Chapter Five: "Danger in the Shadows"
He woke suddenly.
Cold droplets fell on his face, making him open his eyes with sluggishness.
Had it started to rain?
But before he could rise, he heard a rustling above his head.
A faint rustling. As if something was crawling on the branches very slowly, cautiously, like something that did not want to be discovered.
He raised his gaze slowly.
And the blood froze in his veins.
There, among the branches, a creature hung like a spider. Its eyes were two red embers burning in the darkness.
No… don't move, he told himself. But his heart was pounding so violently that for a moment he thought the creature would hear its beating.
It was not an animal he knew.
Its shape resembled a monkey, but its limbs were much longer. As if designed for tearing, not climbing. Its joints bent at unnatural angles, as if its bones were elastic, allowing it to twist in every direction. Its fur was filthy and coarse, interspersed with shiny black patches that glistened in the moonlight like tar. Its fangs jutted from its mouth like small daggers, yellow, with reddish remnants upon them. Bloody remnants.
It watched him in silence. Studying him as a hunter studies its prey.
It's playing with me, Yusuf thought, feeling a shiver run down his spine. This bastard wants to terrify me before it eats me.
His hand moved involuntarily toward the small knife in his pocket. But what was this piece of metal worth against such a beast? A small piece no larger than a few fingers, against claws longer than his fingers.
What a ridiculous scene, he thought bitterly. If I were in my house now, I would laugh at anyone who thought a knife like this could protect them. But I'm here. And this is real. And this thing is going to tear me apart.
Before he could find an answer, the creature opened its mouth and let out a sharp screech that shattered the forest's silence.
A screech unlike any he had heard in his life. A mix of a wolf's howl and a terrified woman's scream, topped with a crackling sound as if bones were breaking inside its throat.
Then it leaped.
---
But Yusuf was not caught off guard this time.
He twisted his body at the last moment. Its claws tore through his shoulder. Pain exploded inside him like lightning, and a scream escaped him unlike any human sound. He felt the heat of blood streaming down his arm, but the pain was less than he had expected. Or perhaps the adrenaline was stronger.
He stopped thinking. He acted on survival instinct alone.
He rushed into the dense forest without looking back. He heard the sound of bounds behind him. Fast, light. Each bound brought it closer.
Don't look back… don't look back… he repeated in his head like magical incantations.
But he looked.
The creature leaped between the trees as if flying. It used the branches as launching platforms, and with each leap it covered a greater distance than Yusuf could in five steps.
If I keep running like this, it will catch me in minutes.
He suddenly veered toward a large tree. Its trunk was somewhat hollow. He threw himself inside it the moment he heard the creature's impact with the ground behind him.
He stood inside the trunk, holding his breath, covering his mouth to stifle his gasps. Blood was flowing profusely from his shoulder, but he paid it no mind.
He heard the creature sniffing the air. Inhale… exhale… inhale… exhale… like a hunting dog tracking the scent of its prey.
The footsteps approached.
Then stopped.
A few meters from the trunk.
Through the small crevice, Yusuf saw its shadow. The creature stood in place, slowly turning its head in every direction, its red eyes scanning the area.
Then something terrifying happened.
It smiled.
It raised the corners of its mouth, revealing its fangs in a wide grin. Like something that knew its prey was near. Like something playing with it.
This bastard knows I'm here. He's just pretending.
Yusuf wanted to scream, to jump, to do anything. But he remained frozen in place, watching the creature slowly approach the trunk.
It drew closer… then passed by it.
It did not enter.
Yusuf did not understand why. Perhaps it had not seen him. Perhaps it had smelled something else. Perhaps… it didn't matter. What mattered was that it was gone.
He waited until the sound of its footsteps disappeared entirely. Then he rushed out of the trunk like a madman, running in the opposite direction.
But he did not run far.
He stopped suddenly when he heard a rustling above him again.
He raised his head slowly. His heart nearly stopped.
There, on the branch directly above him, the creature sat watching him.
It did not leap this time. It merely watched. As if saying: Didn't I tell you that you wouldn't escape?
This time, he did not run. There was no point in running anymore.
He lunged toward the creature, screaming, gripping the small knife in his hand. He decided he would die fighting, not fleeing.
The creature leaped toward him as well.
---
They collided in midair.
Its claws tore through his chest, but his knife stabbed into its side. What emerged was not blood. It was a thick, black substance like tar, flowing and emitting a suffocating odor. The smell of sulfur and burnt flesh combined. It entered his nostrils, making him dizzy.
The creature laughed!
It laughed with a sharp sound, like metal scraping glass. A sound that created a desire in the soul to cover one's ears. Not because it was merely unpleasant, but because it was terrifying.
The stab had not hurt it. It seemed like mere play to it.
— "What the hell are you?!" Yusuf screamed as he hit the ground from the force of the collision.
The creature did not answer. It merely leaped over him again, trying to sink its fangs into his neck.
Yusuf pushed it with all his strength. But the creature's strength was terrifying. He felt like he was trying to push a wall. As if this monster's muscles were made of iron.
This is it. I'm going to die here. Everything will end. What a pathetic ending—killed by a mutant monkey in a remote forest.
It was clear he was about to be killed. That everything would end.
But something inside him refused to surrender.
He relied on pure instinct. In a moment of absolute despair, he raised his head with force and struck the creature directly on the nose with his forehead.
He heard the impact and felt a sharp pain in his head. But the creature felt pain too. It recoiled slightly, its hand touching its nose, which had begun to bleed that disgusting black fluid.
Ah… so you feel pain, just like me.
He seized the opportunity, jumping on the creature before it could regain its balance. He pressed down on its neck with his elbow, using all the strength he had.
He heard his own bones screaming in pain, his skin tearing beneath the creature's claws that were shredding his back. But he did not let go. He increased the pressure, pressing and pressing, until he heard a crackling sound beneath his elbow.
The creature stopped moving.
It fell to the ground, motionless.
---
Yusuf stood gasping, his hands trembling. Blood streamed from his shoulder and his torn back. He looked at the creature's corpse, unable to believe he had killed it.
— "I… I killed it…" he muttered in a trembling voice.
He bent over, placing his hands on his knees, trying to calm his heartbeats that were about to burst from his chest. He breathed deeply, then closed his eyes for a moment.
— "Thank God… thank God…"
But the moment he opened his eyes, he saw something that froze the blood in his veins.
The creature's fingers moved.
They twitched slightly, then stopped. Yusuf stopped breathing, staring at the corpse in disbelief. His eyes widened as he saw the tremor move from the fingers to the hand, then to the arm, then to the shoulder.
— "No…" he whispered in a barely audible voice. He stepped back. "No… this is impossible…"
The creature's body began to shake violently. The shattered head convulsed, the broken bones emitting a disgusting crackling sound as they tried to return to their place. The black fluid flowed profusely from the wounds but began to gather around the head, as if trying to reshape what had been destroyed.
Yusuf stood paralyzed. His eyes were wide, his mouth open without a sound emerging. He was watching a nightmare unfold before him.
This isn't happening… this isn't scientific… this isn't logical… this is impossible.
But it was happening.
The creature moved. Its fingers gripped the ground, its arms began pushing the body upward. The head was still deformed, its right side caved inward. But the right eye was open, and it was looking at him.
That red eye gleamed with pure, clear hatred. It was saying to him: I will kill you. I will tear you apart. I will make you wish you had never been born.
— "Run…" Yusuf whispered to himself without realizing. "Run, you fool… run…"
But his legs did not respond. He was as if frozen in place, staring at the embodiment of terror before him.
The creature rose completely. It stood on its feet, but it was unbalanced. Its tilted head swayed sickeningly, its arms dangling aimlessly. It looked like a drunkard, like someone who had suffered a stroke, like something that should never be able to stand.
But it stood.
Then it turned its head toward him.
That single remaining red eye stared at him. And in the other eye, the crushed one, the black fluid flowed like black tears.
And suddenly… everything changed.
The trembling stopped. The body straightened. The fingers gripped the ground tightly. The red eye widened.
Then it charged.
Not like the creature that had played with him before. Not like the monster that had been testing its strength. This was pure, untamed fury, knowing no mercy.
---
Yusuf found himself running before he could think.
He ran between the trees, jumping over fallen trunks, dodging low-hanging branches. His body was bleeding and his pain screamed in every cell. But he ran.
He heard bounds behind him. Approaching.
Faster… faster, for God's sake…
He glanced back quickly to gauge the distance. The creature was approaching at an unbelievable speed. Running on all fours like an animal, covering ground with enormous leaps, as if gravity had no effect on it.
It drew closer.
Yusuf felt hot air behind his neck. In a moment of desperation, he suddenly ducked and veered right. The creature shot past him like a rocket, crashing into a massive tree ahead.
The sound of impact was horrifying. The tree shook violently, its leaves scattering everywhere. The creature rebounded backward and fell to the ground, thrashing.
Yusuf did not wait. He ran again. He saw a deep pit ahead. He lunged toward it and slid inside.
The pit was narrow, dark, damp. It smelled of wet earth and mold. He curled up inside, making himself as small as possible. He covered his mouth to stifle his breathing.
He heard the creature's footsteps approaching. Approaching. Approaching.
They stopped. Directly above the pit.
He held his breath completely and closed his eyes. He heard the creature sniffing the air. Inhale… exhale… then inhale… exhale…
Minutes passed. He did not know how many. Time had ceased to exist.
Then he heard something fall into the pit.
He opened his eyes.
The creature was looking at him from the pit's opening. Its tilted head, its single red eye, its open mouth revealing its yellow fangs. It was looking down at him, like someone looking at a mouse in its burrow.
It smiled. A slow, sick smile.
His scream escaped involuntarily. He rushed out of the pit, and the creature leaped right after him.
---
Yusuf ran. He ran until he felt his lungs would burst.
And suddenly, the creature stopped its chase.
Yusuf stood gasping, looking around. The forest was silent. Even the insects had stopped making sounds.
— "Where… where did it go?" he whispered in a hoarse voice.
Then he saw it. The creature stood a few meters away. It did not run, did not leap. It just stood there, its red eye staring at him.
Yusuf stepped back. His legs trembled.
But the creature did not attack. It stood in place, looking at him silently. Then its body began to tremble. Not like before—a different tremor. The tremor of sickness, the tremor of weakness.
The creature coughed. A deep, powerful cough. Thick black fluid expelled from its mouth. Then it coughed again.
It staggered backward. Fell to its knees.
Yusuf stared at it. He could not believe what he was seeing.
Then he saw something else. From among the branches of distant trees, light was seeping through. Sunlight. Dawn had begun.
Golden rays pierced the shadows, reaching their place. They touched the creature's skin.
And the creature screamed.
It was not a scream of anger. It was a scream of pain. Genuine pain. Its skin began to crack where the sun touched it, and thin smoke rose from its body.
The creature tried to move, but it was weak. The more the light increased, the weaker it grew. It writhed on the ground, trying to hide in the shadows. But the sun was rising, and the shadows were shortening.
Yusuf looked at the sky. Dawn had come. Light flowed between the trees like golden arrows. The creature was trying to crawl away, but it no longer had the strength.
He understood. This monster could not bear the sun.
He picked up a large stone from the ground. He approached the creature. The creature looked at him, its red eye dimming and gleaming.
— "I'm sorry," Yusuf whispered. "But I want to live."
He raised the stone. Brought it down on the creature's head.
Once. Twice. Three times.
He struck until the creature stopped moving. Struck until its head became a shapeless mass. Struck until the stone fell from his exhausted hand.
---
He stood over the corpse, gasping like a madman. Tears mixed with sweat on his face. He was crying without realizing it. Crying from terror, from pain, from exhaustion.
— "I really killed it this time…" he muttered in a hoarse voice.
He looked at the pulverized corpse, at the stone stained black beside it, at his trembling hands covered in that disgusting fluid.
What a situation… I was about to die, then the light came suddenly, then I killed it with a stone. With a stone, for God's sake! If someone had told me a week ago that I would kill a monster with a stone, I would have said they were insane.
He coughed suddenly and tasted something strange in his mouth. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and found a trace of blood.
My blood or its blood? It makes no difference now.
He tried to stand, but fell to the ground. He tried again, and fell again. He had no strength left. His body had exhausted all its reserves.
He crawled away from the corpse and leaned against a nearby tree. He sat there, trembling, waiting. He did not know what he was waiting for.
Minutes passed. Perhaps an hour. Time had ceased to have meaning.
When he regained consciousness, he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. He raised his hand to examine the wound and groaned from the intensity of the pain. The wound was deep, the flesh torn, the blood still flowing.
I have to stop the bleeding. I have to do something.
He searched for something to use. He found nothing but dry tree leaves. He grabbed a handful and pressed them to the wound. He groaned in pain. The leaves absorbed some blood, but the bleeding did not stop.
— "I need a piece of cloth… anything…"
He looked at his torn shirt. He tore a piece off with his teeth and began bandaging his shoulder wound. It was a slow, painful process. Every movement made him gasp in pain.
After finishing his shoulder, he moved to his back. He could not easily reach the wounds there. He kept twisting his body at painful angles, trying to place leaves and cloth on wounds he could not see. Relying only on touch and pain.
Every touch made him cry out. Every bandage tormented him more.
This is worse than the fight itself. The fight was quick. This is slow torture.
After what felt like hours, he finished bandaging his wounds. He was still bleeding, but less so.
He looked at the sky through the branches. The sun had risen higher. Golden light seeped through the leaves, drawing shifting patches on the ground. The forest looked different in daylight. Less terrifying. But still strange.
This world doesn't care. I am nothing here.
He tried to stand again and succeeded this time. But he staggered and nearly fell. He held onto the tree until his feet steadied.
He looked at the creature's pulverized corpse. It was still there. A silent souvenir of his battle.
— "I will never forget you," he muttered in a faint voice. "I will never forget that I killed to live."
Then he turned his back on the corpse and began to walk.
He did not know where. He did not know what he would do. All he knew was that he had to move. To get away from this place. To find a safe place before his body completely collapsed.
He walked a few steps, then stopped. He felt severe dizziness, his head spinning. The wounds were bleeding again, and the primitive bandages were insufficient.
I need to find water. I need to clean these wounds. I need to…
He did not finish the thought. He fell to his knees.
— "No… don't fall… get up…"
He tried to rise and failed. He tried again and failed again.
Is this it? I'm going to die here after killing that monster? What a pathetic ending…
Darkness engulfed everything.
The last thing he felt before losing consciousness was the coolness of the earth against his cheek, the sound of the cold wind blowing through the trees, and a strange feeling of absolute solitude.
Then nothing.
---
In the forest, his body lay still beneath an ancient tree. The sun rose slowly, its rays seeping through the branches, touching his pale face. Around him, the forest whispered. Strange sounds, strange life, moving in the shadows.
He was alone. But he was not dead.
End of Chapter Five