The moment of twilight could be intimately felt. Outside the tunnel and the subterranean world of the pit, darkness had finally fallen. The men toiling within knew none of this, as the flare of torches was the only light that brightened its eternal darkness. These unfortunate souls, who had only a short time to live, worked on unaware of what was to come. Their time was ending, for he the ever-living, would soon be freed. Endre was busy working, his shovel slowly clearing an area of the floor. He rested for a moment, when suddenly he heard the sound of crumbling earth. The disturbance caused him to turn towards his left, where mysteriously, dirt and rock were breaking free from an unexcavated wall of fill. Frightened by the signs of an imminent cave-in, Endre would be confronted by something far worse. He stared in near shock, silent and open-mouthed. Fissures were appearing and chunks of earth tumbled off, almost as if being pushed out from within. Before his eyes, the cracks opened wide and large clods of dirt fell away. Suddenly, a darkened and shriveled human hand punched through the earth! Endre lurched back, the shovel falling from his hand. His mind rebelled against what was seen and his body would not respond to its blurred commands. He legs hardly moved, and his retreat was only awkwardly slow, backward steps. Endre was overcome with fear, mired in bonds that kept him from fleeing. So consumed by terror that his voice wouldn’t follow his inner scream and no sound came to his lips. What next happened occurred in seconds. Endre watched helplessly, crippled in fright, seeing a wasted arm protrude, then a shoulder. A foot and lower leg kicked out. The dirt collapsed, exposing portions of a skeletal body. The thing was pushing itself out. Darkened, emaciated flesh, still draped in remnants of clothing, then bony limbs worked free. The once human hands, thrashing to grab; were horrible changed, resembling those of a mummified cadaver. Stringy muscles and tendons moved beneath wrinkled skin that was black as the surrounding earth. Animal-like nails, curled like talons, turned on the imprisoning earth, pulling it away as the figure pushed outward. Then the creature’s head broke through, exposing yellow skull and splotches of long filthy hair. As it shook loose, the monstrous remains of a once human face emerged from the earth. Endre watched what had to be dead, come back to life. Fearing what ghoul had risen, his mind began to falter and he lost conscious control. He became lightheaded and his legs completely weakened when the creature scraped the soil from its eyes. Sunken deep in the skull, these terrible red eyes opened. Swollen in contrast to the drawn and wasted face, they were the worst of the demonic features, and they locked onto Endre with a ravenous hunger. Endre knew there was no escape, for this was no mindless aberration. He lost all control and began to soil his pants as the creature’s bulging eyes glared into his. In split seconds, it pushed itself free from the earth. Released from its prison, the fiend sprang after Endre. As he desperately tried to escape, his body kept faltering and he fell backwards, hitting the masonry wall of the tunnel. Endre’s voice finally erupted in a ghastly scream. In a flash, the creature was on him and Endre’s hands raised in an attempt to ward it off, but the creature brushed them aside. Its clawing fingers closed around Endre’s throat, while the other hand smashed him into unconsciousness. Laszlo and Stephen heard the terrible scream and turned to see the attack. Taken by surprise and horrified by the creature’s appearance, they reacted too slowly to escape or defend themselves. The monster released Endre, and launched itself at Stephen. Its grisly arm smashed his spine and severed the spinal-cord, paralyzing Stephen and sending him into unconsciousness. Mercifully, he was spared further horror. Laszlo was not so lucky. The creature hurled him into a mound of rubble, knocking the wind out of him. Sadly, he was still conscious and would be fully aware of his fate! The creature followed, wanting to close with its victim. Only a cart of dirt obstructed its path and it heaved it aside! Though Laszlo was stunned, he was desperately trying to shake the blow’s effects. The gruesome apparition gazed hungrily. Its shriveled, claw-like hands curled as if to tear into him. Helpless, the pitiful man realized his end and began to whimper. What Laszlo saw was beyond sane acceptance - a hellish corpse cloaked in the rags of centuries past, it was death incarnate! Staring from its ruined face, hungry, ghoulish eyes foretold his terrible death. The fiend snarled, its open mouth exposing long, animal-like fangs. They were huge because the shriveled, black gums had pulled away from the teeth. As it hungrily closed upon him, soundless thoughts touched Laszlo’s fading sanity, “A demon . . . blood sucker . . . vampyre!” The fiend sprung, hurtling into its victim. Starving, it savagely knocked back Laszlo’s head and its teeth sank into the man’s throat. They pierced the soft flesh and the hot blood gushed, to be sucked up in a wolfish craze. The creature bit again, ripping sideways to tear the artery. It mauled the neck, gulping down draughts of spurting blood. Like a huge sponge, the vampire’s body absorbed the liquid and made it its own. Warm, rich scent was breathed in, exciting the creature and making it rip the flesh even more! So horrified and shocked was the man, that the pain of the massive wound was barely felt. Held in a vice-like grip, helpless to resist, Laszlo’s mind numbed as his lifeblood was sucked away. The vampire fed lustily as a gurgled, "Oh God," escaped from his victim’s lips. A cold tingling crept up Laszlo’s limbs as his consciousness began to drift; though mercilessly, not quick enough. Laszlo still realized that he was being consumed alive by a specter from Hell. In nightmarish fashion, long seconds of unbelievable horror passed. The fiend continued to drink and the numbness spread, reaching his abdomen before unconsciousness kindly overcame him.
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