The night tensed as the monster stalked towards the cabin, the occupants sleeping peacefully and ignorantly. It's movements were slow and deliberate. The creature made sure to leave footprints, which were humanoid, only larger and thinner, with slim, pointed and clawed toes. From the tree line to the cabin, there were thirty footprints in all, each spaced apart unevenly.

Now at the porch, the stag headed monster smiled wider, stained teeth dully reflecting the porch light. It's tongue flicked out to lick non-existent lips, and finally, it stretched one of it's long and boney arms out. It extended an index finger, and tapped at the door with one of it's razor sharp claws. The claw stuck in the door, but a light tug freed it. Inside, the tap had been loud enough that one would hear it, but not enough to sound unordinary.

Chuckling to itself, which is a horrid sound in its own right as it was much like the laugh of a depraved madman, the monster slunk away from the porch, dropping into a spider-like crawling position. It skittered through the snow, silently and unnaturally. The beats stopped under the bedroom window. It placed it's hand at the top of the window-sill. The wind began to slow down and dissipate. Almost as if someone, or something had made the wind stop.

Claws touched the glass, and were slowly pulled down the length of the window, a low screech emitting from the glass being cut into by the claws. Felix stirred from his sleep and looked up.His eyes still bleary, he failed to see the newly carved scratches on the window. He shrugged and went back to sleep.

The creature had no lips, but still tried to force a smile. Had anyone been around, the resulting expression would have terrified them. It eventually gave up, having never been much to smile, not even before becoming a monster. What to do next? Sure, it could eat them now. However, they always tasted better when they were terrified. The male seemed to be a lighter sleeper...

The monster licked its chops. It skittered back around to the front of the house, and climbed onto the porch. After a quick inspection of the lock, the creature carefully inserted a claw into the lock. With a quick twist, the tumblers shattered. Now, the monster simply tapped the door and pulverized the latch. The door swung open, and the monster crept inside. Its steps were entirely silent as it moved through the shadows, finally resting in the far right corner of the cabin's main room.

On cue, the wind began to rise, blowing faster and faster, growing louder and louder until it howled, destroying the tense air of the night.Felix woke with a start, sitting up and looking around frantically. He saw nothing. The room looked fine. There was only one place left to look.

Felix turned to look at the window, and froze in place. He saw the jagged scratch marks on the window pane, scratches that hadn't been there an hour ago when he and Myra had gone to sleep. Sensing danger, Felix woke Myra, calling her name and pushing her shoulder as hard as he could. After a few seconds of effort, Myra yawned and awoke. She was groggy, and slightly annoyed that she'd been woken up. Normally, she'd have tried to hide her frustration, but this vacation hadn't quite gone as planned, which made being grumpy a very attractive option right now.

"What is it?" She asked, her face hard with frustration. Before Felix could even speak a single word, her eyes came into focus and she saw his face. Her boyfriend's normally kind and joyful face was gone, instead replaced by an expression she hadn't seen for over a decade. Felix Chilling was terrified, and he made no attempt to hide it. His skin was shiny with cold sweat, and the spot where his hand rested on her shoulder was cold and clammy. His eyes were uncertain, as if he didn't quite understand his current situation, but knew to fear it.

Myra didn't allow herself to rise to Felix's level of hysteria, but she knew that Felix's fear wasn't unfounded. Now, as he tried to speak, she simply put a finger to his lips and scanned the room, her eyes eventually landing on the window. She saw the scratches and took a deep breath. There were no creatures that she knew of that would do something like this.

Now, she noticed the temperature of the room. The room was cold, so cold that they wouldn’t have been much better off outside. The air shouldn’t have been this cold. It shouldn’t have been this cold, as the window was closed and the scratches didn’t fully break the glass. And the only other windows in the cabin didn’t open, and they were not broken.

Awful realization struck her like a slap in the face. The front door must have been open. That shouldn’t have been possible, as she had personally made sure to lock the door. Even now, the key was on her nightstand which was next to her. She glanced at Felix who was staring at her, silently willing her to comfort him, to tell him it was all okay. But she knew something was wrong. Not only was there every reason to suspect something, she had a deep pit in her stomach, warning her of danger.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Myra put on her socks and shoes and pulled on her heavy coat. Felix followed her example, and then waited for her next action. She looked around the room for a weapon to defend herself and Felix with, and finding nothing, she simply put herself between Felix and the door as she prepared to open it. Only now did she realize that her heart was pounding. Her breathing was fast and loud. If Felix noticed, he said nothing. Likely because he was in worse shape than she was. Myra had always been the calm and collected one, a symbol of strength that covered Felix where he was weak.

Now, when he was at his worst, she would have to be at her best. So, Myra pushed the door open and stepped out of the room. A single look at the living room proved her theory. The cabin door stood ajar, cold wind howling into the cabin, bringing ice and snow with it. Myra walked over to shut the door, but not before grabbing a fire poker from the fireplace.

As she walked towards the door, Felix followed, staying right behind her and looking around the room. Myra took the door knob in her hands, wincing at the cold and pushed it shut. However, the door didn’t latch shut. Upon inspection, Myra found that the latch had been pulverized, realizing this thanks to the particles of steel dust stuck to the door.

Felix peered around the room more, looking into the serene shadows cast by the clear, pale moonlight that leaked through the windows and open door. All seemed well. Until the shadows moved. Or at least, Felix thought they did. However, whether he did or did not, he shrieked all the same. Myra whirled around to see Felix backing away from her and from the corner, pointing into the darkness and muttering frantically. She looked into the darkness and saw nothing.

“Hey, what did you see?”

“I-I-I, don-’t know! It moved! T-The shadows moved!”

“Really?!”

“I think so.”

Felix had calmed himself enough to speak normally, but his heart still pounded so hard that he thought it might burst through his ribs, like an old cartoon character’s might have. He and Myra both looked into the shadows, searching for the source of the movement. Seconds passed, and nothing happened. Myra turned from the shadows and looked at Felix.

“I don’t think there’s anything there. You’re tired and you might have just thought you saw something.” Myra’s tone was kind, and she smiled at her boyfriend sweetly. Felix nodded but said nothing. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Myra had to be right. They’d both looked, and seen nothing, so there must not be anything.

Felix opened his eyes again and looked in Myra’s direction. But he wasn’t looking at Myra. Rather, he looked at the thing that stood behind her. It was tall, taller than her even though it stood hunched over, with antlers that scraped the ceiling. He couldn’t make out it’s features, but Felix only needed the outline to know it wasn’t human. His pupils widened as he stared at the tall, dark silhouette. He was frozen in place, unable to run, to warn Myra, to do anything. Well, save for one thing.

Felix Chilling screamed for all he was worth, unleashing all of his primal fear while staring ahead, behind Myra. She was already unnerved by the recent events of this morning, but now, she was terrified. So, she spun around and swung the fire poker with all her might, not caring what was behind her. The metal tool struck something hard, and the shaft simply shattered when it hit it’s target. The force of the impact knocked Myra back a few steps, and she took this time to tackle Felix to the ground.

Myra looked down at the shattered haft of the fire poker, entirely confused as to how it had broken. She was strong, but not that strong. No human was, not to her knowledge at least. Further inspection revealed frost on the broken end of the poker. But how could this be? There was nothing in the world so cold that it could destroy steel like that with a single touch. Then a realization hit Myra like a freight train. She couldn’t feel her hands. Nor could she drop the fire poker.

Her hands were black now, and was a similar color to tar. Her skin was hard, cracked and shiny. This was frostbite, and Myra knew for a fact that even if her hands thawed, she would never be able to use them again. Her breathing quickened as shock set in, and her heart beat even faster than it ever had. Now, she began to convulse and her muscles spasmed. Felix watched in horror. Hitting the floor had allowed him to regain control of his body, and he scrambled over to Myra’s side and grabbed ahold of her, trying to stop her from shaking. He failed, and knew that even if he did stop the shaking, it wouldn’t change anything. Tears poured down his face, freezing shortly after they left his eyes, stinging as they bonded with his cheeks.

A few seconds later, the convulsing stopped, and so did Myra’s heart. Her breathing cut off with a final huff, and Felix panicked, flipping her over onto her back and immediately starting to perform mouth to mouth respiration. Chest compressions, a quick kiss of air and more compressions. But it was all in vain. Myra Rhody was dead.

Felix’s breathing shook and became raspy as he collapsed next to Myra, sobbing bitterly. His best friend, the girl next door, and the one who he’d been in love with from kindergarten to now, was dead. Two decades of life and love, all gone in a second.

Behind Felix, the silhouette smiled it’s false smile. This was perfect. It licked its chops and finally stepped out of the shadows.

Dinner was served.