I found myself sitting by a river that afternoon. I had just started to give up on life by then. From one failure to another, I decided that I had enough. Maybe all that 'fame and glory' wasn't meant for me after all. Maybe I just didn't desire it enough or maybe God was never on my side to begin with.

"Agh damnit all!" I screamed at the top of my lungs before looking around to see people staring at me who had been detached from the outside world all this time. I looked at the beaten up wrist watch I inherited from my grandfather. It looked as if it had some value. I always wondered why he left it with me. Like seriously? Me? I'm a full time good-for-nothing. Perhaps he had wanted me to sell it for some quick cash. Yeah, that was probably it.

"It's getting late... I should be heading home. Eh, not like I have anything to do anyway... Oh wait! That assignment!" I jumped back to my feet. I had been sleeping for 4 whole hours by a river now that I thought about it.

"Lemme just clean my face a bit." I walked over to the bank of the river. I could see my own face reflected. My organised jet black hair had turned into a messy bowl of noodles.

"Oh c'mon!" Those were the last words I had spoken before dipping my face into the water of the river. It was like I was enjoying a relaxing massage, I could feel my worries mixing into the golden colors that the river inhibited in that moment. It was blissful, what could ever go wrong.

But then it happened.

"What the-!" I exclaimed, my voice muffled by the water. A sharp, searing pain jolted up my arm, and for a split second, I felt as if I'd been struck by lightning. Instinctively, I yanked my head above the water, gasping, only to find my watch shattered, fragments scattered across my wrist. But that wasn't all—something thin and metallic glinted under my skin. My pulse hammered as I spotted a needle embedded in my arm. Heart racing, I ripped it out, wondering, what on earth had just happened?

I felt... completely fine however. I decided that that was enough sightseeing for the day. I now needed to get back to my apartment. Moreover, I was broke. My allowances for the month were hardly enough for me to live off of.

"I gotta get another one of those part time jobs, yeah. The one at the cake shop might be available." I gazed up above to see that the orange rays of the afternoon sun had disappeared as the sky rocked a blueish purple now. Scratching my arm, I went back home.

I lived on the 7th floor of the apartment. As I made by way to the elevator I saw a piece of paper attached to it's doors. "*Attention: This Elevator is being repaired. Kindly use the stairs*"

"Aww man, the... stairs?!" I was never one to take the hard way but it seemed like I had no other option.

"Why are these damn stairs so damn steep?" I mumbled under my breath to no one but myself as I climbed each and every stair eventually reaching the 7th floor. "Wait... What's with the lights?" The whole floor was pitch black, you couldn't see a single thing. Had they forgotten to turn on the lights? I cautiously made my way towards the light switches looking around every now and then. I placed my hand on the light switch. I looked around one final time before finally turning the lights on.

To my surprise, they were working. The lady nextdoor was probably out shopping. I put my key into the keyhole unlocking the door and swinging it open immediately. By now my poor legs felt like twigs, they'd break if I'd wait any longer. I hurried my way to my bedroom switched on the lights.

"Huh? What's wrong now?" I questioned myself. Were the light switches not working now? "C'mon gimme a break!" I could barely take a minute to breathe as I had to immediately shift my attention to something else.

In the thick silence of the dark room, there was a sudden, soft scrape, a breath of sound, barely there. Then, without warning, a sharp crack pierced the quiet, followed by a cascade of tiny splinters hitting the floor. The vase, fragile and forgotten on the edge of the table, had tipped. For a moment, there was only the hollow, echoing thud of porcelain hitting wood, and then it shattered. Shards sprayed outward, skittering across the floor like pieces of ice. I could make out the pieces under the reflection of the moonlight that entered through the window I had left open.

"Phew, I almost freaked... out." Oh no. Every single hair on the surface of my frail and skinny body was now standing straight. What was I looking at right now? A pair of glowing lights at what could be the head of a tall and bony silhouette. I stood there not being able to move a single muscle, I was frightened beyond what I ever believed was possible. The figure's head could reach the frame of the door. To my absolute horror, it shifted it's gaze towards me.

The figure paused for a heartbeat in the doorway, its eerie, glowing eyes fixed on me, cold and unblinking. Then, without warning, it lurched forward, a low, rattling hiss filling the air as it crossed the room in just a few long, skeletal strides. I felt rooted to the spot, paralyzed as the monstrous shape barreled toward me. In a sudden rush of survival instinct, I forced myself to move, lunging sideways just as it swiped a hand tipped with razor-sharp claws. The tips grazed my arm, leaving a thin, burning line that seared with pain. I stumbled backward, adrenaline pounding in my veins as I scrambled for the door, the sound of its raspy breath right behind me, closing in fast.

"Hah... hah..." I tripped. I turned my head around to see that this... monster, was now towering over me. I had never felt so scared. I had never felt so helpless and weak. Overturned with emotion and the sheer will to survive, I kicked on the body of this skeletal beast. I wanted to live.

But no, nothing worked... No matter how hard I kicked or how much I tried, it wouldn't budge. It fixed it's bulb-like eyes on me and lifted it's arm into the air. "I get it..." I accepted my fate.

It struck it's massive claws down at me with enough force to pummel me whole. But on the contrary, I hadn't been pummeled... The creature stopped. "...huh?" I was startled, why did it stop?

The monster swayed as a strange stillness crept over it. Its once-glowing eyes dulled, the light within them flickering like the last embers of a dying fire. Then, with a slow, shuddering screech, it staggered and dropped to the ground. The room fell silent, save for the faint, fading echo of its fall. It lay there, motionless and lifeless, its twisted limbs sprawled across the floor.

"Good evening, kid." It was a man, possibly in his late thirties. I couldn't make out his face. He wore a neat coat and had long hair. That was all I could noticed before he raised a gun which was now pointed directly at me all of a sudden.

"Any last words?" The man muttered as I broke into a cold sweat.