Burn My Paranoia One Last Time

40. At the Mercy of Darkness

"Watch your step." Shelby put her hand on Carmen's back and guided her up the two steps and into the shed. She held her hand for balance as Carmen settled into a seated position on the cold concrete ground. "Are you good?"

"Yes," Carmen replied. The room was a lot colder than she expected, despite the walls blocking out the wind. It almost felt like this small building had absorbed all of the cold from outside to create a frozen vacuum.

"Ok." Shelby's voice sounded a little farther away now. "I'm going to close the door now. We'll be right outside if you need anything, ok?"

"Sounds good, see ya soon," Carmen mustered as much fake confidence as she could before the door clicked shut. For such a small door, it made quite the echo. The metallic sound bounced off the walls for a couple seconds until it combined to become a confining deep hum.

Carmen took in a breath. One. Two. Three. She let it out slowly, focusing on the metallic echo that was slowly dying out. One. Two. Three. Four. That's it. Everything is fine.

It was only a little scary. Carmen tried to familiarize herself with the darkness, associating it with the usual darkness of her bedroom at night. If only the door hadn't been closed...

Even her bedroom was never this still and silent. Back in her room, she could hear cars outside every now and then. Sometimes, she could hear the clicking of her mothers keyboard downstairs as she worked on projects. But now, everything was dead silent. It was as if all the life had been sucked out the moment the door shut.

Now, Carmen was at the mercy of the supernatural. Even with the makeshift blindfold on, she became eerily aware of the total darkness enveloping her in its cold grasp with every second that passed by.

Thump thump. Thump thump thump.

Carmen stood still. Something else was there in the darkness with her. Her heart palpitated. She could hear the other thing breathing, as if it were right in front of her. Carmen's hairs stood on end as she debated whether to rip off the blindfold and run for it. That's when she realized, she was being tortured by the sound of her own rushed breathing.

Carmen sighed and held her cross. Everything is going to be fine, she repeated in her head. She tried to remind herself that the girls were outside, ready to help her if anything were to go wrong. That was assuming anything would go wrong, but of course it wouldn't go wrong. Carmen clutched her cross so tight that the edges began to imprint into her skin.

Focus. Focus. Focus.

What if her friends already left? How much time has even passed by? Surely they wouldn't wait there all night.

Raindrops tapped on the roof. The storm seemed to be getting worse now. The girls probably went to the car by now.

If her fears were true, and if she was truly alone... Carmen gulped, trying not to further imagine such a cruel scenario. She rubbed her shoulders, begging the world for warmth. Was it all in her head, or had the temperature just dropped even lower than before? It felt like a freezer.

That meant something was there. Any paranormal investigator would know that. Something was approaching. True terror sunk into Carmen's bones. This paralyzing fear, the threat of imminent doom, was almost worse than what she had felt during the seance.

Carmen's mind flashed back to the sounds of metal chains scraping the floor in that dark classroom after the candles had gone out. She remembered the heavy hooves, the distorted and inhuman grunt. What if that demonic creature appeared again?

A shiver want down Carmen's spine. She clenched her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering. It was almost as if Carmen's physical body knew that this was not the place to be— nothing was safe. Carmen imagined a strong, dark energy was at will and overpowering the room. The EMF meter knew it, too, as it had warned them earlier of the insidiously high levels of spiritual energy in the area.

Carmen tried to shake away the thoughts of the creature, but the darkness was not a very good distraction. Her heart beat raced faster the more she tried to take her mind off it. Her tongue went dry. A shot of adrenaline raced through her body, urging her to escape now.

Something terrible had happened here, in this very room. Carmen could sense it in her bones. Dread seeped in as she struggled to control her breath. An imminent sense of doom took over her as her heart pounded. It felt as if she knew what was coming, but couldn't tell quite tell what it was. Almost like a buried memory. A residual haunting, Carmen realized.

Carmen flinched at the sound of weeping in the corner of the room across from her, opposite of the door. Carmen listened, paralyzed with fear as the sobbing strained into a series of gasps.

"Help.. me... help.. me..."

The choking sound drew closer and closer to Carmen as something dragged on the floor. Carmen instinctively closed her eyes despite the pitch black darkness. She squeezed them shut, hoping she'd wake up from this nightmare.

The unidentified voice continued to drag itself until the voice finally stopped.

Carmen held her breath. She waited. Silence. Finally, she let out a sigh of relief. Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her, just as Shelby had warned. She never would have guessed paranoia could be so strong.

Carmen gasped when a cold current blew past followed by a high pitched creaking. Had someone opened the door? It couldn't be, it was still completely dark...

Carmen sensed an even colder mist near her lips and the sudden stench of a rotten corpse. "HELP ME." The blood drained from her face when she felt someone's else's nails instantly dig into her thighs.

"AH!" Carmen leaped back from her seated position only to have her back hit against a wall.

"HELP.. ME..." The spirit tugged at her pants.

Carmen clutched her cross and forced herself to steady her breathing. Remember why you're here, she told herself as her mind flashed back to Hayden unconscious in the hospital.

"Rain," Carmen's voice quivered. She hoped to God it was Rain. "Rain, I'm here. I want to help you. Please, let me help you."

The spirit groaned, slowly limping closer until it slid its cold and bony hands under Carmen's chin and held up her face. The ghost shrieked, still clutching Carmen's face in its dead hands.

Carmen's head tilted back with sudden force, and the world was no longer black. There was no ceiling. Only a distant lonely crescent moon swinging in the sky. The moon and stars were concealed by dead branches that traced down to a rope above her.