Hope in the Hearth

by Jacob Raya

  “Honey? Rebecca?”

  “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, Matt! I had to do it! She would have gotten us killed!”

  “I know, honey; we’re fine now. Hopefully, it was for the best.”

  “I don’t think so! I’m a murderer now!”

  “No, don’t say that about yourself-”

  I heard a distant sound of branches breaking, and one of those creatures came out with a deer carcass. “The damn thing is taunting us!” “Shoot it!” Rebecca yelled.

  I began to fire my rifle, and the creature fled back into the forest. The sound of the gunfire made my eardrums hurt a bit, but it was worth it to scare the beast away, hopefully.

  “I guess it’s back to searching for food? We’re going to be here for another few hours until daylight!”

  “No, babe, don’t!”

  “Yes, we need it. I won’t be gone for long. Just sit tight, I’ll be back with some supper.”

  “I’ll be praying for you!”

  I walked away from the cabin to the edge, where the light barely reaches the woods. I turned on my flashlight and saw a beast standing in front of me. It didn’t want to come any closer, but it was looking at me. Suddenly, I felt an excruciating pain in my back.

  I yelled and touched the area, and found blood all over my hand. The creature in front of me was gone.

  “MATT!”

  I heard Rebecca screaming from a distance and ran towards the fire pit. I was still able to run with the pain in my back, but forced myself to get to her. When I got there, she was gone, and there were a few blood spots and the wooden log she was sitting on. I loaded my gun and cried out to her.

  “Rebecca? Rebecca?”

  “MATT!”

  I heard her scream again, and it was coming from the edge of the woods. I ran towards the darkness and started firing my weapon like a lunatic. I finally reached her, and she had a few scratch marks, and her left leg was cut open. She was still able to walk, but we had to get back to the fire circle.

  “Oh my, Rebecca!”

  “Don’t let your feelings get in the way now, help me up!”

  I got her to her feet and started to walk back towards the fire circle. It wasn’t too far away, only like 60 feet away. I injured myself, so the both of us were walking pretty slowly. Halfway there, she took my hand and said to me, “Babe, if we don’t make it tonight, I’ll see you in the next life.”

  “Don’t talk like that, Rebecca, we’ve just got to reach that fire, and we’re safe!”

  “It’s too late.”

  “No, it’s not!”

  She took my hand, and we were only a few feet away from the fire. I was closing my eyes for a good three seconds at a time. With blood filling my mouth and nostrils, I started to see only darkness in front of me. I felt like I wanted to fall and give up.

  I thought I couldn’t handle any more as Rebecca’s hand was slowly leaving mine. I turned around and saw the unthinkable. She was bleeding all over her neck with a scratch mark on her throat. I wondered where the creature could have come from.

  “Oh no! Rebecca! Rebecca!”

  She fell to the floor with blood spilling all over her body. Right beside her was spots of black that must have been blood from the creature. It must have quickly attacked her and escaped into the darkness that was right next to us. It came back right behind her, screeching in pain. It picked at her quickly and tore her in half!

  I yelled something that no one could translate and went for my gun. I thought, I’m going not to let it get away with this and I'll kill it. I got up and ran into the patch of darkness. I shone my light and saw the two white eyes staring at me.

  They shifted, and I felt a sharp pain hit my chest. I had blood all over my chest. I yelled at the creature, “Come on! Is that all you got, you damn bastard?”

  I walked closer and felt another pain, only this time I felt it on my back again to where it must have reached my spine. The creature was standing right in front of me. I saw the black hand again come slowly over my body, sticking its claw into my chest. It slowly ripped off my left arm. I screamed, crying out for someone to save me, but realizing that no one would. I was left here alone. It ripped off my legs, and I was left there with one arm.

  I screamed in agony, and my vision started to get extremely blurry. I saw little bits of thorns above me from the creature’s back. The light behind me began to die out. I felt this was my end, and screamed for God's help.

  I thought, I’m not going to let this bastard kill me! I grabbed the gun next to me and took a quick shot at it. It screeched in pain and cut my stomach open, where my intestines spilled out. At that point, I couldn't see anymore but could still hear the creature screeching. I felt the gun’s trigger and put my finger on it. I put it up to my head and said, “I’ll see you soon, Rebecca…”

  I pulled the trigger and saw nothing but darkness.

  Sooner or later, a little patch of light started to shine through, and I felt like I was laying on something soft. I began to feel my hands and legs to see if they were still there. Sure enough, they were. I could feel my entire body, but only saw a little patch of light coming from the corner of my eye. I tried to turn but couldn’t. I looked to my right and saw Rebecca there.

  I was lying on my bed and felt my face covered in tears. I sat up and noticed that the light was coming from a street light outside. At this moment, I knew it must have all been a nightmare and none of that stuff happened. I was going to be able to take Rebecca on our honeymoon trip and have a family in the upcoming years.

  I didn’t want to wake Rebecca up, and thought I would tell her the whole dream in the morning. I checked the clock, and it was 2:45 in the morning. I knew that everything was okay. I lay back down on my bed and reached over to my bedside to pet Ellie. I felt her head and ears. She was making the same old weird noises that she always does when she is fast asleep.

  I put the covers back over me and checked the room one last time. I thought that I should check on my parents and family as well. But, they should all be okay. In the dream, my cousins, neighbors, and friends all died, but it was just a dream. They're all right, so my cousins and family are safe and sound. I’ll call them in the morning to say hello.

  I haven't spoken to them in months. And give my parents my love, too. I turned to my side and gazed at the curtains. In the corner of the room, I could see two white dots. I thought it was all just me and that nightmare I had. I covered my face up with the blanket and heard something approach my bedside. I peered over and saw those white dots. In the corner of my lamp post was a black hand with long claws resting on the post.

  I turned the other way and said to myself, “It’s all just in my head. I need to go back to sleep. We're safe. Nothing can harm us. It was all just a nightmare.”

  I closed my eyes and felt it get closer to me. I felt the claws slowly brush against my back, and I closed my eyes tighter and tighter with every exhale releasing fear. I clung to my bed sheets and kept my eyes shut with full force.

  Eventually, I started to feel the claws leave my back. I quickly put my head up and still saw the two white dots next to me. I went back to my comfort zone underneath my bed sheets and prayed to God and hoped that it was just another dream.

  9

  A Catastrophe of Terror

  In my senses, I turned over to face the creature. I could see nothing. Just pitch darkness and a feeling of agony and hatred. It felt that the monster just wanted to kill me and get it over with, but wanted me to suffer and look at it straight in its eyes so that I would fear it. I reached out and touched it. I felt something icy and rough.

  The creature's skin was more laborious than an alligator's skin and stiffer than the coldest temperature known to humanity. Maybe that is why when the beast is in the same room as another person or me it gets freezing.

  It felt that the room temperature had dropped so much it felt that there was a snowstorm in my room. I reached out even further, finally standing up. I felt the creature touch
my arm with its long, scaly claws.

  I didn’t know what to do and decided to try and find a light source. I walked a few steps and felt a lamp. I turned it on, and shockingly, the creature was gone, but even more, I found myself in a room that looked the same as my room back home.

  The only difference was that the room was crystal clear with white walls. The walls in my room were like a dark reddish color, and this room also had different types of lamps and lamp stands.

  They almost looked futuristic, and I became curious and tried to open the door to exit the room. I looked back and barely even noticed Rebecca sleeping and quietly opened the door. The hallway was the same color as the room; a pale white color with the halls extended over 100 yards or more.

  I sauntered out and found other places that were just like mine. Eventually, I walked to the end of the hall and saw a man standing guard with a gun. I hesitated to continue, but wanted to know where the hell I was.

  “Excuse me, sir, do you happen to know where I’m at or what this place is?”

  “Sir. A lot of our guests tend to forget why they're here, so I’ll lead you to the head of this facility.”

  “Okay, thank you. It’s much appreciated.”

  “No problem.”

  That was strange. I thought he would deny me and tell me to get back to my room. And if I refused, would threaten to shoot me or something.

  I followed him down a dark hallway, in which he lit a fire in a hearth that was next to me. As we walked further down the hall, we approached a room where it looked like a man was playing chess by himself. The armed man opened the door and let me inside. I strolled towards the man sitting down in a rather fancy-looking chair but wearing run-down clothes.

  “You must be Matt,” he said.

  “Um, yes, that is my name. How do you know that?”

  “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Bernard McKinney; I’m the head of this facility.”

  “Okay? And what exactly is this place?”

  “Mainly to protect all the survivors from those damn things!”

  “You mean this is a safe haven?”

  “Yes, yes it is. I started this place when those things broke containment, and the supposed government officials had those things intact, but it turns out they didn’t. So, a few dozen others and I rose up and took over this facility.”

  “You guys killed everyone that used to be here?”

  “Absolutely not! This facility was the original place where those creatures broke containment. When we got here, all the researchers were dead.

  I mean, everyone was dead. There were no survivors to be found!”

  “None at all?”

  “Nope, none. It was the most horrific scene I have ever witnessed, and haunts me every night when I try to go to sleep. Which is why I stay up at night and sleep during the day.”

  “Wait, so how did my fiancé and myself end up here?”

  “When we found you two at the hotel, your wife was knocked out cold out in the lobby, and you were sleeping in your hotel room on the fourth floor.”

  “So, my fiancé getting killed by one those things and shooting myself was all a dream?”

  “Well, of course! You're alive, for now. You did dream all that, but before you hit your head on a rock back at the ranger station, your fiancé was unconscious as well in a cabin.”

  “Oh, really? So, Rebecca did kill Michelle? And Chief Whitehorse is dead?”

  “I have no clue who Michelle or Chief Whitehorse is, but it sounds like you and Rebecca have been through a lot of shit in the past 20 hours.”

  “Yeah. We have. We escaped our hotel and rushed to that ranger station in which we found those people, and all hell broke loose from there.”

  “Yeah, so we found you and Rebecca knocked out cold. You were out from hitting your head, but we don’t know how Rebecca got knocked out. Besides that, what matters is that the both of you are safe.”

  “But how did you guys even find us in the first place?” Matt asked.

  “Well, shortly after we found out that the creatures were spreading like wildfire across the country, the originals, as we called ourselves, traveled to the nearest haven. All of us arrived in the middle of Brooklyn Street about a block away from your hotel and saw hundreds of people dead, cars in flames, and just a disaster; an apocalyptic scenario.”

  “Damn, and I was knocked out during all of this?”

  “Yes, you were, Matt. But luckily, your hotel had plenty of light to keep those creatures away for a decent amount of time. And in that time, we set out to search for survivors and came across many other corpses within your hotel. Most of them were dead due to self-inflicted wounds, while a few others were killed by other peers that had gone insane.”

  “Why would they go insane?” I asked eagerly.

  “Because they never thought that they would survive and may as well be better off dead before they let those creatures get to them first. It’s possible that the creature made them lose their sanity due to their blood-boiling screech.”

  “In my dream that almost made me shoot myself with the gun I had.”

  “By that time, you were already in your fantasy land but got lucky that eventually the search team found you guys on the outskirts of town in the woods at the ranger station. And the fact that the whole place was still functioning with electricity and had fires blazing around the perimeter.”

  “Well, thank you for that. And I do feel lucky that one of those beasts did not kill Rebecca and I. The light and fires saved us from hell. And I’m pretty sure Rebecca will appreciate it, but she isn’t up yet. Do you know when she will be awake?”

  “She should be able to get herself up by tomorrow morning.”

  “Wait, what time is it currently?”

  “It’s 2:34 a.m. at the moment.”

  “Not too long from dawn.”

  “Nope, we are not, and that is when we’ll be able to search for more survivors.”

  “Oh, and before I forget, what was it like when you first got here?” I asked curiously.

  “Just blood and fire everywhere. There were two deceased guards in the front of the facility with one of them missing his head and the other torn in half. Their blood was covering the entrance, and their intestines were spilling out.

  Luckily, we had weapons, but we were sure that these creatures would be too strong for us to even lay a finger on them. I also forgot to mention before that I didn’t know they hated light, especially the sun, but by the time we found the facility a disaster, it was daylight.

  We moved in closer to the entrance and managed to haul the door open. Inside were many bodies, probably over 16 just lying around torn to pieces or missing eyes or arms, legs, whatever! They were tossed and scattered here and there, and the smell of blood and human flesh covered the entire place, which made it extremely difficult to get past the first area.

  As we walked down the halls, there were more dead bodies and blood scattered everywhere. By this time, we were used to the smell, the sights, and the whole atmosphere itself. We eventually came to the security room where the cameras were. We had someone check the cameras to make sure that there were none of those creatures to be found. Soon enough, we found the source of power and turned on all the lights.

  We knew to do this, as there was a letter left from the recent leader of the facility. In which he stated that the creatures hated light and that we should keep the windows or blinds open at all times during the day. And of course, the lights on at night.

  We set up everything that we may need to survive, such as the lights, of course, weapons, food, water, and security. After a few weeks, more and more people started to ask for our help, and we housed as many people as possible.

  After what happened to my family, I vowed to take care of as many as I could, and hopefully save more lives than those damn things can take!”

  “What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “Not at all, Matt. I would say that it was a terrible fate for
my family and myself and led me to a path of torment and drugs as well as alcohol.

  I came back home from work on a Saturday hoping that the next day I would be able to spend time with my wife and kids. I drove up and saw that one of our front windows was broken, and I immediately called the police, as I thought there was a robbery that had taken place.

  I busted through the door and found two trails of blood, one leading upstairs and the second to the kitchen. I followed the one into the kitchen and saw a man with a vampire mask and a gun lying on his stomach. His ears were missing, and as I turned him over, noticed his whole face was missing and the vampire mask had been placed back on his face. I removed the vampire mask and thought to myself, I’ve seen that face before. It was the face of that infamous serial killer from Florida!”

  “No way!” I said with excitement.

  “Yes, it was. Franklin Ryder. He was the one that killed over 15 people in Florida and killed and raped over eight women when he ran away to Texas.

  I remember reading a news article that said to keep an eye out for him, as he was on the run from the FBI and has been for the past three years. The bastard was killed by one of the creatures and was left to die. I returned to reality and was too late for what was to come.

  I heard my wife scream at the top of her lungs. I rushed upstairs yelling and screaming in panic. As I approached the room, I noticed the door had been busted open. I rushed in and turned on the light. Never before did I ever want to see this in my life. My wife was torn in half on the bed with blood all over the bed sheets and her head severed from her body halfway across the room.

  I couldn’t bear to see it, and checked to see if my kids were all right. I broke into my boys’ room and slipped on something wet. The bunk bed had blood dripping from the top, and my two sons were missing. I searched the room and found both of them underneath the bed, covered in blood, and their arms and legs ripped off. My wife, my two gorgeous sons, they were only 6 years old! What monster, what bastard could have done such a thing?