FOOTSTEPS
rating: +1+x

An elegantly dressed woman was waiting for her husband at home with her daughter, an excited little girl who was just as well dressed. Her father was going to return home after many weeks on his job, but the airport schedule would make him arrive almost at midnight, so his most beloved pair decided to surprise him, arranging their schedules to get up as early as possible and enjoy every second of that day with him.

It was very early in the morning, while stars were still visible in the night sky. They were both sitting on the sofa in their ornately decorated living room, listening for the sound of the front doors of their small mansion. The wait ended when they heard heavy footsteps coming from the kitchen, which, like the rest of the rooms, had a hand-polished solid wood floor. At this time, the family's servants had returned to their own houses, so they were the only ones at home.

By the distinctive sound of the tread of a pair of formal shoes, and the feeling of security from every footstep further into the property, they did not doubt for a second it was the father of the family who had arrived earlier than expected, which did not seem strange to them, as it is often said that money can do everything. The little girl was cheerful, her smile seemed to go from cheek to cheek and she was jumping up and down with happiness; her serene mother decided to tell her to lead her father to the living room, so she ran out into the hallway.

For her part, she got up and went to a glass cabinet, from which she took out a bottle of the best European champagne, and two glasses to celebrate her husband's return with a drink. She closed the cabinet, placed both glasses carefully on the table in the center of the room, and as she was about to pour the drink, a loud bang came from the hallway, along with a piercing cry of panic.

She instinctively let go of the bottle to rush out of the room and help her little girl. Her sight would not let her see the end of the corridors, which seemed to be getting longer and longer. She heard the little girl's unbridled footsteps from a distance, getting closer and closer, but as she turned the corner leading to the hallway, something struck her neck with such force that she was left pressed against against the wall.

The impact had injured her to such an extent that she could barely breathe. She could only cling to the wall, digging her nails into the upholstery to keep herself upright. For a moment, she heard the footsteps of her precious offspring again, and with what little air she had left she tried to shout out to her.

"Go! Don't come!"

However, she was interrupted when an unknown entity jumped at her and began tearing away her flesh in a total frenzy.

Moments before losing consciousness due to the unrelenting pain, she faintly moved her head and managed to see down the corridor, in front of the kitchen entrance her daughter was lying dead in a pool of blood, her skull smashed against the wall.

Many things went through her head at that moment, but in the midst of regret and fear, she realized one detail that blurred her mind with horror. The footsteps she had heard the whole time were not from her husband, nor from her daughter, but from the thing that was devouring her.

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License