Hadagery, Book of Canaan (Chapter 3), Page 3

skinned monster. Wearing blackened old dirty clothes. Babasova shifted to get a better look at Hadlin. Its twisted face set with bulbous eyes. Then it gave him an almost sinister lopsided grin. Hadlin started to turn and run. Nonetheless a stringer descended from the ceiling above him. At that point the babasova stepped out into sight. Its body growing taller with each passing second. Much like a bellow expanding with air. Hadlin had heard stories of the babasova. Each story described the monster rather different. However several features remained the same. It was always tall and dark. Hadlin yanked at the stringer close to his neck with one hand. Then squeezed Whatnot tighter in the other. Hearing Whatnot's voice clamor for him to run. Unsure if he should be more afraid of the stringer, or the babasova. At that very moment the monster reached for him. Hadlin wasn't going quietly. Even as he wrapped the stringer around the monsters arm.

  Abruptly the room stopped tilting. Then the front door burst open. Hadlins first thoughts were to make a run for it. Still and all his mind was changed in an instance. That instance arrived on the doorstep with two more babasova's. Of course there had to be more than one. Each of the monsters looked rather different. One male, one female. Thank Eidolon that he didn't run straight into those monsters. Hadlin nearly forgot the monster next to him. Even as he made a run for it. All three monsters were after him. He dove under the table, and ended up on the other side. Standing in front of the fireplace. The glow from the fireplace casting eerie shadows of the beings on the opposite wall. Each shadow looking no different than the other. Nevertheless the monsters evidently had to be singular creatures. The two creatures from the door blocked his escape outside. That's when Hadlin remembered the coat rack. It was an exit to another place. Who knows where. Should he dare take the risk? Oddly it was as if the third monster had read his mind. Blocking his way to the coat rack. Then it gave him that weird lopsided grin. In that moment one of the other creatures at the door ran at him. Queerly the monster blocking the coat rack ran at the same time. Hadlin darted back under the table. Watching the two monsters run into each other. All at once the room began to tilt again. The tremor sent both monsters towards the fire. Hadlin had used the table to keep from rolling. Seeing his chance for escape. Hadlin crawled across towards the front door. Unmindful of the third monster. It was standing between him and the door. Then another tremor tilted all towards the door. Even as two of the creatures were pulling at his arms in a tug of war. He was screaming, "NOOOooooo!" While the third creature came at him with that sinister grin. Its mouth stretching wider and wider the closer it got. He was going to be eaten. Hadlin's thoughts pleaded to Eidolon. However he couldn't help shrieking, "AAAHhhhhh!"

  Everything happened so fast. The monster swallowed him, and the darkness devoured what was left. Hadlin was terrified. Could he survive this? Doubtful... How would he breathe? Maybe he would get digested first. He tried hitting and screaming the monster from the inside over and over. Strangely the beast was being bounced around. Hadlin guessed what was happening by the trauma he felt to his own body. Could his inside attacks truly affect the monster? Or maybe the other two babasova's were attacking it? It didn't matter either way. Just as long as the beast pays for eating him. So he continued his assault from within. Yelling with each and every strike, "Take this!" Then the monster hit the floor hard. Expelling him from the monsters mouth.

  He rolled several feet away. Thanking Eidolon for this second chance. His body stopping right in a puddle. Hadlin blearily looked out into the endless night before him. They were somehow outside. Seeing the stunned monster next to a rock. Which it now had shrunk back to its smaller size. If that wasn't odd the next thing was beyond a doubt downright bizarre. A house nestled in the arms of a large twisted tree. The roots of the tree shambled like an octopus across the ocean floor. Hurrying off into the dark cover of the woods. The Canaan before him was in a perpetual darkness. That darkness glistened with tiny specks of color. As if the real Canaan were trying to bleed through the veil of darkness.

  Hadlin pushed onto his knees in the puddle. Checking if Whatnot was alright. The fuzz ball made a garbled sound. That's when Hadlin noticed a pale glow in the puddle. He glanced down at his reflection. The light was coming from inside him. However that light beheld many more truths than he wanted to know. Why he couldn't use his divine powers? As horrifying words replayed in his head, "Oh shit kid you're not even real." Seeing the wooden face of a khadaver doll staring back at him.

  He was the doll.