Madeleine

    Madeleine awoke with a gasp of pain. She was on the floor, lying on her side. The floor was very dusty, and there was blood on it. The room was dark, but the thin, glowing outline of a window told her that it was still daytime. Was this important? She couldn't remember. She thought it might be.

Creak.

Something moved in the shadows behind her.

Creak.

Something that Madeleine didn't want to see.

Creak.

    Something that was very, very hungry. A white and corpse-like limb with too many joints brushed her cheek. It reached slowly past her and traced a line through the blood and dust on the floor. It withdrew.