The Darkness

The Darkness

A flash of light ripped through the night sky, casting shadows on the wall of Paul Standson’s living room. It was followed by the low rumble of thunder, just barely audible above the sound of the rain splattering onto the ground.

As Paul Standson looked out at his front yard with a book in his hand, he wondered if the storm would ever settle down enough to let him sleep. Then the storm picked up momentum as the rain bombarded harder onto the ground. Gazing through the rain-speckled window, something caught his eye over by the large tree in the center of his lawn. He squinted, as he looked more intently at the large tree where he thought he saw a large shape. But it disappeared just as quickly as he had noticed it, and he dismissed it as nothing.

He was on his way back to bed to read, when suddenly a flash of lightning lit up the wall and the power went out.

Damn.

Now he wouldn't be able to read. Groping around the room, he finally located his bed. He got into it and pulled the covers over his body. As he closed his eyes, he concentrated on the rhythmic drumming of the rain. It eventually put him to sleep.

* * * * * *

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Paul Standson woke up startled. He groped around for his flashlight on his bed stand and turned it on. That noise sounded like it had originated from the garage.

He slipped out of bed and stepped out of the room. His garage was in the backyard facing out into the lane. Sometimes small animals find their way into it, making a hell of a racket. He remembered one time last year when a cat had managed to get in the garage through the open window. It had spilt three open cans of paint, spreading it all over the inside of the garage. The stains on the cement floor never did come out properly.

He walked down the hallway to the backdoor, where he kept a set of shoes. After he put them on, he opened the door and stepped out onto the top of the stairs as he eyed the garage intently. There was a window above the door to the garage; the door was open.

Down the slippery steps he went, making sure not to lose his footing or he would painfully fall to the bottom in a heap. His foot landed in a huge puddle when he reached the bottom of the stairs, filling his shoes with icy water. It was cold.

His foot sloshed in his shoes as he continued walking towards the garage.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Looking out at the garage, his heart began to beat loudly in his chest. A burst of lighting lit up the night sky, illuminating his whole backyard with a ghostly flash. He stopped in his tracks.

When the lightning had flashed he thought he had seen a large shape standing just outside the garage door. He shone the flashlight towards the door, but he did not see it anymore more.

He stepped over a few puddles, now realizing that he was just about at the garage; its dark shape stood portentously in front of him,

When he reached the entrance, he halted, hesitant to go in. He played the flashlight beam around the interior of the garage and took one step in. Immediately he could smell some terrible stench that smelt of decay.

The hairs on the back of his neck prickled as he took another step forward. The beam from his flashlight still showing nothing inside the garage.

Slam!

The door suddenly slammed shut behind him. He screamed as he dropped his flashlight.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

He turned around to face the garage door but instead he saw a massive shape that was big enough to block the window. He stepped backwards.
Suddenly it was gone in a flash.

He ran to the door and pulled on the knob, ripping the door open as perspiration formed on his forehead. He took one step out of the garage when suddenly something grabbed him around the stomach and ripped him back in.

He screamed loudly as he was thrown against the far wall. He heard the creature coming closer to him with its deafening footsteps. The noise caused the rafters in the garage to shake and the window to rattle loudly. Couldn't the neighbors hear this?

Then the noise stopped. It was quiet, very quiet. It was a very ominous silence... a deadly silence. As if something horrible was going to happen. He was frozen in shock and filled with dread.

Suddenly he felt a sharp, intense pain in his stomach as he screamed. He could feel his own insides being ripped out. He screamed in agony and horror. Through the little light that shone through the window, he could see that his guts were missing. The blood splattered all over his face, as again he felt the pain in his stomach. Something from his body fell out and landed on the ground. It was his heart. It had just stopped beating.

* * * * * *

Jerry Parks knocked on Paul Standson's door loudly for the second time and rang the bell. The sun shone brightly from above.

Come on Paul, where are you?

He needed to borrow Paul's lawnmower because his broke down.

While waiting at the doorstep, he saw a reddish brown pulp in the center of the front lawn. He approached it tentatively. When he was within six feet of it he soon realized what it was.

Yuck!

He was staring at the bloody form of a half eaten squirrel, missing its stomach. He turned away in disgust.

Raccoons are foul animals!

After recovering from his initial shock, he decided to head into the backyard where Paul was most likely to be.

He walked over to the path that led to the back of the home. The gate was locked so Jerry jumped over it and walked down the path along the side of the house. The flowers were in need of care in the little side garden.

When he reached the backyard he yelled out, "Hey Paul! You there?"

He realized something wasn't right when he noticed that the garage door was open but the light was off inside.

"Paul!"

He was uneasy as he approached the garage. When he was about two feet away from the door he immediately smelt it. It smelt horrible, something that he had never smelt before in his life. He pushed the door open further and hesitantly reached for the light switch. He flicked it on and screamed.

Paul was lying on the floor, barely recognizable. His head was completely covered in blood and his arm was lying on the ground beside him. His stomach was missing and his entrails were splattered all around his body. Blood covered the wall and his eyes and mouth were open. The eyes were wide with terror, and the mouth was open in a silent scream. Jerry vomited onto the ground then collapsed.

* * * * * *

The police were investigating and systematically checking every dark corner and little nook that they could see. They had begun cordoning off the entire area, and had sent a search party into the nearby forest. Neighbors were being questioned on if they had heard or seen anything the night before, as curious on-lookers peeked past the yellow police tape. Some would say that the police had everything under control. The fact of the matter was, they didn’t.

For nearly an hour, in the large backyard that had belonged to Paul Standson, the senior officers and forensics specialists picked up small items along the ground. Not one person could even guess as to what might have happened inside the garage. The reports hadn’t got back from forensics yet.

Don Slyrick was the officer in charge of the investigation. In all of his life, he had never seen anything so horrific. He had a hard time going inside the garage. The body hadn't been moved yet because forensics still needed to investigate further.

He approached Janet Williams from forensics who was examining the body.

"Well, what've you got?" he asked.

"Jesus... he has been completely disemboweled," Williams said. "If you look at the outside edge of where his stomach was, you can see that there are some tooth marks. Down at his feet there are some scratches that go pretty deep. It looks like he was attacked by a wild animal. But I can't think of one that would do something like this."

"Neither can I."

There was a moment of silence as Williams worked.

"Where’s Mr. Parks?" Slyrick asked.

"He’s being questioned.”

Slyrick walked out of the garage and talked to another investigator with a notepad. "Did you see anything in the woods nearby?" Slyrick asked the investigator.

"We saw some blood and entrails on the ground. Whatever attacked him, it seems to have gone into the forest. We went into the forest a little bit, but one of the junior officers got spooked and ran back. We're thinking of going into the forest again later on today."

"Let me know when you do, John, because I want to come with you," Slyrick said.

"No problem, sir,” John Richter replied.

Slyrick headed towards his car. He was supposed to meet his wife for lunch, but after what he saw, he didn't know if he was hungry.

* * * * * *

The sun was about to set when Don Slyrick was approached by John Richter

"Sir, we're going to head out into the forest now, " Richter said

"Now?" Slyrick said, pointing up at the sky.

"Yes, we've already delayed it a little while so that we could cordon off the area. We can't wait until tomorrow because most of the evidence will be gone by then."

"Okay, I'll go with you."

"We're heading out with Michael Fried, Richard Connor, and Janet Williams."

"Janet? I didn't know she wanted to come."

"She wants to compare the traces that we find with the ones in the garage."

"I see."

Richter and Slyrick walked down to the edge of the forest. Three or four police cars were positioned there, and two other search parties were going into the forest in other areas. Police tape went all the way along the edge of the forest and some officers were standing by the tape or sitting in the cars. It was going to be a long night.

Slyrick waited by the police cars until Janet Williams arrived. When they were all ready, they headed out into the dark depths of the forest.

* * * * * *

Their flashlights casted shadows on the ground as they followed the path into the forest. There was very little conversation because they were all listening intently. None of them could help but feel uneasy. A few minutes into the hike, Janet stopped suddenly.

"Hold on," she said.

She stooped down and picked up something with her gloves on and put it into a plastic bag. It was a piece of human flesh, already black with decay.

They continued on.

The forest was silent and not a single noise could be heard except for their footsteps plodding along the soggy ground. No animals could be heard... just an eerie silence.

Suddenly, a loud snap broke the stillness. They stopped, flashing the beams from their flashlights around. There was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Let's keep going,” Slyrick said.

They continued on through the forest until they reached an area that got denser with trees. At this point, the path ended abruptly. But, they kept walking; through the trees and over logs, taking care not to slip.

Suddenly, Janet dove head over heals onto the ground with a thud. They all turned around and saw her lying on the ground grasping her foot.

"Shit, I can't move my foot," she said.

"What happened?" Slyrick asked.

"I must have tripped on a root. Funny though, cause I was extra careful."

"Okay... Michael and Richard, you stay with Janet." Slyrick said. "Me and John will go on a little further, and when we come back, we'll all head out of the forest."

Then, to John, Slyrick pointed at a big rock jutting out of the ground, "Don't forget, they're near the big rock."

Slyrick and John Richter continued on through the forest. This time they were more careful for roots.

They had only been walking for a few minutes, when they became conscious of the bushes moving.

They both stopped.

The branches in front of them rustled peculiarly, and then there was silence as they looked around cautiously.

Without warning Richter yelped and ran away, screaming in horror.

"John!" Slyrick yelled out. "John! You're going the wrong way! Don't run that way! You're heading deeper into the forest!"

Richter didn't hear him, and was soon out of sight. His shrill screaming echoed throughout the woods.

What had caused him to run? Slyrick wondered.

Then the screaming abruptly stopped. Now, there was no other sound in the forest. He decided to go back to Janet, and ran through the forest hurriedly. Eventually the large rock came into view, but when he arrived at it, he saw no one.

Shit.

Now what. Where did they go? Did they head back already? Now all alone, he stared around at his surroundings, trying to see if there were any traces of running. There were none.

Unexpectedly, he heard frantic footsteps behind him. He spun around quickly, and saw that it was Parks. As Parks limped towards him, he noticed that his face and hands were covered in blood and a big gash protruded along the side of his head. He had lost a lot of blood.

"Help me," he rasped, clutching Slyrick's jacket splattering blood all over it.

"What happened?" Slyrick asked with distress.

Then, Parks put a finger to his lips motioning Slyrick to be quiet. His eyes widened in terror. Then he whispered, "It's coming... Run!"

And Parks bolted through the trees screaming.

Slyrick was aware of a sound coming from his right. It was at first a soft Thud! Thud! Thud! Then it got louder and louder. Slyrick, who was momentarily disoriented, ran randomly in a direction. The noise was getting louder, now deafening.

He could feel the breath of his pursuer; its breath was stale with the smell of death. Seeing a log appear in front of him, he stopped and climbed in one of its hollow openings. Luckily, it was big enough to fit him inside. Finally, the deafening noise of his pursuer died down, soon disappearing into the stillness of the forest

He waited in the log, breathing heavily. He was soon aware that he was not alone in the log.

"Who's there?" he whispered.

No answer.

He groped around in the log until he felt something. He got out of the log and pulled at it. Whatever it was, it came out easily. He realized that it was the body of John Richter. His body was completely shredded. As he dropped it on the ground, he became aware of the presence of that dreadful stench.

Shit.

He ran

Branches whipped into his face, as he felt the adrenaline pumping through every muscle in his body. He didn't dare look back.

All of a sudden, he was knocked off his feet and the ground fell away from beneath him. He watched his body fly over a cliff. The ground was coming up to meet him very quickly. He hit the ground hard, spewing blood from his mouth. He tried to get up, but immediately felt a severe pain throughout his whole body. He couldn’t move

"Slyrick is that you?" a voice said from somewhere behind him. He tried to turn, but couldn’t.

Then he realized that there were cop cars parked near where he was. He came to the conclusion that he was back at the entrance to the forest.

There were running footsteps.

"Oh shit... I need a paramedic, he's missing half of his body,” the voice said in horror. The voice belonged to Janet, who came into view standing over him. He tried to say something but couldn't force the words out.

Janet said, "Stay with us Slyrick. Please stay with us. You have a wife and kids and family, don't leave yet."

Slyrick looked up at her. He knew that his face was completely covered in blood, because some of it dripped into his tear-filled eyes. How did this happen? Why does it have to end this way?

The world began to fade away as he wondered whether or not there was a heaven. The world then turned into a thick black void. Forever.

THE END

Written by John Littner


If you liked this story, check out the sequel, "The Darkness 2"  --Five teenagers spend the weekend at a cabin in the forest. But when their car breaks down, they come face to face with their worst nightmare: A deadly creature that feasts on human flesh. This nightmare, though, they may not wake up from.