No Way Out - Horror Shorts

Next to The Lamp Post

The dim, warm house made his chest fill with a thousand little butterflies. After a cursory check of his belongings, he slipped out into the cold, dark night.

Todd never meant to commit such duplicity. He was merely averse to being kind to his parents. In all fairness, they had never been amicable to him either. The straps of his heavy bag dug painfully into his shoulders. Nevertheless, he carried on.

A thousand thoughts ran through his head; would his parents miss him? Did they care that they had acted so belligerent towards him? Most importantly, would they even notice, or care, that he was gone? Thinking about the answer made fat, salty tears cascade down his cheeks. But despite the tears, he knew this had to be done. He had to keep going.

His plans had seemed more feasible when he was sitting at his desk, mapping out the future hike. Todd had made a cache of supplies three weeks prior to this, and he had double checked that everything was in his pack twice a day since then. Nothing could put his plan in jeopardy. Nothing.

As he made his way down the dimly lit street, he stopped under a lamp post. The eerie night filled his stomach with dread. He took a quick glance around and started walking again. A grimace inched it's way onto his face as he slinked through the night. And then he saw it.

Todd stopped in his tracks under another street light and gaped in terror as he scrutinized the figure that was just a few yards away. It was tall and horrifyingly skinny. It reminded him of his cousin, Kyle, back when he was in the hospital. In fact, this thing was basically a copy of Kyle, but as tall as the lamp post behind it.

Kyle had leukemia. He lost all of his hair only a few months after his diagnosis; his body was giving up. He lost a lot of weight because he couldn't eat due to the side effects of his chemo. Since his body's immune system was deteriorating, he was constantly sick. His once dark, molasses colored skin had turned 3 shades lighter. He reminded Todd of a ghost.

But this-this thing- it was bleached white. The place where its eyes were supposed to be were sunken in, and the eyes were pitch black and leaking a black liquid. That thing looks like something created in the holocaust experiments. Todd had thought.

Its skin was strung tightly around its skinny frame; it seemed that merely moving would make the skin snap, and rip off. But the monster was meticulous with its movements, dragging itself towards him.

Todd had never felt anxiety before, but he was sure this had to be it. His heart was in his throat. That thing was getting closer and closer, it's eyes seeming to stare right through him. And just as it seemed like it was going to kill him, it stopped right before the light touched its taut skin. Todd could hear a low, gurgling sound coming from the creature.

Now, closer to him, he could make out every little detail about this thing. It had inhuman hands. Its fingers had to be at least three feet long and were topped with razor sharp talons. The skin near its mouth was beginning to rip, and the same black liquid from its eyes poured out of the gaps in the skin around its mouth.

It was hunched over. Todd could hear the labored breaths between each gurgle get shallower and shallower. He felt his heart beating out of his chest.

This thing was the quintessence of nightmares. Just looking at it made Todd shiver. They had been locked in this stare off for five minutes now, and it still hadn't tried to kill him. It just stood there, wheezing, and tepid.

Todd actually began to think that it was all in his head. He made the mistake of shifting his weight onto his left foot, and that's when it lunged.

He moved just in time to miss its claws. The sound of ripping skin filled the air, and that thing bellowed in the night. It's scream, shrill but demonic, filled the night air. Todd ran. He ran and ran. He ran until the sun started to peak over the horizon. Finally, he thought he was safe.

He sat by a tree, gathering himself. He glanced around his surroundings and sighed. Just trees, bushes, and a cliff. He peeked over the edge of the cliff, gasping. The cliff was armored with sharp, jagged rocks at the bottom. But Todd didn't worry; he was safe.

Then, he heard the wheezing, and then the sound of rushing air past his ears. The last thing he saw was a huge, jagged rock.