Out of the Darkness

131

"Help me," she begged, before her eyes closed again, and she looked the same as before. Had I imagined it? Did that really just happen? I had no idea. I was so drawn in by what happened, that the noise from the demons had turned into a background buzz, instead of something that I knew I needed to run from. I even let my fire iron slide from my hand. "Colby, come the fuck on, bro! What the hell is wrong with you?!" I heard Sam yelling for me, but it was like I was underwater. It was muffled, and not real. The only real thing in the room right now was Anna lying in that dreaded coffin. Pain and anger for what had been stolen from her reared up inside of me, forcing me into action. I reached towards her, determined to bring her back out with us, to bring her home. Just as I was about to touch her alabaster skin, someone grabbed my shoulder, yanking me back away from her. The coffin lid slammed shut, as soon as my fingers were clear of it. I struggled against Sam's hold, fighting to get back to her. "No Sam, let me GO!" I yelled, straining against his hold on me. "COLBY STOP IT! THAT'S NOT REALLY HER! WE HAVE TO GO!" "I HAVE TO HELP HER!" I screamed, the force of it feeling like sandpaper against my throat. Something huge with rancid breath jumped in front of me, just as I broke out of Sam's hold. I didn't think about what to do, I didn't freeze. All I did was react. I leaned down quickly to where I had let the fire iron fall out of my hands, and snatched it up. The nasty beast snarled right in front of my face, giving me a very clear view of the inside of it's mouth. It's teeth were long and pointed, it's black tongue rolling very close to me. I jabbed the fire iron into that open hole, hard, feeling my arm slice open on it's teeth as I did. The demon shrieked in pain and jerked away from me. I never let go of my weapon, so it came out of it's mouth with a disgusting suction noise. "I think you just pissed it off Colby!" Ash screamed. He was right. The thing was glaring at me, black goo oozing from it's mouth and nose. My stomach turned, as I watched it's disgusting tongue roll over the goo. "We're getting surrounded! We need to find our way out of here!" I felt arms pulling me, yanking me with them, and this time I didn't resist. I knew that I would die if I tried to get to Anna right now. We ran blindly in the dark basement, hearing hooves beat the cement floor, as well as something slithering across the ground behind us. "Where do we go? I can't see anything!" Ash cried out. "MOVE!" Sam yelled. A flash of blinding light illuminated the area in front of us. "This way!" Sam hissed, grabbing my arm at the same time that he pushed Ash into a small opening. "Oof," I hissed out, as I slammed into him. He had killed his light as soon as all three of us had managed to get into the area. "Where are we?" I whispered. I couldn't see a thing. "Shhh" he replied back. We waited with bated breath, as the demons started to run and slither past our little crawl space. A few slowed and stopped, inhaling deeply. We pressed ourselves as close as we could against the back wall of the tiny area, half hunched over, with me silently praying that they kept going. Thankfully, they did. Sam started to move forwards, out of the tiny space, but I grabbed his wrist to stop him. "A little longer," I murmured as quietly as I could. I wanted to be sure that none of them circled back, because I had every intention of going back for Anna. After what felt like forever, I shuffled forwards and held my breath. Since I couldn't see, I had to use my ears. I tried to listen past the roaring silence for the slightest movement, or sound. "I think we're safe," I whispered. I heard Ash and Sam's sighs of relief before light flooded the little crawl space. "I thought we were dead for sure," Sam said, shaking his head at me. "Why did you just stand there? What were you thinking?" he asked in an exasperated tone. "The same thing that I'm thinking now. I'm going back for her. I need to get her out of this place," I answered. I moved back out into the basement, and headed back the way we came before he could stop me. "Colby, wait up!" I kept going, but he caught up with me. "Brother, you're not thinking clearly. That's not Anna. This isn't real. You know that." I rounded on him so fast, he fumbled his flashlight, causing the light to bounce off the walls and floor. "Do I know that Sam?" I said, letting my emotions get the best of me. "Shhh dude, you're gonna make them come back!" Ash said, jogging up behind Sam. I ignored him. "How do we know that? If we die here, we die out there, so doesn't that mean the same will happen to her? Maybe that's why she's stuck as a ghost. Maybe she got lost in her own dream realm somehow, and they're keeping her captive." Sam's eyebrows went up as his mouth snapped closed. "Exactly. You don't know. Ash doesn't know. WE don't know. I'm getting her and you can't stop me." I turned back towards the white coffin that I could see just ahead, through the dim light. "Wait! Colby, what if they come back? What if we run into them again and you're carrying her? We won't be able to fight them, or even run from them." "THEN GO!" I yelled, and started running towards the coffin. "Fuck," I heard Sam groan behind me. When I reached the coffin, he was beside me helping me lift the lid, just like I knew he would be. The coffin let out a loud "CREAAAKKK" as the lid was lifted this time.