Everyone Wants to Feel Safe in the Dark

Bill

I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t usually have trouble like this until the sun was making its journey up toward the sky, but tonight, sleep was nowhere in sight. I shifted on the bed enough that Sisky rolled over, arm leaving my side, and stood. Shooting a glance to the other bed, I noted that Gabe was asleep as well, though I didn’t understand how he could be comfortable with his feet hanging off of the end of the bed so precariously.
I made my way to the door as silently as possible. A bag in the floor, I not sure if it was mine or Sisky’s, caught my foot in the process of taking another step and I would have smashed into the floor had I not caught myself against the wall. I had made plenty of commotion in doing so, but the two in their beds didn’t seem to have heard the disturbance. I hesitated before slipping out the door and onto the deck. The air around me was engulfed by an ominous pitch black that was near impossible to see through and the very slight glow from the moon set the night world into an unjustifiably eerie haze. There were no visible stars in the sky and the moon could barely be seen from its position behind a blanket of thick clouds. I didn’t doubt that it would rain again sometime before the night was over, unfortunately to me.
My eyes swept over the vast area uncertainly. It was a formidable sensation that one received when gazing to the ground and knowing that at any moment, something could be there watching you- something just out of sight. I pulled my legs up to the rest of my body and buried my head between them, inhaling the waning scents of my home. The faint aroma was sterile, composed. That was what I hated about being here. Everything smelled so earthy and unsettling. I was always dubbed ‘weird’ though. I always tucked my nose down beneath the collar of my shirt when someone came near me after having just been outside. The smells from being out here were tacked onto them, a mixture of stale and bitter that I couldn’t stand. That was what it smelled like here and I couldn’t take it when I thought about it.
“You shouldn’t come out here alone.” A second voice joined then as the door to my left opened up and Gabe filtered out. He must have woke up when I tried to make a quiet exit, though I should have known better with how clumsy I was. I took a moment to drop my head back and look at him, though there wasn’t much I could see in the darkness. “I got thirsty. Why don’t we go grab a drink right quick?” He decided to offer after more than enough uncomfortable silence, and though I didn’t feel like moving, I stood as it was bound to be less boring than just sitting here staring off into space. He pulled me onto his back and crouched down, my arms instinctively knotting around his neck. He shot away from the deck and before I could even hide my face, we were already landing at the mouth of the trail to the cafeteria.

I slid off of his back and onto shaken legs, waiting for him to lead the way, but he was motionless. “Go inside and get some drinks. I’ll be in to meet you in a second.” He near demanded, voice stretched taut in the air. I didn’t dare go against his orders when he said it in such a voice. I stepped around him and pulled the door open, he not moving in even the slightest way. I found the light switch and flicked it on, wondering what he was doing. I made my way to the closest cabinet that I knew had cups in them and grabbed two before placing them on the counter. The first fridge I opened had the pitcher of tea that Brendon had made just before everyone went to their huts for sleep so I took it out and started to pour it into the cups, but a garish blow pounded into the wall just in front of me. It was so sudden and loud that I flinched, knocking both cups to the floor. Frigid liquid doused my pant legs and feet as the tea spilled from the cups, but this was the furthest thing from my mind. I ran to the door and rounded the side of the building to find out what had happened, though my mind was yelling that I was being rash and shouldn’t leave the safety of the building.
“Ga-Gabe?” I called out, fear consuming me when I saw nothing. Something moved behind me and I wouldn’t have known if not for the branches overhead shuddering violently. I knew I would regret it as I forced myself to turn, head dropping back as far as it could on my shoulders to take in the sight. Murky red eyes the size of baseballs were watching my every move, scrutinizing me. It towered much taller than anything else I’d witnessed before, tall and thick like a building. Its skin was a pallid, diaphanous eggshell color that stood out against the darkness like a siren did in silence. I could feel my heart palpitate thunderously upon laying my eyes on this creature, the sheer terror that overtook me enough to work where my brain was too staggered to.

In the fastest motion I had probably ever made, I whirled around and began sprinting, hoping to get as far away from it as possible. I could hear it chasing me, though I expected it to have a much more booming gait. I was amazed at just how quiet it was for such a colossal stature. I rounded the back of the building in pursuit of the other side, my frenzied mind hoping to reach the door. It was smarter though, and much stronger. It simply scaled the building and landed before me, blocking me off. It was before me with such precision and speed that I couldn’t stop myself. I plowed into its muscular abdomen, the force throwing me back to the ground on my back.

The sense of hopelessness blossomed within my ribs with dangerous speed and though I knew just staying here would earn me an inevitable death, I was too overcome with dread to move a muscle. It began to crouch down to me, baring its enormous teeth and I could feel it’s putrefying breath sinking over me like a blanket. As if on cue though Gabe shot through the air above me, tackling the monster hard enough that it stumbled away from me.
“Get in the cafeteria!” He bellowed, straining to grab onto its head. I pushed myself up to my feet and tried to do exactly what he demanded, but watched in horror as the beast slung him with no effort, he hurdling into a nearby tree. No sooner than his back met the tree, he was soaring through it and the tree was snapping in two as if it were as fragile as paper.
I again couldn’t move from where I was. My feet felt as though they had grown roots and burrowed into the ground so that I would be undoubtedly doomed to die here. Its murky crimson eyes bored into me and I heard Gabe moving somewhere behind me.
In an instant, I was being tossed like a rag-doll through the air with no idea how far I would be slung until I either lost momentum and hit the ground or was stopped by something. My back met the rigid wood of a hut and I hoped it may stop my movements, but I had no such luck. I could feel the wood cave in as we met, with almost no effort and I was careening through the other side in only a moment. I was slung to the ground after this, my body drilling into the dirt with such force that I automatically passed out. I must have only been unconscious for ten or so seconds, but when I came back to my senses, all I could do was writhe in agony. Everything on me felt broken and each pinpoint of pain was shooting their own individual signals to my brain. The pain was overwhelming. I vaguely felt my hands gripped to either side of my face and though it only hurt my chest even more, a torturous scream was dragging itself from my lungs.

I couldn’t move my right leg at all, my head felt like someone was standing over me, repeatedly smashing a cinder block down onto it, and there was so much pain in my chest and stomach that I was absolutely certain that I would die any moment. I heard my name in the distance, though I was in too much agony to even wonder who it could have belonged to. I tried to move but the attempt only jerked another scream away from me as my hip grinded within its socket. I felt blood coating my face as it dribbled down from my split open forehead in a steady flow, the warmth weaving down over my eyes and toward my chin.

“William- Do you hear me?!” I could hear another voice calling above me, but I couldn’t focus on it. There was too much hurt over-riding my brain. Through blurred, incoherent eyes, I saw someone kneeled down beside me, reaching toward me. I felt a hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay. We’ll get you fixed up.” I saw a blur of muted oranges around me as I was hoisted into someone’s hold. Another screech of anguish tumbled from my bloody mouth, but I couldn’t think anymore.
“It’s-…You…Fi-“ I only heard bits and pieces of the voice anymore, my head swiveling back limply.
I was completely incoherent, nothing reaching my brain but the fact that I was in a world of misery. The next thing I knew, I was in a bright, immaculate white room. My head was against a pillow and my body was resting atop a bland mattress, Travis standing over me in distress. A sharp jab met my neck as a needle was dipped into my skin by him and almost as soon as the liquid left the syringe, the pain settled down enough for me to focus on other things, though it was still agonizing.

“Hey, can you understand me?” He implored, hand touching my pulse for only a moment before I was motioning for a trash can. The lurch of nausea hit me like a tidal wave and the trashcan I had a meager hold on was being filled with vomit. All I could taste was bitter copper as I emptied my stomach, which only lasted for a few dreadful moments, but when I instinctively glanced down, my mind became even more terrified.
He noticed it as well with a minute groan. Deposited into the trashcan was a thick, viscous amount of blood. Before he could say anything though, Brendon was by his side. He uttered something to the shorter Super about the vomit before stepping away to let Brendon fix me. “You really took a beating, huh?” Brendon inquired, voice soothing. His hand closed in around my forearm and 90% of the pain was gone. I melted into the bed under such stout relief as he asked Travis to come over and help him remove what clothing was still intact on me. I heard my shirt being torn off, followed by my pants.
Movement at the doorway caught my eye and I fixated my gaze there to watch Danny and Sisky watching the scene in horror. I must have looked bad.

I felt another wave of nausea wrack my chest and I immediately wrenched to the side of the bed, but had no time to grab the trashcan. My hand flew up to my mouth as if it could stop the vomit, but it was spilling out between my fingers regardless. Deep red strands of blood ran between my fingers and down my wrist, the smell unbearable. “He’s- he’s puking up blood!” I heard Danny screaming, voice an adagio melancholy in my sluggish mind.
“I know.” I heard Brendon sigh in return, hand still on my arm even as the blood made it down my arm, pooling onto his knuckle. “I’m going to need to sedate him so I can find the source and fix it.” His espresso eyes flicked down to me, acknowledging me to warn “I’m going to have to open you up.” I nodded gratefully. Not only would I be out of pain if I were to be sedated, but he would fix it and get me healed to his best extent.

“Someone get Ryan for me please.” Brendon requested, and Travis went to move, obviously taking it upon himself, but halted abruptly. I hadn’t realized it until then, but the fabric of his shirt was balled up into my fist tightly and my fingers weren’t letting go. I hadn’t the slightest clue why either, but I couldn’t force them off of the fabric no matter how hard I tried. “I’ll.. I’ll do it.” Danny offered from the doorway and before anyone could refuse, he was zipping out of sight.
“Your right femur is broken.” I heard Brendon inform me, but I didn’t process it. My mind was slowing down considerably, another needle pricking into the vein on the back of my right hand. He had the IV set up easily, and I guessed he was pumping anesthetics into me. My eyelids drooped and my hand fell away from the red-head’s clothing. His fingers curled around my wrist gingerly and laid the arm at my side while his turquoise eyes found mine. I could see a measured amount of empathy pooled into the soft color and as my eyes fell shut, I found it odd to see such a human emotion on his usually angry face.