Short Stories

Thriller (1)

Salina swung her flashlight behind her, the beam splitting through the darkness as if it was solid.

"Who's there?" She whispered, swinging her flashlight all around her. There didn't seem to be a soul in sight.

It was the middle of the night. Not a sound could be heard, it was too quiet.... too cold. Not even the crickets outside, or the rain against the roof, or the hooting of the owls in the wood. Simply the quiet stillness, as if it were blocking out every other noise.

She took a tentative step forward, flinching when the floorboard creaked loudly below her feet, splitting through the silent air. Once again, she shined her flashlight around, making sure nothing had heard or seen her.

Salina couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that something was... watching her. Ever since she had woken up in a cold sweat from a nightmare, which she couldn't remember, she felt as if something was out to get her.

Now that she thought of it, as she continued to creep slowly forward, what was her nightmare about? The only thing she could remember was...

CRUNCH!

Salina froze. She could feel the flashlight trembling in her hands, her feet stopped moving. Her heart was beating hard against her chest, and she had a feeling whatever made that sound could hear it too...

SSSK...!

Salina's breath came in ragged gasps. The light beam in front of her wobbled, due to her hands shaking uncontrollably.

"W-who's there?" Salina choked out, trying to raise her voice slightly to seem more brave.

....CRUNCH...

....CRUNCH, CRUNCH!

"L-leave me alone!" Salina sobbed. "Please..."

.....SSSK....

Salina moved her flashlight around, trying desperately to find the cause of the sound. But no matter where the light shone, she couldn't see anything other than the cracks in the walls, the dusty floorboards.

"Where are you?" She whispered.

But there was no response...

After a few minutes of deathly silence, Salina finally moved her foot. Stepping forward as quietly as possible.

Then another step. And another. Easy goes, Salina. She thought. Just don't make a sound...

She was beginning to regret stepping out of her room in the first place. Should she turn around? She missed her bedsheets, the safety of her night-light. She wasn't quite sure why she had left, maybe it was instinct. Ever since that nightmare...

Ugh. What was it about? She couldn't remember.

Salina stepped forward, making sure to keep quiet. The noise seemed to have gone now, but she wasn't quite sure.

Wait. Where was she? Where was she going? Salina stopped in her tracks, swishing her light around. She didn't even remember walking down the stairs....

....Why was she in the basement?

....this didn't seem good.

"What... am I doing here?" Salina muttered, aiming her flashlight at a stack of boxes. She looked above her, her flashlight reflecting off a bit of cobweb. A spider was centered in the middle.

She hated spiders. But that was of her least concerns.

"Ok... how... did I get here, though?" Maybe the adrenaline was making her body do weird things, make its own decisions.