It was dark and spooky, which I guess is the best description I have. Trees were whizzing by me as I ran. Why did I run in the middle of the night? you might ask. I was being chased. It was unseen but fast and was gaining on me. I looked to my left and right to find a better path to run on, but only saw trees. Leaves crashed against my face as I ran. Stinging branches slapped my body causing me pain. I just hoped that was the only thing that would be causing me pain tonight.
I finally burst into a clearing and had a glimpse of freedom… until I saw the tall and foreboding cliff jutting hundreds of feet above me. I spun around towards the monster… no, monsters closing in on me. There were two. Now three, and four? I turned back to face the cliffside and started to ascend. Instead of pursuing me the entities just opened their mouths. There was no inhuman scream or stereotypical monstrous noise. Instead, the emergency ringtone of my phone rang out in the clearing.
I woke up with a start to a bright room. Must be the full moon, I thought. It was much brighter than usual though. The emergency tone was still ringing as I got groggily out of bed. I went over and checked my phone. The emergency tone was an official government broadcast. On the screen, it read,
GOVERNMENT BROADCAST:
PLEASE REMAIN INDOORS. LOCK ALL WINDOWS, AND DOORS, AND TURN OFF ALL WORKING LIGHTS. DO NOT LOOK AT THE MOON. REPEAT DO NOT LOOK AT THE MOON!
The message was unsettling. I decided I’d just heed its warning and head to bed. Upon dismissing the notification I was bombarded with notifications.
“You should come outside, it’s so beautiful!” Read one message.
Yet another said, “The moon is so lovely tonight, you should take a photo!”
I was beyond confused at everything going on so I decided to check what the hubbub was about. I got onto my feet and took a singular step before another message notification pinged on my phone. It was unlike the crazed moon worshipers in the sense it didn’t mention the moon. It asked a single question.
“Do you see what’s going on outside? People are goin crazy!”
“No, Finn, I haven’t, what’s happening?”
“I think it’s just easier to send a video…”
In the video, crowds of people stared at the sky, at what I presumed was the moon. After a few moments of just staring at a rogue, hulking specimen of a person stirred from his hypnosis. The man crashed through the scattered crowd like a knife through butter. He was fast approaching the camera, and soon he veered away to the left. The man stood before a car standing at least 2 feet over it. The man tilted his whole body back, and with a jolting motion slammed his head into the window of the car. The window immediately shattered, and upon pulling his head back, blood trickled down his face.
After that, all hell broke loose. People snapped out of their trance and quickly rushed towards anything remotely weak enough to be demolished. Windows were shattered, doors were kicked down, and cars swerved into households. Blood soon followed the rampage. It flowed onto the street. For every shattered window there was a corpse.
The bloodshed seemed to slow for a moment until all at once, every still living person turned towards the camera. There was a glazed look in every pair of eyes, whilst their blood became a mascara for those who dared to pay a price to obtain it. I soon realized to my dismay that they weren’t looking at the camera, but past it. All the entranced humans flocked to where the camera was held. Screams ensued before the camera’s feed quickly cut off.
“What the hell was that?” I texted.
“That’s the situation almost everywhere right now. Apparently, if you look at the moon that happens. The military is too afraid to go outside in fear of becoming one of those things so we’re just stuck in our houses for the foreseeable future.”
Ice ran down my spine. “Do you know how many people have been outside that we know?”
“Not too many of us, but I know Frank went outside before the warning was sent out, and I haven’t heard from him since, so It’s safe to say he’s part of that group now.”
“Hopefully he’s okay. Are those moon people attacking people who’re inside?”
“They might be, all I know is a friend on Facebook had heard something inside his house. Since then I haven’t heard back. To be safe you should hide somewhere safe inside your house.”
“Okay, thanks. To be safe I’m getting off my phone. I’ll message you when I get out of this.”
“Okay, I also need to get off for a bit. I think there’s something in my house so I’m going to hide.
“Okay, stay safe.”
I turned my phone off. Stupidly, I sat there just contemplating for a while enduring this storm of craziness. Some things were brought up in my mind. When did all this start? How was the moon affecting people so strangely? Why was the moon just now affecting people?
Like Nascar, my mind was racing; but, there was a wreck. The crash from downstairs echoed in my brain. I was quickly jutted into a state of panic, my heart rate spiked. Had those people gotten into my house? What had happened? I’d locked all of the doors, and windows, and turned off all the lights, so how had the people known I was in here? How had they gotten in?
My phone lit up as I fumbled with the closet door.
The message on my phone read “There’re creatures on the inside too. They’re everywhere, nowhere is safe…”
I was about to respond, but just then I heard a thud outside the closet door. Something had struck my room door. The sound of scratching soon followed. The sharp appendages of something slowly reach up to the handle of my room door. The door handle rattled as it turned, the hinges screamed as the door swung open, and my breath hitched as it walked in.
It scuttled through my room desperately trying to find something. I sat with bated breath trying to figure out what to do. Could I kill it? It was 2 feet tall. The size of an infant. I’m sure I could punt-kick it into oblivion, but what could it do? The spines hinted at a defensive evolution, but what was it doing here? There was too much to think about, and luckily that helped to calm me down; however, that’s why the creature caught me off guard when it shattered a glass jar in my room. I jolted making the slightest noise, but it was enough.
It looked towards my hiding spot and I gazed into the eyes of this situationally fear-inducing foe. At that moment the radio plugged in downstairs shattered the tense moment as it blared a radio message from the government. I could barely hear what it said, yet some words were still audible.
THIS IS AN URGENT BROADCAST FROM THE US GOVERNMENT:
ALL RESIDENTS ARE URGED TO STAY INSIDE,
A DANGEROUS SITUATION HAS OCCURRED OUTDOORS,
FOR THE SAFETY OF YOU AND THOSE YOU LOVE,
STAY INDOORS!!!
The noise immediately sent the humanoid creature scrambling for the stairs to find the source of the noise. A buzz came from my phone and I looked down to see another text message. The radio played the broadcast on repeat for a while, and it gave me time to check my phone.
“I think the government doesn’t know what’s happening. I just found a video of a person in a situation with the new creatures. Do you want me to send it?”
“Sure. I need to know what I just saw in my room.”
“Wait, there was one in your room?!?”
“Yes, I saw it from my closet. It was about two feet tall with spikes on its back.”
“You’re lucky, that’s not even the worst of them. Maybe you could just stay hidden and they won’t find you.”
“What do you mean that’s not the worst of them? What did I just see?!”
“Yes, do you want me to send the video?”
“Sure.”
Again soon I got a notification of a video being sent to me. I soon noticed that it wasn’t the only notification that came through though. I was reading through all my notifications and ice coursed through my veins.
“WE KNOW WHERE YOU ARE” Read one.
“WE’RE COMING FOR YOU.” Read another, but the last one was the worse.
“THAT CLOSET CAN’T HIDE YOU!”
With that last message, I started to fear for my life. What should I do?
Another message came from my friend. “What did you think of the video?”
“They know where I am.”
“They do? You need to run! Get outside! run away! Whatever you do, don’t get caught, and look at the moon.”
“Okay. I’ll text you when I make it to safety.”
At this point staying seemed futile, so I got ready to make a break for it. I took a deep breath and slowly opened the closet door. The thing, whatever it was, was still downstairs most likely toying with the radio.
It was dark and spooky, which I guess is the best description I have. Trees were whizzing by me as I ran. Why did I run in the middle of the night? you might ask. I was being chased. It was unseen but fast, and was gaining on me. I looked to my left and right to find a better path to run on, but only saw trees. Leaves crashed against my face as I ran. Stinging branches slapped my body causing me pain. I just hoped that was the only thing that would cause me pain tonight.
The radio soon shut off as the sound of metal ripping came from the kitchen. A familiar pittering noise came as the monster started walking towards the stairway I came from. I quickly ducked around another corner as the imp strode up the stairs. When the door to my room squeaked open again I made a break for the back door.
Getting to the door, I turned the knob and quietly slipped out the door. Everything was going smooth until I felt a tingling sensation on my neck. Red eyes stared out at me from the 2nd story window of my house. It knew where I was… so I ran. I ran out of the town, and away from my house.
The moon was bright enough that I didn’t need a flashlight.
It was dark and spooky, which I guess is the best description I have. Trees were whizzing by me as I ran. Why did I run in the middle of the night? you might ask. I was being chased. It was unseen, but fast and was gaining on me. I looked to my left and right to find a better path to run on, but only saw trees. Leaves crashed against my face as I ran. Stinging branches slapped my body causing me pain. I just hoped that was the only thing that would cause me pain tonight.
I finally burst into a clearing and had a glimpse of freedom… until I saw the tall and foreboding cliff jutting hundreds of feet above me. I spun around towards the monster… no, monsters closing in on me. There were two. Now three, and four? I turned back to face the cliffside and started to ascend. Instead of pursuing me the entities just opened their mouths.
“Honey, why are you running?” One asked. It was my mother’s voice
“We know we haven’t been around much, but we are now.” Now my father’s voice.
They sure as hell were good at mimicking voices.
“Stay with us, Edward.” Even the voice of him. The one voice I’d always wanted to forget.
“I’m sorry I left you, but it wasn’t my choice.” A drunk driver made that choice for him. He’d left so early in life, but he was right, it wasn’t his choice. I wanted to stay with him, and I knew he wanted me to. I knew I still had a choice, and I wouldn’t disappoint him.
So I kept climbing. I knew if he were actually here he’d want me to keep going. He may not have had a choice, but I do. I knew of a cabin in the woods that not even my closest friends knew of. I’d be safe there for however long I could stay, I think. I ran for a few miles finally getting to the cabin and hopefully a safe place.
I opened the door and heard nothing but silence. The clock I saw on the counter read 4 a.m. The night was almost over, but it was a start. I then started to relax. My body was slowly starting to realize I was no longer in immediate danger. I then checked my phone for any new messages.
A message from my friend read “Hey! You haven’t responded for a while, are you okay?”
Another had been sent a few minutes later. “Hey. I’m getting worried, are you okay?”
Finally the last desperate text. “Answer me! Are you still okay?”
After an hour of his waiting, I finally responded.
“I’m fine, I got out.”
“Where are you?”
“Somewhere safe, are you still at home?”
“Ya, but never mind me, where are you?”
This caused me to pause. Why did he need to know? I set my phone down for a second to think, then it hit me. I had told him I hid in the closet. Less than a minute later the creature had come into my room. I had said I was running away and coincidentally the creature knew exactly where to look to spot me. Something was wrong.
My phone pinged again. “Hey, where are you?”
Again? He didn’t have this bad of a memory.
“Why do you need to know?”
There was a long wait before he messaged back.
“I don’t, it’s just better to know you’re somewhere safe.”
“Then why keep asking where I am? I’ve told you I’m safe.”
There was no reply so I replied again. “Finn. How did they know where I was? The closet? They even knew exactly when to look out of the window to see me running.”
“I don’t know…”
“Tell me. Tell me why every time I message you they know exactly where I’m going. Why you’re so adamant about knowing my location.”
There was a pause.
“They’ll find you.”
“And I’ll wait till them. The weapons I have here can hold off an entire armada.” This was a bluff, but they didn’t need to know that. With that last text and lie sent, I passed out.
I woke up around 6. It was still dark, yet notifications from my phone lit up the room I now lie in. Every message was from others asking, ‘where are you?’ They should know I wouldn’t respond. It was ridiculous how little thought was being put into the texts anymore. I felt safe until the last text fell into my inbox.
Found you!
I looked around the cabin noticing nothing strange. No scuttling, no scraping. I decided to go to the window to see if the scout was outside, and to my dismay my tracker was. It wasn’t alone either. Several of those monolithic and uncanny creatures stood outside. Stygian red eyes burned in the night like laser sights on a gun. They had found their prey. I didn’t know what else to do, so I hid. I tried finding a great place to hide as the sun began to rise. I was surprisingly ready for the end. I had no weapons. I couldn’t go out with a bang, but with a whimper.
A violent end was not the answer, however; because, for some reason, a benevolent god decided to save me. As the creatures approached the house the sun in turn followed them. At first, they didn’t notice, but soon discomfort seemed to creep up on them. Upon realizing their discomfort’s source they tried to flee. It was all in vain though.
As the sun struck their skin the creature’s bodies hissed. Agonized wails filled the night air; a symphony of every pained voice in the world. Soon these creatures, and their cries melted into the ground with nothing to show of themselves but a burnt crisp on the ground.
I was safe for today.
Thanks for reading!!! If you have any suggestions or ways I can improve I’ll take any suggestions.
Edit, One of the paragraphs was missing. Edit, a paragraph was doubled