[This is a work of fiction I wrote today.]
It was dark out there. And those shadows from the streetlights – were they moving? She blinked a few times. No, they weren’t moving. She was biting her lip, her eyes scanning the street in front of the house. She thought she had seen something, but no matter how hard she strained, nothing was moving in the glow from the street lights.
“Can you see anything?” he whispered after a couple of minutes. She shook her head. It was a couple of hours before dawn, and everyone was asleep. She wished she could sleep too.
“We can’t stay here,” he continued to whisper. “We have to get this to God.”
“I know what we have to do,” she replied, turning to him, looking at the small USB drive he was holding. “But they’re after it too – we have to make sure they don’t get it.” He nodded his agreement, and handed it to her. She put it in her pocket, and watched him move quietly to the door.
“Your car is nearby?” he asked her, glancing at her. She nodded. “Good,” he said.
He was just about to open the door into the hallway outside when they both noticed something. The light shining under the door from the the hallway flickered as if someone was walking past on the other side. They both froze, and she could feel the hairs on her body stand on end. Her face went cold, as if all the blood had suddenly left it.
He slowly turned to her, his eyes wide with fear, and he gestured at the other door. She nodded and carefully made her way to it. He was doing the same, both of them walking as if in a slow motion movie, careful to avoid making a noise. She looked back at the door with the shadow under it. The shadow wasn’t there any more, only the light from the hallway on the other side.
And that’s when he started screaming. She jerked her head around, seeing him holding on to the door handle that they’d been approaching – but there was a shadow writhing about his feet, slowly moving up his legs.
She stepped back. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. There was nothing she could do for him. He didn’t hear her. All he could do was scream from the agony he was obviously experiencing.
She ran for the other door and opened it. There was nothing in the hallway, so she ran down it towards the front door. He was still screaming, but she knew she didn’t have long before the screaming stopped. She needed to get out before that happened.
Out the door she ran, and into the street. She glanced behind her, but nothing was coming after her yet through the door. Her car wasn’t far, she could see it. Behind her she heard the screaming stop. She ran faster, the car seeming so far away. Would she make it in time? She needed to make it.
In her mind she could feel the shadow behind her, the prickling between her shoulder blades that ensured she dare not look, fearful that it would be there, right behind her. She ran faster, grabbing the car keys from her jacket pocket. She pressed the button on it and the car beeped, the doors unlocking. Then she pressed the other button and a small blue light shone inside the car. There was a screech from behind her that ended abruptly.
She didn’t stop running, and crashed into the side of the car, almost hugging it with relief. She was safe. She looked behind her, but there was nothing there.
She checked her pocket – the USB drive was still there. With a sigh of relief, she got into the car. She looked sadly back at the house where Karl had just died and closed the door.
The car’s engine started, and it moved down the street. Quiet returned to the darkness, broken only by the streetlights.
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