Etiqueta: Short Story

Darkness

~ Mariana Cisneros ~ Deja un comentario

The night was freezing, so I closed all the windows and curtains. I curled up on the couch with a blanket and a cup of tea on the sofa, enjoying the lit chimney. It was the middle of winter. I tried watching TV, but the weather asked for something less busy, so I grabbed my book and continued right where I left off. Or at least, I tried to, but the book just wasn’t doing it for me.

Thunder made the windows shake. I could hear the wind outside. A shiver ran down my spine as I pulled my blanket tighter. I stared at the fire, thinking “Great. Just what I needed. Just my blanket, my fire, my couch and the worst storm I’ve lived through. No reason to think about the party I didn’t go to. About my friends having fun without me. About…» My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of another thunder strike, closer this time.

I’ve never been any good with thunderstorms, which would be obvious to anyone who had seen just how natural it was for me to panic when they came close. I sighed as I uncovered my face. I heard the news about the storm in the morning, which was my only valid excuse for not going to the party. That was not the full truth, though. In reality, I didn’t want to see him, neither did I want to deal with everyone else asking questions, I just wanted my space and the peace my house offered. But now, maybe, just maybe, I was starting to regret it.

Memories came flooding back, like flashes from the thunder. Loneliness had never been my strongest suit, even less so on rainy days like this. Another thunder struck down and took the lights out. Only the flicker of the fire remained.

The house creaked, complaining of the weather. I was frozen in place. I eyed around the living room, and everything seemed normal. I sighed, shook my head, and took my phone. The Internet was down, but at least the light coming out from the screen was a comforting sight. I wanted to go into my gallery and revisit my photos, but I knew better than that. But still, I couldn’t help it, so I opened the Photos app and started scrolling. I knew which specific photo I was looking for, and I clicked on it. It showed a sunny day near the lake, outside our college, a couple of years ago. I could feel the warmth of his smile. The way he wrapped my waist with his arm, making me feel protected. I tried to zoom on us, and couldn’t. My phone was not doing what I wanted; instead, it zoomed into a random point in the background, where I saw something weird. There was something in the picture that I had never seen before, not when we first took it, not on any other time that I had revisited that memory. I couldn’t distinguish it clearly; it looked like a shadow, long and dark, but it was impossible to see exactly who or what it was. I kept trying to focus on us, but instead of that, my phone changed the photo. This time, I had no time to focus on me, or him, or anything. Only on the shadow in the background, closer this time.

It was eerie. I couldn’t see a face, but it looked like a human shadow. Although a little bit taller than a normal person. I shivered as I tried to make out the details of it. I closed the gallery and left the turned-off phone on the table. I curled up on the couch, covered by the blanket, while watching the fire. How many times had I seen that photo before, without noticing anything? Why couldn’t I focus on moving on, forget about it, and return to my comfort zone? All I could think of was the shadowy figure, covering my every thought. I tried to distract myself from that, center my brain on his face, but now, I could only think of a shadow.

I stood up and walked to the light switch on the wall. I tried turning on the lights in the living room, but nothing happened. I went back to the sofa for my phone, and instead of browsing on it, used it as a flashlight and walked to the kitchen, thinking that at least I could turn on the stove and heat some water. While waiting for the kettle to be done, I sat in front of the window of the sink and looked outside.

The darkness was deep, only briefly interrupted by those intermittent thunders coming down around me. The contrast of the light with the darkness resonated with me. I had been feeling unlike myself for a while, like I was floating away, only drifting, barely above water. Another flash came down, coordinated with the ring of the kettle, filling the kitchen with its warm smoke. I poured the water into my cup and stayed by the window, trying to see the yard or anything from outside. But I couldn’t distinguish anything, only the darkness, feeling ever closer to me. I shook my head and walked back to the living room. The fire was almost dead, so I just curled, enjoying the last bit of warmth the fire could give.

Even though I knew better, I took my cellphone once again and went into our conversation. He was blocked, of course. I had to. But I couldn’t bring myself to delete his messages. I reread some of them, trying to make myself remember the pain that had forced me to make the decision. I so wanted to hate him and not miss him. I clicked his profile picture, and instead of his face, I was met by a shadow.

I dropped my phone, a loud thud on the floor. What the hell? How did that happen? Maybe he blocked me, too? When people block you then you are not allowed to see their picture, right? Also, it could be the lack of internet, making it unable to load properly, showing a shadow instead of a photo. I picked up my phone slowly, checked that the screen hadn’t cracked and left it on the table, face down.

The fire was about to go out, and I had no more wood to burn. That was something that he used to help me with. It was about to go completely dark, aside from the brief flickers provided by the storm. Another flash, a big one, which instinctively made me close my eyes. But when I did, I could only see the shadow, ever closer to me. I opened my eyes in a panic.

I sat on the couch, dropping the blanket from my shoulders. I looked around me, afraid of what I think I just saw. The house was empty, long shadows from the furniture around me caused by the dying fire. The cold was starting to surround me. I grabbed my phone, I could try calling someone, but who? My family was too far away to do something, less so with this much rain. The police wouldn’t believe me if I told them there was a shadow stalking me. The girls were at the party. Him? He had been my safe space for so long that I could hardly think of anyone else in a hurry. But that would mean unblocking him, and accepting I needed him, and that was a line I couldn’t allow myself to cross. So I tried doing the next best thing and forced myself to imagine his voice calming me down. No words came to my mind, only the silence of his absence.

I tried meditating. Once I finally had my breathing at a normal pace, I opened my eyes, and I saw how the fire died. The moment the last spark disappeared, there was a loud bang on the front door. I froze in place. The sudden lack of lights around me, the cold starting to grow from the rain, and the thumping on the door made my previous attempts to calm down gone in an instant. Instinctively, I grabbed my cellphone, pointing upwards in an attempt to light my place, but it was dimmer than usual. Much dimmer. The darkness around me was thick, and I felt it all around me. I shivered and tried to light my way to the room. I walked, looking behind me every few steps. I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. 

Once I crossed my room door, I locked it behind me and sat on the floor, the blanket around my shoulders as I unlocked my phone and browsed through my contacts list. He wasn’t there, of course, since I had deleted his contact number to keep myself from calling him, but I kept looking for him, the only person who could bring me any sort of comfort and peace and safety. Each scroll was harder and harder, as the darkness around me kept covering me. The light of the cellphone kept dimming. I only had 5% of battery left. I dropped the phone on the floor next to me, wanting to save that remaining light for when I needed it more, and I hugged my legs closer to me as the thunder made the windows shake. I closed my eyes and started humming to distract myself.

Another loud thump, this one closer than the last. Much closer. Enough to feel sure that it was a knock on the door of my bedroom. From inside.

I let out a silent scream, I covered my mouth with my hand, and crawled away from the door. I could see a darker something close to me. I moved until my body crashed into the bookshelf in the room. My eyes never left the shadow that was now inside my room. I could see how it slowly moved towards me.

I started to panic, my breathing was faster by the second.I tried to move away, but there was nowhere to go. At least, nowhere away from the darkness. If only he were here. If only he hadn’t left me so alone.

My back bumped on the wall; there was nowhere else to move, and the shadow cornered me. I felt the coldness envelope me as it launched at me. Once it did, I felt nothing. Everything around me went dark, like floating in a void, isolated from everything. Was I even alive anymore? No light, no sound. I couldn’t even feel my own body. And as soon as that feeling came, it went away. The light was back.

The door of my room opened with a loud crash, and he walked inside. He kneeled in front of me and hugged me. I hugged him back, confused about what just happened and his presence. How had he known I needed him? He said some calming words, and as I relaxed in his embrace, I could see over his shoulder that the shadow was retreating to the corner, disappearing.

«I tried calling you, but couldn’t reach you. I came as soon as I heard the news about the storm. I am here». And as much as I wanted to cry, to bawl my eyes out, I couldn’t stop looking at the odd spot where the shadow had been, afraid that, as soon as I looked away, it would come back.

My darkest hour

~ Mariana Cisneros ~ Deja un comentario

After a long day of work, I finally walked into my room, changed into my pajamas and went back to the kitchen to have something to eat before going to bed. From there, I could see Anger sleeping peacefully at her bed, undisturbed by my noise, used to my nightly routine. I ignored her as I poured some milk into a cup and grabbed a toast with some strawberry jam. I sighed as I saw my reflection on the oven, tired and untidy. I shook my head and sat by the counter.

The night was very calm and dark. I could almost say, surprisingly so, for a night with a Full Moon, but there may have been many clouds blocking it.

I finished my toast and milk, washed my dishes and went on with my night. I walked back into my room and turned on my side table lamp. I had been reading a short story compilation lately, one each night, as a way to lull myself into sleep, but the past few ones had failed to grab me, and made me consider change genres altogether, and so, with a romance novel that was recommended by a coworker, I slipped under the covers and started to read.

The pace was relaxing, the setting was comfy, and the character dynamic was sweet. It felt like a hug, and it managed to lull me a little. When I finished the chapter, and returned the book to the side table, I noticed something. I could barely see outside the light of the lamp.

The closet door was slightly open, I couldn’t remember if I actually closed it but somehow, when everything was as dark as it was, that disturbed me a little. As soon as I got up to close it, I could feel something weird behind me. I turned immediately, but couldn’t see anything at all. I went back to my bed, scared to turn the light of the lamp off.

I sat there, without moving. There was absolute silence in my apartment, which felt inexplicably eerie. I got under the covers and turnt to the side, taking deep breaths to calm myself. I spent a good five minutes trying to get my nerves in check. I tried picturing the couple from the book, but I could not focus on them. Only the darkness existed in my mind, my focus being on the oppressive silence. I even tried to read a few more chapters from the book to try and distract my brain, but I could not shake off this feeling that something was somehow wrong.

I checked my cellphone to see what time it was. It was out of battery. Bad night to forget my charger at my desk. I could go look for it, but that would mean going out of my bed, and the idea seemed crazy

So, I sat on the bed and started to analyse everything. I was alone, Anger was asleep outside of my room and if she wasn’t upset, then I probably shouldn’t be either. Too many horror movies could do that to your brain.

I turnt to my side, closed my eyes hard, and tried to force myself to sleep by not thinking too much. And it may have been working, until I heard a noise. A very distinctive one. My door was opening. The creak was clear. I started feeling really nervous, cold sweat down my spine.As much as I wanted to check the door, verify if I had imagined it, I was frozen in place. And the creaking kept going

I closed my eyes harder, trying to convince myself I was just imagining noises and that I was about to fall asleep. But I could slowly feel a dark presence start to fill the room. A feeling that I couldn’t ignore any longer. I sat down on my bed, and glanced over at the now slightly open door.

My room was…empty. No one was in front of my bed, but the cold feeling was still there

I looked around, straight at the darkness, looking for something, until I finally decided to look down. A wave of relief took over me. There, watching me from beside my bed, was Anger. My cute little pup was just looking up at me by the edge of the mat I have in front of my bed

As soon as she noticed me watching her, she jumped into my bed, and crawled into my arms, taking my fears away. It may be dark, but at least I am not alone

I sighed and relaxed. I curled under my covers with Anger next to me. I finally started to fade away into a sleepless dream

And then, a sound made me shiver from head to toe. A snore, coming from the living, where Anger’s bed was. And immediately, the door shut with a crash.

I froze in bed, feeling how whatever thing that was in the bed with me started to move, the sound of bones cracking next to me filling the previous oppressive silence. And as much as I opened my eyes, I couldn’t see anything. I tried to scream, but something was pressing against my mouth. A crushing weight pushed me into my bed.

The last thing I saw before losing myself into the darkness was a pair of red yellowish eyes in front of my face and sharp white teeth…

A trip with the guys

~ Mariana Cisneros ~ Deja un comentario

We all got the invitation. We were supposed to go to the forest, to the old cabins and stay the whole weekend.

We were received by a young man, who cheerfully invited us in, showed us around, and welcomed us in. The first thing we did was to look around the place, explore the cabin, discover it had several rooms and a kitchen. It was nice and felt cozy. I chose a room that looked out into the forest.

After that, we joked around and started preparing the grill. We saw some trees around the edge of the forest that were already cut down, so we had plenty of wood available. We all had brought some food from home, as well as some drinks. Our host took out of the cabin a cooler stuffed with beers and then swiftly helped us build the fire, placing the wood in the ideal places for it to lit for hours. I was still uncertain if he was the one who had sent the invite or not.

I talked about that with the boys, and one of them, Paul, said that this had been his idea. We all cheered him on, and we opened our first beer of the trip. I went to check the grill while the rest drank to his name, taking some seats around the fire. The host disappeared inside the cabin and when he came back, he was carrying a huge chunk of meat for the fire. The mix of spices in the meat smelled delicious. When I saw that,I got some sausages ready, they were crisp and juicy. Kevin had even brought marshmallows, which got a laugh from all of us. Paul got up and helped the host with the meat, chatting, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying with the noise of the bonfire.

I looked around, getting an eerie feeling from the forest behind me. I turned my head over there, but I was only welcomed by darkness and nature. I turned back to the fire and closed my eyes. I tried to feel good, focusing on the sounds of my friend’s laughter, but all I could focus on was the rustle of the leaves and the faint whispers from far away, which I wish would stop. Not even the food gave me the comfort I so desperately wished for.

Paul came up to me and gave me a plate with meat. I took a bite and it felt weird. Yes, it was soft but there was something odd about it. “Does anyone notice anything… Weird with the meat?” I asked out loud. “Must be the spices. Local grown”. Paul answered back, almost immediately. Weird that he knew that… Nobody else said a word, chewing and drinking, and laughing. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the food, they ate almost all the meat. The host just watched us eat and talk among ourselves.

The night was falling fast, and the dark was feeling closer and closer. I could only see the edge of the forest now, barely.The bright eyes of the host creeped me out but I said nothing. My friends kept on eating but I just couldn’t anymore. I just waited for them to finish so we could move on with our night.

Kevin was a little drunk already by the time he finished his food. He had always been a lightweight. He said, way too loudly, that he had to pee. He got up and walked into the forest, wobbling around the roots and branches on the floor. He went behind a couple of trees and disappeared from sight.

I wanted to go with him. I wanted to go to my cabin. I wanted to go as far away from the host as possible. But I waited for Kevin to return. And waited. And waited. And then, I heard it: A loud scream coming from the forest, specifically from the area Kevin had disappeared in. No one seemed to have noticed it, everyone kept on talking and eating and drinking. I stood up and looked into the forest, paling a little bit as the panic in the voice sunk in. It could have been Kevin, but somehow, it felt… wrong. It felt alien. It sounded dangerous. 

Paul looked at me, smiling “Want to take a pee too?”. The rest of the crew laughed. I was paralyzed. I looked around, frightened. The noises and smells were overwhelming. I couldn’t think straight. I just ran.

I thought I was running in the direction of the cabins, but I couldn’t see them. Everything was dark. I could hear Paul tell me “Where are you going?”, like he was standing next to me

I turned around and I could see him, only it wasn’t really Paul. His face had a horrible evil grin and his laugh, Gods his laugh sounded so wrong, it gave me chills as soon as I heard it.

It then showed me Kevin’s face. And the host. And mine. The grin kept growing, I could feel it engulfing me. “Everything will be fine. We will have fun together”.

He tried to grab my arm, his hand felt slimy and warm. I jerked back, afraid. I tried to run into the forest, away from them and their crazed smiles.

I could hear the voices behind me, but I didn’t stop. I knew I couldn’t. I saw the trees, getting closer, and yet, somehow, getting darker.

I ran until I didn’t hear them anymore. I was alone, only darkness and trees around me. The only thing I could hear was my breathing. I leaned into the nearest tree to try and catch my breath, while I tried to think of a possible solution and explanation to my situation.

I decided to keep going deeper and deeper into the forest, where I could notice the trunks of the trees getting closer and closer. I could feel the foliage against my legs and arms. And then, I stepped on something. Something… unexpected. Something gooey. I stopped and looked down, the little light the moon provided let me see blood and something like a gelatin. I took my foot out of it and I leaned down, it smelled funny and I could feel an awful warmth coming out of it.

I wanted to look away from the scarlet liquid, but couldn’t help but follow the trail, which led me straight to a bag of marshmallows, and a hand that looked familiar. I looked closely, covering my mouth and nose with my hand. The hand on the floor had a small cross tattooed. I let out a gasp and took a step back. It was Kevin’s hand.

Coming from his direction, I could hear his voice telling me “Come with me. It will be fun”. I knew better than to stop any longer, and kept running towards the dark trees.

I kept listening to the laughs and the deep voice of Kevin, the tree branches scratched my face but I didn’t stop until I reached a lake and suddenly everything was quiet. I was completely alone. No noise around me. No evidence of what just happened. I sat by the shore and took deep breaths. In and out, in and out. I felt my heartbeat back to normal and decided it was a good moment to analyze what had just happened.

Paul never laughed in our gatherings, he was always so grumpy and mean towards all of us… why was he laughing so much? Was it the alcohol? Perhaps the meat the host gave us?

After a couple of deep breaths I turned around to look at the forest. If that thing had been following me, I wouldn’t let it surprise me. Everything was quiet, no movement nor noise around me, even the voices from the cabin had disappeared.

Every time I closed my eyes, I could see Paul’s face, laughing at me, hunting me. We were never that close, but I had never suspected he could be so… mad. I wondered if the guys had noticed anything like that before. Hadn’t thought of them at all since this nightmare started. I closed my eyes and stood up, I had to go back, I knew that. I had to figure out what was really going on. 

I saw towards the forest, and could make out the path to the cabin, the lights still on, and I started walking, careful of not making any noise. The silence was absolute, which was quite disturbing. I walked faster, careful not to step into anything and make myself heard. 

After a couple of minutes walking I started to hear things again, the peace and quiet from the lake slowly disappearing. As I got near the clearing of the forest by the fire of the cabin I regretted my decision. I should have stayed by the lake, away from all of this. People were laughing hysterically, their faces had disturbing smiles and their eyes, those eyes I will never forget, large dark pupils in all of their eyes, as if they were on drugs but we’ve all eaten the same meat. How was this happening?

I tried to play it cool, act as if nothing had happened, and casually asked out loud: “Hey guys, have you seen Kevin?”. They didn’t answered me directly, just kept laughing, louder each time. I was about to go back to my car, drive as far away as I could from there, when someone placed a hand on my shoulder, and handed me a beer. “I’ve been looking for you! Kev just went to the bathroom. You feeling good?” It was Paul.

I walked backwards, trying to keep myself away from him, and stumbled. He grabbed me before I could fall. “Sit down, take a drink, and relax. You will feel better soon, you are among your friends”.

I tried to check for anything wrong with all of them. Their smiles. Their eyes. They looked like my friends, but my gut told me they were not. I close my eyes and took a sip of the beer, staying away from the meat. The beer tasted good against my tongue, so I took another sip, a larger one and sighed. I could feel my body relaxing. My panic was going away, and I could see them having fun. The fear seemed so far away… maybe it had been a vivid hallucination.

I had almost finished my beer when I thought of Kevin again. It had been too long for a bathroom break. The panic started to come back, so I got up from my chair. Almost immediately, Paul came with me. “You want some steak? You like it rare, don’t you?” I shivered at the thought of it, and finished my beer instead. “No, thanks, I… have to go to the bathroom”.

I walked to the bathroom of the cabin, and found it wide open. Kevin was nowhere to be found. The memory of his bloody arm haunted me, so I went inside and splashed some water in my face, trying to get rid of that image, unsure if it had been real, or if it was one my brain made me believe. 

When I lifted my head and looked in the mirror I saw how my face started to shift, slowly, oh so slowly, my lips started to lift, to become a wicked smile, the one I saw earlier. I tried to think what could have caused it. And then I felt a beer aftertaste in my mouth. And I smiled.