Nightfall

The man sat in a dark, cold room. Night had fallen, it was around 11 pm. The only light illuminating the room was the streetlamps outside and a lantern hanging in front of the door.

The structure was a single room that had little furniture: a pullout couch, an end table, and the television stand.

There was a small refrigerator with a microwave on top of it in one corner of the building. A 40" television rested upon its stand.

The man, in his mid-fifties, wore a red/beige striped flannel shirt, tucked into khakis. His boots lied on the wooden vinyl flooring in front of him.

The man was watching the 11 pm news, although he was alert, waiting for something unordinary. He heard a rattling at the doorstep and grasped the .38 pistol clipped on his belt.

The man peered out his front window, seeing nothing except the darkness of night. He swiftly backed away and closed the curtain, seeming to be exceptant of something.

He waited a few minutes more. The rattling continued.

The man glanced out of the peephole installed in the door. He saw a shade of midnight blue, hardly different from the night sky, but just enough. He glanced a silver claw edging out of view.

The man kept on reading: the kneel has skin much like that of people, only rougher, as though it had suffered from severe burns.

Its skin is a shade of midnight blue, much like the night sky at its deepest hour. Its eyes are pitch black, yellow slits much like a cat's down the center.

It has four, silver, razor-sharp claws on each of its four arm/legs. On its hind legs, it stands at over 8.5 feet (2.6 meters) tall. It is estimated to weigh roughly 600 lbs (272 kg).

The man knew he had found the creature he had been tracking for the last five months. He sighed with relief and anticipation. The rattling stopped, and the door tore open.

A silver claw glanced the man's torso, making him wince in pain. Bewildered by the beast's boldness, adrenaline kicked in. He unclipped the .38 from his belt and aimed it level at the door.

The beast lunged, knocking the pistol out of the man's hands and knocking him backward. The man stumbled and the ground suddenly rushed into his view.

He snapped out of the trance he had been in.

The beast was on all four legs, slowly creeping toward him. The .38 was across the room, underneath the couch.

The beast hissed, its snakelike tongue flicking out. Fear crept into the man. He couldn't reach his pistol and his switchblade wouldn't do any more than infuriating the beast.

Abruptly, police sirens sounded in the distance. The beast lunged for a second time, striking the man down, and crept back into the night.