Days of Darkness: Awakening

Chapter 8: Alone in the Dark

After sleeping the night away, Damien rose to take a long shower. Still confused as to what happened the night before, he thought it best to ignore it – at least, for the time being - and go about his day. 

"Maybe I'll hit the gym later," he thought to himself. After all, the extra workout would've helped to blow off some of his stress. Damien got out of bed finally after contemplating his day and went to the bathroom to get started. He stood in the mirror for a minute and stared at himself until he decided to splash some water on his face to wake himself up. He put his face down inside the sink bowl to wet his face. Once he lifted his head and looked back at the mirror, he thought he saw a skull engulfed in flames in his place. Startled, he jumped back into the wall behind him and allowed himself to regain his composure. He looked in the mirror once more, but everything appeared normal. "Man, I'm losing it," he thought to himself. 

Figuring it would help, he turned the shower water on hot to relax his mind and relieve his tension. He washed and stood in the shower under the water for several minutes contemplating his future and whether or not he would have the ability to protect those around him unlike when the Event happened, and he was powerless to do anything to protect his parents and sister. It weighed on him heavily because he didn't want anyone else to meet the same fate that his family had. 

He stood in the shower a while longer and that allowed him to relax a bit more. After getting out, he dried off, got dressed, and sat in the chair across from his bed. "What's going on? Am I alright? What's happening to me?" He couldn't help but wonder. Damien reached over to pick up the phone to dial Christian. As he picked up the phone, he noticed something very strange... the phone line was dead. No dial tone or clicking could be heard. Only silence. Confused, he kept trying to dial out but there was no doubt that there was a disconnection. So, he grabbed his coat and bag and headed out of the door.

Once he exited his room, the first thing that Damien noticed was the eerie silence throughout the complex. There were no voices to be heard, no kids running through the hallways playing, and no life throughout the entirety of the complex. It was as if everyone picked up overnight and abandoned the facility. As he made his way down the corridor, the lights flickered on and off. It was so quiet that all that could be heard was the electricity flowing through the lights themselves. As the lights flickered off one last time, Damien reached into his bag and drew out his dagger, and began to creep through the halls, preparing himself for whatever may come. 

The first place that he went to was the cafeteria, thinking that everyone might go there in case of an emergency. But when he got there, all he found was silence and an empty room. He searched around for a while in the kitchen and the dining hall, but there was no one left in sight. 

The more Damien looked around, the more he felt in his body that something was amiss. He had an uneasiness that sent chills throughout his body leading to a fear that he might be the last person alive throughout the entire complex. Worse still, was the fear that he somehow slept through it all.

Damien continued to search for clues as to what happened, but after a while, he turned up almost nothing. His stomach turned at the thought of everyone's fate. Just as he was about to leave the cafeteria, he heard footsteps coming down the hall accompanied by a faint, low growl. It was a sound that he was all too familiar with: the Night-stalkers. 

Immediately, he looked around to find somewhere to hide. That's when he noticed a large beam leading to the ceiling. So, he ran to it and climbed to the ceiling to get a decent vantage point. As soon as he reached the ceiling beams, a single night-stalker walked in growling and snarling. The mindless creature took its time destroying the dining area turning over chairs and crashing the tables.