Horror Prompt

Select a book at random in the room.  Find a novel or short story, copy down the last sentence and use this line as the first line of your new story.

The Book of Blood by Clive Barker

It's best to be prepared for the worst, after all, and wise to learn to walk before breath runs out. 

Life can be a real bitch like that sometimes.  It's a lesson I've had to learn the hard way.   Just about the time I think that maybe things are going to be ok for once, BAM a bus comes out of no where and wipes out all signs stability in the world.  It sounds a bit melodramatic I know, but it's how things happen.  How else are you supposed to react when you learn that your partner of 10 years is a demon?  Maybe I should back up a little bit. 

 I first met Ed Thosty as a quiet, awkward teenager living in the middle of nowhere.  Our quirky personalities meshed well and bonded immediately.  We were inseparable, spending hours pondering the world around us and dreaming of the future.   Year after year seemed to ease by and before I knew it we were adults, living in the big city, holding down real jobs, and living the American dream.  Life had taken an unexpected path, but no matter how crazy or chaotic things were I always knew that Ed was there to support me and my ventures.  It was because of this that we became business partners.   There was no one else I trusted or depended on more than him. 

Everything was great for a few years and the business was growing and expanding.   That's when I  first started to notice the changes. At first Ed was more standoffish and harder to get involved in conversations.  I tried to see if something was wrong but he assured me things were fine.  Eventually he began to disappear, first for just a few hours, but then for days on end.  He would return ragged, worn out, and worse off than when he had vanished. I grew worried and suspicious.  I wanted to follow him but was terrified of what he had gotten himself into.  Crime?  Drugs?  What was terrorizing my friend and partner so badly?   I had to know.  One night I'd had enough.  He wouldn't talk to me at all and I could see in his eyes that he was ready to take flight yet again.  I followed.  I wish I hadn't because there are certain things you can not unsee, but I followed nonetheless. 

He left the office building and started walking down the street toward an apartment building just around the corner.  His approach slowed as he neared the door so I ducked behind a dumpster to avoid detection.  Ed looked around to make sure he was alone and then looked like he was going to be sick.  He leaned over and I thought he was going to vomit, so I stood up to approach him.  His body began to twitch and contort, first slowly but then as if his bones were trying to rip through his skin.  It stretched and expanded before finally seeming to explode from his body.  Before me stood an unrecognizable horror, black and gleaning in the street lights.  He seemed to be all tooth and claw.  I screamed.  I tried not to because I didn't want him to see me, but I couldn't hold it back.  Once it slipped past my lips I couldn't stop.  I cried, I begged.....and he came closer.  I thought my life was over.  I was going to die in the hands of my partner, my closest friend, the one person I could always depend on.  He was going to rip me to shreds.  Instead he looked at me and tried to explain, but I couldn't understand the demonic tongue spewing from his mouth.  He reached to touch me and my paralysis broke.  I ran as hard and fast as I could back to my office and locked the door behind me.  I waited for him to come, but he never followed.  It's been six months now and I still haven't seen him.  I still have nightmares of the horror I can't get past.  I've had to learn to be independent and stand on my own.  I see his face staring at me from the shadows.  I think I'm losing my mind, but sometimes it's best to be prepared for the worst, after all, and wise to learn to walk before breath runs out.