Into the Shadows

Joe didn't know what to think; the whole situation was confusing. He did know, though, that he wasn't planning to suffer the same fate as his friends. With one last effort, Joe sprinted for the door. He would reach it as well, but the moment he touched it with his hand, Lucy pushed with all her strength and closed the door from the outside. Joe dropped the flashlight and grabbed the door's handle. He tried it with both hands again and again, but the door didn't even flicker. Joe started screaming and swearing, banging on the firmly closed door with both hands. He heard the growl again; it was as if whatever was the source of it was trying to circle around him before attacking. Joe took a deep breath; it didn't seem possible for him to evade a confrontation at that point. Deciding that it was as good a situation as any to prove to everybody that Joe Melvin had guts, he braced himself.

"Come on out! You are not taking me down, goddamnit. Come on, and let's see what you got!" Joe yelled with his most intimidating tone. The flashlight on the floor was faintly shining a few meters at his front, but Joe decided not to go for it. He still had his gun, and he intended to use it at any sign of movement.

Joe heard a thud from above his head; he instinctively turned the gun towards the source of the noise. He pressed the trigger, again and again, screaming at what he thought he saw. Joe fired a few more rounds, slowly walking backward, touching the cold metal door that remained shut. He focused in the darkness behind the faint light the flashlight was providing at his front.

He thought he saw something dropping from the ceiling. The thing touched down without making any sound. So, it was both silent and could climb walls? The man asked himself what the fuck he was dealing with. Joe felt his body paralyzed with fear, his mind making a hundred different scenarios, none of them pragmatic, but closer to all the horror movies he used to love as a kid. The creature was black as the night. The lack of light in the warehouse seemed a few tones lighter than it. It was a form of darkness other than the one that felt familiar to Joe.

The creature moved, and Joe momentarily lost it from his sight, only to find it again a few meters further. It was changing positions at an incredible speed. Joe followed it as it continued moving around until it disappeared completely. He stood perfectly still and even held his breath in an attempt to spot it. Joe closed his eyes. He thought of his friends, of the money still at the girl's bag in the office, the fun they would have with her over the body of her dead boyfriend. Joe felt tears coming to his eyes while putting the gun under his chin. If he was dead already, he would at least choose the method, he told himself. Joe pulled the trigger, ready to finish this, but the sole metallic click of the empty chamber greeted him instead. Joe dropped to his knees, sobbing and laughing maniacally simultaneously. He slowly raised his head to the dark figure standing in front of him. He noticed a pair of burning eyes, literal flames coming out of where eye sockets should normally be and following them some sort of fur, covering the creature’s shoulders, caught in flames as well. The man shut his eyes; the pain he felt was the most excruciating he could have ever imagined.

Out in the street, and after barricading the door with a broken pipe lying beside, Lucy turned and ran like crazy. She passed the junkyards and boat parking complexes of Adelaide street and continued until she reached Algernon street, making a turn to O'Fallon Park. Exhausted, with her stomach empty and sweat ruining her makeup, Lucy reached a spot where youngsters gathered for their afternoon bike tricks and dog walks. Lucy stopped to take a breath, and she put her hair on a knot, also using the back of her sleeve to wipe the sweat off her forehead. She approached a group of teenagers sharing a smoke, laughing, and listening to music out of Bluetooth speakers connected to their phones. Lucy asked if it would be a problem to join them, and they gladly invited her, making space to sit among them. They put a beer in her hand, and one of the boys gave her a smoke. Lucy had never had a cigarette before in her life, choking with the first puff, making the rest of the group laugh hard at her. Lucy smiled at them, feeling relieved and grateful for their company. After everything that happened, she felt safe, for now.

Later that day, as Lucy was throwing herself on the couch, allowing herself to drown in her suppressed feelings for what happened earlier, weeping until her eyes dried, the phone rang. She had no clue who could be looking for her at this hour and she didn’t care to find out. She walked to the landline and pulled the cable, disconnecting the device. Taking off her clothes and allowing them to fall on the floor, she eventually made a line to the bedroom as if she was seducing a secret lover. Lucy was asleep as soon as she touched the mattress, but her sleep was not calm. Luke was there, alive and talking to her, but with a hole in his chest, mumbling something repeatedly to her. Lucy wanted him to go away, it pained her to see him like this, but he kept coming closer, whispering unspeakable things to her.

Lucy felt her body shaking violently and she opened her eyes, returning to the world of the living. She took a few deep breaths in the dark and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She was about to turn on the light on the nightstand when she saw it. Two bright red eyes were observing her movements from above. Something tall and ominous was hiding at the corner of the room, in front of her wardrobe. Lucy felt her sanity escaping her head and madness taking over, the more she looked into these eyes that seemed to burn like the pits of the Underworld. The woman screamed in terror, making haste to leave the room, the house, the state if possible. But the moment she thought she would step into the hall outside of the bedroom, something grabbed her from behind and pulled her back into the darkness.