Short Horror Stories

Achluophobia

Achluophobia- fear of the dark.

Perseus had always been scared of the dark. Not, "Oh I'm a little kid who thinks there is a monster under my bed" scared, but petrified, not sleeping, hallucinating scared. Plus Perseus was 15, how would he tell his friends? He sighed. "Stupid achluophobia," he muttered. He glanced down at the invitation for his friend Oakley's 15th birthday. He whimpered, reading the sleepover at the bottom of the paper. His brother Carter walked in. He saw the invitation and laughed. "I can't believe it!" he cackled. "Mom named you Perseus, but you can't even sleep alone!" Perseus knew he was pathetic. The stories he heard about his name-sake, Percy (Perseus) Jackson proved this. He made his decision at that moment. He threw his invitation onto the bed and began to pack.

(Time skip brought to you by Voldemort working at McDonalds)

Perseus looked at the door to his friend's house. He breathed in and out. Then Arthur slammed open the door. "Dude, what are you doing?" he laughed. "The door is unlocked." Perseus muttered something like, "I know." and followed Arthur inside. "Everyone, Percy is here!" he caterwauled. Perseus winced. Unlike him, Arthur insisted on giving everyone a nickname. "Hey, Perseus!" Oakley said, not looking up from his phone. Chad, a soft-spoken smart, kind, and caring person, waved from his bean bag in the corner. Perseus nodded at him and plopped into his normal bean bag. "So...what are we doing first?" Perseus asked.

(Time skip brought to you by Sauron the giant eyeball working at Arby's)

Perseus looked at the clock. 4:30. Only 3 hours till sunrise. "*yawn* Checkmate." Chad said, knocking Perseus's king onto the floor. "Can we go to bed now?' Arthur muttered, yawning. Perseus immediately picked up Clue™. "Let's play clue!" he said, mentally freaking out. Chad took Clue™ from him and set it down. He took Peseus's hands and stared into his eyes. Perseus blushed. (my man is defo gay) "Is everything okay, Perseus?" Perseus swallowed and was about to respond, but Oakley came back with a board. He grinned wickedly. "Who's ready to summon some spirits?" Arthur perked up. "Hell yeah, man." Chad dropped Perseus's hands and frowned at Oakley. Perseus found he was disappointed. (gay ass) "Is that wise?" he asked. Oakley pshawed. "Of course it is." He set the Ouija board down. He motioned for everyone to put their hands on the arrow. "Spirits of above, are you there?" The arrow moved, making everyone gasp. Then it changed directions and went to no instead of yes. "Welp, that's rough buddy." Arthur humphed and collapsed into his nest of pillows and blankets. Oakley ignored him and set up his phone to charge and record. "Oh no." Perseus thought. Chad turned back to Perseus and raised his eyebrow. Perseus sighed. "I have Achluophobia, fear of the," Perseus began. "DARK!" laughed Arthur. Perseus nodded. Chad motioned him closer. Perseus scooted over. "It's alright." He laid his hand on Perseus's arm. Perseus gave a weak smile. Chad scooted his sleeping bag over to be closer to Perseus's.

After about an hour they fell asleep.

Perseus was falling. He screamed. "WHAT THE FU-" Arthur's wtf was cut off by an oof. Then Perseus was caught in someone's arms. He looked and saw Chad. He blushed, again. He hopped out of Chad's arms. He looked up and suddenly Oakley was in his arms. Oakley jumped out of his arms and looked around. "Yeah, thanks guys," Arthur grumbled from the ground. He got up and brushed himself off. The boys looked around. There was a blank landscape. Perseus recognized this place. He whimpered. "What's wrong?" Chad asked. "I know this place..." Chad looked shocked but then tamed his expression to that of a calm one. "How...?" He was interrupted by a groan. The landscape was changing right in front of their eyes. Holes were appearing in the suddenly sandy ground. A giant Victorian manor appeared, and the sky was suddenly that of a sunset. "Oh shit..." Arthur swore. " You guys, this place, it's called, 'Plobia.'" Arthur snorted. "It changes to the person's phobia or fear." Arthur laughed. "Guy's, who is afraid of Victorian manors?" Suddenly there was a squeaking noise. Arthur turned pale. A small hamster emerged from the hole nearest to Arthur. He squealed like a little girl and hid behind Oakley. Oakley raised his eyebrow. "You're afraid of hamsters?" he asked. Arthur's only response was, "Burn it with FIRE!" Oakley laughed. Then more hamsters appeared. And more. And more. Then they all turned towards the boys. Arthur gulped. "On the count of three run." The hamsters squealed. "THREE!" Arthur took off. The other boys blinked at each other. Then the hamsters chased. They took off after Arthur, Oakley screaming about demon hamsters. They managed to get to the manor. Arthur slammed the door, crushing some hamsters in the doorway. "Ewww," Oakley observed. They turned away from the door and looked into the manor entrance. There was a bunch of mannequins and dolls, all dressed nicely in Victorian-era clothing. Oakley swallowed and led the way through the manor. Every room had the same dolls and mannequins dressed the same. "It's like a family," Perseus murmured. It was. Oakley looked back into the entryway. "Weren't the things facing towards the door?" He shook his head and kept going. Then they all heard a menacing creak. There was a doll behind them. Oakley took the lead. "RUN!" They shot through the hallways, attracting all the dolls and mannequins. They ran into a room and slammed the door. "WHO IS AFRAID OF THOSE THINGS?!" Arthur asked, on the edge of hysteria. "It's called pediphobia." Oakley said, "The fear of inanimate, humanlike objects." Arthur glared. "Hey!" Oakley scowled. "You have your grandmother get crushed by a mannequin and crack her head open on the sidewalk!" Arthur's jaw dropped. "Guys?" Perseus called. "Yeah?" Oakley responded. "Is this the counselor's office?" They turned around. Sure enough. "Isn't your dad the counselor Chad?" He nodded. Then the man appeared. "Counselor Chad's dad?" Arthur asked. The counselor ignored him. He turned and looked at Chad. "Freak." He snarled. "Abomination, sin, fag." Chad shrunk into himself. Then another Perseus entered the room. He was different from the original. Instead of blonde hair with black streaks, he had black hair with blonde streaks and orange eyes instead of blue. "You thought I liked you?" he cackled. "You're a freak, and your sister is better." Perseus decided he was done. He quickly slapped the imposter across the face and kicked the counselor in the nuts. They both disappeared. Perseus nodded. "My job here is done." Arthur burst out laughing. Then the room went dark. Perseus yelped. Chad wrapped his arms around him. Then evil laughing started, filling the room with its sound. "Oh dear!" a voice said. "Perseus, you are gonna have to make a decision." A chill went down his back. "You... or your friends." Perseus knew his answer. "Me." Another chill. "You'd sacrifice yourself for them?" Perseus swallowed. "Yes." Then Chad woke up. He groaned and opened his eyes. "What a dream." He looked over at Perseus and screamed. His eyes had been replaced with red marbles and there was a hole where his heart should be.