Urban Demons

You leave school taking in a breath of cool, crisp winter air. Working late on the poetry essay really takes the energy out of someone. It's dark already and you dread walking through the woods, even though you know its silly to be scared of such things. You walk through the double doors and out through the parking lot yo the woods across the street from the school. Once you leave the street and the aid of the light, the creepiness of the darken wood starts to grab hold of you. You hear the rustling of leaves in a few bushes around you and you look around, startled but then sigh in relief, realizing it to simply be a trick of the wind. 1

The rural forests had creeped you out ever since hearing that stupid urban legend as a freshman. According to the upperclassmen, there were demons lurking about the woods with horns, bat wings, glowing eyes and cloven hooves, the works. It was stupid to listen to them in the first place, but then the coyotes lurking about in the woods were enough to keep anyone wary of sudden movements around them on such a chill, bleak night. You continue walking, pulling your coat closer around you in tight fold to keep the cold from seeping into your bones. You hear the rustling grow louder and unconsciously you begin walking a little faster. Strange noises begin to surround you as you walk faster and faster, and the faster you walk, it seems, the louder and closer the noises grow. The sound of leathery wings flapping and fluttering; soft crackling as though coming from a fire touching the leaves and burning them, despite that there was no light about to hint at any sort of fire. You begin to hear hoof-beats behind you as though some sort of deer were following you, the slow thumping sound in time with your own feet. At this your heart flutters for there are no deer in this region. You stop to listen closer to the soft thud, but it stops as well. 2

You hear a soft snort and then suddenly, as though charging, it starts anew. It seems very close and instinct pulls you to run faster then you ever had before, running for your life. You think that maybe this demon that the seniors and juniors had so proudly embellished might have some truth to it. Other hooves Begin joining behind you, then more as you continue to run. You can barely hear the hoof-beats above the loud crunching of leaves and brush beneath your feet, and your heart beating hard in your chest. Your chest feels like any minute your lungs will burst and you'll collapse, at the mercy of these monsters, whatever they may be, that are chasing so close behind you. You realize that your book bag is making you slow and ungainly so you pull it off and toss it to the ground just as you break into a clearing. You hear something skid to a stop right behind you, thudding into what must have been your book bag. Just as suddenly as it started, the pounding hoof-beats die away. 3

You look all around you as you slow to a stop, glad for the reprieve. Everything seems to be back to normal, and you realize that despite your wild crashing about in the woods you are only a few minutes walking from home. You lean against a tree as you catch your breath, looking about in vain, finding no evidence that those things were even there at all. It's as if nothing at all had happened, just some trick of the mind from being to overworked and tired. You smile and nearly laugh out loud at your own stupidity, believing in something so stupid as 'urban demons'! You chuckle softly and go back the few feet to your book bag, picking it up and trying to brush off the black spots from being slammed to the ground. The leaves all around it are tossed and tumbled, but decidedly not believing in something so foolish again you pass it off as the impact of the heavy backpack. 4

For a moment everything seems well, looking up to see the bright, full moon illuminating the clearing. As you gaze up at the bright orb, all thoughts of the story fly from your mind. No sooner do you start walking does a rustling again start before you. You smile, knowing it to be your paranoia acting up again, and continue walking. Then you seem something that stops you dead in your tracks, all color draining from your cheeks, once so rosy from the cold. A curved set of horns shine in the moonlight as the beast makes its way into the clearing, and rustling is heard from either side as well before two more of them emerge. The fiery red eyes set below the horns glow eerily, looking into your soul. Its leathery wings glimmer black as they stretch out menacingly. Cloven, ebony hooves stomp the ground with a grim determination as it lowers its head, setting a glare on you with those horrible, crimson orbs. The two on either side look pleased as they back up slightly, showing respect for their leader. Time seems frozen for a moment, your heart beating faster and louder as you watch this thing before you, its coat glowing obsidian and its dark legs tense with anticipation as your body quakes with fear. It gives a war cry as it lunges, barely heard over your scream, rending all rational thought from your mind as it careens toward you. Stars burst before you as those terrible horns smash into you, before everything goes to black.5

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The demon steps back, horns now covered in the bright red blood that now flows freely from its victim's body. It tosses its head up and gives another cry in satisfaction of their latest kill, the other two join in. "Baaaaaaaa!" comes its horrific bleat of triumph.7