It wasn't enough to be classed as a full on earthquake but just enough to skew her balance.
She couldn't slow down though, not by the riverside area, especially not in such heavy rain.
Too many broken buildings and dark corners, not a safe place.
She just had to make it over the bridge and get to the shops on the other side.
She could loiter in them until the shaking stopped or at worst grab a bus just outside them.
It wouldn't have been so bad during the day but the early evenings had caught her out.
The local council refusing to turn the lights on until 10PM didn't help much.
She had to navigate the slippery, shaking roads by her bicycle's small light.
As she passed a street sign labelled "Dock Lane" she knew she was closing in on the bridge
and by extension a warm, safe place to stop until the rain and tremors ceased.
A sharp turn left brought her onto the bridge.
It was an old bridge, narrow and cobblestoned on the pathways, a local treasure to some.
The road here was slipperier than the rest and, almost in slow motion, she fell from her bike.
It was like it had been pulled from underneath her.
She hit the cobblestones hard, head crashing into the path.
As lights danced about her eyes she felt something grip her leg.
Lifting her aching head with a squint she saw that her foot was hanging under the rails.
A pale, weed covered hand with long and twisted fingers was holding her shin.
Before she could fully comprehend what was happening it yanked her over the edge.
Life became a blur of waterskywaterskywatersky as she tumbled about the river's current.
When she awoke she'd washed up.., somewhere in the base of a rusted boat.
She vaguely remembered one that always sat on the river's edge near the warehouses.
Tide was out at this point and as she struggled to her feet she felt the ground still trembling beneath.
Her head ached and she could barely think, let alone pay attention to her surroundings.
Luck wasn't on her side as she tripped over something cold and wet.
Looking down she saw most of a human torso, skin stripped and huge chunks missing.
It took everything in her not to scream but it certainly snapped her into reality.
Crouching down she quietly moved to a corner away from the corpse and began to plot her route out.
She saw a street light's glow nearby but couldn't see any way up to the boat's deck.
A sudden cold feeling on her shoulders dragged her eyes down to her present level.
Glancing to her right she saw a familiar pale hand, fingers lightly tapping her damp shirt.
Quick as a wink it grabbed her hair and yanked her head painfully back and towards a face.
Oh that face, just as pale as the hand and just as distorted.
Like someone had taken the skin of a human but couldn't find the right bones.
This smiling face was the last face she saw.
It liked this one, such nice hair and bright eyes.
Have to savour it slowly, keep the eyes a-shining and the hair a-growing.
Would it be long enough to keep and to wear?
Mustn't eat this one at once, save it better than the last.
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