Skulduggery Pleasant One Shots

The Unknown

"The oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." 

- H. P. Lovecraft

I tossed and turned, unable to get to sleep. Intrusive thoughts screamed in my brain, flashing short twisted images. A bloody masked man nailing a dead child to the wall. My friends bleeding out beetles. A constant hovering presence, prepared to pounce if I put any part of myself above the bed-sheets. I couldn't escape them.

The presence always felt frighteningly real. My breath burned like acid and my heart beat too loud and fast. I tossed restlessly in a puddle of my own sweat. At least I'll taste salty if eaten. I tossed again, unable to stand the suffocating heat of being completely covered in blankets. I stuck my foot out of the sheets and let it hang over the side of the bed in an attempt to cool down. Feeling nothing around my toes ankle besides chill and empty space, I sighed in relief. It was so refreshing. A heavy sense of dread suddenly weighed in my stomach and I quickly yanked it back into the heat. Why did I do that?! Something could have grabbed my ankle, or attacked it. Stressed and terrified tears welled up in my eyes, slowly rolled down my nose and filled my mouth with the taste of salt. Salt is the taste of fear. That's what salt is: terror, depression and pain.

No longer able to stand the tiny sweltering space under the doona, I poked my head above the covers, immediately feeling watched. Prying my eyes slowly open, I took a fearful glance around the familiar bedroom. Every shadow playing on the walls was a monster, every howl of the wind and rustle of leaves, a murderous grin and slash of the knife. The eerie silence was only punctured by the sounds of my irrational hyperventilation and war in the imagination. My gaze eventually reached the wardrobe, only to see a darker and more solid, humanoid shadow. I stopped breathing and stared at the patch on the wall, paralyzed in fear. I always dreaded the day this would happen. The silence was suddenly too loud. Blood rushed in my ears, the deafening thud of my heart, the sickening damp sounds of saliva. I squeezed my eyes back shut and tried to take a deep calming breath that sounded more like a rock rattling in a can. My features buried into my clammy hands. I always do this. There is nothing there, it's just another shadow or a coat. Regardless of knowing there was nothing there, I still had to turn on my bedside lamp to make sure. This was more for my comfort than any actual purpose. I flicked on the lamp and burning light assaulted my eyes. I gave myself a few seconds to adjust to the lighting before apprehensively gazing over to the corner. Just as I thought, there's nothing there-

There's someone there. A man was standing completely still in the corner of the room, smiling at me with wide shiny eyes.

"Hello Stephanie," he whispered in hushed tones. If 'silence' was a person, I figured that's what it would sound like. I couldn't move. It was actually happening. Tears pricked my eyes. There was a stranger in my room watching me sleep. How long had he been there? I watched helplessly as he approached me, still wearing his haunting manic grin. His hand reached out and gently caressed my crusty cheek. His hands were icy like a freshly dug up corpse. His touch felt nonexistent, like a void. "I decided to pay you a little visit," he continued in that disturbing sound sucking voice. I was convinced he'd be able to whisper in the middle of a construction site and every word would be heard. I looked away, his appearance hurt my eyes. He was pure darkness with no defined features besides his moonlight eyes and manic grin. His figure and face was blurred due to the fact he seemed to suck the light out of the air.

"Don't look away from me," he rasped, painfully pricking his fingernails into cheek and yanking my head back to face him. I gasped as more tears stained my anxious countenance.

"W-who, wh-what ar-re y-you?" I warbled, chin wobbling and body shaking from the cold and fear slowly seeping into my bones.

His pale silver eyes lit up with an unnatural light and the traumatising grin spread up to his ears, thinning to a slit. "I'm so glad you asked," he slurred breathily into my ear. "I'm the Unknown. Every haunting shadow and unexplained whisper. Every eerie silence and uncanny feeling you're being watched. Every monster lurking under the bed, the closet and the basement. I'm the unexplained chills you get, the increasing feeling of apprehension, the touch against your skin you can't locate the source of. I am everywhere, not just with you, but everyone. I'm always there, watching, waiting, scheming. I'm the one who watches you when there's no one there." He pulled away from me slowly and stood unnaturally still. "Have a nice night, and remember: I'll always be there, waiting." And with that he dissipated as if he were made of no more than fog, leaving me petrified and alone in my room. No, not alone. I've never been alone. We've never been alone. He's always there. Watching, waiting...

But for what?

There was one thing I knew amongst the sobs and terror: I was never going to sleep again.

What is this you ask? I have no idea! I wanted to try and write horror and ended up pushing my problems onto Valkyrie and personifying the unknown. YAY! I don't own the picture. What would you do if this happened to you? What do you fear at night? What is your worst nightmare?

What does your unknown do to you?

Thank you and goodnight! *checks time* Thankyou and good evening!