#introtoanovel

Does one ever wonder why children enter the car of a stranger? Their parents warn them time and again, so why don't they listen? It is not as if it falls on deaf ears, innocence is key. Children don't fear as we do. We may fear of burglars or dangerous criminals, children fear monsters that take refuge under their beds or in their closets. 

That innocence is probably why Susie didn't notice the men who came from behind. She was snatched away and forced into a black car. She was frozen. The men were dark and dingy, their skin was so pale it was almost gray. The car ride was smooth and silent. Usually a peaceful ride would be nice and welcoming. No. The silence was only due to the fact that a monster was waiting. Watching for the opportune moment to jump out and swallow her whole. Susie couldn't even shake, it was cold, but she didn't shiver. Perhaps it was because she was already dead? 

The car had stopped and Susie was pulled up the stairs and into a cement building. The stairs cried out as they tread further upon them. The doors moaned open whispering welcome to her as she was pulled through. There were many people here, more men with dark suits strode down the hall. Some of them bore tears and rips at the head of their sleeves. As she was forced further in, she passed by doctors and nurses. Their lab coats were splattered with red juice. What kind? Grape? No, darker. Cranberry? No. Too thick. 

It wasn't as though she went unnoticed. It was quite the opposite. The doctors watched her pass, grins forming across their faces like a deadly infection. She was led down a staircase. Each step brought her further into the earth. For some reason she knew this was where she would ultimately stay. Under here. Forever. They reached the last step too soon. Susie was thrown through a door and into a small, metal cell with twelve other children. The door behind her had slammed shut and she was left in the dark room with the others. Another child- a girl and clearly the oldest here- stood and helped Susie into a corner. They sat in silence for a long time. A child's sense of time is completely shut off from our own. Time goes by much slower when a child has nothing less to do than think. The other children were huddled up together and keeping each other warm. How long had they been in there? How long had she been in there? It was hard to know. The sun didn't shine down here. They had been cut off from the warmth that was abundant in the world above. Susie had heard once that the sun was important; that life could not exist without it. Did that mean that they didn't exist now? Time passed and the door eventually was opened light poured into the room. One of the children was lured into the light only to disappear when the light had gone. Now there remained only twelve children. The door open again much later and another child was brought out. This time, however, it was a doctor who brought him out out the door. Now there was eleven children left. The door was opened many times after that and another child was taken; ten children, nine children, eight children, seven children. It was the sixth child when the others had begun to get nervous. They attacked the doctor and attempted to free the child. All of it was for nothing. Five children, four children, three children, and then there were two. It was just Susie and the eldest child, May. They stayed huddled up in the farthest corner of the cell. The door had once again opened and the doctor had come in. Susie watched in horror as she began to realize what she had been seeing. Every time a child would be taken, more of the red juice would be stained on the doctor's coat. This time was no different. He strode forward and pulled Susie to her feet and attempted to take her away. She struggled hopelessly against the doctor but was drug away nonetheless. Before she had been dragged even halfway across the cell the doctor gave out a exasperated shout. May had bitten his arm and had drawn blood. The doctor's sleeve was stained red. It wasn't juice that covered their coat- it was blood. The man threw Susie down and slammed May into the ground. Something cracked and she went still. Her limp body was dragged out of the room by her wrist and the door slammed shut. One child left. 

It wasn't long before Susie was forced out of the cell and brought up the stairs. The light was no longer a blessing- it was a curse. It blinded her screaming to her that she was no longer welcome up here. She didn't belong. Susie was brought into a room and given a drug. 

Her body couldn't even move. Not anymore. 

It was a completely white room. One couldn't even tell where it ended. The doctors chained Susie to a post and left her in the room. Her head was too heavy to lift. The room was white- she could only search it with her eyes. The air began to shiver- as if it was cold itself. Susie's eyes ventured across the room. There wasn't just one door. There were two. It stood tall, and was crafted out of pitch black metal. Markings were scribbled across the door. All their was left was to wait.

And the door crept open. Not even within a second a large monster leapt out and pounced atop her. It's teeth were cold against her skin. It pushed through and latched into her flesh and stripped it from her body. The monster continued to rip into her; her tissue was gone, her organs were coming loose, and her bones were beginning to snap. Susie waited for death to come, it wouldn't. She could no longer think. All she could do was feel as her body was continuously ripped apart. 

The monster had stopped but Susie was still alive. Too alive. It snapped her chains with its jaws and began to drag her back into the room it had once come. 

It was a dark and filthy room. Filled with something sticky. She was left on the floor. Something oozed into her stomach and the world went dark. Her senses were gone. Was she dead? 

The first thing she felt was fur. The mass shifted and something slimy went down her throat.

Next she was able to taste. It was some sort of cold meat. Susie could only think of hunger so she wolfed down whatever she was given.

Then she was able to hear. It was definitely meat. It was being ripped off of something. She didn't care. Food was food.

Smell. The room reeked of something decaying. But still she ate.

The last to come back was her sight. That was the final breaking point. She was surrounded by the twelve children she had stayed in the cell with. The severed head of the eldest watched her from one of the corners. She had been eating the other children. Susie screeched, her screams rippled through the room. She tore apart the beast and rammed her body against the door. She was followed into the hallways by the other twelve children. No; no longer were they alive, not anymore. They cheered and laughed as Susie slaughtered the guards. She tore up the doctors and ripped apart the nurses. She gutted the secretary. The other children laughed and cheered, but their bodies were scraps, so why? As they continued to kill Susie understood. It was just like the cell. They existed but apart from the world outside. This was their fault! The doctors, the nurses, even the secretary! Death was the least they deserved! The slaughter continued until all that was left was one doctor. He wasn't scared. He smiled as Susie cornered him.