'There are worse places to wake up, surely?' he thought as he stared balefully at the growing puddle of blood forming from underneath the limp form of his probably-sleeping friend as if he could will it to stop creeping closer to him. There was only so much room to back away into inside a two-man tent, especially when the aforementioned tent is itched against the wall of a cave and you've made the mistake of taking the side closest to the wall in the hope that it would be warmer but everywhere is cold and just damp enough to be uncomfortable and that puddle just blinked.
The puddle had grown an eye somehow while he'd been distracted by his poor decision to join his friend for a weekend of camping and then go onto trap himself in a tent with what now seemed to be a monster. He thought briefly of waking his friend so they could both run out of the tent and to (presumed) safety but that would mean A - his friend moving while the creature is very much underneath him with no clear intent - and B - getting past the creature to get outside, assuming it hadn't killed one or both of them at that point.
The eye began to rise up out of the not-a-blood-puddle on a wobbly stalk that began to look about, almost comical with its flexibility and slow movements. It was like the creature was aware that they probably hadn't seen something like it before and didn't want to scare them by darting about. The scene became very reminiscent of a child trying to get a stray cat to come over to it as the eye stalk started to bob from side to side in a jaunty manner.
He found himself relaxing, in spite of the situation at hand, and was about to reach out to the creature until his friend moaned in his sleep, all colour seeming to drain from his resting face. The creature continued to bob as blood started to leak out of the sides of his friend's mouth, running down his face to plip gently onto the creature below.
It didn't seem to mind, if anything it only moved faster. With its increasing speed his sleeping friend slowly came into consciousness as a moan bubbled out of him, gradually rising in volume until he was shrieking and trying to sit upright. His back appeared to be stuck to the creature at first until he had writhed enough to dislodge some kind of thick, tapering tendril from his upper back.
Blood poured out of the hole it had left and the creature's entire puddle-like body started to rise and fall in time with its eye-stalk. His friend was in some kind of shrieking daze, utterly uncomprehending of anything and helpless to move while the other sat half a metre away and equally paralysed by the unfolding scene.
Within minutes the creature's body was practically bouncing up and down until it reached a peak and its sides shot up to grab at the screaming man, clenching down with a sickeningly wet crunch. The screaming came to an abrupt halt as the creature's sides twitched and gradually sunk back into the ground, dragging its prey into a newly formed hole that was as damp and red as the rest of the creature.
He remained frozen in fear until dawn, staring down at a hole that was slowly closing up. By sunrise it had caught the edge of the tent and was attempting to drag the whole thing down, spurring the surviving man to grab his backpack and shoes and run back to the path, not quite trusting the ground on the way and certainly not looking back to see the tent suddenly vanish downwards and definitely not stopping to stare at the much larger eye-stalk that tried to follow him down the path, the rest of its body puddling behind him until he reached the crowded campsite.
It withdrew when it saw the dozens of tents but not entirely, hovering around the bushes as if it was scoping out all the new-found prey. He realised then that he might have doomed almost three hundred innocent people. At least he had a better chance of survival, now that the trip was over and he could head back into the city or better yet another country with little to no campsites.
The puddle had grown an eye somehow while he'd been distracted by his poor decision to join his friend for a weekend of camping and then go onto trap himself in a tent with what now seemed to be a monster. He thought briefly of waking his friend so they could both run out of the tent and to (presumed) safety but that would mean A - his friend moving while the creature is very much underneath him with no clear intent - and B - getting past the creature to get outside, assuming it hadn't killed one or both of them at that point.
The eye began to rise up out of the not-a-blood-puddle on a wobbly stalk that began to look about, almost comical with its flexibility and slow movements. It was like the creature was aware that they probably hadn't seen something like it before and didn't want to scare them by darting about. The scene became very reminiscent of a child trying to get a stray cat to come over to it as the eye stalk started to bob from side to side in a jaunty manner.
He found himself relaxing, in spite of the situation at hand, and was about to reach out to the creature until his friend moaned in his sleep, all colour seeming to drain from his resting face. The creature continued to bob as blood started to leak out of the sides of his friend's mouth, running down his face to plip gently onto the creature below.
It didn't seem to mind, if anything it only moved faster. With its increasing speed his sleeping friend slowly came into consciousness as a moan bubbled out of him, gradually rising in volume until he was shrieking and trying to sit upright. His back appeared to be stuck to the creature at first until he had writhed enough to dislodge some kind of thick, tapering tendril from his upper back.
Blood poured out of the hole it had left and the creature's entire puddle-like body started to rise and fall in time with its eye-stalk. His friend was in some kind of shrieking daze, utterly uncomprehending of anything and helpless to move while the other sat half a metre away and equally paralysed by the unfolding scene.
Within minutes the creature's body was practically bouncing up and down until it reached a peak and its sides shot up to grab at the screaming man, clenching down with a sickeningly wet crunch. The screaming came to an abrupt halt as the creature's sides twitched and gradually sunk back into the ground, dragging its prey into a newly formed hole that was as damp and red as the rest of the creature.
He remained frozen in fear until dawn, staring down at a hole that was slowly closing up. By sunrise it had caught the edge of the tent and was attempting to drag the whole thing down, spurring the surviving man to grab his backpack and shoes and run back to the path, not quite trusting the ground on the way and certainly not looking back to see the tent suddenly vanish downwards and definitely not stopping to stare at the much larger eye-stalk that tried to follow him down the path, the rest of its body puddling behind him until he reached the crowded campsite.
It withdrew when it saw the dozens of tents but not entirely, hovering around the bushes as if it was scoping out all the new-found prey. He realised then that he might have doomed almost three hundred innocent people. At least he had a better chance of survival, now that the trip was over and he could head back into the city or better yet another country with little to no campsites.
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