FEAR

"John?"

Even his own voice scared him. His heart was pounding louder now, but he didn't notice it. All he could think about was the darkness, and John. Where is John? Why doesn't he answer?

"J...John? Where are you?"

He told himself that the scream he had just heard was simply a joke, just a joke that John (God please let it be a joke) was playing.

Another sound sliced the silence with a jolt. Someone was choking in the next room, off to his right. The coughing and gagging rose to a scream then ceased, leaving behind an empty echo that was swallowed up by the crisp night air, freezing him in his tracks. He wished to God that the two of them had not chosen to come to this abandoned house tonight.

Why John, why? John? Can you hear me?

It was unlikely that John would go so far as to play a joke such as this. Suddenly, from out of the rational corner of his mind, he remembered doing a speech when he was in the eighth grade about fear and how when people first feel fear they will tense, and all senses will automatically alert themselves to their fullest. It was what he was doing now.

It came from the next room. Go check. Go check and see if John is playing a joke (or even alive).

Ridiculous! he thought, but he didn't mean it. The urge to turn and run out of the house pulled at his mind, and he almost did. He didn't, surprising himself, but the feeling was still there. Instead he stared at the blackness ahead of him, motionless.

Silence.

It would just take a second.

Go check.

His legs moved forward, the flashlight he held showing him the doorway leading into the next room. Everything seemed too dark and too silent. If there was any noise, the pounding of his heart drowned it out. His hand trembled as he moved the flashlight's beam around the room. He was confused and became more scared. There was nothing in the room.

But then again...

His foot stumbled into something so he moved the light to the floor to see what it was. He instantly spotted an object and scanned it slowly with the beam.

"Shit!" he screamed, then stumbled back a few feet, dropping the flashlight. The impact of it hitting the floor knocked its light out and he stood there, staring into the darkness at what was on the floor in front of him.

It was an arm and he knew it had to be John's. All it took was just a short glimpse of the blood and the twisted sort of way the arm lay on the floor to make him drop his flashlight. His mind screamed for him to run but his body was stunned, unable to move.

Another sound came from his right. He looked up and saw a huge lumbering shape in the darkness. Two green orbs protruded from ten feet up and he knew they were eyes. This was the slap in the face he needed. He turned and ran as quickly as he could, but the front door was an eternity away. He did reach it though, and kept running.

The thing behind him howled in protest of its quarry trying to escape, and this made him quicken his pace. Still, he was sure he wasn't going nearly as fast as he needed to. Whatever it was, he could hear it plodding heavily behind him with thick feet. Was it running also? He couldn't tell.

Outside were the woods, the woods he had to run through to get to the highway where John's car was parked. He didn't have the keys, but that was no reason to stop running.

Why did we come John? Through the fear, he could remember why.

"It'll be fun!" John had said earlier in the day.

Yeah John, real fun.

Trees seemed to reach out at him, ripping and tearing at his jacket. He was in a frenzy, running through the woods and screaming wildly, hoping that by some miracle someone would hear him and come to the rescue.

SMACK! A white light flashed as he ran blindly into a tree. He bounced back, bewildered, and fell to the ground. He felt pain in his head and chest and it was even stronger than the fear until he heard something breathing heavily above him. He looked up wearily, his head spinning and throbbing. Once again he saw the two green orbs.

In fact, that was the last thing he ever saw.

THE END

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