I knew it from the moment he stepped off the train from Worcester.
It wasn’t his size, but there was something off about the way his belly moved.
He was wearing a coat that stretched down to his knees, and for a moment, I thought the garment ill-made. It was only when he pulled it over his copious midsection that I realized it had been designed to hide something underneath.
Not his girth, for there was no way to hide that.
No, it was the way his belly moved on its own.
I caught sight of it a moment before he buttoned the coat up. His shirt and skin crawled of their own accord as though something was hidden within his flesh.
As he passed through the train station, I saw his eyes dart about hungrily, pausing on a pair of children waiting with their mother. His nostrils flared, his eyes narrowed, and a bit of drool appeared at the corners of his mouth. He hesitated a moment as though he was going to speak to them, and then he made his way out of the station.
I waited a short time, and then I followed.
He wasn’t difficult to find. He’d taken a left and was following the sound of children’s voices coming from a nearby home. I kept a fair distance behind him, making certain he didn’t notice me.
When he came within sight of the house, he stepped into a deep shadow, unbuttoned his coat and rubbed at his belly.
After a few minutes, he stiffened, opened his mouth wide and kept it open as rats crawled out of it.
Great, dirty brown river rats hauled themselves free of his mouth and scampered down his chest and belly. They clambered down his legs, kept to the edges of the building and then stole across the street.
I didn’t wait any longer.
I drew my Colt and strode up to the man, cocking the pistol as I did so.
By the time I reached his side, a child screamed and then another. A look of pure satisfaction filled the fat man’s face.
I suppose an identical one found its way onto mine as I jammed the pistol up under his chin and pulled the trigger.
Dozens of rats clawed their way out, and as the children continued screaming, I stomped on the rodents.
When I finished, the rats were dead, and my boots needed cleaning.
#monsters #supernatural