AFRAID OF THE DARK

Genre: Horror

 

 

 

AFRAID OF THE DARK

By Randy Romero

 

 

One wrong step was all it took to send Geoff plunging into the abyss. The fall probably only lasted a few seconds, but for Geoff, it felt like a lifetime. It was as if time had frozen even as his body continued to plummet.

But time was unfrozen now, and Geoff could feel the ramifications of his misstep. His leg was shattered. If the searing pain wasn’t any indication, his femur bone had snapped in half and broken through the skin. He couldn’t bear to look at the shiny white nub of bone that was poking out.

“Geoff!” Lisa cried out. “Can you hear me?! Please answer!”

“I can hear you,” Geoff called out, his voice echoing through the vast cave. “My leg is a mess. I’m going to need medical attention.”

“Can you see anything?” Lisa asked. “Any markings, any openings or passages? Any way for us to get down there?”

“It’s pitch black,” Geoff responded. “I can’t really see anything.”

“Hang tight,” Carl yelled down to him. “We’re going to find help.”

Geoff could hear the panic in their voices. An idyllic summer afternoon hike had turned into an absolute nightmare. Carl, Lisa, and Dana were miles from the car. And they hadn’t encountered anybody else on their lengthy walk.

“Water,” Geoff choked. “I need water.”

Carl fished through his pack and found a bottle of water. It was lukewarm but it was all he had to offer.

“I can’t see anything, but I hope you’re able to reach this,” Carl said before dropping it into the mouth of the cave. It landed near Geoff’s side with a thud and he snatched it up and drank it all in two or three gulps.

“Hang in there, buddy,” Carl said. “We’re going to get you some help.”

Dana was muttering something about her cell phone. All Geoff could make out was, “No reception.”

He couldn’t even hear their footsteps as they ventured off in search of help.

“Wait! Don’t leave me alone in the dark,” he cried out.

Geoff suffered from severe nyctophobia, an intense fear of the dark.  As a kid, he slept with a nightlight on. As an adult, he needed the TV on or the glow of his laptop monitor to fall asleep. But it wasn’t the nyctophobia that truly terrified him.

He felt a presence. Something was down there.

Something more animal than man.

He tried to sit up but the pain was too extreme. He was able to reach into his pockets. His phone was miraculously still intact. He didn’t have any service either. But at least there was a light on his phone.

He shone the light around the cave, taking in his surroundings. In the shadows, it lurked. He didn’t see it all at once, and he was grateful for that. It revealed itself in pieces, allowing Geoff to take in its shocking form.

It was a twisted, perverse amalgam of every animal it had encountered. Flesh and fur, claws and teeth, scales and pelts. It had hooves for feet and a tail at its backside. Its face was hairy, wet snout. And it had more eyes than Geoff could count. A bipedal organism made up of other organisms. Whatever this thing was, it had absorbed every living thing it had ever come into contact with.

It made a sound that he couldn’t even begin to describe. A horrible, tormented squeal that was anything but human. Geoff cried out. He begged for Lisa, for Carl, for Dana, for anyone. But nobody was there to answer his cries for help.

He shut his eyes to shield himself from this abomination and lost himself in happier times. He thought about the day that Carl and Dana introduced him to Lisa. He thought about his first date with her, about her perfect smile, her warm embrace. He thought about anything but his impending demise.

 

 

***

 

 

“Geoff!” Lisa screamed. “Help is here! Just hang tight!”

Dana managed to get service on her phone and call 911. They used GPS to pinpoint their location. The police, paramedics, and fire department were all present.

“Geoff, can you hear me?” Lisa called out. No response.

“He may have lost consciousness,” one of the paramedics said. “We have to get down there.”

“I know an entrance into the cave,” one of the officers said, volunteering to lead the way. And so they began their descent into the dark, massive cave in search of Geoff.

IN THE CLOUDS

Genre: Horror 

 

 

 

IN THE CLOUDS

By Randy Romero

 

 

 

Fire, was Shawn Downey’s first thought when he woke up and saw that the neighborhood was bathed in an ominous, reddish-orange glow.

But he didn’t smell any smoke, he didn’t hear any sirens or panicked screams ringing out in the streets. There was a quiet commotion that Shawn could hear outside, but it wasn’t full blown hysteria.

He checked the time on his cell phone. Four PM.

Shawn got up awkwardly, groggy, still half asleep. He wrestled his way into a faded pair of blue jeans and threw on a plain black T-shirt. Shawn worked overnights as a cashier. He clocked in at midnight and clocked out around 8 AM, sometimes later if the morning crew was running late for their shifts. He usually fell asleep around nine and slept through the afternoon if he didn’t have any classes. Downey hated all of his classes. And he hated his last name too, mainly because he was tired of his fellow students asking if he was related to Iron Man. And morning classes can be daunting when you work overnight.

A lot of colorful characters frequented Quick Stop Convenience in the wee hours of the night. Most of them came in looking for beer or cigarettes, most of them whacked out of their minds on God only knows what, struggling to keep their balance or form coherent sentences. The rest of the clientele were all-nighters like Shawn, just stopping in for coffee, soda, or energy drinks, and maybe a little snack for the road.

He wasn’t thrilled with the job, and neither was his dad. But it was a job nonetheless, at least until he worked his way through college.

Shawn let himself wake up a bit, then made his way downstairs, only to find that his parents were strangely absent. Normally they were both home from work by three o’clock.

Shawn went outside where the whole block was gathered. Mrs. Glick, the benevolent old lady next-door was there with her Pomeranian, Farfel. Mrs. Brunswick was there with her husband and their two doe-eyed children, staring in disbelief. The look of terror on their tiny faces was palpable. But what was all the fuss? Dennis Caldwell was on the sidewalk, nursing a twenty-four ounce can of beer tucked inside a brown paper bag. He was one of the nightly regulars over at Quick Stop, always stopping in after the bars closed for a nightcap.

“What’s going on?” Shawn asked Billy Mitchell, whose five-year-old son was clinging to his leg.

“Take a look for yourself,” Billy motioned with his head.

They were all standing there with their heads cocked back, eyes gazing skyward. Dark red storm clouds raged overhead. Shawn had never seen anything like it before in his relatively short nineteen-year life.

A terrible roar tore through the sky, and something even worse came with it.

“Look, up in the sky!” Billy Mitchell’s boy cried out.

It wasn’t a bird, it wasn’t a plane, and it sure as hell wasn’t Superman. But something loomed overhead, hiding behind those crimson clouds. Downey could just make out their vast wings, pointed tails, and what looked like talons.

His phone pinged. One text message from his mom.

It read: Shawn, no time to explain. Your father and I got detained on our way home from work. They are evacuating the city. Don’t waste any time. Get out now!