An Answering Call
Death was the first thing I felt. Or, was it the pain? The sharp, searing agony that one might feel if he were to be run through with a stake. Yes, I believe it was the pain I first felt, but almost instantly, I was overwhelmed by a flood of darkness, nearly chilling me to my very core. This, I believe, was what killed me, not the fear, not the pain, no, but Death itself. It took me into the folds of its dark, haunting robes, and brought me here, to where I am now. I stand before a seemingly endless plain of tall, pale yellow grass. I look up to find no sun or moon, only a dark, menacing blanket of the deepest black. My gaze falls on everything around me, but it is like looking at a photograph, silent and unchanging. As I gaze, I think that surely this must be Hell. Suddenly, all thoughts in my head are pushed aside by something Man has known all of his life; primal fear.
All rationality is lost to me, perhaps even gone forever, as I run for my very life, if I still have one in this dark, abysmal plain. What I am running from exactly, not even I fully know. All I heard was a sharp, broken, high-pitched howl, and all I sensed was my own fear. This howl could have belonged to anyone, or anything, perhaps a demon, a Hellhound, or even the Devil Lucifer himself. As I ran, I stooped lower and lower, until I was leaping over the terrain like a wild animal, pushing off with my legs, landing on bent arms.
Then, the first changes started taking place. My ears grew elongated, tapering to a point. My jaw began to extend, stretching my skin until it was ripped from my skull. My hands and feet became bony, skeletal paws. I was doubled over in pain, my mind blank as to why this might be happening. When the changes were complete, I no longer resembled myself. I was, I am, a horrid creature, no more a man than a rock might be alive. I resemble now a skeletal hound, all bone and ligament, my flesh torn from my bony frame. I still hear those menacing howls, yet, they do not frighten me anymore. The calls seem welcoming, almost friendly. Sometimes, even I start to howl, and always, there is an answering call.
-Pois0nArr0w
