He slowed the car to a halt just in time for a pair of unsettlingly long legs to stop right beside him. Of course he'd heard the rumours and even seen a few footprints in the gradually melting snow but he never dreamt he'd find himself sharing their fate.
He'd always been so careful, obeying the town rules to the letter and carrying the right amount of talismans and charms to ward it all away and yet it was all for nothing. It had always been for nothing and he might even have been destined for this in spite of, or even because of all his diligence.
A series of wet crunches began from somewhere several feet above the car and large chunks of meat dropped onto the bonnet. At least he now knew where it was looking. He briefly entertained the thought of unlocking the boot and making a break for it but the legs had already begun to move again.
This meant one of two things.
1. It was going to walk a little further up the road so it could charge at him and use those powerful legs to crush the car and tenderise his body to an easy-to-digest pulp. Brutal as it may be, it was a relatively quick and mostly painless way to go.
2. It was still eating and might not be interested in more food. It would walk away and, when it was out of sight for more then ten minutes, he would be able to turn around and drive back to safety. He would go home, burn all the useless charms and live another day.
Either way it was slowly walking away from him.
The wait had begun.
He'd always been so careful, obeying the town rules to the letter and carrying the right amount of talismans and charms to ward it all away and yet it was all for nothing. It had always been for nothing and he might even have been destined for this in spite of, or even because of all his diligence.
A series of wet crunches began from somewhere several feet above the car and large chunks of meat dropped onto the bonnet. At least he now knew where it was looking. He briefly entertained the thought of unlocking the boot and making a break for it but the legs had already begun to move again.
This meant one of two things.
1. It was going to walk a little further up the road so it could charge at him and use those powerful legs to crush the car and tenderise his body to an easy-to-digest pulp. Brutal as it may be, it was a relatively quick and mostly painless way to go.
2. It was still eating and might not be interested in more food. It would walk away and, when it was out of sight for more then ten minutes, he would be able to turn around and drive back to safety. He would go home, burn all the useless charms and live another day.
Either way it was slowly walking away from him.
The wait had begun.
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