horrors2

Ghost_Hat.Invisible_.tex

  1\chapauth{Ghost Hat}
  2\chapter{Invisible Monsters}
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  7Nobody could see! Nobody could see! It was a nightmare. Abby ran
  8for her life, as hard as she possibly could. What else was there to
  9do when a monster was chasing you? Her lungs gasped for air already
 10and her limps burned with exhaustion, but that thing didn't even
 11breath hard.
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 15It wasn't the monster chasing her that frightened her the most
 16though. It was the fact that she was the only one who could see
 17it.
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 21Lurking about the corners. Hiding in the shadows. She thought it
 22was her imagination. She thought she had been going insane. They
 23said you showed the first signs of schi\-zo\-phre\-nia when you became a
 24teenager. But then, it must have slipped up, for she had seen it
 25squarely, with both eyes. What's more, it knew.
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 29And then it gave chase.
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 33Down the sidewalks, across the streets despite the busy roads. She
 34must have been nearly killed five times by squealing cars. She
 35barely kept herself from tripping several times down the steep
 36hills. And still it chased her, it seemed to like watching her run.
 37Enjoying itself perhaps. It loped in plain sight.
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 41But only she saw! Only Abby saw the monster. Everybody else saw a
 42crazed girl running through the streets, no thought for her own or
 43others' safety. How did Abby know this? Nobody had believed her
 44when she said she was seeing things. Nobody screamed and ran
 45despite the fact a monster ran loose upon the same streets. Maybe
 46she {\em was} crazy, but she wasn't going to stop long enough to
 47find out.
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 51How she wished she had paid better attention! Though even if
 52she had spotted the creature earlier she would not have known how
 53to defend herself against it. It had been following her for weeks
 54though. Weeks in which some shadowy thing had been watching her,
 55plotting against her{\ldots}
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 59No time! Abby ran.
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 63``You stupid kid!'' some guy screamed as Abby swerved past him. The
 64streets were full of people, making it hard for Abby to run at full
 65speed. She had to slow to dive and jump between and around them.
 66And there were carts everywhere. The beast! The beast was catching
 67up! Run! Run!
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 71An alleyway. Not a place she would normally go. That's wear drug
 72addicts and homeless people hung out, but it meant there would be
 73no people. No people meant no obstacles. Abby ra! She ran down the
 74alleyway.
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 78It took a moment for Abby to realize her mistakes. People might
 79have noticed if the monster had jumped her in front of them. Even
 80if they couldn't see it, they would see that something wrong with
 81her. With no people around, it could kill her in privacy. That was
 82her first mistake. The other was that this alley ended with a brick
 83wall. 10 feet high.
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 87{\em Oh no,} Abby thought, gasping for breath so hard she couldn't
 88speak. She had enough to scream however. She felt the wind rushing
 89by as the monster swooped in on wings of black. So close now that
 90she could see purple in those leathery wings. So close she could
 91see its gleaming yellow eyes. No pupils. Just shimmering metallic
 92yellow.
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 96It swooped in and landed with a great gust of wind on the cement
 97ground. It stood on two legs, like a man. But it was no man. Abby
 98was suddenly trapped between the brick wall and it. And then it
 99opened its mouth wide and inside it were hundreds of sharp, silver
100teeth. It hissed and Abby screamed as it bent forth to devour
101her.
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105Another rush of air, but from behind the creature. A sudden blur
106and then the creature was on the ground, wings spread flat. It
107screamed a terrible scream and Abby covered her ears in terror.
108Animal instincts took over and she hid behind a dumpster, eyes
109squeezed shut, hands clamped over ears. She would never leave this
110place. She would stay, stay and hide forever.
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114She did not see what had overcome the creature. All a blur. She did
115not see the man who had saved her until he tapped her on the
116shoulder, and then pulled her out much to her horror. It had to be
117that creature! That awful creature!
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121``Agggh!'' she screamed as loudly as she could. Abby writhed and
122tried to break free, still blind. Still crazy. Still insane with
123fear.
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127``Stop crying. You've been saved,'' said a voice. Abby
128looked up, blinking heavy tears from her eyes, and found a man. An
129ordinary man.
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133Abby was silent, just staring in disbelief. Just a man. And behind
134him. Nothing. The creature was suddenly gone. As if it had never
135been there in the first place. She panted, sweating, hair a mess,
136skin as white as snow. Just a man. And yet. ''You saw it? You saw
137it?" she hissed, horrified for what the answer could be.
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141``Of course I did,'' the man said in a voice as soothing
142as butter. ``And it's gone now. It will never bother you
143again.''
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147Abby gave a choke of laughter and could not help but hug the man,
148her entire body trembling. The ordinary man reciprocated with one
149arm, his other sliding towards his back pocket. He thought, in a
150distant sort of way, that the child in his arms was warm. But the
151blood from her throat would be warmer. 
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