Fear of the Dark

The pounding of my footsteps began to follow a beat that sounded in the distance, each thump onto the pavement echoing out into the street. The more I ran, the louder the beat grew. I could feel my heart beat with the rhythm, as did the pounding in my head. Everything I was doing, every thought I created, was repeating that same, repetitive, beat.

I caught my breath, suddenly realising that the beat was drawing me in, hypnotising me, like an Anglerfish does to its prey. I continued to run, knowing that if I were to stop, It may catch up to me, and then all of this running would have been futile.

I could now feel the beat, the pulses from the rhythm being absorbed into my body. It was so tempting to stop running, to allow It to engulf me, to take me to the source of the rhythm itself and to just stay there, forever, as if I would be forever high on the drug that was the beat. But this wouldn't happen, it wouldn't happily take me away to the source. I would be engulfed entirely, I would be drawn into it jaws of eternal nightmares. I would die.

I looked behind me, It seemed so far away, as if It would never catch up to the speed at which I was running. However, I knew that this was just a psychological mind game it was playing. Draw me into false security, make me slow down... and then pounce. I couldn't risk slowing down, not even slightly; I had to speed up, I had to run faster. But, I was tired, oh so tired...

That's when I heard it, the quickening footsteps of It behind me. I panicked, fear striking me in the heart. I couldn't believe that I had slowed down, how could I have even dared it? Now it was approaching me, at a much faster pace than my own. The beat was deafening by now, growing more monstrous and destructive, rather than how hypnotising and breathtaking it had been earlier.

I forced myself not to turn around, if I did so, it would all be over; I had to keep running, I had to sprint faster... I had to escape. If I didn't, how would I ever be able to right my wrongs? I needed to find her, to tell her... That was the only reason I had risked travelling out in the open, just to see her.

I had never noticed the empty streets I was running past, I was filled with too much fear and adrenaline. I never saw the empty shop windows, the warnings spray-painted across the walls, reading things like "Stay away!" and "Avoid the Darkness" and such other warnings that had trailed off mid-sentence, suggesting that the authors had been engulfed by It during their hurried scribblings. I didn't see anything, only the pavement beneath me and the nearing Darkness that approached me from all angles.

I dared myself to turn my head, to look behind and see how much closer It was coming. However, I had never gotten the chance to, for a long, black tendril had snapped out from behind me, wrapping itself around my arm.

"No!" I cried out, the tears streaming down my face. Another tendril whipped out and wrapped itself around my other arm and, immediately, I felt a force pull be backwards, dragging me along the pavement to It.

I struggled so much, an attempt to break free from Its hold, but It was too strong, and I knew my time was nearing an end. The dragging stopped, and, knowing that It was right above me, staring down at me with hunger, I kept my eyes closed. I was filled with so much fear, with so much horror, that I was too afraid to look at Its face just before I was engulfed into Nothingness. My trousers dampened, a clear sign of how afraid I was. As I awaited my end, I thought of her one last time, my one and only love, the woman I never got a chance to apologise to...

"I'm sorry," I whispered, screwing up my face as I awaited the final blow. I was waiting, for several moments, for my life to end, but it never came. I opened my eyes, wondering if It had spared me, but there It was, the black, round face with nothing but piercing yellow eyes and a large, razor-toothed grin. I watched as a drop of drool hung off Its bottom jaw, and, as it fell slowly and landed on my forehead, I knew why It had waited. It wanted me to see the ending of my life.

It hovered there for a few moments, swaying Its head in a terrifying, animalistic manner. After what seemed like a lifetime filled with horror, It opened Its large, gaping jaw and hovered again for a few moments. I stared into what seemed to look like a never ending hole, the fear inside of me rising to an impossible level, and then It lunged.