Chapter 5
It was almost three in the morning yet there was still traffic; insomniacs doing whatever they did at this late hour. It was a beautiful summer night, still warm. He walked three blocks before turning to go down a street less busy, less traveled and regretfully darker than the one he left. He questioned his prudence being unaware of what places to avoid, since what's normally safe during the day is often not at night.
He intended on taking a shortcut when suddenly something swooped down on him almost knocking his baseball cap from his head.
"What the fuck," he said ducking, turning around quickly but seeing and hearing nothing.
He went a few more blocks until he was at the alley. He stopped, listening and peering into the alley's darkness before taking ten cautious silent steps. He thought if he saw anything he'd turn and run.
He was about halfway through when suddenly someone stepped out of one of the darkened doorways on his right causing his exclamation of surprise, being startled. And then another assailant wearing a black motorcycle jacket appeared suddenly from the shadows on his left.
Fearfully Demetri began backpedaling keeping the two of them in sight and at a distance. He was about to turn to run when suddenly and unexpectedly he bumped into someone. He felt what he thought was a gun to his back when suddenly all three of them quickly converged on him demanding his wallet.
Apparently he paused too long and before he knew it he'd been hit and kicked several times, finding himself lying face down on the ground. One of them practically ripped his pocket off his pants when taking his wallet.
"Waste him," he heard one of them say. In shock and disbelief in what they intended he rolled to his side looking up at them in an attempt to plead for his life. He'll never forget the expression on their faces as he saw them looking down the alley. Their alarm showed clearly in their faces. When he looked in the direction they were looking he saw it too...
Lurking in the shadows with glowing eyes, it sounded unlike anything he ever heard. Suddenly and with what's best described as an angry growl from hell, it traversed the distance at lightning speed, bounding off one wall before the other with the speed of a hawk. It was more like something seen in a movie than in real life. He heard two loud echoing shots being fired. The bullets hit and ricocheted off the dumpster at the far end of the alley with a ping and a thud.
What he saw next happened so fast it seemed unreal. It was the most violent and gruesome thing imaginable. The creature took two or three swipes at the gunmen's neck when blood and chunks of flesh were flying off in all directions. The gunman was still standing with the look of shock in his eyes though he was probably already dead. He toppled lifelessly to the ground like a mannequin. The only thing preventing his head from falling off and rolling away was it was still precariously attached to his spinal cord by some vertebrae.
The thug with a knife ambled backwards against the other wall dropping it, looking at the creature in shock. Before he knew it he was on his back when the creature put a foot on his neck reaching into his throat, ripping his tongue out before throwing it to the ground with a disgusting splat.
The third assailant, the one with the motorcycle jacket was running for his life. He just turned the corner at the end of the alley when in the blink of an eye the creature closed the distance on him. Unheeded pleas for mercy were heard before a brief scuffle and then, there was silence...
Except for the gurgling sounds coming from the throat of the thug who had his tongue ripped out. Lucky for him he turned to his stomach before passing out. By doing so he probably saved himself from drowning in his own blood.