Darkness

    Dim red lights illuminate the room. The girl awakes slowly, blurriness clouding her vision. She sits up slowly, gripping her forehead from the pounding in her head. "Hello?" she croaks out, her throat as dry as a desert. "Is anyone there?"
     Two yellow eyes appear in the corner of the room, never blinking. "Who are you?" she manages to whisper, gripped with fear. No response. The eyes grow bigger as they begin moving closer to her. The figure steps into the light from the window, allowing her to see it.
     It's a hideous creature, wrinkles covering its entire face. It draws closer to the girl, drool spilling down the sides of its mouth. She cowers away, hitting her back against the headboard of her bed. "P-please..."
     Suddenly, a hand swings down and grabs her by her hair. Within a brisk second, she is engulfed by darkness. A never ending darkness...
    
     It was 2:47 AM when Marjorie Blackwood bolted upright in bed, panting in shallow breaths. Beads of sweat began to form on her forehead, illuminated by the red glowing light of her digital clock. Clammy hands reach over to the desk beside her bed, grabbing for the glass of water and trembling immensely.
     "Just a dream," she thought to herself, breathing deeply now, "not real." Blurred vision from sleep slowly become more clear as she gulped the room-temperature water.
     "But it was so vivid. I felt it." She looked around the room for a few moments, trying to decipher if it was just a nightmare or actual reality. "Air. I just need some air."
     Marjorie swung her feet over the bed, shuddering slightly as she felt the coldness of the floor against her bare feet. She reached over to her phone and began to type out a message:
To: Andy
Hi, love. Sorry I missed your call. Fell asleep, but had a bad dream. See you tomorrow. xx
     She pressed send and stood up, slipping her feet into her slippers. She shuffled over to her closed door, slipped on her robe, and headed down the hallway towards the back door.
     Upon opening the door, she was greeted by the brisk autumn air. Inhaling deeply, she stepped outside and crossed her arms tightly across her chest, glancing around the yard. Suddenly, there was a rustle in the bushes. Her head snapped in the direction of the noise, staring intently. She furrowed her eyebrows, feeling her heart thudding like a bass drum in her throat.
     Marjorie stepped toward the bush, swallowing hard and dry. As she got closer, two yellow eyes appeared in the middle of the bush. She gasped and jumped up, as if in a Looney Tunes episode, and bolted to the door, swinging it open as fast as she could, then pulling it shut and locking it even faster.
     She leaned against the door now, her head leaning back and eyes shut. Her breathing was slow and deep, in through her nose and out through her mouth. "Twenty six and still afraid of nightmares, Marjie," she thought to herself. She wiped the sweat off of her forehead with the back of her hand as she turned to face the door. She rested her forehead on the panels, eyes still shut.
     "Just open your eyes and look, you big baby," she thought. After a few more deep breaths, she opened her eyes slowly and peeked out into her yard from behind the curtains. Her eyes immediately shifted to the bush; no eyes. She sighed a shaky sigh of relief, laughing at herself now.
     Feeling utterly relieved, she turned around to face the kitchen once more. "Jeez Marj, you really" her words were cut off as her own brown eyes were met with yellow ones. Just then, her phone began to vibrate. She slowly brought it up to her ear, sliding the bar over to answer.
     "Hi Marjie."
     "Andy."
     "Marj? Is everything okay?"
     "Andy." she said, barely audible. Her breath was shaky and uneven. The human-like figure began to twitch towards her, its eyes never leaving hers. Stunned by fear, her phone slid out of her quivering hands, smashing loudly on the floor.
     The creature stepped into the light from the window, allowing Majorie to see it more clearly. She shivered in fear as her eyes scanned its body. It had wrinkles covering its face, with blisters peaking through; covering the entirety of its cheeks. The mouth, however, was merely a slit, drawn back on a row of sharp, yellow teeth. The creature's thin legs left mud in its tracks, shaped like hooves, that patterned the kitchen floor. Its chest began to heave, showcasing sparse patches of hair along its pale chest. Bugs crawled along its body as well, leaving and returning inside its navel.
     Marjorie tried to let out a scream, but her breath hitched in her throat. Frozen with fear and wide eyed, she watched the creature slowly inch closed to her. She managed to muster up the courage to grab a large glass bowl beside her. She stared at the creature for a few moments through teary eyes before swiftly heaving the bowl down on its head.
     It screeched madly, blood pouring down onto its face. Its hands grasped at its head and felt where the glass had punctured what looked like the creature's skin.
     As the creature was examining its scalp with its fingers, Marjorie shuffled to the other side of the kitchen, keeping her back against the wall and eyes on the creature. When she made it to the doorway, she bolted towards her bedroom, slamming the door shut and locking it, panting heavily
     "Wake up, Marjorie. Wake up!" her thoughts practically screamed at her. She paced the room, still out of breath. Surely this was a dream, however it felt so real. She could still feel the creature's yellow gaze bore into her eyes. She looked down at her hands, blood trickling from her fingertips where the glass had broken.
     Silence engulfed her house once more. She stood in the middle of the room, listening for any sounds. She breathed out slowly, feeling relief wash over her. "Jesus, Marj." She shook her head again and slapped her palm gently to her forehead.
     Feeling silly for allowing her childish nightmare to affect her, sat on the edge of the bed and took her slippers and robe off.
     Then, suddenly, wham! The bedroom door swung open, creating a hole in the wall behind it. Marjorie jumped back, frantically crawling toward the headboard. The creature was standing in her room once again, this time bloody and angry.
     Majorie noticed the open wound she had created on the creature was now swarming with bugs and letting off an odor. She pulled the hem of her shirt up and tucked her nose into it, trying to keep her composure.
     As the creature drew closer, she reached over and grasped for anything her hands could find. She wrapped her fingers tightly around a digital clock, whipping it at the creature. It simply held its hand up and flung it away from itself.
     Marjorie threw item after item at it; a picture frame, a lamp, a glass cup... nothing seemed to harm the creature. As Marjorie reached her hand over to the empty desktop, the creature began to crawl onto the bed. Its sharp claws dug into the mattress and ripped the sheets with every movement. As it drew nearer, Marjorie could smell the odor emitting from its mouth. At first it simply smelled like garbage, then the scent changed to the smell of rotting bodies. It made Marjorie gag, her eyes watering as she tried to keep them steady on the creature, who was now face to face with her.
     She let out a horrible scream, hoping to wake the neighbors. Her scream was cut off as the creature gripped her shoulder, sending jolts of pain down her arm.
     She screamed out once more, pressing her hands against the creature's sticky chest and pushing with all her might. It fell back slightly, giving Marjorie enough space to jump to the floor and grab the lamp she previously threw at it. Gripping it tightly, she began to crawl slowly towards the door, eyes still placed on the creature.
     As if knowing her plans, the creature scurried to the door, blocking her path. It snarled and growled as it made its way once more towards Marjorie.
     Marjorie did the only thing she could think of; she raised her arms over her head and heaved the lamp on its head. It fell against the floor, letting out a deafening screech. Marjorie took this opportunity to bolt out the door once more.
     Halfway down the hallway, almost towards the stairs, she felt her body being pulled backwards by the neck of her shirt. She slammed against the wall, her body sliding limply down onto the floor. Within a moment, the creature was standing face to face with her again.
     "Pl-please..." she whimpered helplessly. She looked all around her for an escape, or for anything to momentarily immobilize him; nothing. Blood pooled around her head as her vision focused on the creature now inches from her face.
     Their noses were touching at this point. Tears streamed into her hair as she lay on her back, watching the creature inch closer to her.
     All she could see were yellow eyes. Yellow eyes that bore deep into her soul, leaving her breathless. Yellow eyes, and then, nothing. Within moments, she was engulfed by darkness. A never ending darkness...

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This is a piece I wrote for my college's magazine. It was just for fun, so I hope you enjoy reading it!
☹ olive ☻