Prisoner of the Mind

I sit alone in a dark, dank room. The overpowering smell of death encompasses me. A floorboard creaks. I bolt upright, my heart pounds with every breath of stale air. The insalubrious setting appals me, but I have no choice, for I am the prisoner.

The rattle of a key in a lock breaks my trance. The door creaks and flings open to reveal the hideous chimera. It stands in the doorway, motionless, blocking my only escape way.

It inches forward, breathing deeply, a strand of saliva drips from the creature's malformed jowls. It's heavy frame moves slowly and sluggishly forward, until it is only a few feet away from where I crouch. I can smell its repugnant breath on my face. I can control my fears no more; my bodily functions become uncontrollable, vomit and urine splash against my naked body. The creature can only grunt and stare at me.

I stare deeply into its haunting eyes, they are blood red, and all I can see is the mists of death.

The creature's claw touches my flesh and penetrates deep into my shoulder, until blood runs down my shaking arm. It releases its grip on me and licks the blood off its claw in a sadistic manner, as if it were mocking me. It edges sidewards towards the corner of the dungeon room, and stops. I close my eyes, hoping that it will go away, pleading with myself that it is just a dream; an evil manifestation of my sick and twisted mind. The loud crunching forces my eyes open. I cannot comprehend what I see. The monster has disembowelled my fellow prisoner and is ripping his skull apart with its jagged teeth. I nearly choke on my own vomit; the creature is taunting me, it can sense the fear in me. It is winning the battle. I have no chance.

The man-eater finishes its meal and spits out the bones that it cannot swallow. It jumps erect with the agility of a cat, and runs towards me with devastating speed over such a short distance. It's body rams into mine, throwing me backwards into the stone wall. Blood seeps out from the gash in my head, the room becomes hazy, my head is spinning, I can hardly see. The penultimate sound I hear is the grotesque laughter of the animal. Drawing closer, and closer.

In a reflex action I grab helplessly at the floor, until my hands surround a wooden object. With the last energy that I can summon I swing the wooden implement, like a baseball bat searching for that elusive home run, until it finds its target. The monster screams and continues its downward momentum until it's hirsute frame knocks the wind out of me. Suddenly I know. It is all over….

Who is the prisoner? What is the monster? Can they all be in the mind?