The young woman ran as hard as she could. Her throat was tight with fear. Her arms and legs stung where branches lashed her as she burst through the underbrush. She shuddered as she recalled the monster. The woman had gotten lost, wandered off the trail trying to get a better look at some bird. Night had fallen and she was trying to keep herself from panicking when she heard the first twig snap behind her. She froze, ears straining as every hair on her body stood on end. Chills rolled over her as she waited for another sound, eyes scanning the shadowy woods.
A gentle breeze moved through the trees and moonlight fell across the horrifying beast. It was crouching between bushes behind some trees. At first glance, she thought bear, but as her eyes saw more and more how terribly wrong it was, she knew it was some unnatural nightmare. Thick black fur covered its body. Its head was wolf shaped but it was just too large to be a wolf. Its muzzle hung open and a long tongue dripping saliva hung between long sharp fangs. Its front limbs seemed impossibly long and thick, ending in massive clawed hands digging into the earth. Large golden eyes met hers and it raised its huge head. It leaned back, shifting its weight and stood on hind legs. It must have been nearly 8 feet tall standing like that. Muscles shifted under the ink black fur and its ears perked forward.
It seemed to grin and a voice came from it, a low growling rumble. "Run, little one. Run as fast as you can before I gobble you up."
She felt the entire world just come to a stop. Time seemed to stretch on for eternity, her eyes locked to its. It spoke. It was sentient and had picked her as easy prey. She turned on her heels and started running. She hoped she was going towards civilization and safety. A howl echoed through the woods behind her.
She had no clue how long she had run. She would run for as long and hard as she could before stumbling to a stop to listen. Every time she had almost caught her breath, she heard a twig snap. Sometimes behind her, sometimes on her side, and once ahead of her. Her lungs burned. Every muscle burned. Her skin was itchy and stung with scrapes and cuts. Her heart was beating so hard she could feel each pulse in her arms and legs. She heard another twig snap and she shoved away from the tree she was clinging to and started running. She got a few steps when the damp fallen leaves beneath her shifted. She stumbled, tripped and fell forward. Stones and sticks jabbed into her exposed skin. A cut on her chin begin dripping hot blood. She was breathing hard and started coughing as she choked on her saliva. She shook her head, trying to reset her brain to run mode. The woman tried to push herself back to her feet through the coughing but her legs weren't cooperating.
"Get up," she muttered to herself between gritted teeth, her voice high pitched with fear. She pushed herself onto her elbows. They shook trying to support her weight. "Get up. Get up. That thing is somewhere."
"That thing is already here, little one," it growled into her ear.
She flipped onto her back and stared up at it, a scream stuck in her throat. She scrambled back, her feet slipping on the damp rotting leaves. The monster let her scramble a few feet back before it effortlessly grabbed her ankles and yanked her back. It leaned over her and took a long, deep breath. Its tongue lolled out of its terrible maw and slowly licked from the base of her throat and up the side of her face to her ear.
"You smell good... like a feast just for me," it said before lightly nipping her ear lobe.
"Please," she whimpered. She was shaking so hard she was sure the monster could hear her bones rattling. Her heart was racing faster than when she was running. "Please don't hurt me. I just got lost."
It laughed and wrapped one of its massive hands around her throat, its claws digging into the back of her neck just hard enough to draw blood, the sharp points digging into her delicate skin. "But, you smell so good, little one. I can't just let you go." Her hands flew to its wrist, trying futilely to pull it off of her. The monster chuckled at her efforts and she looked up, tears pooling in her eyes. "You made it so easy to track you," it taunted. It pinned her to the ground by her neck, it's claws digging into the earth to lock her there. She tried to pull it off but the grip only tightened. She tried pulling harder and it squeezed until she started to see stars and her vision started to fade at the edges. Her efforts weakened until her hands dropped and suddenly the monster released the pressure. The world spun as blood suddenly rushed back to her head.
The creature, satisfied with her weakened state, began licking her arms and calves. A shiver ran through it as its horrible tongue rasped at her cuts and scrapes and it groaned in anticipation. She whimpered in fear, the noise earning a growl from the monster. It's free hand moved over her belly to grasp the hem of her shirt to shove it up to her neck. A claw hooked into the fabric in the middle of her bra and ripped it open. She crossed her arms over her suddenly exposed breasts and tried desperately not to think about what was happening.
It released her throat so it could use both hands to undo the button on her shorts and pull the zipper down. It hooked its claws into the waistband and started to pull her shorts down her legs. She cried out and grabbed onto the shorts, trying to keep them up. She heard a warning growl and looked up to see a vicious snarl descending. She yanked her hands back to her breasts an instant before its teeth snapped where she had been clutching her shorts.
