Was it not as if a creature, such as the world had never seen: trunkless, nothing but arms, legs and head ... but what a head! God—God in heaven! ... was crouching on the floor before her, knees drawn up to chin, the damp arms supported right and left, against the walls, near her hips, so that she stood defenceless, caught? Did she not see the passage lighted by a pale shimmer—and did not the shimmer come from the being’s jelly-fish head?
“Freder!” she thought. She bit the name tightly between her jaws, yet heard the scream with which her heart screamed it.
She threw herself forwards and felt—she was free—she was still free—and ran and stumbled, and pulled herself up again and staggered from wall to wall, knocking herself bloody, suddenly clutched into space, stumbled, fell to the ground, felt.... Something lay there ... what? No—No—No—!
The lamp had long since fallen from her hand. She raised herself to her knees and clapped her fists to her ears, in order not to hear the feet, the slinking feet coming nearer. She knew herself to be imprisoned in darkness and yet opened her eyes because she could no longer bear the circles of fire, the wheels of flame behind her closed lids—
And saw her own shadow thrown, gigantic, on the wall before her, and behind her was light, and before her lay a man—
A man?—That was not a man.... That was the remains of a man, with his back half leaning against the wall, half slipped down, and on his skeleton feet, which almost touched the girl’s knees, were the slender shoes, pointed and purple-red....
With a shriek which tore her throat, the girl threw herself up, backwards—and then on and on, without looking round, pursued by the light which lashed her own shadow in springs before her feet—pursued by long, soft, feathery feet—by feet which walked in red shoes, by the icy breath which blew at her back.
She ran, screamed and ran—
“Freder...! Freder...!”
Her throat rattled, she fell.