The Dread

Maybe it's best we can't see in the dark.

It was a dark night. Not that all nights are not, but this was different. The misty clouds had covered the moon, fresh from its waning. There was no moonlight to gently fall through the leaves of the trees and caress the grass with its kiss. It was merely, dark. Sinisterly dark. The streetlight at the far end of the street would dim and flicker, as if being choked by the shade that surrounded it. I watched it from my window. After staring into the oblivion of shadow that used to be one of the houses on my street, I decided it was about time to sleep.

            Before one must sleep, it’s always good to wash your face. It became one of my habits. Brush your teeth, lock the doors, all that stuff. My mother used to enforce it on me like a chore. I guess there’s no harm in having good habits though. And I soon begun to enjoy it. The hot water served as a natural moisturizer of steamy bliss. It made me so relaxed. My breath would fog over the mirror as I looked myself in the eyes. I had nice eyes, and I was grateful for it. Although, something looked a little off about them. A red line. The faintest of lines. A veiny, little puffy red line sprawled across the lower part of my retina on the left side. I’ve never noticed this before. I blinked, left to right, and everything still seemed fine. I grinned as I slid the toothbrush across my teeth. Nothing to worry about. I brushed, spit, brushed again, and finished. Then I went to lock the doors.

            Now, the doors were usually already locked. I was pretty stingy about that. It wasn’t because the neighborhood was bad, it was in fact, a very nice place. But, my habits show clear through. As I went to test the lock, to make sure I hadn’t forgotten, I remembered the trash. I didn’t need to get up early tomorrow. There would be no reason to get up early just to put the trash on the curb. I mind as well do it now. The bag was deceivingly light. I carried it from the kitchen to the back door. I checked the lock once more, as to not lock myself out, and then slipped into the shadows.

            I could taste it now. The dark. It was overwhelming, and a little frightening. I could hardly see the white walls of my neighbor’s house, just a measly few feet away. I snapped on the porch light. You know when you look into a dark room, how the light you’re under always contrasts with the dark, and makes it even harder to see? The light seems to not be of much help then. There was another thing that bothered me. The silence. No chirping of bugs like there usually were. The damn mosquitos would always try and sneak in my ears. But not tonight. Not feeling very welcome in the late night like this, I hurriedly shoved the bag in the trash bin, and went back to the safety of my home.

            Inside, a relief fell through my lips. Feeling ashamed of myself, to be scared of the dark. Such a childish fear, right? It’s only natural though. You cannot see very well in the dark. Is it even fear? Or do our bodies just prepare for action? In case something leaps out, our heightened nerves would be ready, as opposed to daylight, when it’s easier to see what’s in front of you.

            My mind clouded with inner debate, I slipped into bed having realized that I left the TV running. Its Technicolor glow sprawled in front of me. I padded around, finding the remote. The silent muffle through the speakers was too low for me to hear. The glow was so homely, like having a fireplace. I decided to set it on the timer to turn off in a few hours. My eyes glazing over a final image of a political ad, I fell asleep tranquilly…

            I awoke, to that homely glow once more. But it wasn’t the morning yet. The digital clock on my right told me only an about an hour had passed. Why did I wake up? My groggy blinking put me back in the trance of drifting asleep. The late night news was on now, with some anchor talking away about problems in the Middle East. The harsh rays from the TV made me close my eyes and shift my body to the other side. But something kept me up. For at the last second, the very moment before my eyelids shrouded my eyes, I saw it.

            My eyes strained open against my own will, my body stiffened, and my breath immediately fell shallow. For along the wall, from the glare of that TV screen, was a shadow. An elongated and construed menace. This shadow had never been along the wall before. The only way for it to exist… would be for it to be in front of the TV screen. Someone was there. Someone was watching me.

            My heartbeat rose to a flurry. I tried my best to act like I was sleeping, but I could hardly contain myself. Sweat began to shutter from my legs beneath the covers. My blood ran cold. It wasn’t my imagination. Something was there. Something had to be there. Yet, I had just looked at the TV. There was nothing blocking my vision. That’s right. The TV, I had just looked right at it, and nothing was there.

            There couldn’t be anything there, I assured myself. But I never looked at it. I didn’t move an inch. I tried to tell myself again, there was nothing there. How would I know the shadows that ran along the walls? I mean, honestly. It was probably just, the plant. Of course. The plant. Besides, there was no way something could have gotten in without me hearing. I locked all the windows. I locked all the doors. I remember locking them, it was part of my nightly routine…

Wait.

Did I lock all the doors? I counted. I remember checking the lock for the back door. I remember going outside, and taking out the trash… But I didn’t lock it afterwards. The panic ensued. My heart returned to a flurry of pulsations as I realized that I didn’t lock the door. And I swear, the shadow moved. Only by an inch, even if. But it moved, slightly to the right. To cover more of the TV. Dear god, there is something there.

My body began to sweat. I licked my dry lips, but I did so ever so carefully, as if it would see me. Like it was waiting for me to move. It was patient. Unnerved, I tried my best to act like I was sleeping. As if at the moment I had rolled over I had slipped right into the dreamland I had been in before. This is not the dreamland I was going to, but the nightmare coming to me.

 

I wanted to look. I had to be, absolutely sure. Was I really just fooling myself? What was I scared of anyway? It’s not like it’s a monster that’s there, if anything at all. No boogeyman, no demons from the dark, for all I know, it could be a cat. A cat, now that’s a thought that makes sense. Why else would something be just staring at me from the shadows? A burglar would have waited until the day, when I was away to try and rob me. A hitman would have already strung me up. A monster… we’ll, let’s think rationally. A cat is all it could be. Something that small would be able to perch itself on the TV stand, casting the shadow. Maybe it was one of those damn outdoor cats, always begging for food at people’s doors, and maybe I left mine slightly open, and it snuck in. That’s right, it’s just a damn cat! Gaining my courage, I began to hoist myself up and turn on the light next to me.

Then I heard it.

Like a dog’s growl and a child’s cry, I heard it. Immediately stunned, I was lying with my face looking up at the drifting ceiling fan above me. Stiff as a corpse, I dared not make a sound, let alone even think about moving a muscle. This was no shadow. This was no cat. Hell, it wasn’t even a human. It was something else.

Minutes passed, I think. At least ten. Ten minutes of me staring at the ceiling above me, acting as though I just died of fright to try and pass off that very thing. There was no way I could sleep. Not tonight. Especially not in this position. I always have had to be resting on my left side, or else it just wasn’t going to happen. I’m not sure why. A flicker on the TV caught my attention. I tried to look, but it was just out of my vision. I at least wanted to know the time. And I had hardly gotten any sleep. And that thing, it’s still just, there. What does it want?

I decided that if I’m going to die, I’d rather have it now than drawn out over the whole night. And I, ever so carefully, tilted my head in its direction. Inch, by inch, by inch. Until I was looking, without straining my eyes, directly at the TV screen. That flicker had been the alert for the timer, signaling that the TV was about to shut down. A box that said, “1 Minute” appeared over top the bottom of the screen. I tried to look at the, thing.

I could hardly see it, but it was there. An outline of a shadow, illuminated by TV light. It was indescribable. Like a massive, taxidermy animal, who some madman sewed together. Its eyes didn’t glow like an owl, in fact I wasn’t sure it had any. As I tried to squint through the blackness, the TV made one final click. And, in the second before it shut off, the thing moved closer to me. And, as I gazed into the darkness in front of me, I could hear its faint scuffing. It was just me, and it, with the hot stench of its breath encasing my face.

Reviews

[Rachel]

Very creepy and well-written story! There were a few typo errors ("A relief fell through my lips," I think you meant a sigh of relief) Other than that, I liked the descriptive way you write. My favorite line was: "I could taste it now. The dark." Very creative and frightening. I want to know what "it" is, but am also scared too at the same time, lol. Very good scary story overall!