The hand around his mouth tightened, and the elbow dug into his ribs. His breath caught in his throat, and he couldn’t cry out, or even turn his head. Meanwhile, the creature was drawing closer. A shadow passed across the narrow gap that was his window out of the alcove. In the almost absolute darkness and cloaked by the mist, it was virtually invisible. Out of the black chasm, irregular rasps of sucking air were the only sound. Terrified to move, Jack frantically scanned the obsidian wall before him, but it was completely impassable; the thing could have been anywhere. Then a gap in the clouds slid across the moon, and its rays penetrated the fog. The silvery light glinted off the rain-washed gutters and tiles of the surrounding roofs, and the darkness was compressed into the ground. The shadow became visible. If Jack could have screamed, his vocal cords would have snapped. The thing that was emerging out of the depths was absolutely hideous. It vaguely resembled a wolf or hyena but was much bigger—the size of a small horse.
