Into a Black Oblivion

Tap. Tap. Tap.

I wanted to scream from frustration as the sound of dripping water continued to echo from where I stood outside the bathroom door, standing in the hallway, wishing my friend would hurry up.

They were coming from us. It was only a matter of time. Why didn't he realize that? We were running out of time!

Finally, Zach came bolting out of his room. He reached over and grabbed my arm and started running down the hallway.

"Come on!" he shouted, as though I hadn't been ready this entire time.

We ran to the front door and he threw it open, so hard it hit the wall beside us and swung back. We stopped short.

They were already here. They were waiting outside for us.

Before they could grab at us, Zach slammed the door shut again and we ran downstairs to the basement. I stumbled behind him, much slower to him. He continued to yank on my arm to the point I thought he'd pull my shoulder out of the socket.

We reached the bottom of the stairs and ran into the old basement closet that hadn't been used in years. A huge spider web had formed there, with a huge, fuzzy gray spider in the middle of the webs. Normally I would have been freaked out by the arthropod, but I was more terrified of what would happen if the things upstairs caught us.

Zach and I hastily brushed the web away, causing the spider to scuttle away somewhere. We huddled inside the closet and I closed the door, locking it. I didn't know how much good the lock would do, but we had to do whatever it took to be safe.

I don't know how long we were in that closet, but it felt like an eternity. We could hear pounding footsteps upstairs that were strong enough to cause specks of dust to fall on our heads. There sounds of glass breaking and heavy objects being thrown to the ground. They were looking for us.

I moved even closer to Zach, my heart pounding so hard and loud in my chest I thought it would give us away, sweat soaking my hair and clothes, my vision becoming blurry as the worst things imaginable continued to run through my mind.

There was no other way out but the front and back door upstairs, which meant our only best bet was to stay down here, in this closet, until they went away, which wasn't likely at all. They were determined to find us no matter what.

Even in the darkness of the closet, I could still make out the whites of Zach's eyes. He was just as terrified as I was.

"Zach," I whispered. "If we don't make it out of here, I just wanted to tell you I loved you."

He shocked me by cupping my left cheek with his hand and whispering back, "I love you too, Derek. I always have."

He leaned his head down and kissed me on the lips. For a brief moment, I forgot all about what was happening upstairs. For that brief moment, I was in heaven.

Then there was a pounding on the door, startling us. We broke away as we watched the wood on the door splinter, giving away from the force of them trying to break through.

We stood there, holding hands awaiting our fate.

Finally, the door broke through, and they were there.

I closed my eyes, and felt their sharp teeth pierce my throat and instantly saw black.

-Taylor Sark