Short Tales of Abominations

In the Dark

Something lingers in the dark. I foolishly had fallen into some sort of trap laid before me by whom I thought and felt was a friend. The thick air around me shifts as though I were several feet under the surface of water, and some amorphous mass curiously swims hither and from me, curiously checking my nutritional value.

I was caught in a web of sorts. Made to crawl through tunnels in a dare to be the first who defied the horrendous breath of dread that they had exhaled. I wasn't afraid.

But now, as I count the seconds I may have left, I only wish I could have anticipated the steep drop that forced me into this inescapable pit. The drop that I could not see and only felt once my weight had shifted foolishly onto my crawling hands.

So confident I was, in my bravery, that I didn't bother to feel my path before ushering forward. I would prove to my colleagues that I was better than them. The most capable of us to discover the unknown in the deepest and most misunderstood corners of the earth, buried deep under ruin and rock.

Something is stirring in the dark. I feel as though it has made it's judgement and would soon lash out at me. I can feel it readying it's pounce. I can faintly hear the deepening of its thunderous breath.

I only wish, now, that I could see to observe the chamber I've fallen into. Perhaps there could be writing on the wall. Elegant vases given to the inhabitant of the tomb I may stand in. So foolish of me not to bring a light. The fault of my ego.

As my thoughts collect, no longer batted away by the deep thudding of my heart, I am of more sound mind. I could turn and request a light, but whatever is in here with me could potentially jump at voice. I could attempt to crawl up the wall and make an escape, but my shuffling will give confirmation of my fear to the predator that awaits in the total absence of light.

I must silence my thoughts... it is moving... pattering the ground as though it were a stick of solid wood, with a cadence that suggests more than two legs. It is either multiple beasts or some abomination alien to our understanding.

My only question is why? Why has it not claimed by body for the hunt. In the name of sustenance. Does it taunt me? I know it can see me. Does it intend to use me as bait for my colleagues outside?

These unanswered questions instill a fear in me, that grips me with clamoring hands and shaking me as though I were being shocked with electricity. My legs tremble with such frequency that should my will falter for only a moment, I may lose control of them. What is it? Staring at me. Looming in the ocean of black. Stalking me in the dark.