All Returns To Dusk - Chapter 4 Beginning Of Dusk 3

The sun sets as dusk switches to evening. Darkness envelops the city of NeverDusk, yet the city is illuminated with artificial lights. Unlike the sounds of grasshoppers chirping in the countryside, the city is overwhelming with the roars of automobiles and echoes of sirens.

Although most people comprehend that you should not go outside at night, there are numerous risk takers still out and about, hoping to gain “something” from the city.

While most might think that it’s dangerous to roam the cities with strangers surrounding them, it’s actually far safer than walking in the isolated pathways. At the very least, any crime that happens in the roads or the heart of the city will be caught on camera.

My home is in the northern district of the city or the more well-off and isolated areas. Although we live close to the rich, my family has a middle-class status.

After my dad died thirteen years ago, my mom decided to move back in with her parents as she could not take care of me alone. If it was not for my grandparents, my mom would have killed me through food poisoning or accidentally letting me fall off her motorcycle.

I’m not kidding. To this day, my grandparents never allowed my mom in the kitchen and cared for me in her stead.

“Hey, do ya wanna like learn a quick way to earn some money~?” A girl in flimsy clothing approaches me. Her face is pasted with heavy makeup as a heart-shaped piercing settles on her nose.

“No, thank you,” I politely decline. Judging by her appearance, she is probably a prostitute or drug dealer aiming to recruit another victim.

It’s quite upsetting that people of my age are doing such things behind the scenes.

“Fine then. F***ing b****! Wasted my godd*mn time by just asking her ugly face,” she curses while moving to the next female loner.

As I pass through the city’s business district, I soon reach the crowd of neighborhoods that encircle my home.

Chilling air envelops my very being. The boisterous clamor of automobiles and humans terminate. Compared to the bright city district, the current roads have a handful of street lights, covered in cobwebs and moths, which produce barely enough light for me to view a few meters radius from my position.

Step. Step. Step.

As I moisten my lips with my tongue, I discern that the only sounds I can hear are my footsteps.

Slap!

Killing a mosquito that landed on my hand, I stop to notice that I walked a block too far after being lost in my thoughts.

Normally I don’t take this path, but I knew it was a shortcut to my home.

Whipping out my phone, I discover three missed calls: One from Leon, who always calls me after I separate from him and head home alone…and two from my mom. Crap.

My mom’s totally going to give me an earful for not picking up.

With nimble fingers, I type Leon’s number in. But before I can press the call button.

A human head swoops past my face.

Lukewarm blood splashed on my cheek as it flew by. The stench of iron and flesh fills my senses.

“What the heck!”

When I observe the head, I can see a terrified expression under the disordered, black hair.

It came from just around the corner.

I recall the gun that Leon gifted me as I equip it. Although I have never used a gun before, it’s better than facing whatever the hell threw that head barehanded.

Oh, dear lord. I pray that Leon, by some coincidence, supplied me with a real gun.

Otherwise, I’ll be on tomorrow’s headlines, following after poor old Mrs. Helens.

I set my backpack down. Imitating the actors I always see in movies, I clench the gun with both hands-my fingers settle on the trigger.

With my side to the wall, I peek around the corner.

And, I catch sight of a massive silhouette.

Crunch. Crunch.

Nope

Whatever that thing is, I’m not facing it. Not with this puny gun against that seven or eight-foot-tall demon-like monster.

Turning around, I hightail away.

However, after running a few meters, I flash a glance behind me as I spot a hairy claw crushing the corner of the building. Twin tusks and a compressed snout peeks its head out as it gradually detects me.

With short grunts, it starts to chase me. Using the concrete ground as leverage, it leaps into the air. Its hands, ready to slice through my body.

I unconsciously grit my teeth and point the silver gun at it. Pulling the trigger, a bullet shoots out.

Or, not.

“Sh*t!” A word of profanity slips out my tongue. No matter how much I press the trigger, the gun doesn’t work! Why?

Leon! You idiot! Liar! The gun you gifted me is a f*cking phony!

Rolling onto the ground, the creature’s claw grazes my arm. From the corner of my eye, I notice two curly horns on the back of its head.

A demon?

Searing pain stems from the flesh wound. But, I have no time to care about how much blood I’m losing. I stand up, gripping my gun harder.

After all, the creature is readying another swing.

A burst of strength I never knew I have had propels me away from the second swing.

Dashing away, I travel through the winding curves and sharp turns with a desperate plea that the demon will lose me.

“Oh, crud.” I reach a wide-open area–Wildrow Park.

I hide behind a slide, waiting for the demon to give up on chasing me.

A minute passes. Two minutes. Three

Fifteen minutes.

And, now it’s there with another victim in its right claw. Right next to the swings.

Gruu. Rawrg.

Inhumane howls burst from its throat.

I squeeze my eyelids shut. A drop of sweat trickles down my neck as I slacken my breathing. My heart pounds as if it will escape without the rest of my body the moment I open my mouth.

Surveying the park, it searches for its next victim. In other words, me. Its slender lizard tail gaily swings in the air behind it.

Step.

It turns its head toward the slide.

Step.

One meter away.

Step.

…it’s now right next to the slide.

CRUNCH!

Like tin foil, the slide is compressed and torn by its claws. Glittering emerald orbs narrow at the sight of grassy dirt mounds.

“She’s not here,” it’s probably thinking.

Bang!

Bang!

A single bullet is fired from behind the demon; a hole as wide as a bowling ball gouges its shoulders out. Without stopping, another flies out the nuzzle, missing the creature by a large margin.

“I missed!” On the contrary to my expectations, the bullet did not hit its vitals. However, one of the bullets did the impossible and created a wound, at most, half a foot in a radius around the bullet.

My hands tremble from the recoil and being unaccustomed to using a gun.

Instead of combat, I honestly wish that I can cry in the soft embrace of my bed right now.

Grawr!

The demon growls furiously with a head reminiscent of a lion. Under the street lights, I discover three sharp canines on each side of its mouth.

I ready another shot.

But, the creature escapes into the shadows.

After an hour passes, I confirm that the demon has officially given up on me and ideally, ceases from hunting any more victims. At least, just for tonight.

As I begin to walk home, I return the gun back to my pocket. A single thought pops into my mind.

Thank you, Google. For teaching me how to use a gun…