Bump in the Night

Deep into the night near the early morning was when the least amount of people were out in Toronto. The occasional car still rolled down the street, but other than that, it was silent and dark.

A thud.

Maybe it was because of the aching pain, or perhaps it was because of his forced slumber, but Randolph slept quite decently. Well, relatively so, at least.

It was as if he finally had a good excuse to sleep, to escape from the worries and darkness of his life. Even despite his left eye that pounded heavily on occasion, or his bruises that ached from even the slightest movement, he had slept almost soundly.

When he was sleeping, he felt as if the pain was there no longer. The darkness didn't feel negative or foreboding, but rather like an embrace, like he could escape from all his worries.

Another thud.

The darkness was almost unnatural in the dark alleyway, and the streetlights could no longer penetrate its depths. The full moon hung overhead, and it was the alleyway's only source of light. The unnatural darkness, surprisingly, only contributed to Randolph's sense of sleepiness.

A heavier thud. This time it was close enough to the point that Randolph could feel the earth vibrating.

Did the young man deserve such a slumber? Not while he was in such dire circumstances. Even he knew that himself. Did he want, or perhaps even need such a slumber? Absolutely.

Another thud, this time loud enough for Randolph to hear of it, jolting him out of his half-sleep. The thud sounded meaty and gave him a sense of thickness. That combined with its rhythmic pattern gave him the sense of it being something akin to a heartbeat.

Grumbling internally, Randolph opened his bleary eyes. Tears watered down his swollen one, and he was forced to keep it closed shut due to the pain, while his other eye was unfocused and hazy.

Mustering all of the strength in his body, he pushed himself up from his lying position against the screaming protest of his body.

Can't I get any god damned sleep in this god-forsaken cit-

Another loud thump sounded out, breaking Randolph out from his thoughts.

Instinctively turning his head to the right, opposite the side of the street, his gaze focused on the pitch-black darkness of the path that led deeper into the alleyway, deeper into the hidden part of the city.

What the he-

Immediately following the loud thump came a series of louder thumps, each one louder and more vicious than the last. The thuds were so loud and ferocious that they jolted the earth, as if there was a giant hand smashing down on the ground.

The multiple impacts of the vibrations sent Randolph a few inches into the air, along with several garbage bags, hitting the ground shortly afterwards.

"Gah!"

Such an impact was hardly enough to even harm a child, but for the current Randolph, he nearly screamed in pain. The only reason he didn't was because he didn't have the strength to, so he merely widened his eyes in shock, gasping softly. The impact had sent a tremor through his body, aggravating every single ache and bruise in it. A stabbing pain shot through his swollen left eye.

"…., …. ….!"

A soft voice sounded out nearby in the darker part of the alleyway. Upon its finish, the thumping immediately halted.

Randolph couldn't make out the words, the pain in his body taking away all of his capacity to think.

Shortly afterwards, the thudding started up again. But it was much quieter this time. Following along with the thudding was a similar much smaller thudding, almost unrecognizable through the loud noise and vibrations. Randolph recognized it to be of a pair of footsteps.

"…You are eager to serve, and I am pleased with that, my son. But you must remember the common sense I've taught you." Soon, the voice came close enough for Randolph to make out its words.

The voice sounded like a fairly young boy, or perhaps man. He couldn't really tell. It was light to the point that it almost sounded female, but the tone it took was that of a man's.

"…UUnnGHhhh…" In response to the voice, the loud thuds stopped before a groan sounded out in response.

Upon hearing the groan, a chill ran down Randolph's spine as goosebumps broke out along his skin. This groan was, in one word, visceral. It sounded like the amalgamation of many different people speaking at once, yet through a filter that grated at one's ears like nails on a chalkboard.

"Good. Now, if I'm not mistaken, Bune's gift had traveled here, somewhere." Walking out of the darkness of the alleyway, two figures came into view under the moonlight. 

The first was a… a…

What the fuck… is that?

Upon sighting the freak, Randolph's breath caught in his throat.

The figure was, at rough glance, around five or six meters tall. It was incredibly, almost astonishingly, ugly. It was humanoid in shape and appearance, and yet not so at the same time. It was incredibly obese even despite its height. Its fat hung low on its body, appearing as if it was walking on two thin legs despite the legs being the size of a thin tree stump. Layers of flesh-folds lined its body, as if the fat had nowhere to go.

Not only its head, but its entire body was bald. There was not a hair visible anywhere. Its face was centered on its massive head, but its relatively normal size appeared monstrous on its giant body. The skin of its face was stretched thin on its massive head, and it appeared more like a mask than a real face. The most mismatched part was its eyes, which were covered by many layers of fat.

A freak of nature.

That was the first and only thought that remained in Randolph's mind upon sighting the freak.

Strangely enough, it wore what seemed to be human clothing. It wore a large t-shirt covered in stains, along with a pair of jeans that clearly didn't fit properly.

If Randolph had to describe the most prominent emotion that he felt, it would have been revulsion. That was the only word for it. It felt like it simply didn't belong, as if it was a monster trying to make itself seem human. As if it was an abomination, with its very existence defying nature.

"Ughnnng…" The freak groaned once again in response to its parent.

"No, my son. Now is the perfect time for you to test your detection abilities. Go on, find it if you can."

"…"

"Don't worry, my son. There is no blame here."

Outside of the darkness, following alongside the freak, came a boy. He appeared small and short as if he was in his mid-teens, but his manner of address spoke of his true age. He was quite good-looking, with delicate features like a doll. He dressed in warm blue winter clothing, and his hair colour matched the look, silver-blue in the moonlight. 

As if nervous, the giant freak shuffled around on two feet for a while before nodding slowly. Lifting its head, it sniffed the air several times as if a dog.

"…Guhh…"

After sniffing a few more times, the creature turned towards the boy, shaking its head slowly.

"Nothing? All you can smell is garbage?" Tilting his head, the boy stared upwards at the creature in thought. "Are you absolutely sure?"

"…U..ugngh…" Despite its repulsive appearance, it seemed innocent in manner in the way that it lowered its head in shame and apology.

"No!"

Upon hearing the creature's next groan, the boy shook his head adamantly.

"There's nothing to apologize for, my dear son." Placing his hand on the creature's disgusting leg, he stroked its fat folds lovingly. "Listen. I created you in in my likeliness of perfection. You are my picture of perfection, therefore, if you make a mistake, then I am wrong. That can't be the case."

As the boy spoke, he spread his arms wide as if to embrace the creature. As if he was accepting all of its flaws and imperfections. The light from the moon shone down on him, reflecting off his hair, as if he was a god that descended onto the earth.

"I breathed life into you, Adam. I created you. Do you understand? I am your god. You are a part of me and my perfection, and therefore, you can do no wrong. If you say there's nothing, then there's nothing but garbage."

"…Ugh…" A sob sounded out from the freak, or more like struggled out.

It appeared to be touched as it lowered its head towards the young boy, not noticing that the boy was clearly patronizing it, or essentially just praising himself.

While the boy could fool the creature as it clearly didn't know better, he couldn't fool Randolph. Even just the little bit of energy he had left was enough to make it abundantly obvious to him.

What sort of god would create a freak like that?... 

"Guuughh…" Groaning in what seemed to be pain, the creature lifted a fleshy arm in the direction of the residential street.

"You think it went that way? Good! Let us make haste, quickly, before it escapes!"

Excitement flashed across the boy's face as he spoke. It made him appear like a normal young boy for a split-second. But only for a split second.

Both his hands floated out to his sides as he ran joyously in the direction of the street. The creature followed along after him, the thuds ringing out rhythmically once more.

"Gnngh…"

As they travelled, their voices slowly faded into the night.

"You are in pain, my child? Are you alright?"

"…Ugnngh…"

"Ahh, I see. Well don't worry, Adam. That pain is normal. It is a pain that all living beings feel."

"Uggg…?"

"Yes, I feel the pain as well. It's only natural we feel such pain, after all, we are alive, aren't we?..."

As the footsteps faded away, a small black cat poked its head out of the heap of rotted food that had fallen out of the dumpster. It was completely malnourished, appearing weak and tired, very similar to Randolph himself. Limping as it walked, it made its way over to him between the garbage bags.

Randolph was only partially conscious at this point, the exhaustion having taken over. He could only barely see its form shrivel up before a dim orange light, barely flickering, floated outside of the cat's body.

Pushing itself into Randolph's chest, it seemed to integrate with him at the very same moment that his conscious faded once again.