A Touch of Hope

Chapter 11 - The Light in the Dark

Filpsey's mind whirled in a panic. Surely he'd opened the curtains at some point in the morning. There was nobody else who could have done it, could there?! His mind searched frantically for some memory, in a sleep hazed state, of opening the curtains but there was none. Yet there the curtains stood, parted, allowing the morning sun to stream in through the window innocently, unknowing the horror it caused. In a panicked daze, Flipsey grabbed his shirt and trousers and fled from the room.

Stumbling out into the corridor outside his bedroom, Flispey grasped the wall in a claw, his breathing heavy and ragged as he hurriedly yanked on his clothes. He clattered down the stairs, half running, half falling as he pulled his trousers on the rest of the way.

Practically pulling the bannister off the wall as he steadied himself, Flipsey turned around in horror to look back up the stairs. The orange glow of the landing light hummed peacefully to itself as it chased out the shadows gathering in the corners alongside the worn, cream skirting boards, decorated with speckles of green mould. Despite the warm glow of the light, the air pricked cold against Flispey's slick skin as beads of sweat began to collect once more. The hum of the light was comforting, it forced back the darkness that had wrapped itself around Flipsey's mind, burning off the emotions that had filled him to the very depths of his soul. The light that kept at bay the shadows that would always return, always fill whatever nook or cranny they could find.

With a bang and a pop the illusion was shattered. The bulb smashed as the tide of darkness swamped the dying light, enveloping it in it's cold, shadowy embrace. The shadows rolled and churned down the stairs, shifting into shapes as it advanced down the stairs. At the crest of the waves, shape of a pack of wolves could almost be made out, a head here, a paw or a tail elsewhere. The wolves would strain against the wave that contained them, desperate for the taste of life that Flipsey offered.

Above the deafening silence that the darkness brought, Flipsey thought he could hear the distinct sound of a young girl's innocent chortle. The laugh sent shivers to Flipsey's very core, rocking his soul as he spun outside, through his front door and, into the darkness that awaited him outside in the morning sun.