Stories for Midnight

45 Minutes

*beep* *beep * *beep* *beep* *beeeep*

I want you to close your eyes. Imagine two people, in a house, standing side by side and not talking. One is a mother. The other is a girl. The mother turned towards the girl. The mother told the girl that the microwave timer was now set for 40 minutes and that she had to be out of the house by that time as to not miss the bus that would take her to school. The girl nodded her understanding and waved goodbye to the mother, who was now leaving for work. The girl glanced at the microwave, then pulled out her phone and began to listen to music. About halfway through the song she heard her dog barking. She danced her way over to her dog, and comforting the agitated animal she softly sang along to the chorus. Then she wandered into the hallway. The timer read 30:00 when she remembered to get her reading novel from her room. So she went up and walked into her room. There she saw a sight that made her gasp. Her room was in shambles, her clothes scattered on the floor. A dark form flitted from the corner of the room to an air duct where it flew up and into the air vents. She ran downstairs and tried to exit, but as her hand touched the doorknob the lock turned by itself. She screeched and released the doorknob as if if were a burning coal. She heard the dark form's prattle within the vents and when she turned around it was right there. The black void of its presence dripped with malevolence and its coal black eyes stared at the frightened girl. Tendrils of pure darkness encircled it and it was draped in shadow. One of the creature's fingers began to move and extend in the girl's direction. She screeched, a soul-wrenching sound that was pure trepidation and fear. Then she sprinted, fast as a bullet, past the malignant creature and to the relative safety of a large room. Ashe saw the timer as she passed. It read 14:57. She knew that she was not going to make it. But then she saw the living room lamp and window and had an idea. She checked on the position of the monster and it was still a good distance away. She grabbed the lamp and hurled it through the window pane. An explosive sound rocketed out along with hundreds of shards of glass, and they rained down upon her like rain of glittering silver as she made her escape. She heard the monster roar a terrible, indescribable sound, and then she fled. The bus was 5 minutes early and as it turned the corner she sprinted away from her home. With relief she stepped onto the bus, her heart thumping in her chest. Then out of the corner of her eye she saw the dark form flit over to the bus. She stood up, screamed a horrified "no!", but she could do nothing. The creature flipped its hand and the bus heaved over onto its side. There were screams all around her, and she was falling- then a searing, fire- hot pain in her neck. And the world was gone from her vision.