Splash!

He heard it before he felt it.

Darrell's sneakers landed in the water as he tried and failed to leap over the sizeable, muddy puddle. The cloth quickly soaked through as his feet connected with the wet ground.Grabbing a large, rugged headstone, he used it as leverage to leap over it, sliding down a muddy slope as soon as his fingers released it.

Heavy pants escaped his lips as he wiped the wet, curly hair strands from his eyes. It did not help much that the torrents from the sky blinded him to anything further than a metre in front of him. Lightning crackled across the sky in long, splitting tongues of electricity, briefly illuminating the various tombstones of the grim graveyard.

He sighed yet continued to run, ignoring the cries of his aching muscles, his heartbeat throbbing in his ears, and the buckets of sweat the rain had washed away. He needed to keep moving. If he stopped now, he would-

AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Darrell froze for a moment as the piercing animalistic howl filled the air.

NOPE! he thought to himself, willing his weak corporeal shell to move, managing to take another step forward.

He turned slightly, glancing at the outline of the seven-foot bipedal wolf howling into the air as a streak of lightning flashed across the sky.

WHY DID I LOOK?! GAGGH! he internally screamed, pouncing over another tombstone. A looming dreary building appeared before him. Its derelict stone walls and dirty glass window panes seemed to frown at him.

Darrell ran straight towards it, heaving the massive stone door open a crack. Adrenaline rushed through his tired muscles to get the job done. The sound of splashing movements increased as the creature got closer. He tugged and pulled, attempting to close the door, his body at a 45-degree angle, trying to get leverage. A small click sounded as the vast object closed.

Darrell instantly locked it, with the ancient-looking, rusty lock sitting on the inside of the door, and draggeda nearby dusty desk to bar the door. Loud thuds and scrapes rained down on the door. He looked around desperately for a place to hide as his heartbeat continued to drum in his ears.

This was an old mausoleum. There must be somewhere-His eyes caught sight of a particular tomb in the corner among the sea of graves, furthest away from the door. Maybe....

The boy internally screamed. MY EXISTENCE IS PAIN!

He advanced towards the standing tomb, slipping the lid off and crawling inside. He held his breath as the stench of centuries-old decay permeated his nostrils .Darrell laid down next to the grinning skeletal frame and slowed his breathing as the scrapes on the door became deafening, and the crushing of stone could be heard.

Thumps and the scraping sound of claws against stone broke through the door as the creature entered the mausoleum. Darrell could only hear the muffled sounds of the creature moving around. He steadied his breathing even more, trying to slow his heartbeat and avoid detection.

He mentally blocked out the creature's sounds, closed his eyes and focused on breathing.

BOOP!

Boop!

Boop!

Boop.

Boop.

He exhaled slowly, releasing his anxiety in that one breath.

Suddenly, the lid of the coffin slid off halfway, and the boy was yanked from the stone coffin. His eyes fluttered open as the canine's claws wrung his shirt and lifted him in the air. He struggled to free himself before a growl emerged from the werewolf's throat. Darrell froze, swallowing thickly. Glowing golden eyes with slit pupils stared right through him. A drooling maw filled with sharp teeth and massive canines opened before him. An aura of rage encircled the creature.

His breath froze as the jaws moved closer to him. He smelled the minty breath and felt the heavy breathing pouring down his shoulder and neck.

He bit his lip, drawing blood as the werewolf sank its teeth into him, rending through his small shoulder. His body thrashed, trying to escape as venom and tremors wracked his body. A screech escaped his lips as pain overwhelmed his senses, causing the monster to clamp down even harder. Rivulets of tears escaped his eyes as blood pooled down his shirt.

Black spots danced in his vision, becoming more prominent as his body shut down. Fresh blood oozed from the wound.

"My....existence...is....pain," was his last coherent thought as his entire vision turned black and his world gave way to nothing.