The Night

Darkness, hard and heavy, fell fast, chasing the last of the sun’s rays away, bringing with it a deep and consuming silence. There were no small noises, no crickets, no frogs, no common night humming to mask the sounds that would come, the sounds that hunted her.

Damp night air pressed in close, choking the breath in her throat. She was not sure how much more she could stand; the night, the quiet, the loneliness and, more importantly, the fear. Fear had become her constant companion. The unrelenting stress wore her down, frayed her nerves. If she could not escape the utter desolation and near paralyzing fear, she would go insane. Even now, she felt madness lurking in the recesses of her mind, its icy fingers peeling back the curtain of her sanity, waiting.

She walked slowly through the woods, a slight but constant tremor running through her. Questions ran in a continuous loop through her thoughts. Where were they? She was alone, had been for days, maybe even weeks. She could not remember anything about before. Had she always been alone? She was almost certain she had not. What had happened to all the other people? She shook her head in frustration, the answer to that dark question was locked away somewhere deep, somewhere she could not find. All she really could remember was the night, the awful night, and the fear that lived in it; fear of what she did now know, fear of what she could not see, and fear of what followed behind her.

She was being stalked in the dark by something she could not see. This thing, when it came, shadowed her every movement. She never knew when it would come or how long it would stay but it came frequently, the whisper of dry underbrush announcing its approach. She was always too terrified to turn and face it. It never touched her, never faced her, and never left her alone.

She rarely slept, the dark seemed to last forever and she was so afraid of being caught asleep. Her tortured mind kept a vigil of fear, seeming to almost eat her alive from the inside out. Every moment, every second was spent searching for sounds of the creature. What was it that tormented her? And, more importantly, how much more could she bear?

Hysterical laughing fits were becoming a common occurrence. She knew it was a bad sign but felt powerless, her mind seeming to fracture under the strain. There was no sense in her life; this thing, this experience could not be. Madness lurked around every corner. Not much time left. Once she descended into the slippery bowels of her brain, there was no coming back.

The creature came again on this hot, still night; the plodding steps heavy and loud. Her mind screamed in anguish, like a dying animal voicing the injustice of its death. She put her hands over her ears as tears slipped from her tightly squeezed eyes. "No, no, no," she mumbled in quiet protest. But still the thing came, its breath, reeking of rotting vegetation.

The mild tremor grew until her limbs shook in terror. “No,” she cried out, beseeching whoever may be listening to have mercy on her. The breathing grew closer, panting down her neck in warm, sticky bursts and she could feel the heat radiating from its body. Her heart hammered wildly in her chest as the horror of her situation descended fully upon her.

"NO, NO, NO!" she shrieked, shaking her head sharply side-to-side. Then she broke fast on sprinter's legs, making a mad dash for freedom. But the thing kept pace with her, staying just behind. She could hear it crashing through the foliage, its great foul breath loud and labored.

And then she stopped; she was finished. The fight in her was gone. Madness was emerging center stage and was assuming control. If she did not confront this evil, this unknown, her mind would collapse into chaos and she would not survive.

Trembling violently, sweat running in rivers down her face and back, she clenched her fists and breathed deeply. Courage was slow to come but she gathered what she could and, before she could change her mind, she swung around in the dark to face the terror that stalked her.

There, on the path behind her, was nothing, only the empty night air.

She blinked; a small nervous laugh escaped her and she unconsciously rubbed the back of her neck. It had all been in her mind. The loneliness, the terrible loneliness, had brought this make-believe creature to life. A heavy weight lifted from her and for the first time in her memory, her spirit was light, almost happy. She smiled and laughed again, sweet release.

Then, behind her, a twig snapped and rancid breath warmed her neck.