by Jacob Raya
It sounded terrible, and I mean, horrific, like something was getting ready to charge at me or kill something with the intent to make its death the slowest and most painful it was capable of. I knew it had to be one of those creatures, but once I heard it screech for the first time, I wished I had been born deaf.
The sound made me sick to my stomach, and if I heard it one more time, I would have the urge to start going insane and slowly driven into madness. I knew taking the stairs wasn’t going to cut it, so I went off to try and find another route.
I passed by the other stairwell and noticed a dark shadow. There was a black-looking hand with blood on its claws. It was one of those creatures that was waiting right there. I knew it had to have been waiting for me to go down the other stairwell or for the lights to turn off to get what it wanted; my flesh and beating heart.
As long as I was in the hallway with the lights still on, I had to be okay. But these lights were not going to last for long. I had to come up with something fast before it got pitch dark in here. Once that happened, I’d be dust again and meet my maker.
But that wasn’t going to happen just yet. I walked all the way to the other end of the hallway and noticed there was a bright light coming from one of the windows. As I approached the window, it turned out that the window at the far end of the hallway was overlooking the lobby.
There was a considerable fire surrounding the whole area. I thought this had to be my chance to get out of here alive, as those things hate fire more than any other earthly forms of light. In the corner of my eye, I saw the first set of lights began to die out slowly.
I turned around and still saw the other set of lights barely functioning, but saw the creature itself. It was standing upright and was all black with its piercing white eyes. Its claws were black with blood on them and were huge; long enough to reach the ground.
The creature was only to be described as a nightmare. It looked like it stood at a stunning 8 and a half feet tall, or possibly taller. The beast had those pale white eyes, and its mouth was closed with little bits of teeth exposed with blood all over. It had no ears, and seemed to have three large spikes sticking out of its back.
The spikes blended in with its black skin, and its pale white eyes just stared at me until I forced myself to look the other direction to try and escape before it was too late. I probably only had a minute before the creature would tear me to pieces, so I had to act fast and make every second of the light count.
I took the gun and thought it wouldn’t work against the creature, since they can sense when a threat is imminent, so I used it for a second purpose.
I used the rear end of the gun to break the glass. I climbed over the wall and found that there were balconies on the sides of the hallways on the floors beneath me.
I quickly jumped off from my floor to the next level, but lost my footing and fell two stories, landing on my arm. I was crying out in pain as I noticed that my right arm was broken and had cuts all over it from the shards of glass. I wasn’t going to give up now.
I had to search for Rebecca and get out of this damn place alive. I got up with my remaining energy and took a look outside. I saw nothing. Well, only complete darkness. There were no lights on surprisingly in the buildings across from me; the street lights weren’t working, either. It was pitch black, with my only source of light being the massive fire in the lobby.
As I approached the entrance of the hotel, the light from the fire began to reveal bodies. The light showed a set of bodies scattered all around the front of the hotel with piles of gore. I saw that same black hand resting on the side of the wall, which was roughly 10 feet away from me.
I yelled angrily at the creature, “Come out and show yourself, you coward! Come on!” The creature's hand left the wall, and I heard that terrible screech again. I ran to the other end of the lobby, where there were little bits of fire here and there.
I turned my back and noticed that the light from the fire seemed to reach the bathrooms and maintenance rooms. I walked into one of the maintenance rooms to search and hopefully find anything useful. Instead, I saw a dead child hanging from the ceiling with her lower body missing and eyes gouged out. I thought that this creature was sick in the head and was trying to taunt me by hanging its victims like trophies or something. It was trying to get into my head to make me feel fear like I never had in my life, but it wasn’t going to keep me from saving my Rebecca.
As I walked out of the maintenance room, I found a trail of blood that led across to one of the bathrooms. I followed the path, and halfway through, I heard a faint voice coming from the distance. I followed the cry for help with the trail of blood getting me closer.
As I approached the bathrooms, the voice started to get louder, and it sounded like a woman was sobbing in the restroom. I didn’t know if it was Rebecca or someone else, but either way, they needed my help.
I slowly opened the door to the bathroom and noticed there was a little bit of fire burning. I looked at the walls and saw blood all over and a couple of bodies scattered in the restroom. All the victims were torn to pieces, like they were blown up or something.
I slowly walked into the bathroom where the urinals were, and saw what filled my eyes with dread, and I collapsed to the floor. I closed my eyes, thinking I should just end it all. I got back up and injected the horror into my mind.
Written on the wall in blood by the last stall was:
“We See You.”
I was extremely terrified, as I didn’t even know that these creatures could speak or write, but forget that. I approached the last stall and heard the woman crying and sobbing and saw blood on her legs. I yelled, “Whoever is there, I’m here to help you!”
Then shortly after, a faint voice said, “Matt? Matt, is that you?”
“Rebecca?”
“Babe!”
I barged through the door and found Rebecca, covered in blood with scratches all over her body.
“Honey, what happened to you?”
“No time to explain, Matt. I got attacked by one of those creatures!”
“Who was with you!?”
“I was with a few security guards that were escorting me to my room. We stopped because one of them heard a disturbance in the restroom and didn’t come out. When they opened the door, I noticed that the lights were off and listened to the other guard scream in terror.
The whole hotel went into lockdown, and everyone was frantically trying to get out of the building, but the doors weren’t functioning. The lights started to go off slowly, and then went completely off. Another person managed to start a fire with the rest of the wood from their room and burned almost the whole lobby. By then, nearly all the people in the hotel were dead.
I heard terrorizing screams coming from all the floors of the hotel while I was standing with a few others by the massive fire in the lobby. The lights eventually turned back on, but turned on and off and stayed on for only two seconds at a time.
The rest of the people ran outside, and I followed behind them, but one of them was caught and his head was ripped clean off. The creature landed right in front of us with the man's head in its right claw.
Only six of us and myself were left, and I told them that we would be safe here as long as the fire stays lit. The creature won’t be able to get us and will keep its distance from the fire and us. They yelled and argued and eventually went mad when they heard the bleeding screeches and screams coming from the creatures and bystanders outside.
I ran away into the bathroom, where I started a fire from an air freshener and lighter I found in the maintenance room. I’ve been hiding in here ever since with the lights barely turning on, but this fire was still keeping me alive.”
“What the hell? Honey! Forget all that, it sounds gruesome enough for both of us to get the hell out of here, right?”
“Yes, it sure does! Let’s get the hell outta here!”
“Follow behind me! We’re getting out of here in one piece.”
Wh
en we started to walk out of the restroom, the lights began to turn off slowly. Pretty soon, it was getting extremely dark near us. We walked out of the bathroom and ran towards the front of the lobby.
We came across a few flashlights that were previously used by others before they ran out to their deaths. We had to find a safe place, but as long as we had these flashlights, nothing could stand in our way. We got ready to exit, but Rebecca interrupted me.
“Matt, what are we going to do?”
“This is the plan, honey. All right, we’re going to run as fast as we can, and get as far away from here as possible.”
“How do you suppose we do that? There is nothing that can save us!”
“Yes, there is. There’s a road out there. We’re going to find a car and drive to the nearest woods.”
“That’s suicide, Matt!”
“The creature only likes to feed where there are a lot of humans, so if we seclude ourselves, it will be hard for it to find us. And besides, there could be other people trying to survive out there by lighting fires and whatever needs to be done.”
“I guess there is no other option! Let’s go, and hopefully not get into a trap. And, I hope we do find others besides ourselves fighting for our lives in the middle of nowhere.”
“Don’t worry, we will. You know that we’ll be all right.”
8
Nyctophobia
Rebecca and I ran out into the dark street, with few street lights functioning. Searching all over the place, we eventually found a car that still had the keys in the ignition. With my fingers crossed, I turned the key and the car started.
There was just enough gas for us to get to the woods near the outskirts. “Hurry! Punch it!” Rebecca yelled. I slammed on the gas and started to drive down the road. Hitting obstacles and driving uncontrollably fast, it honestly felt like something from an action movie. It’s a good thing that the car didn’t get too damaged by all the stuff I hit.
Midway through our fuel tank, we were only a few minutes away from the forest. We were hoping to able to find a spot where we could start a fire that would scare those beasts away. “Do you hear that?” Rebecca asked.
“Hear what?” I said.
“Oh my God! Matt!” I looked in my side mirror and saw the creature running on all fours right behind us.
“Go, go! Step on it!”
The creature sounded like it was stomping its feet or legs so hard, like a giant walking on branches. It was moving super fast, and I was trying my best to make it to a stable 100 miles per hour to outrun it.
“Matt! There! Turn to the right!” Rebecca yelled.
I made a sharp turn towards an area that looked to have a little bit of light as well as a cabin of some sort. I put the car in full gear and pushed too hard on the gas, so that the side of the car caught a little spark.
“Oh shit! I think we might be on fire, Rebecca!”
“Don’t pay attention to that, eyes forward, just drive!”
“Let’s hope this works!”
I drove past bushes and some small trees until we came across the lights and cabin. I slammed on the brakes and looked behind me. The creature had fled and was nowhere to be found.
“I think we’re safe.”
“I think so, or hope so,” Rebecca said.
The area we arrived at had so many lights, since it was a ranger station, but it was perfect. That meant extra precautions from those beasts. We exited the vehicle and scouted around. There was a huge fire pit in the center, probably for the rangers, along with a couple of cabins. There was a small fire lit in the pit with a few bodies around it.
“Stay out here, honey; I’m going to have a look inside the cabins.”
“Okay, be careful.”
I entered the first cabin and saw a dead female ranger. She was grasping her handgun, which I retrieved for my safety. I checked the rest of the cabin and stumbled across a rifle and more ammunition. I loaded the gun and put it over my shoulder.
I kept the pistol in my hand and went to the other cabin. Nothing was to be found here, only blood. The beasts had eaten the bodies, and were now searching for their next victims. On the porch, there was kerosene and a light.
“Rebecca?”
“Yes? I’m just over here by the fire.”
“Okay, I got some more kerosene, and we can make the fire bigger. Hopefully, it will last us the whole night, until dawn.”
“Okay, babe. You find anything else?”
“Just some guns and ammunition.” I walked over to the fire pit and lit the most prominent fire that could beat any Cub Scout fire on a camping trip.
“When’s the last time you ate?” I asked.
“Maybe 24 hours ago, but that’s all right, I’m still functioning.”
“No, that’s not okay. I’ll go hunt for some food, you sit here and watch for anything.”
“No, babe, you don’t have to do that! You’ll get yourself killed!”
“I won’t! We need the food, and it will benefit us for a good amount of time-”
There were sudden noises of tree branches breaking in the distance.
“Matt?”
“Just stay there, babe!”
The sounds started to get louder, and seemed like they were approaching us faster. In the distance, we could see a bright light. Then, we heard faint voices blending in with the other sounds.
“Matt, I think there might be others!”
“Let’s wait here to see if there are.”
Out of the woods came a group of five people. Four were holding large torches and guns, and the other was a woman.
“Wait, that’s the chief!” I yelled.
“Good God, it is!”
“Well, long time no see, huh, Matt?” Chief Whitehorse asked.
“Damn, man! I thought I’d never see you again. So, who are the others?”
“Those three with the rifles and torches are my fellow officers, and the only woman is Officer George’s wife, Michelle.”
“Hey, this woman is the one that’s keeping you guys alive longer than you would have been without me!” Michelle yelled.
“I guess you're right, but first things first, Matt, did you find anything useful here?”
“Yes, of course. Guns, ammunition, kerosene, matches, lighters, but sadly no food, but a good amount of water.”
“Well, we’ve got to find some food any way we can, but how much water?”
“Maybe about four days’ worth for two people, since Rebecca and I were the only ones here, but for seven, maybe only about a day.”
“I’ve got an idea.”
“What would that be, Chief?” I asked.
“We wait until dawn, which I’m hoping isn’t too long from now, and go and find a bigger place that houses more survivors. They should have some food and water.”
“I guess we’ve got to go a few more hours without food.”
“We must until we find a safer place. For now, we keep watch and rest.”
“Who’s going to take first watch? Chief?”
“Shh, you hear that?” he whispered.
“No, what?”
“Rookie, behind you!”
A creature came up and grabbed one of the officers, dragging him into the forest.
“Ah! Shit! Get ready; it could be back!”
Standing our ground, we held our guns close to our shoulders and were ready to fire. A few seconds later, the creature returned and came charging at the other two officers.
“Fire now! Shoot it!
We all lit up the creature, but it hardly seemed to do anything, as it had such severe skin. It grabbed the other two officers, tearing off both of their heads and leaving the other with one leg. He was screaming in pain, and we had to figure out a way to get him to safety.
“Hold on, Rookie!”
“Chief, no!”
Chief Whitehorse charged for him at the edge of the forest, where the light was barely visible, and shot into the wilderness.
“I got
you, Rook, now just shoot all the ammo you got!”
There were more gunshots, and I directed Rebecca and Michelle into a cabin.
“Chief, get in here now. The fire should keep it away!” I yelled.
He was getting closer, and finally I got ahold of his hand, and I fell on my back with his hand still in my hand.
“Ahh! Matt, take the guns, you must!”
His hand was ripped off, and I could see the creature dragging the other officer into the woods.
“Now, listen, take my gun and shoot me now!”
“I can’t do that, Chief!”
I ran outside in the open to grab his other hand when he caught the gun from me.
“Chief, no, don’t do it, I got you!”
“I must; I’m not letting this thing take me.”
As soon as he put the gun to his head, he let out yet another painful scream. The creature pulled out his spine, and he was done for. It dragged him into the darkness, and I ran back into the cabin.
“Babe! What happened?! Is Whitehorse all right?!”
“No, he’s gone!”
“We must get out of here now!” Michelle yelled.
“We can’t! Where would we go?!” Rebecca asked.
“If we go south, there’s a chance we could come across a camp!”
“And if not? Then what?” I yelled.
“No time for arguing. Let’s go. Take the torches and follow me!”
We had no other choice, but I refused.
“I’m not going!”
“Neither am I!”
“Then get yourselves killed! I’m going, get me the torches and gun!”
“No, we need them to survive, we should be fine here since the electricity is still working!” I shouted.
“Give it to me now!”
She lunged forward and tried grabbing the gun from the holster. We fought over it, and she kept yelling about how it’s the only way.
“Give me the damn gun, you fool!”
“No, you would just get us killed!”
She went for the torches hanging outside, and I heard a gunshot as soon as she walked out. She fell to the floor, and I sat there in shock with my body restless. I got up and saw Rebecca holding one of the guns Chief Whitehorse dropped.
