"Huh."
Klaus quickly pulled his hand and gazed at it in amazement. His hands pulled up his pants to check his left leg; phew, no cuts. Even though he could not feel pain, he winced merely thinking about it. Suddenly, the thought of Jile's experience crossed his mind.
"I always wondered why his leg was covered in bandages from time to time. Why didn't I say anything?"
Klaus sighed and walked out of the room to the bathroom. The floorboards creaked in hushed whispers.
Blow!
The door's delicate body flew in response to Klaus's rough push. It lay on the floor, staring him down, but Klaus walked over it in thought.
"The time I visited him and he was in here, crying."
He stared at the bathtub.
"His mother walked out of the door to greet mine. What did I say to him?"
Klaus paused a moment before shaking his head and leaving the room. As he walked towards the exit, his thoughts continued.
"To be fair, I was just starting to utter my first word. What could I do? Wait, then–why do I remember it so vividly?"
His thought was interrupted when the door stopped short, blocked by something in its way.
"Hm? What now," he sighed.
Klaus tightly gripped the door handle and grimaced as he repeatedly slammed the door into the object, cursing it to leave.
Slam!
Slam..!
On his seventh slam, the door swung open, and he fell forward. Looking down, he noticed a large shadow and spit all over the floor.
Gulp.
Slowly backing into the house, Klaus raised his head and froze. It was the beast from before. It stood before him, its unblinking yellow eyes boring into his soul. It stood firm, its sharp claws extending from massive paws.
Dark brown fur streaked with black ran along its body, turning utterly black at its head. Its glistening nose sat unnervingly close to its yellow eyes, giving its stuffed-looking face an eerie, unnatural appearance.
Its hot, moist breath smacked Klaus's face as it panted.
"H-h-hell no," Klaus said, leaning forward and grabbing the door handle. He slowly closed the door.
Chink!
Klaus cautiously walked backward, keeping his eyes on the door.
Then- silence. The beast's muffled pants disappeared.
"Wh-where'd it go?" He whispered.
"Bah, guess it was too scared of me. Hahaha...yeah, right." Klaus laughed, crossing the middle of the room and opening the window near the table.
As he did, the panting returned, the tip of a claw visible to the right of the window.
"You're joking," he thought. After a moment, an idea popped into his head.
"Wait. I'll just go to the other side!"
Klaus ran to the door and swung it open, just to see the beast waiting once again.
"How?!"
Klaus slammed the door and backed away. When he reached the middle of the room, the panting disappeared. He furrowed his brows.
He walked a step toward the door; the sound returned. He walked a step back; the sound disappeared. He walked up to the window; the sound was outside. Standing in the middle, Klaus rubbed his chin.
"Is it really that fast or are there multiple of them? Hm…"
"The hell am I gonna do?!"
Klaus's mind raced for solutions, some of which included jumping out of the bedroom window, yelling curses at the beast through the other window, waiting for it to leave, or…
"I don't know. I'm damned."
Klaus sat down in mock meditation once again and began to think. What could he realistically do against an animal thirty times his stature? Fight it? He chuckled.
What about distracting it? "Not with that stare." What about boarding up the cabin using the floorboards?
"That's…not how it works." He looked at the ground.
"I don't really want to find out what's down there either."
What about–
"Let's stop this back and forth," Klaus sighed.
Suddenly, he raised his head. Emma and Joshua. What happened to them? He hadn't given it much thought since they initially became separated; he had other things to focus on. But what about the second day? He could've left as soon as he woke up and gone looking for them. But no. He groaned and fell on his back, strands of his hair falling into the cracks of the floorboards.
"Curiosity took the better of me. What's happening to them? Is Emma ok? Are people doing bad things to her–"
Klaus slapped his hand across his mouth as a wave of vomit suddenly rushed up his throat, slowly backing away when he started to calm down. Removing his hand, he realized that he had to be quick. This world was not for the frail, especially someone like Emma; she was only safe because she was with him, her guardian. Without him, what…would…happen…?
"Ah, shit."
Klaus shot up, adrenaline fully rushing through his body. Raising his fists in a fighting stance, he hopped side to side, unable to keep his body still. This beast was about to catch these hands.
"Your ugly ass got nothing on me!" He yelled as he ran at the door and rammed into it, blowing it open and revealing the beast. Its eyes followed his every movement.
Klaus, huffing and puffing, struck the beast's nose.
Punch!
It remained motionless, continuing to stare at Klaus. Klaus struck again.
Punch!
Nothing.
Punch!
This time, a droplet of blood escaped the beast's nose, and it blinked. Opening its eyes, it shook its fur and licked its lips. A moment of silence occurred before–it roared. Its sticky mixed with spit blew away Klaus's hair and flapped his lips as it hollered. When it stopped, it slowly raised a claw before–
Slash!
"AHH!"
Klaus narrowly dodged the swipe and dashed back. The beast immediately sprinted with its other paw and slashed at him again.
"AHHH!"
Klaus barely avoided this attack again and, noticing that the beast would repeat what it did, turned around and sprinted toward the open window.
The beast's animalistic roars and grunts got closer to Klaus, its weight shaking the cabin as he reached the window. Leaping out, the beast let out another fierce screech and slashed at Klaus–only to miss again.
Panting and holding his chest, Klaus watched it put its large head through the window, sniffing in all directions.
"N-no way…is it blind?!" He thought.
The beast locked eyes with him.
"Nevermind."
Klaus hurriedly stood up as the beast wriggled and slowly fractured the cabin walls.
Parts of its neck began to fit through the small aperture, suddenly popping out. The walls could no longer support the beast, which crashed.
Boom!
Roar!
"What the hell am I doing standing here?!" Klaus thought and sprinted, the beast chasing him again.
Instantly, he spotted the river that surrounded the cabin and shivered.
"I need to jump over that…what if they jump out of the water and bite me?!"
Shaking off his thoughts, he accelerated as he approached the water. His feet left the air, and for a split second, all he felt was the beast's roar vibrating through the wind--then, an icy slap of water engulfed his bottom.
"Aieee!"