The Masticator

Upon entering out of the harsh winds, it is evident that no one else is here. The evening

twilight is setting in. The room is dimly lit with only faint light coming through the

windows to assist visuals. The wind is blowing heavily outside. Scraps of debris, dirt and

leaves thrash against the outside walls because of its force. The powerful sound of the

wind twisting the structure's wooden frame echo throughout the eerie interior and create

a slight concern for the stability of the structure. As wind whips around the outside

extremities of the structure, a gut-wrenching howling sound is emitted in various tones

and pitches.

You quickly reach over to the light switch to flick it on.

Dammit!

It doesn't work. Electricity must be knocked out. Not to worry, you have a flashlight in a

drawer. Hopefully the batteries are still good.

You walk over to the drawer, slowly and partially blind and get the flashlight out. You

hurry to switch it on but it's dim and you can still barely see. You slap it a couple of times

but that's not helping much. You hear another slap sound that you didn't make coming

from further away. You freeze and become completely silent as you listen as hard as you

can for the noise to repeat itself; but it doesn't. You figure it was just an echo of what you

where just doing and try to forget about it. This has all been taking time and the twilight

is starting to darken completely. You have to think quick. You remember you have some

decoration candles on the kitchen table but where's a lighter or some matches? Oh yes,

you remember that drawer with all the miscellaneous crap in it; there must be one in

there. On your way to get it, you hear the front door obviously open and let a burst of

wind in and finally slam shut. It startled you but also relieved you because you knew who

it was. After digging around in the drawer for a minute the flashlight burns out. You grab

the lighter and shout, "I'm coming, had to get something to light some candles, can you

believe this storm?!

No one answers and you instantly know something is wrong. You slowly, carefully and

quietly feel your way back to the table. The room has become pitch black without even

the smallest light from the weak flashlight. You put the palm of your hand on the table

and slide it forward to try and feel where the candle is. In it's near, the air around your

hand becomes warmer than where you were standing. You feel the candle and then grab it

with a trembling hand. You click the lighter once and it creates a spark but it does not

light. On your next try, the flash brightens up something very large that is quietly sitting

at the table and watching you with a very large smiling mouth full of blood-soaked, razor-

sharp teeth and a knife and fork planted in each of its hairy beast-like paws...