If a gift is a burden is it still a gift?

What if that gift can harm people?

If a curse allows you to create a work of beauty is it still a curse?

What if it could save someone’s life?

Jason is being hunted. All for a gift he didn’t want. The beast will stop at nothing to feed, and Jason’s family is caught in the middle.

The problem with the brightest light is that it often attracts those that want to snuff it out

 1867

The Weyers family all jumped when the beast outside slammed into the door, shaking the small, wooden home. The parents held two of the children close while all four held Jason, who had finally given up on trying to get free.

‘This is all my fault,’ Jason thought. ‘I should have listened to that old codger.’ His mind returned to the that evening just a few short days ago when the ragged man had approached him on the street, just past the general store. At first Jason thought him a beggar, and perhaps he was, but that didn’t change the fact that he knew things. Like what Jason had been up to down by the river and that this very thing would happen.

“The beasts are attracted to your glow, like moths to a flame. Every time you use it, that flames gets brighter and, eventually, they will see it.”

Jason had only partially understood what the seemingly crazed man was saying but now he understood the rest. Understood that when the man said “beasts” he had been literal.

Another pounding shook the house, and the door seemed to jump before snapping back into place.

Little Carmilla started to cry again, and their father started to pray aloud.

“Lord, watch over my family and deliver us from this evil…”

Jason’s mother ran a hand through the young child’s hair in futile attempt to calm her down and squeezed Issac’s shoulder, who was beginning to shake something fierce.

Outside the beast started to howl, letting out its frustration. It wanted to get inside. Needed to get inside. Get inside to feed. Even through the walls it could see the tantalizing glow of its prey. The beast stood tall and took a few steps back on its hind legs before charging once more. When it crashed into the house it heard wood snap but to its dismay the door was still intact.

Issac was crying now, he sobs echoing his sisters. Their father’s prayers got louder, as though he was afraid their tears would drown out his words and they would go unheard. Jason knew he had to do something, but when he tried to stand, they all clamped down hard.

“What do you think you’re doing, boy” Jason’s father asked.

Jason struggled in their grip for a few seconds before giving up and finding his father’s scared, desperate eyes. “You gotta let me go, Pops. It’s the only way the rest of yous is goin’ to make it.”

For a second Jason thought this father was going to hit him again, like when he first tried to leave, but instead his father shook his head emphatically, tears filling his eyes.

“Now listen here, I don’t know what’s gotten into ya, but I’m not about to let you step out there with that demon.”

Jason felt a pang in his chest and had to fight back the tears for a second before he could speak. “This is all my fault. That thing is here for me.”

“Nonsense, boy. That’s just the devil whispering in ya ear. Now pray with me. The lord will see us through.”

‘No, he won’t,’ Jason thought, unable to say the words aloud. Instead, he turned his focus inward, until he felt a warm, buzzing feeling rising up from the center of his being. The sensation started off small but soon ballooned and spread throughout his body like a racing river. In that moment he never felt more alive.

He still didn’t understand this gift, this curse, he’d been given. He had no idea of its origins or its potential, but he had learned a few tricks. One in particular, the one he learned after nearly freezing to death in that field, came easily enough, even in this moment of unease.

“Ow!” Carmilla cried and tried to back away. A moment later a similar cry escaped the lips of all those holding him, and instinctively they let go, afraid of being burned.

“Boy, what the heck…” Jason’s father’s words trailed off as he looked into his son’s eyes which were starting to glow with a soft red light.

Slowly, Jason stood as the beast outside howled once more, excited that its meal was basing itself in a delectable marinade that only it could taste. He walked over to the wooden shutters that covered the home’s lone window, which he’d hastily nailed shut, and placed a hand against them. He wasn’t entirely sure that what he was about to do would work but he had a feeling it would. He imagined the strange buzzing feeling extending outward and into the shutters. For a few seconds nothing happened and he almost started to panic but, in a moment of inspiration, imagined this strange sensation moving like a speeding train and suddenly the shutters erupted into a thousand splinters, like they had been strapped with dynamite.

As the cool night air rushed inside, Jason locked eyes with the beast and started to second guess what he was about to do. On its hind legs, it stood taller than any animal he’d ever seen, while its front legs, which were thinner and longer than its back legs, hung loosely in front of it. The beast met his gaze with large, slitted eyes and a rictus grin that stretched across its flat face.

It was one of the worst sights Jason had ever seen.

Without taking his eyes off of the beast, Jason said, “I love you guys”, before he clambered out the window. A part of his expected the horrid creature to pounce before he made it all the way out, but it seemed the creature was patient. “I don’t suppose you can talk?” The beast let out a low growl. “Guess not. But you can understand me, right?” The beast’s grin grew wider. “So, you really are a demon.” He tried to recall exactly what the strange man had called it, but the diner details of their conversation eluded him. He was too focused on keeping his heart from escaping his chest. “Alright, demon. Come do your worst.” These last words warbled and felt flat as they left his mouth, eliciting a series of low grunts from the beast that almost sounded like laughter.

Despite his body shaking, Jason managed to take a step forward, then another. Ready to take off running as soon as the beast started moving but it continued to stare patiently. When he’d taken a dozen steps, angling himself from both the house and the creature, he had a realization that made him swallow hard, but also gave him a slimmer of him.

‘It wants me to run so that it can chase me. The question is, how far will it let me get before it pounces.’

Twenty, thirty, forty steps and he was almost to the start of the crop field, which were barely more than a sprout this time of year. Another dozen steps and he was amongst the fresh growth, which in a few months would be so tall you could nearly get lost in them. Another few feet and the beast finally began to stir, kicking back its hind legs, letting its claws tear up the earth. With a slow, deep breath, Jason focused inward once again, focusing on the buzzing feel that was already primed and ready. Another couple of steps and the beast charged, dropping to all four legs.

Imaging the brightness and warmth of the sun, Jason’s whole body started to glow before releasing a flash of light that momentarily turn night to day and scorched the ground around him. The beast screamed, momentarily blinded and went skittering past where Jason stood, who turned on his heels and started to run. He moved his legs as quickly as they were able and then some, until both they and his lungs started to burn. Before he’d cleared half the field the beast was in pursuit.

Jason didn’t need to look back to know the creature was gaining on him, he could feel it. It would only be a matter of seconds before the beast was upon him, ripping into his flesh with its long, jagged claws, and feeding on both his flesh and the enigma growing within him. Desperate, he tried to focus on this power, but it was too hard while on the move and with death snapping at his heels.

‘I’m going to die.’

The thought hit him like a rock and he nearly tripped. The thought had been there since he first spotted the demon stalking him that evening, but each time it had been accompanied by a doubt and a sense of hope. The doubt was no longer there and hope was but fleeting word. No, he was sure of it now, there was no escaping.

‘If only I had wings.’

Jason imagined himself lifting into the air like a massive bird of prey, wings unfurling and catching in the wind. Something inside him stirred and he started to feel light. Instead of finding dirt, his kicking feet found nothing but air. Although he hadn’t actually sprouted wings, ethereal or otherwise, Jason steadily rose into the air, feeling as though he was being carried on the very wind itself.

‘Oh, thank you, God or whoever blessed me with this! Now I can lead it away from the others and find somewhere it can’t follow.’ A renewed feeling hope spread through him. ‘I can do this.’

With an indignant roar the beast leapt into the air and wrapped Jason in a deadly embrace, bringing him crashing to the earth below. Before he could think, let alone react, the beast’s sharp fangs pierced flesh and bone. It bit into his shoulder and ran a set of jagged claws across his throat. Precious life blood began pouring from the wound and the creature went to work lapping it up. The ethereal energy that was also spilling from the wounds was in every lick of blood and every bite of muscle and sinew. Even his bones contained traces of it.

The beast would have it all. Every last drop.