A Day in The Dark

         Keith crouched near a dumpster, scooting his back against the cold brick wall behind him. He sucked in his breath and tried his best to quiet his breathing. Nervous sweat crept down his face and his bottom lip quivered as he suppressed his urge to scream for help. He listened intently for sounds of movement in the dark alley around him. He heard nothing but the swift howl of a chilly breeze and rustle of loose garbage scampering across the dank alley. He peered upwards into the smog ridden night sky. It was empty, other than the thin clouds of black smoke closely resembling air borne streaks of oil and tar. The stench of rodent feces and rotting meat saturated the air, giving a slight hope that his scent wasn’t detectable. He waited for a few long moments before venturing any movement. He kept his back against the cold steel and inched closer to the corner of the trash bin slowly and cautiously. Flecks of dark green paint chipped off and fell around him. He reached the edge of the bin and peered around it carefully.

The alley was littered with crumpled soda bottles and wadded up papers. The cracked and filthy pavement was splotched with different fluid of unknown origins. Flies darted from one rotten morsel of food to the next, gorging on moldy crusts and decayed vegetables. Keith stared at the putrid fodder with a starved eye, but common sense reminded him of the fatal consequences of eating such things. With a watered mouth and spiteful belly he searched the rest of the alleyway for danger.

After concluding that it was safe he rose from his hiding place cautiously, keeping his legs bent and muscles tensed, ready for anything. A chill swept over the alley so he zipped his jacket up to the neck and pulled the hood over his head before turning toward the northern end of the alleyway. He walked as silent as he could, treading lightly in his scuffed, brown leather boots. When he reached the narrow opening of the alley he grabbed hold of a rusted fire escape ladder and pulled himself up, freezing for a moment as the metal groaned under him. After a quick look to his right and left he continued his accent, slowly shifting his weight from rung to rung.

Keith reached the bottom platform of the fire exit, keeping to his hands and knees. This was the 2nd level of a 5 story apartment building that had been abandoned long ago. Dense patches of moss covered a large portion of the exterior, along with thick vines which climbed in and out windows and dangled carelessly from flag poles. A gigantic hole defaced the front of the building, inside of which one could see charred remnants of furniture and appliances strewn chaotically in a heap of burned debris.

Keith crawled to the window in front of him. It was shattered with all the glass missing, save the few bits still embedded in the frame. Keith pushed the frame up and snuck into the building without making much noise.

The room he entered must have been a small girls’ room. The walls were pink- at least were fire hadn’t scorched it a sooty back- and melted dolls laid, forgotten, in singed frilly dresses. Keith picked up a small translucent cross and rubbed it clean of any loose soot. He glared at its intricate patterns of roses and thorny vines then placed it inside his pocket.

He slinked to the doorway of the room slowly, minding shards of broken glass and porcelain. As he came to the doorway he placed his hand on what was left of the frame and peeked outside of it warily. To his right was a large, stained glass flower pot, webbed with numerous cracks. A bouquet of charred lilies and daisies drooped lifelessly inside the brittle vase.

To his left a short hallway lead to, what looked like, a small living room. Keith began down the hallway, watching strips of burnt wallpaper flap with wispy motion. Passed the opening of the hallway he saw the scorched wooden frame of a couch. Almost no fabric was left on the roasted sofa; just rusty metal springs which sat heavily atop the seared base.

As he neared the end of the passage he viewed a small refrigerator passed the remains of the couch. His eyes widened and his belly rumbled ravenously. He sped his pace and glanced around the room with a quick eye before hurrying to the mini fridge.

Keith pulled the steel handle with eager excitement. The door opened and Keith searched for anything that could satisfy his hunger. The hope he felt instantly changed to despair as he saw the only thing occupying the shelf was the stiff and musty carcass of a dead rat.

Keith sagged to his knees and rested his head in the palms of his hands. He took a long deep breath and shut the fridge with a frustrated groan. As he sulked there, starved and miserable, he heard a small snap and a few tiny splinters of wood fell from above him, landing lightly on his head and lap.

Keith froze instantaneously, his heart drummed frantically, and his breath caught in his throat. He sat still for a moment, fear slithering under his skin, sending shivers down his limbs. Another rustling sound from above sent more bits of wood and plaster plummeting down onto Keith. He clenched his jaw and peered up slowly.

Glaring down at him through a fist sized hole in the ceiling was a large, blood shot eye with a pale yellow iris and vicious intent.

Keith’s jaw dropped and his throat closed up in fear. The eye’s long tapered pupil focused on Keith and narrowed, and then a long high pitched shriek stabbed at Keith’s ears.

Keith jumped and fell backward banging his head on the hard wood floor. He scrambled backward franticly, soot and ash being tossed into the air by his efforts. The eye widened with anger as Keith got farther away, and then it fell away from the hole and in its place a large monstrous arm reached down, fiercely clawing the air. The arm had shriveled, dark grey skin which flaked off like bark from a dead tree. Black ooze flowed from multiple wounds along its fore arm and biceps. Its nails were long and thick, with jagged edges.

A drop of the black ooze flew down, landing on the back of Keith’s hand. He wiped the muck off on his jacket and scrambled to his feet. He looked around the small apartment and spotted the front door. He rushed to it, and clasped the knob with terrified hands. He twisted it and jerked the door open. Keith glanced back at the hellish arm. It had started to claw at the ceiling and continued its malicious screeches. Then a long agonizing groan emanated from the ceiling and a thin sharp crack sprang from the hole, tearing across the spackled top like a bolt of lightning.

Keith saw more fissures cut across the ceiling; he swallowed a whine of fear; he sensed what was coming. He rushed through the door and slammed it shut, taking a fleeting look around an unknown hallway, then dashed to his right. He sprinted down the long corridor, plowing over random debris. A thunderous crash sounded behind him, followed by a head splitting shriek. He glanced back down the dark hallway, watching the door he had just run through split as something began to beat on it relentlessly.

As Keith turned back around his foot slammed into something hard, sending him to the floor with a brutal thud. Darkness ensnared his vision. His body shivered, went numb, and then limp.









A chill swept over Keith, forming goose bumps down his spine and limbs. His fingertips tingled and his eyebrow twitched. His breath was ragged, and labored. A throbbing pain resonated in his head like the unfading echo of a drum. He lifted his heavy eye lids slowly. Blurry figures of dark blue and grey filled his sight. As his eyes focused he could make out a tattered blue carpet lain with broken bits of glass and stone. He saw his breath send up a swirl of black bust and soot particles which danced lightly in the air before scattering into nothing.

He warily lifted his head and pain shot from his brow to the base of his skull. He cringed, but continued to rise slowly. A small pool of blood was slowly being absorbed by the ratty carpet beneath his head. As he came to his knees something cold and wet landed on the back of his neck. Keith’s heart froze in mid beat. A low, gurgling rumble came from right behind him. Blood and sweat trickled down his nose and cheek. Hot gusts of air swept over his neck and shoulders, carrying a sordid stench of putrefied flesh. Something long and slick snaked around his neck and past his jaw. It caressed his cheek, smearing slime across his face. It was a dark purple, with tiny bumps a forked end. It was a tongue.

The ooze covered tongue pulled up on Keith’s jaw, forcing him to his feet. Once he was up the tongue directed him to turn around. Keith turned and watched the tongue recede into the vicious chops of a hungry demon.

All color left Keith’s face as he gazed upon the beast before him. The demon was tall and monstrous, with lean muscles that rippled under dark grey skin. It had no lips, just huge, brutish fangs covered in the dried blood of devoured prey. Four small slits above its mouth served as nostrils. A ring of gritty, red horns protruded from its skull. Its head rested upon a thin neck, and broad shoulders. It used its knuckles as support, like a hellish gorilla. Its back was arched and more spikes stuck out from its spine. A sinewy, flexible torso sat atop a bony pelvis and long, powerful legs. Razor sharp talons splintered the floor as the demon leaned closer to Keith.

Keith stared into the fiends ferocious eyes. In the dark, soullessly bleak center he saw ghastly images of the beast ripping the flesh from his bones, splitting his rib cage open, and gorging on his bloody entrails. He took a slow step backward and the monster followed, a string of drool swaying from its hungry jaws. Keith continued to walk backward until he ran into a door at the end of the hall. He flattened his back and arms against the door as the demon skulked toward him with an eager tongue swirling in its maw.

The grotesque being blew its rancid breath into Keith’s face, making him avert his face. As he looked away he spotted a rusty pipe protruding from a large hole in the wall. He reached for it slowly, hoping the monster wouldn’t notice. The beast leaned its vile face closer to Keith, slowly opening its mouth as it grew closer. Keith wrapped his fingers around the pipe and waited. The demon crept closer and closer, widening its jaws more and more. Keith panted heavily and his legs trembled. The demon was little more than an inch from his face, saliva glinting on its huge fangs when Keith jerked on the pipe.

The demon shrieked and hissed, ready to plunge it fangs into Keith’s flesh. Keith raised the pipe over his head then thrust the jagged end through the monsters tongue and mandible.

Black gunk erupted from the wounded beasts’ mouth, showering the floor with a thick coat of dark slime. The monster clutched his jaw and flung its head back, scraping a strip of skin from Keith’s arm. Keith ignored the gash in his arm and opened the door behind him, dashing through it franticly. The stairwell he entered was blocked going down so he sprinted up the steps, using his hands for extra speed.

He tripped when the support rail snapped and again when a half-decayed wooden step caved under his weight. Every door he tried refused to open, forcing him to continue up the shaft, flight after flight. Half way up the 4th flight of stairs a loud crash echoed up to him from below. Keith peeked down the shaft to a large dark cloud of dust and ash twirling and rising slowly. As it cleared Keith spotted a sinister being standing outside a demolished doorway covered in its own dark gore, its eyes filled with malice and rage. It starred up at Keith and grabbed the pipe jutting out of its jowl, then, with a loud “Gush!” wrenched the jagged piece of metal tubing from its jaw.

Keith swallowed a big knot in his throat and rushed even faster up the stairs. He heard the monsters maniacal rampage up the steps. Lumber being tossed and smashed into bits as it collided into the walls; windows shattered by airborne rubble; the howl of a demon engulfed in rage and seeking a gory revenge.

Keith reached the roof exit and kicked the steel door open and bounded through it. Once he was out he shoved the door closed and latched the dead bolt. He heard the beasts’ wild charge progress upwards toward him. Turning he examined the roof and saw it was surrounded on three sides by massive structures. He ran to the right side of the building and peered over the edge. There was nothing to climb or slide down, or anything but concrete and asphalt waited 5 stories below.

He ran to the other side of the roof and looked for the fire escape he had climbed before. He found it but the 5th and 4th story sections were mashed and mangled. He turned to look for any way off the roof when the steel door he had dead bolted suddenly burst forward off its hinges and soared through the air in violent tumbles. He jumped and looked toward the door-less frame. Lumbering out was a menacingly revolting figure with long deadly claws, brutish fangs, a crown of crimson horns, and pale yellow eyes steaming with absolute fury.

The fiend opened its mouth to scream when something fell to the ground from the chasm in its jaw. It was dark purple, covered in thick saliva and oozed an oily blood from one end. Keith took a step back as the demon examined its own severed tongue. The monster growled loud and low, black goo drizzling down its chin and neck. It let out several short high pitched howls, crouched low to the ground, and tensed its long, corded leg muscles. Keith clenched his sweaty fists and bent his quivering knees, getting ready for what ever happened next.

The demon took one more long ferocious glare at Keith then pounced forward, serrated, dagger-like claws reached out toward Keith’s terror stricken face. Keith saw the beast fly at him, and in a desperate attempt to survive, he ducked to the ground and covered his head with his hands.

The raging monster soared over Keith, crashing face first into the lip of the building. Its body continued over the edge. The hideous being plummeted downward, howling an earsplitting death cry until finally it landed on the jagged tip of a blown out street light.

Keith crawled to the edge of the roof and peered down at the impaled demon. The fiend was starring helplessly at the dark green pole jutting out of its abdomen. Black gunk bubbled out from around the pole, along with yellow puss and other bile. What looked like an intestine, dangled from the demons open torso. The monster tried to give off one last shriek but a surge of dark glop streamed from his mangled jaws instead. Its eyes rolled to the back of its head and the beast twitched slightly before falling lifelessly still.

Keith closed his eyes and rolled over onto his back, completely exhausted. Cold sweat ran down his cheeks and his hair swayed with the wind. He breathed long, deep breaths and rubbed his wounds. He tiredly gazed at the smog ridden sky and placed his hands into his pockets, where he felt the cross he had found before. He took it out and ran his grimy fingers over its smooth exterior. There was a switch on its bottom, Keith flipped it curiously and starred in awe as the cross flickered to life, illuminating his grimy palm and tattered sleeves. Dirt and tiny shards of concrete lay under his fingernails. An old, frayed scab peeled away revealing soft new skin. A soothing wave of comfort washed over him as he gazed upon the only light on such a dark night.