Grocery Shopping

We crossed the street until we were standing in front of the store. The memory of what happened the last time we were at a Frestock was still fresh on our minds.

"I think we should just stay together this time," I suggested. "Staying in a group is the best option."

Isa and Eli nodded.

"Too bad I lost my bat before we left home," Eli lamented. "I don't think I'm too confident in using my kira yet."

"We'll be fine," Isa assured him. "We'll be in and out before you know it."

The door groaned as I pulled on it. It was dark inside the grocery store. Only a few lights dimly lit up the area. I felt a shiver run across my body. Looking around, something felt off. Why is the store untouched? All the shelves were nearly fully stocked, and not a single thing looked out of place. What exactly happened to this town?

We quietly started grabbing things that we needed off the shelf. Little did we know before, but baby wipes were like gold to us. Not being able to take a shower for a few days was already making the car smell a bit…strong?

Something creaked behind us.

"Did you hear that?!" I squeaked as I crouched down.

Isa and Eli quickly followed suit.

"What the fuck was that?" Eli whispered.

"I don't know," Isa hyperventilated. "It's too hard to see!"

We stayed low to the floor for a few minutes. Nothing happened. Maybe we're just too wound up.

After our nerves calmed down, we mustered up the courage to keep moving.

We loaded up on some hygienic goods, and inched our way towards the center of the store. I looked up at the signs in between each aisle to search for the canned goods section. We passed a few rows until I finally spotted it towards the middle. While we made our way through the store, a strange odor was slowly becoming stronger.

"Bro what is that smell," Eli gagged as he pinched his nose.

"I think that's the meat section," Isa guessed. "If no ones been here for days, it's gotta be rotten by now."

That made sense I guess. We buried our noses into our elbows and marched on forward. The canned foods were only a few aisles away. When we got there, Eli began to shovel canned soup, meats, and vegetables into the box. As it was being filled up, I could hear something. I made eye contact with Isa and motioned her next to me.

"Can you hear that?" I whispered. "I think I hear something coming from a few aisles away."

Isa strained her ears, trying to pick up any noises.

She nodded, "I think I also hear it too."

The noise became a little louder. I couldn't figure out what it was…but I think I heard something like whispers.

I nudged Eli and quickly told him what was going on. We grouped into a tight formation; I led the group with Isa and Eli following right behind. The whispers became louder as we got closer. As we approached the noise, the whispers turned into a chant of some kind. I couldn't make out any of the words being said, but I felt a chill run through my body.

We were approaching the end of the aisle, and the chants were leading us to the meat section. My heart started to race and I could feel my chest begin to tighten. If I hadn't experienced becoming Bel's servant and his task, I think the former me would have run out the door that instant. However, I felt brave enough to keep moving forward.

I reached the last aisle. After this, there was only empty space in between us and the, now loud, chanting. I summoned Sintra and felt the hilt form in my hand. It was a comforting weight knowing that I had someone experienced with me.

"Do you know what that is?" I asked the blade.

I felt the blade vibrate.

"It's a servant," Sintra confirmed. "A powerful one at that too. Tread forward with caution."

I gulped. The first one we faced back home was scary enough, but if Sintra is warning us…

"Ez," Eli whispered. "We can just leave, you know?"

Isa readily agreed. "Yeah, we don't have to do this."

"No, we need to see what's going on," I disagreed. "I don't know why, but I have a feeling that whatever this thing is, it's behind what's going on in this town."

Isa and Eli grimaced, but they stayed with me. The chants continued as we made our way towards the meat section. I saw streaks of maroon and black colors painted on the floor. A metallic odor hung in the air. I felt myself pause from all these things hitting my senses. This felt…evil.

Packages of rotten meat were piled up in coolers that hadn't been turned on for a few days. We knelt and snuck from one cooler to another. The chants that started as whispers evolved into chilling screeches. I took a quick peek over the top of the cooler, but I didn't see anyone or anything. It sounded like the noise was coming from inside the meat department where the meat lockers were located.

I sheathed Sintra and motioned Isa and Eli to follow as I treaded lightly towards the noise. My back was against the wall and I shuffled towards the door. The stench of rotten meat grew stronger the closer I got to the swinging door. I could now hear the chants clearly; it was a language that clearly did not sound of this world.

I took a deep breath and lightly pressed my hand against the swinging door. A small crack opened up. I leaned forward and squinted into the dimly lit room. Blood pooled on the floor. There were different shades of red that I never expected to see, ranging from a bright, red paint to a black, crusty layer. Pieces of flesh and bone shards were sprinkled on top of this dark painting. Isa stifled out a gasp and Eli quickly looked away.

I held my breath while I continued to peek around. My heart was beating so loud that I was afraid that whatever was in there could hear the drum in my chest. My hand pressed a little harder against the door and the crack widened. My jaw dropped.

A towering figure was hunched over inside the room, and it's back was facing towards me. There was a thin layer of fur tightly bound around its body. Fur was torn in random spots around its body as bone stuck out, unable to be contained inside its stretched out skin. Its legs made up over half of its body. They were strong and you could see the muscles tightly wound up, just waiting to explode with power. On its head, a crown of antlers with sixteen points rested on its head. It had to be over ten feet tall if it was bent over like this while standing up.

We have to leave. This thing is emanating death. If we don't leave now, we are dead.

I took a step back and as I was closing the door, I saw its long, lanky arms reach into the freezer. When it pulled its hand back, it had a grown man in its grasp. I froze midstep and saw the face of the beast. Where skin was supposed to be on its face, only muscle and its skull remained. It was shaped like the skull of a deer, but with human eyes instead. Its eyes widened in delight as it lifted the body towards its mouth.

A loud snap echoed in the small room. It decapitated the corpse and began to swallow its first bite. I tripped backward and my hand landed on top of the packages of rotten meat. I felt my hand break through the seal. My hand was covered in warm and slimy meat. Immediately a putrid stench filled our noses.

We all gagged as we covered our noses, but it was too late. The crunching noise had already stopped. Hooves clopped against the floor, heading towards us. The swinging door exploded off its hinge as the beast poked its head out the room. Its eyes, those disgusting eyes, lasered onto us. They stared at us with a lustful expression. It salivated as it recognized its next meal. It still held the headless corpse in its hand, but quickly let go of it.

"FrEsH mEAt," it gushed.

Without any warning, it ducked its head down and charged towards us. Its antlers gleamed dangerously with its wickedly sharp points. I pulled Isa and we dove to one side while Eli dove to the other. I felt a sharp pain in my back as I landed on the floor.

"Shit," I seethed. I felt the air on my back. I looked over my shoulder and saw patches of my shirt hanging on the antler. My back felt wet and I could feel something dripping down.

"Oh my god, your back!" Isa shouted.

My legs buckled and I felt the strength leaving my body. Isa quickly ran to my side and lifted me up. Pure adrenaline was the only thing keeping me off the floor. The beast skidded to a reckless halt by crashing into the wall. It cackled as it smelled the scent of fresh blood. It stomped its hooves and readied itself for another bull rush.

It sped towards us, a sparkle gleaming in its eyes. Its mouth opened revealing its big flat teeth that could easily grind our bones. I felt my heart drop when I saw it only a few steps away.

A burst of fire bellowed behind me, creating a barrier between me and the beast. It screamed in pain as its skin began to sear. I heard a roar and saw a light glimmer from the side, Eli. He caught the beast off guard as it was backing up from Isa and I. He threw a haymaker into its ribs and I heard a crack. The force of the blow caused it to fly across the room and crash into an aisle shelf.

It cried out in frustration and began chanting again. I almost drew Sintra out, but the pain in my back was too overwhelming. I knelt to the ground and tried to recover my breath. A dark mist began to form around its body, concealing it from our view.

Its arms shot out from the mist, except they had changed. No longer were they lanky, but they had large muscles begging to burst from its skin. The beast emerged out of the mist, its whole body had undergone the exact same transformation as its body. Standing over fifteen feet tall, the beast had become a mountain of muscle.

It laughed as its arms reached its enormous antlers. It grasped one in each hand, and snapped them off. Blood began to pour out of its head, but that was the cost for its new pair of weapons. Brandishing them in the hair, the soft velvet was shed from the antlers. It swung its antlers like swords in a deadly pattern and began to walk towards us.

Eli threw me over his shoulder and began to run with Isa towards the exit. I was looking back at the darkness as we headed towards the entrance, and I saw the beast's chest heaving up and down. I heard its maniacal laugh. It disappeared before my very eyes. I felt Eli jolt to a stop, and I turned my head around. The beast was in front of us.

Fuck, we're dead.

"yOU wIll bE THe taStiESt mEal I'vE haD," it giggled in glee. "nOthiNg WiLl be As gOoD as yOu."

It continued to speak in ecstasy as it envisioned its first bite of us. We stumbled backwards until we were against the aisle shelf.

"Pssssssssst," someone whispered.

I looked to my left. A little girl was standing next to the wall, outside of the beast's view.

"On my signal, run to me," she mouthed.

I tapped Eli and Isa on the back and pointed with my head to the little girl.

"Wait for some sort of signal and run to her," I relayed.

"What's the signal?" Isa said out the side of her mouth.

I shrugged. "I don't know, but I'm sure it'll be obvious."

The girl creeped alongside the wall, staying outside of the beast's view. It licked its snout as it finally finished its monologue. It stepped towards us, completely missing the little girl that had made its way to a box on the side of the wall.

It wound up and readied its blades to filet its next meal. It swung its arms and the blade descended in a deadly arc towards us.

Light exploded and fully illuminated the grocery store. The beast immediately dropped its blades and fell to its knees. Its hands quickly covered its eyes and it began to scream in an alien language.

That was the signal.

We bolted towards the little girl and she led us out the building from a side door. I heard the beast bellowing in agony. I gulped in breaths of fresh air as we ran out the store. We didn't stop there and she led us across the street to one of the empty buildings. When we got in there, she knocked on the floor towards the back in a specific pattern.

Quickly the floor raised, a man had lifted it up. Behind him was a set of stairs that led underground. The girl pushed us towards the stairs. We quickly descended and tripped over ourselves. When we looked up, we saw a lit room full of people staring at us. The floor was lowered, closing the entrance. We were hunched over heaving. I felt my vision blur.

"Who are you?" the girl asked me.

"I am…"

The world faded to black.