[EDITED]

Truth to be told, the inspiration for this story was totally random. It came to me out of nowhere, I was in the bus heading home... and I just decided to write it down, so here it is. My first ever horror story! XD

WARNING: CONTAINS RATHER.... GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS, SO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. THIS IS THE ONLY WARNING YOU WILL GET

Celia snapped awake out of a deep sleep, screaming and with her back sticky from her sweat. Her heart pounded loudly in her chest and her cheeks felt wet and clammy.  Hands shaking, she touched her cheeks to discover that she had been crying. And that the day after her birthday...

Strangely enough, she could not remember much from her nightmare. Only fathomless black eyes staring at her and that she felt freezing. A chill went down her spine and she looked at her window. During the night, it had completely frozen over. No wonder I feel so cold, she thought to herself. She pulled her thick blankets over her shaking body. She could not sleep; whatever she had dreamed about, it had shaken her up too much. The rest of the night, she laid shivering in her bed.

How is it that a dream of such nature could hang there in her heart, suspended - twirling, turning, blinking - like a sharp shard of ice? A shadowy dream, which felt more real than her own beating heart.

After a long night, morning finally arrived, and the rest of the day was completely normal. Celia forgot all about her dream and those black eyes, until the moment her parents reminded her that they would be going out to celebrate their anniversary. Celia's face turned a milk-white. A bad feeling grew in her gut, whatever happened to her in her nightmare, would happen tonight. She just knew it. She started shaking and begging them not to go. Her parents were astonished at her behavior, and finally shamed her into staying home alone that night, saying she just needed to grow up.

As soon as her parents left, Celia locked every door and every window, just to be on the safe side. She even went as far as taking some wooden crosses from the basement and placing them all around the house. Trying to laugh it off as she went to sleep that night, she shook off her irrational fear and went to bed, telling herself she has just watched a few too many horror movies.

What felt like only minutes, but probably had been hours already, Celia snapped awake, every muscle tense and her poor heart working in overdrive.

She sat up in her bed, hearing a strange sound coming from downstairs. She could clearly hear the tinkling of falling glass from a broken window, followed by a noise.

It wasn't like anything she has ever heard before. It wasn't a growl, or even a roar. It was far away from a hiss or panting. If she did not knew any better, she would take a guess and say someone had remixed those sounds together. It was something eerie, something unnatural. Something which did not belong to this world.

Something shuffled around and she could hear the clicking of the creature's claws on the wooden floor. The foul smell of rotting bodies combined with the meaty breath of a carnivore drifted into the room.

The creature made another one of those noises right outside her bedroom and she knew it was close, very close. She wanted to run away, to call for help, but she could not. Her legs were paralyzed. She could do nothing but helplessly watch her door.

Frost started to form on her door and she watched on in both horror and fascination how the ice completely froze the door and how it so easily broke apart. A kill wind howled into her room and the door slammed open.

Behind the door, laid nothing but darkness. The darkest black which absorbed all light. A grand beast appeared, blocking her entire doorway, it even had to lightly bow its monstrous head in order to fit through.

It's shaggy, dirty fur had insects crawling all over it and the hard, stone-like fur rasped against the doorway. The door melted away around the beast and its curled claws dug deep into the wood of her floor, leaving deep slashes. It's long and lip-less jaw opened wide, revealing its ragged teeth. Green liquor dripped down from its jaws, hissing where it touched the ground, it went right through the floor and the terrified girl knew it was some kind of acid.

Fathomless black eyes pierced into her skull and the stench of rotting bodies which hung around the beast like a swarm, was stronger than ever. Black blood dripped down from those empty black eyes, giving the creature almost tear marks. Large, pointed ears rose from the sides of the creature's head and a long, wolf-like tail, swiped the air behind it.

Her eyes started to tear up and finding the movement in her legs once more, she saw no other choice but to jump out of the window which was slammed open by the sheer force of the beast's presence.

The moment her bare feet touched the snowy grass, she started to run. She ignored the cold of the winter night, she ignored the wind which howled around her and only focused on running and putting as much distance between her and the winter beast as she could.

Something heavy fell down right outside of her window, the ground shook with the force of the fall and the wind howled stronger and harsher against her. It teared open her skin, leaving bloodied gashes, yet the girl kept running with her tears frozen against her skin.

Clawed paws thundered against the frozen ground behind her and she knew that the beast had started its pursuit. Fear gripped her heart and a burst of adrenaline made her run faster than she ever had before.

Celia's feet screamed in protest as she ran painfully across ragged sharp rocks. Suddenly, the beast stood in front of her, a malicious and silent shadow. The wind pierced her skin as she turned and fled the other way, having lost her sense of direction a long time ago. The being made a howling noise which shook the earth and sky alike before taking off after its prey.

The creature could easily catch the young girl if it really wanted to. But it liked to play around with its meal, the fear and pure terror the prey felt before being caught by the monster made the meat so much tastier to devour piece by piece.

Faster! Run faster! She commanded her legs, sprinting even faster and panting for some desperately needed air. Celia could not stop to take a breather, she could only keep running and hoping, praying, that she would make it through the night. She felt a snap of teeth at her back leg and felt the string of teeth, the beast's acid burning away her skin. She put on even more speed until it felt like she was almost flying.

The beast veered away from her suddenly, and she dared to feel a rush of hope. She couldn't hear the monster now, couldn't see it in the darkness of the night. She slowed down and looked around.

Grand trees rose up around her, their bare branches reaching towards her like sharp claws. The forest closed in towards her, the branches reaching towards her. A painted cry left her cracked lips when one of the branches made a thin slash close by her throat. Her pajamas were blood stained and hanging around her in shreds, barely covering her up.

The young girl did not even live close to a forest.

Looking up at the sky, hoping to spot a star, even one, she saw nothing but the darkness which the night provided. There was not even a single light to be seen and she felt hollow on the inside, abandoned and alone.

Not knowing what else to do, she started running again. Branches slashed down and birds and bats - taller than herself - swiped down; their claws and teeth ripping and scarring her once smooth skin. She tried to slash the fierce and unnaturally large animals away, but to no avail. They just kept on coming until she could see nothing but feathered and leather wings stained with her own blood.

Just as fast as they came, the animals disappeared once more. The branches stopped slashing at her and the girl looked up.

Her heart stopped in panic upon seeing the beast standing on a ragged rock which rose far above the grand trees. A lone shadow of an even darker shade that the light-less night surrounding it. It put its head in its neck and made its strange sound from the back of its throat once more.

The hunt has begun and the beast was done playing around.

Faster than the human-eye could follow, it sprang upon Celia. She fell under the weight of its body and one of his clawed paws completely covered her entire rib case. Some of the insects which crawled over the beast's skin fell on the girl. Blood spilled all over the ground when the beast's claws pierced the girls skin. The last things she saw were its monstrous ragged teeth when the monster opened its jaw wide and ripped out the girl's throat. Killing her on the spot.

Seeing the light of life fade from its prey's eyes, the beast howled once more in triumph before it started its feast on the flesh of the young human girl. Its teeth sank into her flesh and the beast devoured her whole.

'The Beast of Winter has come to hunt its prey. The Beast who is always hungry. The Beast who brings the coldness of the winter and devours all who stand in its way.

The Beast of Winter who devours children who were born in the harsh and cold nights of winter. The Beast who devours them just the day after they turned fourteen. The Beast chases its prey into its realm and plays a deadly game.

The Beast spares none and there's no escaping him once his eyes are set on you.

That is the tale of the Beast of Winter. The Beast who will bring the storm of the night.'

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Okay... so this is my attempt at a horror story. This is the first time I tried it, so I have no idea if its good or not, but I guess I will find out soon enough XD The inspiration a bus drive can give you... it's a scary thing sometimes.

And before you start asking me about 'The Beast of Winter', it's not from an existing folklore or urban legend or whatever. It's something I made up on my own, and I'm actually rather proud of it. So please, do not steal my ideas. If you really wish to use my monster for one of your own works, please ask me first and we can discus the terms.

If you have any tips for me to improve on, or if you stumbled across any typo's/grammar errors, please let me know. English is not my first language!

- Luci

Ps. Don't forget to check out my other one shots and my story 'Devil's Heart'