Young Writers Society

I'm all alone.

I can't remember when they took me.

/////

The last thing I remember is waking up in a dark room, my neck sore from hanging unsupported. I was tied to a wooden chair, with rope that felt unusually damp around my wrists and feet. Panicked, I had thrashed around, crying out for help. My frantic movements caused the chair to rock over, bringing me to the floor with it. The concrete was cold.

I spent a few minutes awkwardly shuffling around, trying to get the chair upright again, but with no success. I was just beginning to cry for help when I heard a key turn in a lock somewhere behind me.

Click.

Desperately, I tried to turn around, but I couldn't move my head very far in that direction. What was happening behind me? What was being unlocked?

A stroke of pale orange light appeared, illuminating a small part of the room that I lay in. A loud creak pierced the air. A putrid smell filled the space around me, and I gagged because of it. It was a mix of potent garlic and what could only be described as old sweat.

Someone had opened a door.

I could hear them breathing. Deep, heavy, raspy breaths, as if they were having trouble inhaling. My head was facing the wall opposite the door, so I could see the shadow they were casting due to the orange light. A very tall, extremely thin figure, with long legs and arms. Completely still.

Just breathing.

I couldn't seem to move. I was paralysed, more scared than I had ever been in my life. Pure terror sealed my lips. The figure wasn't doing anything. I couldn't even tell if they were looking at me.

A few more agonising moments passed, before the figure slowly sighed. I could see their shoulders relax, and I saw as their arm reached to the side, as if to close the door. I snapped out of my silence.

"No wait! Please I'm here! Let me go!"

They continued to slowly move, stepping backwards and pulling the door with them, slowly blocking off the light once more.

"PLEASE NO!"

The door shut with a thud.

I heard the footsteps of the figure as it walked away. Extremely slow and heavy, almost as if it was dragging it's feet behind it. It was still breathing uneasily.

/////

Hours later? Maybe less, maybe more.

I had managed to shuffle myself round, so that I was facing where the door should be. There had been no more sounds from anything outside the door, not since the figure had left. Traces of the putrid smell were still dancing through the air.

I had searched the floor around me for anything sharp that may have allowed me to cut the rope from my wrists. But I had no such luck. My fingers had grasped nothing but cold air.

I had no idea what was going on. Desperately, I'd tried to remember the last place I was, before I had woken up. I must have been walking back from school, down the path that ran by the woods. Surely I couldn't have been far from my house. I prayed that someone had realised that I'd gone missing. I had no idea where I was, so I could only hope that someone would be able to find me.

My hands and feet had gone numb, the damp rope cutting off nearly all of my blood circulation. I wiggled my fingers in the hope of reducing the numbness.

That's when I heard it again. The sound of slow dragging, footsteps. Getting closer and closer.

My breath hitched, and I began to shake. The figure was coming back. The dull sound of the footsteps was becoming louder, little by little.

They were moving so slowly.

They drew nearer. I held my breath. The footsteps stopped. They must be outside the door.

I heard a gruesome, wet, crackling sound. Then more breathing. Maybe a little faster than last time, but still uneasy. I knew that the figure was looking at the door. Looking at me. I could sense it. My skin was crawling, and the hairs on the back of my neck were upright. Only a wall separated me and the figure. Traces of the putrid smell seeped through the cracks of the door, burning my nostrils as I continued to hold my breath. The raspy inhales were the only sounds that the figure was making. Blood thumped through my head, whirring past my ears with a deafening scream.

A wet, crackling sound. And then footsteps. Slow footsteps that were moving away from the door. The smell began to fade slightly, and I exhaled slowly. I could faintly hear the sounds of the footsteps somewhere to the right, as if the figure had continued along down a corridor. My heart rate began to slow.

Who was it? What did they want with me?

BANG

I flinched, my stomach dropping with shock. My heart began to beat furiously once more. What was that? It sounded close, very close.

BANG BANG

It came from the door. There was someone there. Desperately, I struggled on the floor, my wrists aching from being rubbed against the coarse rope.

BANG BANG BANG

Someone was trying to break down the door. The figure?

Or was it someone coming to help?

CRASH

The door burst open, swinging on its hinges. I was momentarily blinded by the orange light, as this time my face was directly in front of the door. I squinted at the light, trying to make out who was standing there.

It was the figure.

A very tall, extremely thin figure with long legs and arms.

I opened my mouth in a silent scream.

It must have been at least seven foot tall, with an oval shaped, completely hairless head. It had sickly white skin, that looked almost rubbery. Parts of the skin were hanging, baggy and wrinkled in areas where there should have been joints. Disturbingly, parts of its paper white skin were glistening, almost slimy, with what looked like sweat. The sweat drenched the figure so much that droplets of it were hanging from its extremely long, hooked, fingers.

Then there was its face.

It's hairless head was particularly wrinkled, and glistened with sweat too. But there were no eyes. Just blank skin were they should have been. No eyes, no nose, no ears. Just a mouth. A large, red, mouth with what appeared to be dozens of sharp jagged teeth, protruding from prominent fleshy gums that glistened with blood.

I couldn't move.

The creature appeared to be staring directly ahead, looking at the wall. But I was on the floor. Could it see me? Maybe it was blind, after all it had no eyes. I prayed that it would just go away.

A wet crackling noise.

The creature had turned its neck, bubbling crackling noises erupting into the air as a result of the bones cracking. It's head was facing me. 

Slowly, it's mouth turned from expressionless to a smile. A creepy, terrifying smile that showed all of its bloody teeth. It was staring at me, staring at me without any eyes, looking directly into my soul. It carried on smiling.

CLICK

I suddenly felt dizzy. Something within me had snapped, and I couldn't help but start to close my eyes as exhaustion overcame me. What had the creature done to me? Desperately I tried to fight, struggling and blinking to keep my heavy eyelids from shutting. But I was too weak.

The last thing I saw through was the figure taking steps towards me. Its feet were dragging against the concrete as it slowly bent over and reached out towards me.

//////

I woke up. My chair was upright this time. The rope around my wrists felt more damp than it had previously. The unbearable stench hung heavily in the air.

I had not woken up in darkness. The door was wide open, letting harsh orange light stream in. All I could see through the doorway was part of a corridor.

My head was heavy. I felt too groggy to be scared.

Peering through the doorway, my eyes caught on something. My heart rate began to increase again, and my head snapped up.

A white hand that had hooked fingers and glistened in the light was reaching around the doorway.

I heard a wet crackling sound.

///

Sometimes it's hear. Sometimes it isn't. The footsteps, the breathing, the crackling, the silence. It's all I hear. I wake up, it puts me to sleep, I wake up, it puts me to sleep. The blank skin where its eyes should be haunts me in my nightmares. In my dreams, the skin is sometimes peeled back to reveal the aching red flesh beneath. Sometimes I wake up with scratches and marks on my arm, with blood that matches that of its gums dripping from my arm. Sometimes hours pass by and nothing happens. Sometimes the creature is all I see. It stares into my soul and smiles. I can't move. I can't breathe. I want this to end, I want to die. Why has no one found me yet?

Isn't someone missing me?