EPTSchmobutzen's story can be found here: My Story for the unofficial TL short story contest
The theme for the story had to be "night". Here's mine.
Many people are afraid of the dark, and most of them are more afraid of being alone in the dark. The idea is that whatever monsters watch from the shadows will be more cautious about revealing themselves when faced with two or more people. Many of those lurkers though, have no such concerns, but far worse is the truth that not being by yourself doesn't mean you're not alone.
“And finally, the inquest in to the death of 28 year old local man Brian Walter, who was found dead in his home last month, has concluded that his death was not the result of foul pla-”
The crackle of static announced the silence that fell over the room as the old grey box went dark. James dropped the remote and mustered all the energy he could to stand up against the weight of the warm Sunday morning which turned out to be just enough to allow him to plod his way to the bathroom. He leaned against the wall and considered what he had to do during the day whilst relieving himself, more or less accurately. His brother Mike had always been a morning person, and somehow that always made the beginning of the day worse. The deafening sound of rushing water woke him from his considerations of the day as his body had unconsciously concluded it's business and turned toward the basin, where his mind was greeted by those deep emerald eyes he had once been so proud of. As he shook his hands dry he brushed a once light brown hair from his eye, now bleached blonde by the summer sun.
His moment of reflection was cut short by the front door hurriedly opening, with the crash of the door handle hitting a wall breaking the silence that had begun to settle.
“You were supposed to be outside! We're going to be -”
“I know”
Mike could be a pain in the arse.
“I'm going to wait in the car, hurry up.”
James cupped his head in his hands and took a deep breath in, pulling his index finger and thumb down the cheeks, as if trying to spite his eyelids for doing their best to shut. Catching a second reflection of himself he released his breath and left the house.
Outside Mike was waiting, tapping his steering wheel as if the somehow trying to speed up the passing seconds. James entered the car, still fighting a futile fight against the Sunday morning.
James exhaled again.
“Hi Mike.”
Greeted with a disgruntled grunt and a head shake he dropped his own head in to the seat.
The car pulled away and 10 minutes later the brothers arrived at an unassuming grey building, barely standing and yet somehow still not the worst of the area. The stench of poverty was thick in the air, interfered with only by the sound of a car alarm somewhere in the distance.
Entering in to the building, a small troglodyte of a man greeted them, his smile as fake as it was decaying with the whole package trussed up in to a dull grey suit that was clearly meant for someone else.
“Mr Walter, I assume?”
By now the fight against the daytime was clearly over, but resenting the fact James simply nodded with as much of a smile as he could manage.
The three walked to a table where a piece of paper was slid from the disgusting little wretch to James.
“If you'd just sign here I can give you the keys to your cousin's property.”
A cheap plastic pen followed the course of the paper and James scribbled something resembling a signature on to an empty line.
With the formalities out of the way it was another 10 minutes or so until the bureaucratic nonsense was finished and the two could leave the dilapidated hell hole and it's hobgoblin ruler. When they did, the outside world greeted them with the same car alarm as previous, and the same unsettling odour of a dead suburb. A few drops of rain alerted James both to the fact that it was beginning to rain, and that he had lost himself in his thoughts and his brother was already getting in to the car. He followed suit, and as the passenger side door slammed shut the outside world was once again banished to emptiness.
“You know, it wasn't your fault”
James glared at his brother.
“Seriously?” he hissed, his head shaking in disgust without prompt.
“You know -” Mike paused for a moment before concluding “Whatever.”
The engine started up only to be immediately muffled by the intensity of the rain rising to the point of smashing against the windows. As the car moved off James closed his eyes.
Their cousin had died a little over one month prior, and it plagued James' mind. He had been placed on anti-depressants and the dreams that came with them were nightmares fit for Hell. Today was no different, and the images that swarmed his mind were of indescribable horror, such that even the worst divination from the mind of Lovecraft would tremble in awe.
The screaming would never stop, but worse still, neither would the accusing stare of those deep emerald eyes.
“James”
The sound of his brother shook him awake, his heart racing and his senses immediately looking for any threat.
“We're here.”
James sat up, letting his guard down with a yawn.
“Thanks.”
A brief glimpse outside showed that it was still pissing it down so James took his new key from his pocket and left the car and ran to the door entirely through the will of instinct. The old wooden door opened in to a dark room. A few spider webs adorned a table beside the door but otherwise it was an entirely lifeless place. Mike brushed past to escape the rain himself and with the click of a switch an old yellow light struggled against the shadows to illuminate the space.
“There really is nothing you could have done.”
“Oh, so when I said he was going to die in that house within 2 days and he did, I'm supposed to just accept that I couldn't have done anything?” James quickly retorted
“It was an accident though, you know that. No one saw it coming.”
“Oh so I'm just crazy? I saw him taken in the night. I saw it.”
James closed the door to stop the rain from seeping inside whilst Mike's mind searched hurriedly for a response, though was relieved of the duty by James once again.
“I'm going to lay down.”
Mike was left watching his brother shamble up the stairs in to the darkness of the upper floor, before shouting that he was going to go and pick some stuff up, receiving no response from the shell of his brother. When James arrived in the main bed room he found everything covered in a thin plastic, but the fight against his mind and against the day was one he could no longer wage, so he let himself fall on to the plastic covered bed and rolled in to the centre of it and closed his eyes once again.
As the shadows of a long undisturbed night flooded from the soulless room James found himself in the familiar setting of a dream where he could find no rest. Shadowy figures of his dead cousin haunted him but ignored his pleas that he should escape. The dream-scape itself hated them both and behind it all were those terrible deep emerald eyes, unflinching in their accusations.
James awoke violently to the sound of the door slamming open, the thick night showing him nothing, but the sound of his brother reaching him still.
“Someone is in the house.”
James sat up immediately, the word 'what' slipping from his mouth despite knowing exactly what was said. Mike repeated his claim, and a thunder clap brought attention firmly to the quick taps of rain hitting the glass of the house. James' hand flailed at the wall to the side of the bed, quickly catching a light switch that dimly lit the room. Catching a glimpse of his watch showed it to be shortly past one am. Whether it was the adrenaline or the several hours of sleep, for the first time in weeks James felt energised.
“Come on, stay behind me.”
James left the bed and followed the instruction, creeping behind Mike as they headed for the stairs. In his mind the night around him felt somehow familiar, it felt like those atrocious shadows from his nightmares were calling to him. Those feelings turned once more to dread though as they reached the stairs and a door crashed shut somewhere beneath them . The pair froze, not even daring to breathe for a few seconds. James hit the light switch above the steps, and was greeted with only disappointment. A second attempt lit the bottom of the stairs with the same desperate light as had greeted his entrance to this place the day prior, the sickly light pulling itself up the stairs as far as it could manage being sufficient in it's efforts that it lit the way down.
Mike again went on ahead, protecting James from whatever awaited them as they crept through their descent. As they reached the door they could have left. They probably should have left. But they didn't. Mike once again began his investigation forward as James tapped his arm and gestured towards the kitchen. James had eaten here regularly in the past and despite the awful dark confronting him at every moment, he managed to reach for the knife stand and pull out a large blade.
The scream of terror that filled the house in that moment was maddening, and would have driven many to tears. Someone was downstairs, in the basement, and that terrible cacophony sounded like their very soul was being eviscerated. Mike at that point either showed courage beyond compare or truly had taken leave of his senses as he rushed towards the sound, completely unarmed and without regard for his own safety. He disappeared, leaving James alone and clutching the knife as if those shadows from his nightmares were scheming to pull it away. Against every instinct his mind flooded him with, he couldn't leave Mike alone. He followed at a pace just fast enough to let him forgive himself if it was already too late.
The door to the basement was closed, and down 3 old wooden steps. As he reached for the handle it was clear this wasn't Hell after all, for the cold was as if death itself was hunting for that cry. In spite of himself, he opened the door, and the scene that greeted him froze him to his core.
The stone walls were thick with blood and the night itself had taken form before him. Darkness was given unholy life and hunched over human remains with the taste of of blood thick in the air and revolting to the core. Finally though, that pestilent, putrid glare, a corrupted emerald in colour watched him and waited for a move that James could not make. That glare that he had wished were only a dream, had followed him to his home, and accused him just the same. Frozen and surely about to die, James began muttering to himself.
“no, no, no, no. no.....”
A piercing pain shot through his chest and he looked down to see himself covered in blood, a thick stream pouring from his chest. He fell to the ground as a tear rolled across his face as he closed his eyes one last time and gave in to the darkness. That night took James away from us.
Arguably, had fate been kind the medical services that came would have been too late to save him, but that night would not spare any part of his mind, or his soul. He woke up several days later in a secure facility being treated for the wound to his chest.
This represents the facts according to that shell of that man, James Walter as far as can be gleamed from him. Attached you will find a report from the officer who arrived on the scene first.
Addendum
Transcribe Excerpt from interview of Officer Mike Lee Hemming regarding the death of Brian Walter.
Interviewer: Dr Claire Townsend (CT)
Interviewee: Officer Mike Lee Hemming (MH)
CT 00:11:05 OK, so you heard a scream, then what?
MH 00:11:14 That scream was...I had to help. I took my gun and ran.
CT: 00:11:25 So you ran, did you call for help, or see any sign that anyone else had heard it?
MH 00:11:40 I don't know, why does that matter? That scream was
CT: 00:11:44 You need to try to stay focussed on the question Officer Hemming. We need to get as accurate a report as possible, you know that.
MH 00:12:01 I'm sorry. I *inaudable*.
CT 00:12:23 That's fine, now what happened when you got to the house? Could you hear anything?
MH 00:12:50 That screaming. That screaming. It was that screaming. I don't want to hear it anymore.
CT 00:13:25 You're safe here. I just need you to walk me through this once.
MH 00:13:50 The door was smashed open, barely hanging on to it's hinges. There was blood all over the floor, leading down the corridor.
CT 00:14:12 *inaudable*
MH: 00:14:20 I followed it, to the stairs going down, and I saw it. It shouldn't be. He was...eating him. But he wasn't dead. How do you eat someone screaming like that?
CT 00:14:35 Officer.
MH: 00:14:37 He wasn't human, he was taken by that night and he wasn't human. It wasn't right. I shot it. In the chest. But he kept on eating.
CT: 00:14:50 Mike.
MH: 00:14:52 Oh God. No.
Note: At this point the interview was concluded as the patient became extremely distressed and required medical care.
