safer than being outside with a monster at least.'
***
After thirty minutes of walking, Bernard and the officer had reached the police station. It was a small building with little outside decor; inside it had some furniture, a small work desk covered with documents at the furthest left, and at the back was a blackish iron door, presumably the jail cell.
"So...that's the jail?" Bernard looked at the officer and the jail in succession, puzzlement showing on his face; after all, he had never seen a jail cell like this before.
"Shut up, murdering scum." The officer grabbed Bernard's left arm tight enough to leave a bruise, dragging him to the iron door.
Grabbing a key from his trouser pockets, the officer opened the door with a satisfying click after fiddling with the lock for a few minutes.
Walking in, Bernard sighed while looking around; the cell wasn't very spacious, barely enough room for two adult men to stand. However, this wasn't much of a problem for Bernard since he was always quite short, possibly due to him eating so little.
Sitting down on the jail's floor, Bernard decided to get some shut-eye, closing his eyes.
***
In the jail cell, Bernard's body suddenly jerked awake, beads of sweat running down his pale face, his abyss-like eyes filled with numerous emotions.
Taking a moment to collect himself, Bernard realised something odd: there was no sound, nothing at all, no bugs or crickets, no talking, or even breathing... It was as if the world had gone still.
Bernard's eyes widened in fear; he felt something off, as if the darkness around him had come alive and were hungry... So hungry... and angry! It was angry.
Trying to move away, Bernard realised something horrible... He couldn't move. It was then he felt something, like an abyss gazing at him. Looking around in the jail, he couldn't see anything, but he knew... The monster had come for him.
A raspy voice containing profound hatred and malice resounded out inside the jail cell, as if it was coming from every corner, "It... is you. Cowardly wretch. Die!" A bone-like claw which was stained a dark crimson stretched out from the darkness towards Bernard's chest with incredible speed.
'Move… I have to move now!' Bernard gave it his all, using every last piece of strength he had, but he couldn't break whatever bindings were on him. The ivory claw stained by dried blood pierced his chest, sending him flying into a wall. Blood spurted out of the wound, sending a white-hot pain throughout his entire body, numbing his mind while also seemingly breaking whatever binding was put on him.
After Bernard's chest was pierced by the monster's claw, the silence vanished, washed away by endless whispers. Bernard swore he could almost make out what they said. After the whispers came the endless screams – women, children, men, all of them screaming in unison, "We praise the saviour!"
Suddenly, the space around him distorted, the jail cell suddenly vanishing, as if it were illusory. Opening his eyes, Bernard smiled as he realised it was just a dream! That was... Until he looked down, a small wound on his chest, which sent a burning sensation running throughout Bernard's body.
Panicking, Bernard got up as fast as he could—the shackles impeded him, but he managed to get up after a few moments of delay. Taking a deep breath, Bernard decided to think about what just happened later. 'I've got to get away. If that was real, then the monster must be close by.'
Walking up to the iron door, Bernard started shouting with all his might. "OFFICER HELP! I-I'M BEING HUNTED BY A MONSTER! PLEASE HELP, I HAVE A FAMILY, PLEASE!!!" The desperation in his voice was completely real, making even the officer outside who was drinking a cup of tea surprised.
Taking a sip of his piping hot tea, the officer responded calmly, "So what? A murderer gets murdered by a monster. A fitting end, no?"
Benard roared even more desperately this time, "I'M NOT THE FUCKING KILLER; THE MONSTER IS. LET ME OUT OF HERE; I SWEAR I CAN FEEL IT IN THE ROOM!!" Bernard wasn't lying either; the darkness that blotted the room seemed to come alive, emanating endless malice and hunger.