'Please! Oh God Please, no!' The man had crawled right back into the corner, as if trying to meld himself with the wall. His injured hand lay useless at his side, whilst the other was raised in a pathetic, pleading gesture. Looking him directly in the eyes, I raised my revolver, and pulled back the hammer, aiming the weapon directly at his head.

'Forgive me! Please! I can give you anything you want! Just give me another chance!' His whining, pleading voice continued, irritating in the cool silence of the crypt. I lowered the gun a little.

'Anything?' I raised an eyebrow.

'Anything! Anything you could ever want! I'll get it for you! I'll give it to you!'

I laughed. 'Anything I want? Well, what I want, old man, is your life.' I lifted the gun again, and the shot echoed through the dead air, mingled with the man's dying scream.

Then there was silence. I turned, walking away from the corpse. I knew I had to get out before the denizens of the dark place sensed the blood and came to feed. On the way out of the chamber I grabbed my hat from the floor where it had fallen, and picked up the old man's gun, lying nearby where he had dropped it when the wolf bit him.

Emerging into the cavern outside, I heard a horrific, wailing cry. They had smelt a meal, and they were coming. I began to run, my coat flapping behind me as I raced past the graves and tunnels towards the speck of light than marked the exit.

RATE THIS BRANCH!