Shriek

Shriek

A Short Story by Zak Schnack

7652 Words



         It was a day like any other. There was a few clouds in the sky and several birds nearby chirping on their posts greeting the people as they left their houses heading to work. Today, however, started off like a normal day but something was about to happen that would change the life of one person whether he knew it at the time or not.

         Arthur Smith lived in a small apartment above a candle store in a small town called Northwood. He stood about six feet tall, had wavy light brown hair which touched the tops of his ears, and bright blue eyes. He usually wore simple clothing which usually consisted of a plain color shirt and blue jeans. Today he wore a size to big black shirt and tight blue jeans which he didn't want to wear but was the only clean pair left. Arthur often cursed himself for forgetting to do laundry or procrastinating for too long and being unable to do it on time.

         The young man walked down the stairs leading to the dead main street. He didn't like these stairs as they were steep, each step was small and his feet barely fit on them, and there was a lot of them. The only thing that protected someone from falling was the old wooden banisters on each side which felt like they could break instantly when he grabbed on. He once counted about thirty six steps. Arthur liked the smell though. All the different kinds of candles awaiting purchase in the store always vented into the stairway. These smells were tempting and he considered going and buying a couple candles every once and a while but due to his budget and the small town charge of this store, he decided to stay away.

         Cars were usually blocking his way as he walked out of the stairway door. Today being Sunday though, no cars were in sight. Most the town people went to church and simply stayed at home and relaxed. The only car that was on the block was Arthur's. It was an unusual car. It was like an el Camino except smaller. It simply said rampage on the back bumper so Arthur decided he'd just call it that.

         The Rampage was made sometime in the eighties and you could tell. The exterior was a white color with many patches of rust which at some points, made holes you could see through. The inside was better. It was an ugly red color but hadn't taken as much damage as the outside. It was a two seater and a large shifted since the makers decided to make it a manual instead of a automatic. They must not have liked middle consoles during this time because nothing laid in the middle of the seats to rest your elbow and arm upon.

         The strange vehicle busted to life when Arthur turned the key. It took a couple tries at first because of the old machine parts but after a few presses of the gas pedal while the clutch in, he was able to bring the old car to life. A small knocking noise could be heard. This was due to the fact that he didn't have the time or the money to get the oil changed and the car looked at. He faced the fact day after day that he was becoming lazier and wasn't able to use his money properly. After turning right past a stop sign, he headed the two blocks to his work because unlike most the town, he had to work today to make ends meet.

         Along the way, he peered at the normal buildings that laid out in front of him. Similar to most small towns in the area, the main street consisted of small, private owned businesses. Mainly there was a place to get groceries, a bar to enjoy a drink or two after work or on your night off, and a couple different places to simply get small things that you want in life. All the buildings were built with bricks. A couple of them had been abandoned long ago and seemed to be used to store stuff. Arthur remembered when he was younger how his friends and him would sneak into a couple sometimes just for the thrill of maybe being caught. They never did any damage to the buildings but would often hang out there to just talk.

         It was a strange town really. Most of the inhabitants were older and probably moved here for the quietness while others probably just liked the small environment in which almost everyone knows everyone. It was hard to do something bad in this town and not get caught or seen. The constant spying on by the older people who usually had nothing better to do then just sit in their living room and stare out the window or cruise around in their cars to see if anything was happening. If they found something, they'd be sure to spread it around like a wildfire when they met their friends later for coffee. And if an ambulance was heard, they'd be on their way, acting casual as they tried to see what accident happened.

         Arthur liked living here. He did in fact enjoy the quietness and most of the people who lived in town. They didn't bother him with constant conversation about the little things in life and seemed intimidated by him. It could be because of his earrings, which were bigger than your average ones with a black outline and small fake diamonds around the core, or his facial hair. He sprouted a goatee which was about three inches off his chin. It did not matter to him though, he was happy and that was all that mattered.

         Slowly, Arthur pulled up to the parking lot of where he worked. The building appeared to be probably the most modern place in town. There was barely any cracks in the cement outside and instead of brick, it had a nice wooden touch to it. The only flaw it had was the parking lot was pretty small and maybe would fit ten to twenty cars. Arthur's noticed this doesn't work well when they get hit hard after church or after football games on Friday nights. People often have to park along the street then.

         " Great. I have to close tonight. " Arthur said. His voice was in the middle of the being high and low. It sounded groggy and clogged though at the moment since he hadn't spoke all morning and mucus must have gathered in his throat. " Better be with someone who actually works. "

         Arthur didn't mind closing which meant he was perhaps the last person to leave after the store shut down. The only problem about it was that he often got stuck with lazy high school kids who complained about everything. Often he would just send them home right away to rid himself of their annoying whimpers. The young man often closed three nights a week and they were all in a row. Sunday through Tuesday usually. The rest of the days he had random start times and would often have to check the schedule to make sure of what time to come in.

         The Rampage door slammed as he Arthur turned and looked towards his work. He wasn't looking forward to standing around an oven tonight and cutting pizzas. That was his job because no one could cut as fast as he could. It was pretty stressful at times when you had someone asking for a certain person's order while you're trying to cut pizzas and put other people's orders together or when you had a whole bunch of pizzas coming out at once. Other than that though, it was easy work.

         Arthur headed towards the employee's entrance. There was two doors on the side of the building. They weren't very far from each other. One was the customer's entrance while the others was strictly for employees and delivery drivers. The customer's entrance lead to the front desk where you make your order or pick up an order you made over the phone. If you'd continue walking straight past the desk, you'd find the hot table where buffet usually was. To your right from there, was the dining room where eat-in orders were. There was a decent amount of tables and booths and a small party room in the back for birthdays and whatever else. It is your average restaurant front.

         The employee's entrance lead to a totally different area. It was the backbone of the restaurant. Right away when you walked in, there was shelves on both sides of you which contained most of the cleaning supplies available. To your left after a couple steps inward was a small room which held a lot of the ingredients for making the pizza crusts and freezers which held stuff for the salad bar and food for the broasters. Back there was the hottest because no circulation was available. Arthur often found himself having to cut cheese back for pizzas and when he would leave the room, sweat would be pouring out of almost every pore.

         If you would leave the back room and take a step out, the sinks and dish washer would be to your left. There was three sinks which was used to soak most dishes so you could use the water sprayer to get most the particles off. Afterwards, you would put the dishes on a small tray and slide them through into the dish washer. Most people didn't like to wash dishes and Arthur figured it was because you usually got soaked. Across from the dish washer was a couple tables where stuff like breadsticks and deserts were prepared. It was a simple table made out of stainless steel. On the other side of that table was a large compartment which held all the meats and vegetables for making the pizzas. Here you would sauce the pizza, then place the toppings on, and then put the correct amount of ounces of cheese on and slide it right into the oven only a foot away. Right next to the oven was the broasters where chicken and other fried foods go.

         Arthur walked through the employee's entrance and walked past the dish washer to a small wooden board on the wall. This board usually held the schedule and any notes the manager decided to leave behind. Examing it quickly, Arthur memorized his work hours for next week. Commonly, Arthur would work thirty hours a week. The only day off he often had was Saturday and that didn't bother him.

         " I was getting worried. "

         Arthur turned around and there stood the manager. His name was Jeff Maurers. Just by the sight of him, you could tell he was the manager. He had the usual well trimmed, combed hair and smooth face. Not to mention the flashy shirt which advertised the store. Jeff seemed to be the perfect looking guy if it wasn't for his fat gut which everyone would guess was from the years of working here around all this food.

         " Didn't think I'd show or what? " Arthur said. His was voice was normal now since he cleared it of the mucus earlier. A quick smile formed as he stared into the eyes of his boss.

         " No. " Jeff said quickly. " I didn't think that car of yours would run after what happened Friday. " He said with a laugh.

         The memory flew through Arthur's mind. Friday after work, the Rampage had scared a customer almost to death. It was an elderly woman who usually came late for buffet. She was entering the store as Arthur was leaving and getting into his car. When he had started up the car, it let loose a terrible bang noise as it backfired. The noise sounded like a gun going off to the woman and she freaked out. She had ran inside and assumed someone was out with a gun trying to get her. After it was all worked out, she left a complaint card about Arthur. He questioned if she was senile now.

         " Yea... It works fine now. " Arthur said. He was slightly embarrassed but was use to it now considering he had been driving that car around for a while now and accepted the looks he received.

         The employee entrance door slammed shut and another one of the workers had arrived for their shift. Both Arthur and Jeff turned to view who had shown up since two others were scheduled to be here soon as well. It was Alex.

         Alex was your standard height. Most like he stood around five eighths. Weighed around hundred and sixty pounds and was full of himself. In high school, he was not the jock nor was he the extreme nerdy type. Alex was middle class but thought he was high class. He'd often put people down because for some reason he thought he was above him. Secretly, everyone hated him at work and talked about him a lot behind his back.

         " Jesus Arthur. Don't you have enough money yet to get an actual car instead of that ticking time bomb? " Even his voice for the greatest part, made you want to hate him.

         " It runs. " Arthur said. He watched as Alex walked near him and examined the schedule.

         Alex groaned and turned back around towards Jeff. His eyes looked him up and down and you knew deep within he wanted to say something about his weight and the way he looked but had fear of losing his job.

         " Is there a problem? " Jeff asked. He noticed something had to be wrong by the way Alex had exhaled and continued to look at him. Jeff figured it had to do with the schedule but awaited the response from Alex.

         " I told you last week that I needed Friday and Saturday off. " He placed his hand on his hip. If you would have asked Arthur what he thought of this, he would have told you that he appeared like a girl who had attitude.

         Arthur turned to him and shook his head. " You always ask for Friday and Saturday off. Maybe you should let some other people try and get it off. " He frowned after speaking.

         Alex instantly turned his attention to Arthur. If it was possible, Arthur figured this would be the time you could see a fire burning in his eyes. Perhaps he'd share the same image as Satan pissed off.

         " Well sorry! Not my fault that they don't come to Jeff first. Why? You want it off? " Alex peered down upon him even though he was shorter. Arthur simply shook his head and Alex turned his attention back to the schedule.

         The phone suddenly rang and Alex jumped for it. He seemed like a deer scaling a fence as a car drove by and spooked it. He did the normal procedure for answering the phone. Simply, you just thank them for calling, tell them your name, and await their order. Arthur wondered why most people ordered when Alex took their call. In the depths of his tone, it was easily detected he didn't want your business and was doing it to try and get one step up the company ladder.

         The short argument was forgotten for the moment. Arthur gazed over Alex's shoulder and began doing the order he was taking. Most the time once someone picked out a side, they kept it so he made the breadsticks they planned to order and placed some cheese on it. This was a usual order as a side. Arthur had been working here for over two years and cheese sticks were still one of his favorite things to eat. Most people would think you'd get tired of the food after a while but there is still something that taste good here.

         The actual pizza order was again, almost predictable. It was called combination but in other words, it was a supreme pizza. It contained pepperoni, beef, sausage, black olives, onions, and mushrooms. One of the popular, if not the most popular pizza that was sold here.

         Arthur threw the pizza on the conveyer belt. This slow moving platform goes through the oven and takes about eight minutes total to cook. Arthur was glad that they had this. In another store he worked at a long time ago, they had to just place the pizza in a brick oven and watch it closely to see when it was done. This often caused the pizza to get either burnt or undercook. The person had to be very experienced to know the right time that way.

         The back door slammed close the last two people were here for work.

         Emily was one of the two that walked in. She was short and kind of cubby with short blonde hair cut like a mushroom style. There is freckles all over her face and the back of her neck and she has barely any eyebrows. When asked one time what happened to them, she explained that they were burnt off when she lit a grill that had too much gas in it and they just didn't grow back as well.

         The other person was Travis. He was lengthy and scrawny. If you looked up slim in the dictionary, his face would be right by it. Not only was he tall and skinny, everyone believed he had some kind of A.D.D. They'd find switching subjects in the middle of sentences and he'd usually get side-tracked when doing the simplest job. Arthur thinks Jeff just hired him because he's friends with Travis' parents.

         " Woohoo! Ready for work fellows!? " Travis shouted as he spotted Arthur and Jeff. He waved an energy drink around in his right hand while walking towards the computer to clock in. " Hell yes! Five minutes early! "

         Emily followed Travis to the computer. She shook her head while attempting to clock in besides Travis.

         Instead of using little timesheets and punching it into a clock mechanism, here they had to place their index finger onto a small scanner. This would allow them to log into the computer to take orders, clock in or out, and to examine recent orders. It seemed very advanced technology wise or at least it did to Arthur.

         " Alright guys. The rush should be here soon. Get to work. " Jeff said. He turned away from them and walked towards his little office in the corner. Most the time when Jeff worked nights, he'd hide out in his office and only come out if they needed him. No one knew exactly what he did in there all the time but Travis said he swore he had a television hidden in there or something. One night he told them he heard baseball scores coming from the room.





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Four hours later...



         The last sun light slowly disappeared as the day was getting close to ending. The final customer had left and the only people still around was Arthur and Jeff. It had taken them almost two hours to finish cleaning. A small group of people arrived around seven o'clock and ordered plenty of pizzas and deserts. They sat around and talked for almost an hour after eating before they finally left. All that was left to do was mopping and sweeping the front area and in the kitchen. Arthur did this as quick as possible, then clocked out and headed home.

         Arthur had to park in a nearby parking lot at nights. It was illegal for some reason to park on the street even though it was summer time. They often enforce this law during the winter so snow plows would be able to clear snow off the road. One time he forgot his car on main street and got a parking ticket. It was only ten dollars but that was ten dollars he will never get back.

         It's about a half of a block walk from the nearby parking lot. Not too bad if you think about it but it seemed like a burden after you arrived at the door leading to the mountain of stairs.

         Slowly, Arthur pulled the door open and looked upwards. After a long shift of working, the half block journey, and sight of these stairs; your legs seem to crumble.

         Step by step, he reached closer to the summit. When he arrived at the top, he turned to his right and immediately, his door was in range. Swiftly he pulled out his keys and stuck it into the hole. With a quick twist, the door was unlocked and he was inside his apartment.

         There was two ways in. One was into the living room which had a matching couch and chair. The color was a simple, dark blue and both of them were a little bit tore up. In front of the couch was a small table which most of the wood had be scratched off. A small twenty inch television stood in front of the couch about five feet away and had only a DVD player attached to it.

         The other door that lead into the apartment Arthur never used. It led straight into the kitchen which was a small kitchen. It barely had any room to walk around in but held the objects one would need to cook. It had a fridge, sink, and stove. Not to mention a lot of cupboards which could have been sacrificed to make more room.

         Straight out of the small kitchen led to the dining room which was attached to the living room. Arthur had a pretty good size kitchen table along with four chairs. A small hallway off to the left of the dining room was two rooms. One was Arthur's bedroom which consisted of a queen size bed and end table holding a small lamp and alarm clock. And the other room was a simple bathroom that only had a shower and toilet.

         It was a standard apartment for a single male.

         " Finally.. I get to relax. " Arthur said. He plopped down on the couch and looked around for the television remote. He soon found it underneath his bottom and with a click of the power button, the TV sprang to life. With no cable, Arthur had to rely on luck to catch a decent program on the local channels. Like any other night, nothing incredibly fascinating was on.

         Arthur walked into the kitchen and to his pathetic excuse for a fridge. The door swung open and he grabbed hold of the milk. Examing the expiration date, Arthur became disappointed in himself. It seems he failed to look at the date sooner and it was a couple days past goodness. Shrugging slightly, Arthur poured a small glass and drank it quickly. He thought while drinking that it tasted a little old but still good for its age.

         The young man came back to the couch and sat down almost in the exact same spot. Trying to find whatever was on good, he stared at the screen until before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.

         At first, everything seemed black. Complete darkness like if you were alone and closed your eyes and there was no noise around. Slowly, everything began to whirl into color and before Arthur knew it, he was standing outside near a broken down building. He shook his head for a moment and tried to figure out where he was.

         Suddenly a loud scream shot out of the building and Arthur found himself holding onto his ears to try and block them from the sound. He fell down to one knee when the scream seemed to get louder. As quickly as it started, it vanished. Standing straight up, Arthur turned his head and peered at the door to the building. The curious side of him said to go in and see what was going on but the logic side of him said to leave. Curiosity won.

         Arthur's right hand grabbed hold of the door knob. He looked down at it and even though it was a old knob, it was still somewhat beautiful to him. It felt slightly warm and had an almost new feel to it as if it was just crafted.

         The building sounded alive when Arthur turned the knob and pushed the door open. The creaking noise sounded like a loud sigh from within. Though Arthur could not see anything, it sounded like he heard several quick bursts of tiny whimpers in the darkness. At first it sounded like there was more than one person in there with him but after a small time of listening closely, he tracked the sound to the back right corner.

         There was an old, musty smell surrounding him as he walked towards this corner of the building. Small pieces of broken wood laid around him along with shattered tile and rocks. Little bits of light came through the roof where probably most of this debris came from. All the years of neglect must have led to the roof's quick life. However, the light did not come down on the person whimpering.

         Arthur came to a halt. He now stood around seven feet from the person. It sounded like a girl but he could be wrong. In his life, he's heard some men that sounded more girly than women he knew.

         " Are you alright? " He asked. A basic question which someone was crying. Everyone always seemed to ask this question when arriving to the scene of sadness.

         Nothing. The whimpering stopped though as the being noticed it was not alone. Man or woman, it stood up and was about a foot shorter than Arthur. He figured it was a woman now as she had long, dirty blonde hair which came down to the middle of her back. The clothes she was wearing retained to a black tank top and normal blue jeans. The jeans however had holes all over and he now noticed a large hole in the tank top near the bottom of her hair.

         " Miss? " Arthur stared at her back with curious eyes. Slowly, they were getting more use to the dark and he was able to see a perfect outline of the person.

         " Miss?! MISS?! " A loud, low voice erupted from the person's mouth. In a split second, the being turned around and fire exploded out from her body.

         Arthur took several steps back. His eyes grew big in size at the sight of the lady. Her face seemed decayed and untreated. It was like she had been dead for as long as this building has and now with his arrival, both had been brought back to life. It was strange but at the time he was unable to run because his attention was on her face.

         The hollowed out eye sockets sent a chill down his spine. Where eyes were suppose to be, nothing was there but blackness. Her mouth swung open and she appeared to be toothless with a black, hairy tongue. Half of her nose still was in contact with her face but it could be detached at any point.

         Natural instincts kicking in, Arthur took several steps back. He continued to stare at her ugly face while doing so but he lost his balance. A small piece of debris laid in his path and it knocked him onto his bottom. When he hit the ground, a small dust cloud shot up around him. It was either dust or dirt but he didn’t care at the moment as the ghastly being began walking towards him.

         The fire surrounding the woman began spreading out from her body and to the weak structure of the building. Within moments, the wood began to split and produce ash. It wouldn’t take long before the fire would consume the whole place at the rate it was traveling.

         Arthur was still planted on the ground while the fire absorbed the materials around him. The woman was only a few feet away from him now. A deathly shriek flowed towards him as the fire took control of the roof. In a few seconds, the whole place would be burned down now.

         A large piece of flaming roof fell downwards near Arthur and he noticed a small section of it still not on fire. Grabbing hold with his right hand, he tried to get to his feet and position himself facing the being. In a quick, solid swipe, he struck the lady on the side of the head, sending pieces of fiery wood chunks everywhere.

         The shrieking stopped only for a moment as the lady was knocked to the ground. Arthur did the only thing he could think of and turned around to try and escape this death trap.

         Dodging whatever he could on his trip to the entrance door, he grabbed hold of the knob and gave it a quick twist. Nothing. Turning his attention behind, he noticed the lady standing back up now and shaking the ash from her head. He continued to try and open the door but nothing was happening.

         “ No escape little one! “ Arthur heard from behind him. He could hear a slight hissing noise followed by footsteps. In an instant, he knew the lady was coming for him.

         Thinking fast, Arthur conjured up a small amount of space between him and the door. Using whatever strength he had left, he leaped forward. Thrusting his right leg out, his foot collided with the door.

         Success.

         Arthur flew outwards from the building and suddenly, he was falling. His body flailed around like a rag doll. Unable to figure out what was going on, he tried to slow down his movement. It seemed like he was falling down an endless pit. All around him was blackness. He was just happy to be away from that shrieking demon but if he was stuck in a bottomless hole, that’d almost be worse.

         A flash of light discharged from the darkness and Arthur found himself back in his apartment staring at the dark television screen. A faint smell of smoke still in his noise and a small blister swelled on his right hand. A maniacal laughter echoed in his mind.

         Arthur tried to stand up but his body felt weak. Almost felt like he had been sitting there for a whole week without food or water. His knees didn’t seem to want to hold his weight and his feet didn’t want to balance his body.

         Almost running into the kitchen table, Arthur fights to make his way to refrigerator. His throat was completely dry and even tasted like ash. Confusion sprang to life in his mind. Had what happened while he was asleep actually happen in real life or was this all a way for his mind to play with him?

         It took several large gulps of the expired milk before his throat finally was back to normal. He slowly made his way back to the sofa and sat down or a moment. His mind was still spinning slightly. Fragments of what happened kept showing up in his mind.  The fragments came to him like slow moving pictures. Almost as if someone kept drawing the same picture but a little different each time and then flipped through them fast to make their own movie.

         Arthur sat still on his couch for what seemed like hours. His body did not want to go back to normal at first. Once the blood began pumping furiously again, he felt normal.

         Walking to his bedroom, Arthur stopped to see the time. Strangely, it was only midnight. He had only been asleep for maybe an hour.

         “ Only an hour… “ He laid down on his bed. “ It seemed like a lifetime. “ He finished saying.

         A quick beep came from besides his bed.

         Turning his attention to the noise, Arthur noticed the source of it and it turned out to be his cell phone. Someone must have tried to contact him recently. Opening up his phone, Arthur almost gasped as he noticed that he had over twenty missed texts and several missed calls.

         Arthur decided to look at the texts first starting with the oldest ones first.

         ‘ Hey dude. Wat u doing? ’ Was the first text. It was from Alex. Arthur didn’t know why he sent him a text but decided not to think on it.

         ‘ hey  y u no call no show 2day? ‘ Was a text he read after about ten or so. Scratching his head, Arthur decided to continue reading.

         ‘ where r u? its been 3 days  have not herd from u ‘

         Arthur shook his head for a moment. That was the last text he received before his inbox was full. Unable to receive more texts after that, it was impossible to know what anyone else would have sent. What had happen?

         Calling his voicemail, Arthur was surprised to find he only had three new messages. He listened to the first one.

         “ Hey Artie. This is your mother. Your birthday is coming up big guy! Can’t wait to you see! Love you! “

         It clearly was the voice of his mother. The date rang on along with the time and phone number and Arthur went onwards to the next message.

         “ Hey Arthur. It’s Jeff. Just wondering what’s been going on. It’s been about three days now and we haven’t heard from you or anything. You’ve missed two shifts. Give me a call back. “ His voice seemed to tremble a little bit near the end. Maybe he was just scared he’d lose his best worker to someone else or because it seemed like Arthur had become missing.

         Arthur’s hand ran down his face as he awaited the third message to start.

         At first it was nothing and Arthur almost just erased it until he heard short breathing in the background. It was quiet at first then it began to grow louder. At last, he finally heard it.

         “ See you… when you… fall asleep…….. Little one… “ The voice trailed off. The message appeared to be over until that loud shriek escaped out the speaker. It was quickly voided when Arthur pressed the end button.

         The words rang in his head. What was going on? Arthur finally decided to call Jeff even though it was late. He hoped he’d answer and was correct.

         “ Hello? “ Jeff said. You could tell he had just woken up by the yawn after he spoke. “ Arthur you there? “

         Arthur sat quiet for a moment. What was happening was finally catching up to him and he wasn’t quite sure if he’d be able to explain it without being put in a white jacket and held in a padded room.

         “ Yea, I’m here Jeff. Just calling to tell you that my phone has been acting crazy and that I’ve been away at my grandma’s… she’s.. uhh… sick. “ Arthur knew that this wouldn’t pass but if he was going to be able to survive much longer, he needed a job.

         Sure enough, as impossible as it seemed, Jeff believed him.

         “ Oh okay Art. Just come into work tomorrow at four. It’s been almost a week since we’ve seen you. Good night. “ When he finished talking, Arthur turned the phone off and dropped it to the ground.

         “ A week? “ He said softly to himself. Frantically, he grabbed hold of his phone and checked the date. He gasped for air as it was exactly a week from the last time he remembered. The only difference in time was the hour but that could have just been how long it took his body to regain control after the week long slumber.

         A large growl came from deep within his stomach. Everything was beginning to catch up to him now. He felt even weaker and hunger struck him hard.

         Arthur swung the fridge door open violently. It slammed into the wall behind it as he scavenged within his refrigerator for food. Not only had it been in short supply before, but now half the stuff was bad due to the date. His hands fumbled around for a moment before he obtained some cheese. He twisted the plastic off quickly and threw the cheese into his mouth. It didn’t even seem like he was chewing. Just big gulps of whatever he could fit in there.

         The door slammed shut and Arthur fell to the floor slowly. He sat on his knees in front of the fridge. Unable to fill his stomach completely, he knew he would have to wait until morning before any stores would be open. His stomach wasn’t able to handle this. It continued to growl mercilessly.

         Arthur walked into his living room. He didn’t quite know what to do yet. If he fell asleep, he risked facing whatever haunted him before in his nightmare. The weak feeling that surrounded him though wasn’t making it easy to keep himself standing and awake. What if he fell asleep and did not wake up?

         Like usual, nothing was on the television yet. Burdened by infomercials that could continue to play until the earlier morning, Arthur had to find something else to do to keep his mind charged and focused. While walking towards the front door, Arthur slipped on some kind of paper that was lying on the floor. Flying forward, he found himself running head on into the wall. With a loud thud, the young man found himself knocked out cold and back into a dream state.

         





         Arthur slowly stood up. Turning around slowly, he noticed that he was not in his apartment again nor was he in the last location of his dream. This place was very unfamiliar to him.

         Grass was below him and the soil it lived in seemed very soft and moist. Several trees swayed silently next to him as a smooth, cool breeze collided with his skin. The moon sat above him, glaring down and lighting up the area just enough to see about twenty feet around you. There was no buildings or signs of life that Arthur could see.

         “ Welcome back! “ Rang a voice from above.

         Arthur looked upwards and spun around, trying to catch a glimpse of what was said and by who. No success. The person had moved to fast and he was unable to spot who it was. He had a feeling deep within him though about who was here to plague him once again. This time it would be different though because he would have to escape faster so not to wake up to die of starvation and dehydration.

         Acting on instinct, Arthur began running to his right. Maybe it was because he was right handed that this direction seemed more natural to him. His eyes glanced back and forth between his left and right in hopes of not seeing his pursuer that he knew was around somewhere.

         “ You cannot escape now. “ The voice came again. “ When I get you, I will emerge from here and control your body. I will live while you are stuck here deep within your mind like I have been for all your years! “

         Arthur stopped dead in his tracks as a flash of light emerged up ahead. It seemed like two large eyes with no pupils were coming straight for him.

         “ Why are you doing this?! Who are you?! “ He shouted as he the eyes came closing. They glowed through the darkness like two small lamps levitating towards him.

         A quick laugh sprang to life in further in the distance.

         “ Still don’t get it huh? “ The voice seemed higher now. Like before, it sent a shiver across Arthur. “ I’m the darkness in your mind. The evil thoughts you only think about. Sure you know that you won’t do them but they still stay there and when enough of them gather, it forms another personality! And guess who that is? “ The voice trailed off.

         Arthur spun around quickly. The two glowing objects that had been coming for him had disappeared and the voice was no where to be heard now. All around him was nothing. The grass continued to sway back and forth but that was all he could see and the blood inside of him seemed to slowly freeze.

         A twig broke somewhere behind him. As Arthur spun around, a being suddenly leaped from the darkness. It looked somewhat like the woman from before but this time, she seemed more alive. Instead of a decayed, rotting face, she had more color now. Her eyes shined red and seemed to pierce into Arthur’s like a knife’s blade would.          

         She shouted, “ Me! “

         The evil portion of Arthur collided into his body and they began rolling. All Arthur could do was continue to roll with her.  The whole time they rolled, she continued to let loose ungodly shrieks. It felt like her mouth was right by Arthur’s while she yelled.

         Finally, Arthur pushed with all his might and rolled the demon like being off of him. While trying to get to his feet, he could hear her dark, hissing breaths getting up as well. Peering around himself, he found almost no weapons of any short. Deep inside him, he knew he was screwed unless he could somehow beat her in hand to hand combat even though he had no experience in it.

         “ Remember that time.. When the safe was open and the cameras were off? I was there telling you to take some of the money… know one would know. Did you listen to me? “ She hissed as he walked side to side, continuing to stare him down. “ No! Of course not! It was ’wrong’. “

         Arthur prepared himself for what was to come. He saw her flex both of her scrawny legs and knew it would only be a couple seconds before she’d be coming at him once again.

         “ What about the time when you caught your girlfriend cheating on you? Why didn’t you listen to me when I told you to assault him! Beat him to pulp! Huh?! WHY DIDN’T YOU DO IT!? “

         She left the ground and went soaring straight for Arthur. Rage was controlling her movements which came out pretty good for Arthur. Through this blindness, he was able to try and think of a plan and even though it wasn’t the greatest he could come up with, it was basic and easy to follow.

         Leaning to the side and sticking his leg out, he tripped his oncoming attacker. She flew to the ground and while she was stuck there, Arthur took off running as fast as he could. It worked in the other dream, but unlike then, he was unable to find a door or anything.

         “ I’ll find you! I always do! “ Arthur heard from behind him. As sudden as the dream started, it ended.

         While running, Arthur stumbled into a nearby hole which was about the size of a grave but not as shallow. Once again, he found himself falling down an endless pit.

         “ Are you okay? “

         Arthur looked around in the darkness but could see nothing. He listened as the words repeated. Slowly, the darkness turned into a blinding light and he found himself laying on a small stretcher and being carried out into main street in front of the candle store.

         “ Huh? “ He said weakly as he tried to look around himself. All he saw was two guys wearing paramedic outfits and Jeff, his boss from work.

         “ I came to check in on you since you didn’t show up for work yet again and I found you just laying on the floor unconscious. I called 911 and they came right away. You need to eat more, looks like you lost twenty pounds. “ Jeff continued to talk while the men put Arthur into the ambulance through the back. Arthur however, decided to ignore him while trying to remember exactly what happened.

         Happy to be alive, Arthur watched as Jeff waved goodbye to him. The doors to the back of the ambulance closed and no longer could he see Jeff. Closing his eyes for a moment, he swore he still saw the face of woman in his dreams but he knew it was done with for now.

         One of the men who came for him plugged a small hose into his skin near his right wrist and began sending fluid into Arthur’s veins. He hadn’t eaten much for days and his body sure did look like it. He was able to see some of his bones sticking out more than usual all around his body.

         “ Hmm. “ The man said. He pulled out a cell phone that seemed to be Arthur’s. “ Mom? I think your mom is calling you. “

         Arthur grabbed the phone from him and examined the screen. It did in fact say mom so he flipped it open, hit a button allowing the call access, and placed it to his ear.

         At first it was nothing. He though maybe the service was bad or that it rang to long and his mom gave up. Until he heard it.

                “ I will find you… Don’t fall asleep precious! “ The words entered Arthur’s ears and a look of grief spread across his face. He dropped the phone and all that was heard in the ambulance was the terrible return of the shriek that spread out from the phone like a wildfire.