10-31-08 12 AM

Reggie had never killed anything before, for any reason, and even though no one would ever consider the creature that was a few feet away from him human, he was still shaken over killing it. He admitted that the reason he hadn't lit the candle again was that he couldn't bring himself to look at it. Just knowing it was there was bad enough but the smell of mud, foul water, and acrid smoke that emanated from it made it even worse.

He began to wonder more about the events that were taking place and why. He knew it would be very easy to say that the end of the world was here, but he was starting to suspect that there were more sinister motives behind this. He remembered looking at the reports of problems around the world and feeling there was a pattern to everything, something that connected them, but he just couldn't put it all together.

While trying to figure out how things fit together, he noticed something he hadn't heard in a long time. The screaming had stopped, no one was shouting for help or God or anything. It partially emboldened him, partially scared him. What was the silence building to? What would happen next? He had already seen nightmares that he wouldn't have expected to see in a movie, and this was just the beginning.

He decided to light the candle and get out of the darkness. He fumbled around just a bit, but got the small candle glowing. It cast long shadows over the tunnel and the creature looked even more macabre, half shrouded in shadow. He decided that even though he'd keep the candle on, he wasn't going to have it facing him, its dead yellow eyes piercing at him from beyond whatever hell he had gone to. The body had gone stiff and with its extra density, moving it was more involved than he was prepared for. After finishing the move, he was exhausted.

He leaned back against his makeshift cot and wondered what his next move should be. He didn't think it was going to be safe much of anywhere, but he didn't think his current haven was a long-term solution. No matter where he decided to go, he was going to need some kind of transportation and that figured to be the most difficult part of his plan.

His plotting was interrupted by muffled sounds from above. He could tell instantly that it was coming from the creatures due to its low guttural sound and harsh sharp flow. The voices raised and lowered in some type of chanting, the purpose of which he could only guess at. Whatever it's function, nothing good would be coming to anyone human. Just as quickly and unexpectedly as it started, he noticed the ground shaking and then everything abruptly stopped.

From this point he heard nothing else and his mind wandered from the events of tonight, wondering about his parents, and how he was going to get out of this alive. Out of energy and sore, and despite everything else, he drifted off to sleep brooding over his evening.