short stories

An endless hallway

And now I'm back to horror....

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He was walking on the creeping wooden floor, looking into a different dark corner each second. Accompanied by a never-ending feeling of being watched, followed...something was lurking in the darkness, waiting for he right moment. Edward's imagination was toying with his reason. Every creak, howl of wind or even the tiniest rat's footsteps was a potential horror story, full of fear and gore, only ending with the main character bathing in his own blood. "This is not real," he kept saying to himself, "This is all unreal, it is my world and you cannot die in your dream."

"But the pain in your dreams is just as real as one in reality."

Edward sprang forward, as he heard the voice behind his right ear. He tripped over his own legs and crumbled, panicking. Fear disallowed him to turn around and face whatever was there. He shut his eyes tightly, hoping it'll help him, like a young child, wrapping himself into the blanket, so as to feel safe from he monsters under his bed. But that safety was just an illusion.

"I'm still here, Edward," he heard in a mocking voice, only a few inches from his face. All in the same moment, he opened his eyes, wildly jumping back and let out a scream of terror. A psychopathic laughter from above threw the poor Edward into a run back through he dark hallway, where he'd come. The faster he ran, the more frightened he was, the more he felt an unreal touch on the back of his sweated neck. He ran as fast as he could, screaming and almost crying, he would most prefer to just sit down and wrap himself into a small ball of flesh, hoping for the best, but the little reason he had left kept pushing him forward, forward to the end of the world.

Edward's adrenaline started to lower; he became calmer after minutes of sprinting, so he slowed down his steps until he stopped completely and leaned his hands on his tired legs. His breath was heavy, gasping for air, lost in those fast few minutes. After moments of rest, Edward straightened his back and with a most unpleasant feeling, turned his head around. The figure was there, standing still in the darkness.

"You can't run from me, Edward," it said, closing in with long and slow steps. But Edward couldn't move. His mind kept telling him to run, yet his limbs were heavy, locked firmly in the ground. His eyes were open wide, looking at either thing, as it came closer and closer, bowing down to come to the same level and then halting only a foot from his scared little face. It had no face, but Edward sensed it's look, a look so strong that he felt as if he could reach out his hand and physically feel it. "You can't. But why would you want to in the first place?" It mad a pause and neared Edward's face, down which flowed a thick tear of terror. "Why would you want to run away, my dear Edward?"

"What are you?" He whispered with a shaky voice, "what do you want?"

"What am I, what do I want. I do not know the answer neither to the first nor tot the second question. But I do know who you are and what you want."

"And what do I want? Tell me." Edward gained some courage upon realization that this creature possesses some human qualities. The unknown is the scariest.

The figure moved away from his face and straightened out, about a meter above Edward's head. "Are you testing me?" It said with a mysterious rhythm, but the change of its tone frightened Edward once more. Nevertheless, he tried to keep a brave face.

"Don't try to hide your fear from me. I know everything about you, I know what you think, I know what you feel." As frightening as the things it said were, the way it spoke got his attention and curiosity.

Edward became uncomfortable; he started feeling how the thing was eavesdropping on his every thought, every idea that arose inside of his, until that day safe, head. He never once thought, that the words, hidden deep inside his brains, could ever be shared with another human being--but then again, what he was facing was no human. Insides of his ought to be his, private. He was scared; scared of the fact that the dark figure did nothing. It just stood there, motionless; waiting for him to make the first move. Edward's limbs were working again, but he didn't move them. He chose so because he didn't want to. He felt safety in that moment, when nothing was happening. It felt as if the time stopped. But as soon as the world started spinning again, monsters and dangers from its darkest corners would start to crawl upon him. 'I'm addicted; I don't want this moment to end. But I do. Do something, for I cannot,' spoke Edward in his head.

"I was entrusted with the task to hand over something to you. So, if you would be so kind as to follow a complete stranger through complete darkness, that stranger would be completely satisfied."

Apparently, he wasn't lying, when he said he could read Edward's mind. He turned around and headed down into the hallway, with Edward following him, indeed he followed a complete stranger,a thong of which he did not know neither what it was nor what it wanted. He could not trust him, but what other choice did he have? Another thing he could do was more pointless, walking up and down the hallway, stretching to infinity, into both directions . There was a source of light every hundred meters, giving hope and a never ending goal to those lost.

Edward, with a little hope left, followed he creature. It seemed as if it knew it's way around this place. It must have been there for a very long time. In an o'er moment it's hand stopped Edward in his way. He looked up towards it head. It was looking cautiously into the distance.

The thing knew it's way around, as it constantly switched ways, took side paths and shortcuts. Indeed it knew this place like it's own pocket. It seemed, as if--probably not by choice, for there was nothing positive about his place--it had been there for a very long time.

It turned right, into a small room and Edward followed. There was a dim light hanging from the ceiling, softening Edward's face. A small children's bed was sitting in the corner with a trail of blood coming from underneath it. Edward shivered in discomfort. His curiosity dragged him towards the bed as he spotted something on it. He picked it up; a photo of a family. Father, mother and a child. A happy family, smiling, laughing; having a good time in the summer sunshine. Such a warm photo--exact opposite of the dark place in which it lay. Something was written below the picture. Edward