It's In the Dark

Chapter 6: Of Course There's a Body in the Cemetery: Brandon

*WHOOSH* suddenly a demon-like face shoots out of the darkness directly into mine. His blood-stained eyes bore into my soul. I can't move, I can't scream, I can't do anything! "Dammit, I can't react fast enough! I can't move! I CAN'T!" *WHOOSH* When suddenly, as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished. I sunk down onto the floor, no longer able to hold myself up, my bag falling to the wayside. I continued to stare off into the darkness frozen in fear, not sure what the heck just happened to me. I could feel my heart about to leap out of my chest. The adrenaline from earlier had nothing on this. Was this what Riley and Courtney were talking about? What the hell is that thing and why is it bothering my friends? I began to panic. I quickly dug into my bag for my cell phone. Of course, it's dead "Aargh!" I let out a loud moan as my eyes began to well up with tears. "I'm gonna die," "I'm gonna die here... in school... I love you mom, I love you dad, guys..." I buried my face in my hands and began to sob. God I'm so happy no one's here to see this. I lifted my head and looked back out into the darkness.

Suddenly, a light came on from another room. It was a bit far away, somewhere deeper in the gym, but it gave hope. It meant someone was here. A ray of sunshine in the night. "Help! Help!" I cried out." Nothing. "Helppp!" I cried out again, the sorrow in my voice taking center stage. *CLICK* Suddenly it went off again. "Nooo!" I cried out once more. Just like that, I was the only sign of light in this vast darkness. What's with these lights? Mine hadn't gone off at all, yet that one was only on for a second. Is someone here? Whatever that thing was, it didn't trigger a light, so someone must be here. My parents? Maybe I had taken too long, and they decided to come get me. No! No! Dad! Mom! There's something in here. Leave. Now! Forget about me! I stood up, a small pool of blood beneath me from the scratch on my leg. "I gotta get out of here," I said to myself, "I have to." I can't let them come down this way. I have to make a run for it. Maybe it's gone. "It disappeared, it's definitely gone." I thought this to myself over and over again, but I just couldn't will myself to actually believe it. I wanted to break down again, but I couldn't, my parents were waiting for me. I scooped up my bag and threw it over my shoulder once again and got into a running stance. Weird of me to even care about taking it, but for some reason I just couldn't leave it. I made sure that my shoelaces were tied and began to say our basketball cadence out loud to pump myself up.

Who house it this?" I said to myself. My voice was so low that even if someone was standing next to me, they couldn't hear.

"Our house!" I said, raising my voice a little louder now.

"Who house it's not?"

"Their house."

"Who got the juice?"

"I Do!" I gripped my bag tighter.

"I make the rules!"

"Aaaahhhh!" and with that, I sprinted off into the darkness, my wound stinging painfully with every step. "Bear with it." *DOOM, DOOM, DOOM* With each step I took, the lights in a small section above me became lit. *DOOM, DOOM, DOOM* I soldiered on, full speed to the exit of the gym. With each light, my spirits began to rise, every light was a sigh of relief and a weight off my shoulders. *DOOM* What? That one came from behind me. I quickly glanced back to see that the lights that I was previously under began to go off. I began to panic once again. "No, calm down, all I have to do is stay in front of the lights. "Ok good, that's doable." I twisted my head back around and continued to run ahead. Wait. That feeling's back, something, something's here. Where is it?! I tried my best to survey the room as I kept running. I had exited the locker room safely, but the entire gym, my left, right, and behind me, were cloaked in black. "Where is it?" "Where is it?!" It could come from anywhere.! I can't focus on running; I need to watch my back and protect myself. How much farther to the door? Suddenly a claw slid out from the darkness behind me, sharp and jagged, reaching out towards my shirt! "NO!" I yelled out. I swiftly removed the bag from my shoulder and thrust it into the darkness towards the creature. It hit the floor with a thud causing the light to come on. Nothing was there. *BOOM* "AHHHHH!" I let out an intense scream. "What?! What?! What?!" I turned around to find my dad standing before me. I had bumped into him in my distress. The path to the exit, now thoroughly lit. "What's taking you so long? He asked. "Your mother's ready to leave. What happened to your leg?!" he said, raising his voice. "I, I, ... I fell," I said, my voice slightly shaking. Without saying another word, I grabbed my dad's hand and led him out of the gym. We made it to the car, and I let out a sigh. "You sure you're ok?" he asked in a concerned voice. They believed I was running because I was in a rush. "Yeah, I'm good." I replied trying to sound normal. Maybe it's better that they think that. I looked back down at my leg; it had stopped bleeding now. It's weird, at first, I thought that I was definitely going to die, and then I thought, if I didn't die, I was going to break down if I made it out safely, but strangely enough, I can't cry. I'm just afraid... My breathing was kind of erratic, but I couldn't cry. To most people I would just look like I ran a marathon, not like I was running for my life. I wonder why. What's wrong with me? What was that?

Morning had come, and sleep had never come to meet me. Any time I closed my eyes all I could see was that face. That dark demon-like face. I'm going crazy. Today was Friday, which meant school. I don't think I'd ever been so happy to get to see my friends. I'm definitely going to skip gym though. After brushing my teeth, I walked into the kitchen rubbing the sleep from my eyes. My mom had made breakfast, and my dad had already left for work. "You look horrible honey, are you still tired?" My mother asked, concern written on her face. "Wanna take a day off? You did have quite a game yesterday." "I'm fine mom, just a bit tired," I said, grabbing a plate from the cabinet. Maybe breakfast could give me a bit of peace. I sat at the table with the food I had piled on and peered at the television that was on in the living room. Just then, the weather forecast was halted, and a breaking news report flashed across the screen. A blonde, female tv reporter began to speak. "This just in, late last night, around 2AM Eastern time, a dead body was found in Municipal Pines Cemetery." "Of course, there are bodies in a cemetery, it's a cemetery." I laughed to myself, she continued. "After notifying the family, it has now been relayed to the media that the body found was that of 10-year-old, Terrence Reed. It is unclear at this time how the young boy died, but according to witness accounts, his body had been covered in deep clawed scratches, so police believe it may have been an accident involving a wild animal. We will keep you updated as we receive more information on this tragic, tragic case, Thank you." Claw marks? Just then, a picture of the boy in question appeared on the screen. *CLINK* I dropped my fork; a loud noise rang out as it hit my plate. "Brandon?" my mother called out my name with a worried expression. "I, I know him." My voice was quiet. There, on the screen, was that little kid from the game. The one that was watching me... he was dead? "What the..." I grew quiet and rose from my seat no longer possessing an appetite. "I'm gonna leave now or I'll be late." I slowly made my way to the door. "Brandon--" "I'm fine mom, I interjected, quickly cutting her off, "really, I gotta go." I said, trying my best to put on a smile. I grabbed my things and walked out the door.