Kill the Night

AN: This is the first story I’ve ever decided to post on any website or even let anyone read so bare with me for a little while, okay? I’m not even sure that anybody is going to want to read this but I’ll give it a try. You never know unless you try right? Song is Turn off the Lights by Panic! At the Disco. If you go to my profile you’ll find out that this is one of my 2 favourite bands. Don’t forget to fan me :)

Prologue

     “Go to bed now sweetie,” my dad shushed me, pushing my head back onto the pillow lightly. It was quiet tonight, but lately I’d learned to never trust the quiet. There was always something out there just waiting for you. “I’ll be right over there when you wake up.”

     I nodded and watched him walk across the tiny room to lie on his mattress, the same as mine only slightly larger.

     I knew exactly where he meant by ‘over there’. We’d been living in a dusty old building for quite a while now. I couldn’t even remember what this place used to look like, but that didn’t matter. Nothing about my life was the same, so it was only fitting that the buildings would look different too.

     We’d chosen this place because there was tiny door in the back leading to a room with a huge hole in the wall, like someone had dug an emergency tunnel if ever they needed to escape. Actually, that was exactly what they’d done. Neither of us knew where the tunnel lead to (it might even be a dead end), but I hoped it had worked for the last person who’d used it as it would work for us.

     If you’re wondering why my mother has yet to be mentioned, it’s because she died only a few days ago. I would tell you how, but it’s far too soon for me to be reliving the memory. I’d say in a few months, but I’m not even sure I have that much time left. Taking it day by day had become my new strategy.

     Oddly enough, I wasn’t very bothered with her death, or at least not as much as I think I should be. She was my mom after all, but something my brother Caleb had told me (he died with my mom) had stuck with me this whole time. “Everything dies, Tash,” he’d said. “Everything that is born and lives must die, so that they can be born and live and die again. It’s all a big cycle.”

     I had a feeling mom and Caleb would be back some day. They were born, lived, and died, so they must come back soon to do it all over again. Maybe I won’t know who they are, but I’ll have a feeling. Like when you meet a total stranger for the first time and you have that weird feeling inside your stomach like you’ve seen them before. It’ll be like that only stronger, because on top of that I’ll feel something more; love.

     My eyes refused to close. It wasn’t safe here. It was never safe when it was quiet. I’d rather hear the moans of our foes then face a silent and gory demise.

     “Daddy?” I called across the room.

     “Yes baby?” he asked. I hated it when he called me baby, but I guess in his eyes I still was. To adults, ten is practically a toddler.

     I shuddered when a cold wind blew in. The stupid glass in the windows was broken. We didn’t go a single night without the occasional shakes. Sometimes my toes got numb, but I didn’t say anything. It was better than sleeping outside. Or, if you really wanted to get morbid, it was better than being dead.

     “I can’t sleep,” I shuddered again. My ratty clothes weren’t doing much to help. “Can I come in your bed?”

     I could hear him sigh but he motioned for me to come over anyways. Lying down in my dad’s bed was somewhat more comfortable, and his body heat took most of the shivering away.