The Horror and the Night

I am innocent

      In the darkness, you could see nothing but flickering green lights that grimly reflected off the dirty, wet walls. They dimmed, fading out completely only to once more illuminate the corridor that stretched before you a moment later. With your bare feet, you took a few steps, and the sound of footsteps on the murky floor echoed eerily through the empty corridor. Somewhere in the distance, a door creaked, with a metallic sound that made you shudder. You froze. Your heart should be beating with an accelerated beat, yet it beat steadily. Your mind should be panicking, yet it was completely quiet and calm. A metallic creak sounded as if it grew louder, closer, yet you did not move from your place. Instead, you calmly turned and looked behind you. In the distance at the end of the corridor, a wide-open door invited you into a room lit by a warm pleasing light. It seemed as if the walls were whispering "come...enter the light" and why shouldn't you? The light was warm, with a yellowish hue, like the rays of the sun lighting up the sky on a warm summer afternoon. They promised warmth on skin that was so frigid from the surrounding cold. The light seemed to shine more as if it were stronger as if it was calling you, but you turned your eyes away from it and looked in the opposite direction. There was darkness at the other end of the corridor, endless deep darkness. It was silent, it said nothing, quietly extending its arms to you, spreading its black cloak around you. It wasn't inviting, it was offering. And yet the light was so bright, so lovely, illuminating the darkness with a golden glow. The two steps you took toward it were tentative, one brought a metallic creak right next to you, and the other made the flickering green light go out again. In the darkness, its golden glow shone even brighter, luring with warmth, tempting with solace. And yet you did not run toward it. A strange shiver ran down your back and you turned away again towards the darkness. It was there, watching you as if waiting for your move.

The light began to whisper quiet words of encouragement, the darkness was silent, and you turned your gaze away from it and took another step toward the light. The light in its splendor seemed not to be threatening, its warmth, after all, could not burn.... could not.... its glow, so bright that it seemed to blind you, in its glow, you would be visible, in the light there was no shelter. You moved uncertainly toward it wanting to escape the dampness and gloom that surrounded you. "No..." you heard a quiet murmur from behind you. You turned again and looked into the darkness and it seemed to be looking at you. You looked at it and it looked back at you and the longer you looked the less scary and empty it seemed to you. In its shadowy depths, it became warm, as if soothing, safe. It didn't tempt, invite or call, it was just there, waiting for you. You knew that in it you would find solace, you knew that in it you would find strength, that in it you would be safe.

You took two confident steps toward it when suddenly the green light of the lamps flashed brightly, hurting your eyes. You took two steps forward and discovered that the dampness of the floor beneath your bare feet had changed as if it had thickened. You looked down at the red shimmering green and fear ran down your back for the first time. You looked at the dirty damp walls around you, they seemed to be closer to you, and red was also oozing from between the gray tiles. "Step into the light..." you heard close by your ear. "No," you replied angrily and threw yourself running towards the darkness.

The walls around you seemed to close in on you. The metallic creaks sounded louder, closer and faster but you ran. You ran through blood and dirt, through blinding green and the burning heat of the light on your back, through fear and anger, you ran toward the darkness, and it waited, waited with arms spread wide, with the cloak of the night ready to envelop you. You ran and amidst the echo of your bare feet on the murky floor you could hear maniacal taunting laughter.

***

"You are awfully quiet today," Harleen looked at you out of the corner of her eye without taking her sight from the road, "Batman gave you creeps didn't he?!"