Bestial Read Online Free PDF Page A

of light.
    “Somebody help me!” the man shrieked.
    Christian opened his mouth to call the man into the warehouse where it was safe. Instead, he remained silent, unsure whether the man would be just another abuser.
What if he’s just being chased by the cops?
he thought.
What if I call out and whatever’s chasing him goes after me instead?
His selfishness gave him a pain in his chest, an alert as to how much he had changed.
    He watched in horror as the man was overtaken by his mysterious pursuer. In the pale moonlight, some twenty yards away, Christian couldn’t make out any details, but he saw flashes of fur and teeth, golden specks of eye flash. The man’s screams abruptly ceased. Christian could see the front part of him, his head and outstretched arms, but something was crouched on his shoulders and back, something huge …
    … and hungry. Christian listened as the creature devoured the man. He was glad the lights had gone out.
    Two hundred yards away, on the other side of a chain-link fence that surrounded a parking lot, more dark hulks ran in the road. A car sped past on the street, racing at a good thirty miles over the speed limit, and it looked as if the dark shapes were running abreast of the vehicle. Christian squinted, rubbed his eyes, trying to determine whether his mind was playing tricks.
    Suddenly, something reared up, just on the other side of the window, a giant, animal shape, blocking out the moonlight. It sniffed the air, then snapped its head toward the boy. It roared, almost like a bear,exposing crooked, two-inch teeth, its eyes glowing molten gold in the dark.
    Christian cringed, cursed, and retreated to the delivery elevator on the opposite side of the warehouse. He could lock himself inside if he could only reach it before the animal got to him.
    Behind him, the window shattered and something heavy landed inside the room with a thump. It roared, deep and guttural. And then it chased after Christian.
    He was nearly to the elevator when another thing leaped through the window, shattering the remaining glass. The two immense shapes bounded after him, leaping five yards at a time.
    When he reached the delivery elevator, Christian grasped the leather strap and pulled down with his entire body. The rust in the pulleys moaned, and he pulled harder, feeling the doors emerge from the ceiling and floor, the space between them growing smaller.
    One of the monsters arrived at the elevator and tried to pull the doors apart, sticking its toothy muzzle into the space between them. It gnashed its teeth wildly, rolling its eyes, trying to obtain some leverage.
    Christian leaned back and kicked its snapping muzzle as hard as he could while maintaining his grip on the leather strap. He screamed incoherently, kicked again and again until the beast yelped and pulled its snout away from the space.
    The doors shut with a clanging sound, and Christian flipped the lever that locked them together. He pulled down the interior metal grate and locked this as well. It was feeble and wouldn’t stop anything that big for very long, but it offered him a bit more comfort.
    He spun around within his ten-by-ten-foot cell. The walls had never seemed so close, the ceiling so low. He reached out for the steel walls, feeling the strength of the metal beneath his fingers. The solid steel brought his heart rate back under control, and he started to breathe easier after his mad dash to safety. These walls were thick. They would hold against any assault.
    As he sat on the floor, listening to the beasts struggle and claw futilely at the metal door of the elevator car, he clutched his transistor radio to his chest. He moved across the floor, shoving his buttbackward with his legs until the wall was solidly behind him. He switched on the radio, praying for the comfort of another human’s voice—talk radio, a song, anything to reassure him.
    Vaguely, he wondered if Jean was all right, if any of the beasts had attacked him. His concern