Don't be Afraid of the Dark

by Eduard Joseph

last reflection he remembered ever seeing was that of a six year old boy. The man staring back at him was almost thirty and had a full beard. So many years wasted…

  He sighed and turned away from the mirror and turned off the taps of the tub. He could barely remember when last he had used a bathtub. He hesitated for a moment and then got into the water. The water was warm and soothing as he submerged his body. He lay back and stared up at the ceiling. Though he knew he was in a safe place, he still felt the need to be cautious and aware of everything around him. It was second nature to be scared and alert. You never knew what would eat you next in the dark universe he came from.

  The light hurt his eyes and they longed for darkness, but he never wanted to see darkness again. As long as he stayed in the light he would stay in this universe – the right universe. He shuddered to think of all the unseen creatures that lingered around him in that dark universe. It all felt like a nightmare he finally woke up from.

  Would he ever be able to adjust to being back in a universe filled with light? He had suffered from Stockholm syndrome for years because of his captor – the dark. It was all he knew; the dark. It was his worst enemy and his best friend for two decades. He had changed so much in the last twenty years, and yet nothing had changed in his own universe. He was only gone for a couple of hours. Though his old life sort of stood still waiting for his return, he still felt like he had missed out on his childhood, teen and young adult years. He was robbed of these years and no matter what he did he would never get them back

  9

  Patti stood outside the bathroom door for a moment and eavesdropped to make sure her son was alright. She couldn’t make out much, so she accepted that he was coping. She could never begin to understand the hell he went through or the hell of an adjustment he was going through on the other side of the door.

  She lingered at the door for a moment longer and then went to her bedroom. She would go through her closet in hopes of finding something for him to wear.

  The curtains were still drawn and only a small ray of sunlight came in through the crack in the curtains. As she entered the bedroom, she switched on the lights and headed over to the closet. She stood in front of the open closet and stared at the clothes on the rack. She still couldn’t wrap her mind around what had happened.

  She went through her outfits in the closet and then stumbled upon something she hadn’t seen in years. It was a shirt her husband left behind. She took it from the rack and stared at it for a moment. It brought back fond memories of the man she loved as well as memories of him walking out on them. The shirt still smelled like him. She missed him and hated him at the same time.

  Every day since he walked out on them she prayed to God that her son never turned out like his father. Her prayers came true far too quickly. She could tell the grownup version of her baby was twice the man his father used to be.

  The bedroom light flickered twice and then went out. She glanced up at the ceiling. It was a new light bulb. She only bought it a week earlier.

  A rumbling in the closet made her look down again. The closet was dark and somewhere in the shadows she heard something move – probably a shoebox that fell over.

  “Patti…” A whisper came from inside the dark closet.

  A shudder ran down her spine and she stepped closer to the open closet. The inside was as dark as an abyss. She couldn’t even see the clothes hanging from the rack. She always thought women who investigate strange noises in movies were idiotic, and yet she found herself stepping closer to the source of the noise.

  “Hello?” She asked cautiously.

  “Won’t you join us?” The whispers asked, “Your sister is waiting for you.”

  She stared into the darkness for a moment longer and then took a step back.

  “Patti…” The whispers said.

  Was this what got her son? Was this how he disappeared? She kept a close eye on the closet as she backed up. She could still hear something whisper inside, but the words were all just mumble. She couldn’t quite make out what they were saying.

  “What do you want?” She whimpered from afar.

  “We want your flesh.” The darkness in the closet whispered.

  She tried not to cry and was unable to scream. All she could do was stare at the closet as she stood frozen in fear at the foot of the bed. The whispering continued from inside the closet and kept her distracted as a bony hand slithered out from underneath the bed. By the time she felt its cold clutches around her ankle, it was too late. She screamed as the hand pulled her off her feet and she fell face down onto the carpet. She stared up at the bedroom door hoping to see someone come to her rescue.

  “Richard.” She uttered as the darkness underneath the bed snatched her away.

  Within a few seconds she was gone. All traces of her existence disappeared along with her into the darkness beneath the bed. The bedroom was quiet. Richard came rushing in holding onto the towel that was wrapped around his waist.

  “Mom!” He called out anxiously.

  He frantically searched the room, but found no trace of her. He stood in the middle of the room and felt like he wanted to cry. He had just found his way back home to his mom and then she was snatched away from him.

  “Richard!” he heard her voice call out from inside the closet.

  “Mom?” He asked cautiously.

  As he stepped closer to the closet, the doors slowly opened wider and a constant murmur of whispers came from the darkness inside. They were thousands of voices whispering inaudible words, but he could hear the words ‘join us’ every now and then.

  He stood in front of the closet and stared into the dark abyss as fear crept into his soul. He could feel the darkness drawing him in again. He wanted to fight it with everything he had, but he couldn’t leave his mother to die in the darkness. He had to save her.

  “I’m coming mother.” He said bravely.

  He dropped the towel and took a deep breath. He glanced at the twilight room for a moment and realized it might be the last time he would ever see anything from his universe again. He slowly turned to face the abyss inside the closet again. He stepped into the closet and disappeared into the darkness once more.

  THE END