Hello. I live in a small town of which you probably haven’t heard. We’re in a black-out right now, creatures are roaming our streets. I lived with my boyfriend Amon, now I’m in my neighbor’s house — where I’m writing this — after these beasts invaded mine. There’s clawing at the door, they know I’m here. Please, if the worst happens to us all, remember my community.
I grabbed Amon’s hand when the lights went out. The black-out was expected, our town government has been announcing it for weeks. But I was still scared of the things that could be lurking in the dark. The black-out is for our protection, so the creatures would have a harder time finding human prey, their sight is the sense they rely on the most.
I’ve never seen one of the creatures before, all I know about them is that they’re big and hairy, body made up out of sharp shapes. They jump at their prey with no mercy, eating them whole — even their bones.
“I don’t see why you’re scared; we won’t go out.” Amon said.
I shrugged, maybe it wasn’t just fear. It was weird, too, not being able to have the lights on anymore. You wonder how it would feel at night.
“It’s weird.” I mumbled.
“Yeah, it is. But at least we’ll be safe.” Amon tried to comfort me.
I could hear his steps, light against the kitchen tiles as he walked towards the windows above the counters, pulling the curtains closed in one swift motion. It wasn’t dark out yet, he didn’t want to risk a creature seeing us, looking inside, and seeing two people — ripe for the taking. I was sure they could break the windows open if they wanted to.
Our government has been giving tips, they’re general, heard of before in horror movies. Stay inside during the day, if you need to go out do it at night, take anything that could be used as a weapon with you, don’t go outside with a light. Stuff like that. Stores have changed their opening and closing times, they open when it turns dark and close at 4 a.m., I’ve memorized this fact, just to be sure.
I heard a faint sound coming from a dark corner in the kitchen, it sounded like nails scratching on the floor. I was sure it was just my imagination. Amon and I checked that nothing was inside when we locked the doors and windows. We just wanted to be sure that things would be safe once the lights turned off. I sighed, a small exhale of air to calm my nerves.
I walked out into the living room, also pulling the curtains there closed. I looked outside one last time. I wouldn’t be able to do that anymore, I used to look out of the window to see the children playing on the street, the people walking their dogs, the cars driving by. I knew that I would miss the sights, even though I never paid that much attention to them.
“Everything done upstairs?” Amon asked.
I might never get to see the sights out of my window ever again. This whole thing might never get fixed.
It took me a second to realize I was asked a question, but when I did, I nodded and turned around to face Amon, who stood in the doorway of the living room. The government isn’t sure how long this would take to fix, they have every possible force working to somehow control the situation that suddenly managed to rule the community. I couldn’t really wrap my head around the whole situation, a bunch of weird, bloodthirsty creatures showing up out of nowhere and causing such a wreck.
“We should get thicker curtains, maybe then we can use flashlights.” Amon said, turning around and walking back into the kitchen. He gave me no time to argue, not like I would. Amon had military training — not to the degree that could really help here, since he got kicked out before completing — and I was sure he would be the one making the best decisions.
I nodded, more to myself, and hoped that things would get controlled soon. The idea of being stuck at home forever — for an unknown amount of time — freaked me out beyond anything else. I was never an indoor person.
I found myself wandering towards the stairs, I looked up them and heard the same noise I heard in the kitchen. It came from the darkness that lingered at the top. I shook my head, trying to shake away my imagination. The noise continued, causing me to frown.
I walked back to the kitchen when I heard a noise coming from inside it, I wondered what Amon was doing in there. When I was about to ask, I stopped in my tracks when I arrived close to the kitchen door, I was able to see what was happening within.
The claws weren’t just my imagination. Amon was dead in the kitchen, a creature stood above him. I couldn’t see him, but from what I could see, he looked to be nearly ripped in half. I felt my heart stop when I looked at the stairs. The same noise — the same creature would find me there.
The creature hadn’t noticed me yet, but I needed to quickly decide what to do. I couldn’t just stay in the house with these beasts. My neighbor came to mind, he was a friend of mine, so I ran towards the door, pulled it open and left, knowing that one of them would follow me.