Beast

**This story will contain gore further through the story.**

*Perfect*

*Thats what everyone calls me.*

*They say my life is perfect.*

*I have everything they want,*

*everyone they want.*

*My life is perfect.*

*All except for one thing.*

## Chapter 1: The Man Who Stares

I smiled, thinking about my life.

Perfect, thats what everyone calls me.

The snotty little girls call me Ms. Perfect and make fun of me, but I know their just jealous. Everyone is. To be honest, it is true. My life is perfect.

My parents are rich, and they give me almost everything I want. My best friends are the kindest people in school. My teacher is the best teacher in the whole school, and everyone would give anything to be in his class.

I live in a large house, not quite a mansion, but awfully big for a house. I have a giant backyard with a porch, a trampoline, a picnic table, and even a mini playground. My house is organized at all times, but I don't have any siblings.

I live with my parents in our small neighborhood. My parents own a stable, a gas station and a few other things. My mom is a bit of a fashion freak, but she is very kind. My dad is rarely home, but he is the nicest father and he gives me anything I want.

Even though I'm not too much a fan of fashion, I always pick the best, nicest clothes to wear. At this point, you may think I'm a little brat. I actually try to be as nice as I can, and I'm not easily annoyed.

Everyone in school knows about me, and everyone is jealous.

My life is perfect.

All except for one thing.

The man who stares.

The creepy old man who just happens to be my neighbor.

He lives in an old small stone house that is just across the road. He never pays attention to his yard and never keeps things organized. Thorny weeds cover his yard and grow out of the cracks in his driveway and porch.

I never see his car, so it is probably in his rotting wooden garage. I can see the dead remains of what might have been bushes surrounding his yard.

The creepiest thing is the tall chain fence surrounding his house, as if he has a gigantic dog somewhere. I've never seen a trace of any pets or animals near his house though.

The old man is bald and always wears old dusty clothes. He never talks to anyone, and always is in his house. Except when I'm around.

He always stares at me.

No matter where I am, he always tries to follow me, and stares at me the whole time. He will even leave his house when I go on a walk just so he can stare at me. Sometimes he will stand in the middle of the road and stare at me through my bedroom window.

He only showed himself once I moved in, thats what everyone says. He never left his house otherwise. Only to stare. I can never go anywhere without knowing that he is somewhere, staring at me with his creepy eyes.

I've tried talking to him a few times but every time I cross the street to his house, he runs inside and stares at me through the window. Sometimes I stare back, but then he will move out of my sight and then continue staring.

I sighed. Today I was going to wake up extra early and watch the sunrise, before the old man can wake up.

I got out of my bed as a small ray of sunshine peeked through my curtains. My alarm went off at the same time, but I immediately turned it off before anyone noticed.

I quietly snuck down the stairs, down to the first floor. I tip-toed over to a door, and slowly opened it with a small squeak. I walked outside onto the porch, and climbed some stairs to the very top of the porch. Faint streaks of pink and purple shot up through the sky as the sun slowly rose.

I watched in awe as the sky changed colors, blue, purple, pink, yellow, orange, red, and back to blue again. Birds began singing in the treetops, and the faint sound of cars were heard in the distance. Finally, peace.

Then, I felt an alarming feeling. A shiver when down my spine and my heart starting beating faster. I felt the feeling when someone is watching you.

I whipped my head around, and saw the old man sitting in the middle of the road, staring at me. He stepped back a bit, as if something horrible would happen if he got too close to me.

I stared back, anger rising. Why did that old man always ruin everything! I finally had some privacy but that old man had to ruin it again!

I glared at the man, as if staring back at him would make him disappear. This time, the old man didn't run back to his house, he just sat there, staring back at me.

Normally I would try to control my temper, but this time, I had had enough.

"Leave me alone!" I told the man. He flinched, as if I had just pointed a gun at him. The old man sat there, his surprised expression changing to curiosity.

"Stop staring at me. Give me some privacy for once!" I yelled, hoping the old man would walk away and hide in his house like he used to.

Instead the old man walked a few steps toward my house, tilting his head as if he was looking for something.

*Just forget it.* I thought. *Let him stare all he wants, cause I don't care.* I walked back into the house to get dressed, hoping the old man would forget about me too.

But he didn't.

## Chapter 2: A Living Nightmare

I walked into my room and flopped on my bed, exhausted.

School hadn't been very good, and helping Dad work is exhausting. All I needed right now was some rest.

My mom peeked in my room. "Have a good night Autumn!" My mom said, turning off the light and closing the door loudly. I sat in the dark, wrapping myself in my blankets. I small ray of moonlight peeked through my thin curtains.

After fluffing up all five of my pillows, I drifted off to sleep.

...

I woke up feeling very worn out, which was unusual. My blankets were a mess, and a few of my pillows were scattered across the floor. A dull ray of sunshine shone through my window.

After getting untangled from my blankets, I looked around. My room seemed very bland, and it almost seemed as if most of the color was drained out of everything. I took off my unusually uncomfortable pajamas and slipped into some new clothes.

After putting on some clean clothes, I hurried downstairs to get breakfast. My shirt was strangely itchy and scratchy. My mom greeted me in the kitchen.

"Good morning sweetie! Have a good sleep?" My mom said, handing me a plate of food. I sighed.

"Uh, yeah I guess." I took the plate and headed over to the TV and sat down on a couch. I took a bite of the food and almost spat it out it tasted so bad.

"What is this stuff?" I murmured. I set my plate aside and turned on the TV. Instead of seeing the daily news, I was rewarded with static and some weird text that said 'Error error, problem detected'. I frowned, turning off the TV and looking at my breakfast.

I left the couch and took my plate to my mom.

"Hey, Mom? Could I have something else for breakfast? This tasted weird." I handed her my plate of food.

"Well of course Autumn! Why don't you have some cereal." My mom handed me a bowl of cereal. I took a small bite, and this time, I spat it out.

"Eww, what is this? It's disgusting!" I set the bowl of gross cereal on the counter.

"Honey, that is all we have, so eat it up or don't eat at all."

I frowned. My mom never acted like that. I decided to take one more bite of the cereal, but the flavor didn't change.

...

"Autumn! Time to go to school!" My mom called from the kitchen. I stopped trying to get the TV to work and slipped on my backpack.

I opened the door and walked outside. Everything was strangely gray and the sky was dark, but the sun was high in the sky. I slowly walked toward school, past some withered trees and a few gray houses.

I walked into my school, and almost gasped. It was deadly silent, and the normally crowded hallways were totally empty. A few chairs were knocked over, and the banners that normally hung from the high ceiling were torn.

I slowly walked to the principle office, my eyes wide at the strangely silent school. The principle's office door was open, so I walked inside without hesitation.

The office was completely empty. There were no desks, no chairs, no people, and no principle. The only thing left were some scattered papers, shattered glass-- and a broken window.

The giant window had a huge gaping hole inside, and shards of glass were scattered on the floor underneath the window. I stared with my mouth hanging open, and I slowly backed out of the office and slammed the door shut.

I stared at the deserted school, paralyzed by fear. The torn banners hanging from the incredibly tall ceiling. The chairs and sofas flipped upside down. The gaping hole in the window of the office.

It hit me.

Only something HUGE could make such a hole in the principles window. Only something huge could could flip all the chairs and sofas upside down. Only something huge could reach the banners hanging from the ceiling.

Instinct took over, and I ran out of the school as fast as lightning. I threw my backpack to the ground and raced across the pathway to my house.

Only once I reached the end of my neighborhood did I realize I had passed my house. I turned back and searched for my house, then searched *again* once I got to my school. Where in the world was my house?

After searching a fourth time, I realized my house wasn't here. I stopped and though back to what had happened, and realized I hadn't seen the old mans house either.

My house was **gone**. Gone gone gone. I grabbed my head and started pacing, not sure what to do. I was having a panic attack. I was losing it. This had to be a nightmare. I started pinching my my arm over and over until part of my arm was red.

Suddenly, amidst the silence, I heard heavy breathing. It wasn't my breathing. I then realized I couldn't even hear myself breathing!

I stopped pacing and heard footsteps coming toward me. As scared as I was, I started running as fast as I could, not even looking to see what was following me. I realized it was getting harder and harder to move, as if something was wrapping around me.

As I ran across the road, I finally turned my head to see what was following me.

All I saw was a flash of black and green glowing eyes. I screamed and turned my head to see where I was going again.

In front of me was a giant gaping hole in the ground. I was running too fast to stop, so I tumbled over the edge and fell face first into the darkness.

## Chapter 3: Nothing is as it Seems

I screamed until I couldn't scream any more. It seemed as if I would never stop falling. It was so dark now I couldn't tell if the thing that was chasing me had followed me into the hole. Before I could see the ground beneath me, I hit the bottom of the pit.

...

I woke up from my horrible nightmare, breathing hard. I was wrapped up tightly in my blankets, laying on the floor next to my bed. I must have fallen off my bed face first, because my nose ached.

After catching my breath, I squirmed around to see if I could crawl out of my blankets. I couldn't slide out, I couldn't move my arms either.

Finally I gave up and called for my parents. "MOM! DAD!!" I waited a few minutes until I heard footsteps. My dad opened up my bedroom door, rubbing his eyes.

"Sweetie, why did you have to wake up so early-- Oh my! What happened to you!" Dad laughed.

"I.. uh, had a bad dream." I murmured, the blankets squeezing the air out of me. My dad knelt down and unwrapped me, and soon I was back to my daily schedule.

After school, I decided to take a walk. My nose was still a bit sore, but it was healing.

Once I got outside, I realized the old man wasn't outside staring at me. Maybe it was because of what I said to him yesterday. Now that I think about it, I was being pretty rude back then.

After standing in front of him house for a few minutes, I decided to go in and say sorry. I walked up the cracked driveway, and knocked on the door.

I waited.

And waited.

Nothing happened.

I knocked again, louder this time.

I waited.

And waited.

Nothing happened.

I knocked again, even louder.

Still, nothing happened.

I decided to go inside and look for the old man. I slowly opened the door and walked inside.

To my surprise, everything was slightly organized. A thick layer of dust covered all the chairs and desks. There were several dusty chairs and a single couch. A small desk and a lamp sat next to the couch, and on one wall was an old fashion TV with a crack on it.

A few of the chairs and the sofa had some small rips in the fabric, and yellow stuffing squeezed out. A single pillow sat on one side of the dusty couch. The room was dark and not a single light was turned on, but they probably didn't work anyway.

Not daring to close the door, I slowly walked through the room, every step making the wood floor creak. Next to the old desk was an awfully large pile of dust. I walked over to it and blew on the dust, revealing a pile of papers underneath.

I turned around to see if the door was still open, and continued exploring the house. On the far wall was a door, and next to one of the chairs were some wooden stairs.

I decided to climb the stairs. The steps screeched and bent under my weight. Scared that the steps would break, I climbed back down and went through the door instead.

Inside was definitely a kitchen. It wasn't as dusty here, but twice as dark as the other room. I was about to look inside the drawers, but decided against it.

Outside, a gust of wind blew inside the old house, and before I realized it, the kitchen door swung shut. I gasped, swinging my arms around in the darkness and trying to find the door. It was pitch black.

Once my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I still couldn't tell where the door was because it was so dark. I was too occupied trying to find the door that I didn't notice the footsteps coming my way.

I froze in place when I heard loud knocking coming from the door, wherever it was. I held back a scream and stepped backward, trying to see where the noise was coming from.

I stepped back a few more steps and didn't notice the small clicking noise. Suddenly, I heard a loud rumbling behind me. A large section of the wall slid down, revealing stairs leading down. At the same time, the kitchen door swung open.

Without thinking, I rushed down the stairs.