The lullaby stopped.

  The monster still rocked the bundled-up Damien in its arms, but now the room was unbearably silent. No soft piano notes, no voice... Just the quiet creak of the thing's joints as its arms swayed.

  Its head, still tilted, locked onto John with those read-bead pupils in its void-like eyes. Then with a slow, almost ritualistic movement, it gently placed its hand on the little Damien's head.

  John gasped silently.

  SNAP

  The sound was a grotesque crack. It rung through the room like the breaking of dry wood. The monster let the tiny, decapitated head roll from its palm and hit the floor with a dull thud.

  The body it had been rocking so gently fell from the thing's arms and hit the ground as well, like discarded laundry.

  John finally made a decision. He started to run.

  But not toward the monster. Not to avenge his son's obvious demise.

  Away. Back down the hallway he'd so naively entered in the first place.

  The monster didn't move for a few seconds. it just stood there like it was savoring John's panic.

  And then, "COME BACK, JOHHHNNNNNN!!!" A guttural scream, in a grossly distorted imitation of Sara's voice.

  But he keeps running. The image in his mind of Damien's head falling to the floor is too much for him to handle, and he bursts into tears as he goes. The sound of the guttural screaming in his wife's voice certainly doesn't help.

  As John reaches the end of the hallway, the monster finally begins its chase.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  It dropped to all fours with a horrific jolt, its elbows and knees bending in ways they shouldn't be able to, clicking into inverted angles. It crawled after him in an uneven scuttle like a puppet on tangled strings.

  He hears another sick imitation as he turns the corner, bolting to the right down the original hallway.

  "DADDYYYY!!!!"

  It sounded exactly like the young Damien he'd known before. But John knows it's not him. It's that grotesque monstrosity trying to break him down... and it's working. John's sobs doubled in intensity as he bolted.

  It's not real. It simply can't be.

  But... What if it is...?

  That doesn't matter now. he needs to run.

  John's lungs felt like they were genuinely on fire. Crying and running at the same time is not a good combo. Each time his foot hit the floor, it sounded like a gunshot in the hall. He could feel the monster behind him. Its limbs scraping against the ground like sharpened bones on stone.

  Then a stabbing pain shot up his leg.

  A raw, blinding scream ripped out of his throat as his left foot landed on something terrible. Nails. Dozens of them. All buried upward into the floorboards like little teeth. They stabbed through his foot in multiple places, exiting bloodily through the top. For a second, he was paralyzed from the pain.

  He stumbled, crashing against the wall. limping, and dragging blood behind him. Somewhere around the next corner, a familiar voice called out, "John?! Is that you?! Oh my God, please help!"

  It sounded kind of like his sister. No, his neighbor. Maybe a blend of both? But he didn't care.

  "Help me!" the voice cried again. Weaker and more desperate this time. "Please! I'm trapped, it's-"

  John was about to speak, not even sure what he planned to say, but the moment his voice made a sound, the world itself punished him.

  The floor collapsed underneath him.

  It was instant, with no time to react or even grab the edge to save himself. He fell through splintering wood into total darkness, landing hard, back-first. The air was knocked from his lungs. He rolled onto his stomach, coughing, and his vision swimming.

  He heard a deafening creak above him.

  His eyes widen, and he looks up. The monster is stood at the entrance of the hole that just swallowed John up. The light above the monster's head cast a menacing shadow over John, ridding the pit of the little light it had originally.

  It dropped down on top of him from the ceiling like it had planned this entire scenario out. Its mouth opened wide, exposing rows upon rows of spiraling, serrated teeth.

  John didn't even get to scream before it sank them into his shoulder and tore half his upper body apart.