Horror one-shots

Delve into a Nightmare

Have you ever questioned why nightmares exist? Why the human brain brings upon you the most frightening of images, sounds or memories of mistakes long since passed all because someone told you a scary story? How curious to think that a simple tale told in the midst of a thunderstorm or by the firelight in the dead of night could send you into a state of panic as you try to drift off into the world of the unknown...

A clock chimes signaling the time, the ghostly gongs echoing in the emptiness.

...Well...Let me tell you a story...I cannot promise it will ease your mind but it may leave you intrigued and maybe even a little...disturbed.

Close your eyes and take a deep breath, calm your nerves as you sit in silence. Allow the sounds of that which surrounds you to come forward to create a scene behind your eyelids as the world materializes before you...

Hollowed walls littered with splintering wood as the wind outside howled causing the windows to rattle, the old floor boards creak beneath your feet as soft whispers seep into your mind as you wander aimlessly through the empty house. Around you faint traces of light guide you to a staircase that was divided in two, one set leading up to rotting floors and cracking glass...the floors above a ghostly reminder of what was once there. The empty shell of a loving home ravished by bloodied flames and a hatchet left to rot.

The others led down...down into an endless abyss that beckoned you forward with no light to guide your way, your footsteps heavy from walking but they continued....Pulling you down...down...down...to where no one could hear your bloodied screams as your mind slowly drifts into madness as the darkness that embodies you swallows you whole...You try to cry out, to scream and wail but only silence answers you as the world you created began to disappear leaving you to wander in your own agony. Your breathing becomes ragged and shallow as you try to catch your breath and think of a solution, you're determined to get out...determined to find something to guide you home and back to the safety of your own domain...

But there's no light to guide you, left alone in a dark void with the mangled and twisted voices of the damned to keep you company.

"They don't exist, this isn't real! I can just wake up and I'll be home again!" You think but as your pulse begins to race, the rapid beating of your heart pounding in your chest you come to realize that even with your eyes open everything's black...

"W-Where's the light? I'm awake! I should be able to see to get out of here!" But you're not...you never were...Another creak from above you sends shivers down your spine as hot breath caresses the back of your neck making your every fiber stand on end. Paralyzed with the fear of thinking...of knowing that you weren't alone. That someone else was there starring...watching you from afar when they could be right behind you, your palms begin to sweat as your feel the heat disappear and the breathy laugh of an unknown being shrieks from right beside you. You turn to run but with no light you have no idea where you're going, the laughter becomes louder and louder as they call your name from the darkness...You swear they're right behind you that someone is chasing you and that if you were to just run fast enough you would escape from this hell that your mind has pulled you into.

After what feels like an eternity the loud shrieks begin to dissolve as you feel your body being shaken, cold streaks of salty tears run down your face as your eyes widen at the scene unfolding in front of you. Light...very faint at first like a flickering candle burning in the wind but with each step forward, with each harboring breath you can feel the muscles along the sides of your face constrict pulling up to yield a smile as the light embraces your warmly. The feeling of a loving embrace holding you close as you're overwhelmed by the feeling of safety and warmth...

Now open your eyes...

...Welcome back to the land of the living....