What Hides In The Dark

What Hides in the Dark . . .

It was a dark, cold November night and I had been at my friend sharan's house and was supposed to be staying for a sleepover, but we’d had an argument. I had packed up my stuff and left, even though it was after midnight. I hadn’t told her mum I was leaving since she was asleep. I would have called my mum and asked her to come and pick me up, but I had forgotten my phone. The only person who knew I was out in this dark forest was Sharan and she hated me now. The thought of that sent a shiver down my spine.

I started to head back, but I was almost halfway home by then, so what was the point? I had to walk through a forest to get home and to be honest I was a bit scared. Even though I had walked through the forest about a million times before, there was something different and kind of creepy about the dark.

I didn’t have a torch so the only light was the moon. The wind started to blow a cold breeze which rustled the trees, I pulled my cardigan tighter around me.

CRACK. ‘What was that?’, I thought. I turned around, nothing, I must have stepped on a twig or something. I carried on walking. Usually it took about 5-10 minutes to get through the forest but this seemed to be taking forever.

Suddenly I heard something, I spun round, there was a shadow. I started to shake, I told myself that I was cold but I wasn’t I was really really scared. I knew I was just being silly, but as the shadow got closer I could see that it was a man with his head bent down looking at something he was holding in his hands. A phone, I guessed.

I kept walking, slightly faster than before. The man behind me started to walk fast too, so that after about half a minute he was right behind me. If I had stopped he would have tripped over the top of me.

I moved to the other side of the path and bent down, pretending to tie a shoelace. I looked up at the creepy man. The phone in his hand was on and the light was shining on his hands and face. As I looked at his hands I saw something dripping from them. I looked up to his face and couldn’t help but scream.

He had no face. All I saw was blood. Dripping down onto the ground. I looked behind him and there was a trail of liquid – blood.

I jumped to my feet and ran faster than I had ever run before. The man ran too. Finally I got out of the forest. The bright light of the streetlamps shone down on him. I could see him better now, as I looked I saw that the blood wasn’t red, it was clear. I looked up at him and all I saw was a normal person with a sweaty face. I looked at his hands they were sweaty too. I looked behind him, there was no trail of blood there was only leaves and litter.

Had I imagined everything? Was it just my mind playing tricks on me because it was dark and I was scared? It must have been because the man was just a normal person. I felt like such an idiot.

As I walked home I thought about how I would explain everything to my parents. I decided it was best if they didn’t know what happened in the woods. As I got to my front door I turned round to have one last look at the woods. It was too dark to see that far but one thing I did see was a man with his head bent down looking at something. A phone, I guessed. I quickly unlocked the door of my house and went in. I got into my pyjamas and climbed into bed. I thought about why the man had been following me, unless of course he lived near me. Then I thought back to what happened in the forest - when I had walked fast, so had the man and when I had started to run, so had he, and then he followed me home.

I tried to remove the last half hour from my head. It worked, for about 10 seconds. Then I heard a knock on the door. Normally I would think “who on earth would be knocking on the door at this time?”. I didn’t have to. I knew exactly who it was. I sat up in my bed to hear if my parents had got up to answer the door. They hadn’t, they probably hadn’t even woken up.

I didn’t know what to do. Go downstairs and answer the door and probably end up dead or in hospital? Or just stay in bed and try my best to get to sleep?

I crept downstairs and into the kitchen. I grabbed a breadknife and headed to the front door. I looked through the peep hole and saw a man with his head bent down looking at something. A phone, I guessed. I hid the knife behind my back and opened the door. “hello” , I said, “how can I help you?”. The man looked up from his phone. He smiled at me, his dentist white teeth shining in the moonlight. “Are you Scarlett Maud?”, the man said. “I am,“ I replied. “Come with me,” the man said, his voice soft and kind. I did as I was told. The man led me out into the street. We walked for ages until we arrived at some old deserted house.

Suddenly the man’s eyes lit up and shone red lasers onto the house. The door opened and we walked up the path and inside. I looked around me, there was nothing unusual, it was just a normal house. We went up the stairs and into the room on the left. He sat me down on the floor, took the bread knife from my hands and tied my hands together. “Repeat after me,” he said. “I am your prisoner, and I promise to do as you tell me.” I did as I was told. He left the room and turned off the light.

Suddenly a red laser shone down on me. It burned through me like fire. Then the room was dark again. The man came into the room, switched on the light and gave me a mirror. I looked at myself. I was a man with his head bent down looking at something. A phone, I guessed. I knew.

Poppy A S2 RHS