Nycto

A man is being chased through the woods by a mysterious enemy.

I was sprinting, my heart racing and my pace unwavering as I ran for my life. My mind was a jumbled mess of adrenaline and reason, the only thought passing through my head was to keep running. The forest around me was a mess of gnarled trees and twisted roots that threatened to trip me at any point. The moon's pale, ghostly light was the only thing guiding me at the moment. I dared to look back at my pursuer. I did not know what “it” was but it was like a mass of writhing shadows that twisted up around each other. The closer the shadows got the more hope I lost. It was as if dread incarnate was chasing me through these awful woods.

After what felt like hours of running I was beginning to run out of stamina. My run had turned into more of a stumble, like a fast drunk trying to get home. Suddenly my legs went out from underneath me and the world flipped as I slid into a mass of roots. Getting my bearings I attempted to pull myself but my right foot refused to move. Looking down at it I groaned and almost passed out, my ankle was bent sharply in the completely wrong way. Again I tried to stand up, this time forcing myself to get up. Trying not to put weight on my ankle I looked around and was surprised to see that the contorted shadows were not at my heels, or anywhere for that matter.

Another eternity passed and still, no danger threatened my being. A quick inspection proved that my ankle was definitely dislocated or broken. There wasn’t anything I could do about my ankle until I could find my way out of this godforsaken forest. I got up from the large root I was sitting on and began my awkward stumble again. A few times my leg gave out but I kept on the gas, I had to get out of here. I noticed a subtle change in the atmosphere moments before the shadows came back. It didn’t take long before I felt that overwhelming sense of hopelessness. I was lifted off of my feet and launched towards one of the mangled trees. My back slammed against the trunk and the wind was instantly knocked out of me. My head whipped back and cracked on the hard wood and I began my descent.

In my disoriented state, it was like I was falling slowly. Which was not true as I abruptly hit the forest floor. I landed directly on my broken ankle and my vision turned white. I heaved up the empty contents of my stomach as the blinding pain in my ankle made me lose all other thoughts. I tried to get deep breaths in my lungs but every time I inhaled there was a sharp pain. I quickly deduced that I had a broken rib or two from the impact with the tree. I tried to get back up but my arms could not support my weight. Tears began to roll down my face from the seemingly bleak situation. I began a slow crawl with no certain destination. The shadow looming over me, as if it was enjoying my pain.

The crawling finally took its toll on my stamina as i'd never felt more fatigued in my entire life. I began to lie on the forest floor, feeling broken and battered, when the shadow made its move. There were suddenly deep, dark clouds in the sky where there had been none. The large full moon was getting slowly covered up and darkness began to descend on the never ending forest.

As the darkness reached its finality, and I could not see anything. I started to break. I slowly began to hyperventilate. Every breath hurt more than the last and when my breathing hit its apex, I could feel more tears run down my face. I started to thrash around, to try to break out of this prison of darkness, but my body could not handle it. After I lost all faith that I was going to get out of here, I began to sob. It started soft, slowly building up until my loud, ugly sobs could be heard from anywhere.

The shadow must have decided that it was done watching me sob and writhe because I felt it’s presence as it loomed over me. Long, rough fingers wrapped around my neck slowly. I tried to move away but found that my body was no longer in my control. With the fingers wrapped completely around my neck, I whimpered trying to move my hands to get these awful appendages from around my neck. My whimpering got louder with the fingers starting to apply pressure to my windpipe. My breathing quit, and I started to make weird, raspy wheezes as I tried, with all my life to take in air. The corners of my vision started to go black, and a pressure started in the back of my head. It felt as if my head was going to explode with the amount of pressure that was building up inside me. My eyes were bulging out of my skull and the pressure was nearing capacity when everything popped, and I faded away.

I slowly awoke and noticed I was suspended in the air. I looked at my limbs and saw each of them strung up by shadows connected to each corner of the damp, dark cave. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw the pale moonlight softly reaching me from the cave mouth. I looked around to see if there was anything else in the cave. I couldn’t even see my shadow being casted by the moonlight. I looked back sharply as something move in the corner of my eye. My breath hitched as sorrow filled my being. The mass of shadows came back to torment me once again. The shadows were sharper now, they almost resembled a man. The manlike image slowly walked towards me, making no sound. As it got closer my breathing picked up until I was hyperventilating. It stood in front of me as I whimpered and gasped for air. It seemed to be interested in my pitiful display for it still stood there with it’s heavy gaze that made me feel like I was nothing. The sound of rushing wind began to overpower my soft noises but I felt nothing. It picked up until it sounded as if I was inside of a hurricane. The sound of wind kept picking up until I shut my eyes and thrashed around in my bonds. Then as suddenly as it happened, it stopped. I opened my eyes but couldn’t see anything.

And my screaming began.

Reviews

[Whirrtere]

I loved the tenseness and hopelessness of it. Reading it reminded me of Pact.

I'm curious as to how the main character got in the situation to begin with and what'll happen to him next. Looking forward to more, Connor.