Writer's Statement: I named it Nyctophobia because it is the name for the phobia/fear of the dark. It doesn’t really connect to the pandemic except for the fear part because people fear COVID-19. I chose to submit this kind of response because I thought it was a good story. My inspiration was some of my nightmares/dreams. I don’t really think this writing can really give the audience something besides a story and maybe it could show people that people don’t really fear the dark as much as what could happen or be in the dark. People also can see things/hallucinate in the dark which can cause fear.
A door. That was it. Just a door in the pure grey box. Why open it? There is no point and I really shouldn’t. Who knows what is out there on the other side. It's maddening though. The lack of anything though. I could barely feel anymore. Screw it. I hesitate before opening it. On second thought I will just sta-
The door bursts open and I’m dragged into the darkness. I’m shocked but can’t make a sound. I feel though. Finally I can feel. Fear. The one word racing around my head. I’m falling down into the abyss. Wait no… I'm walking now. I feel it before I see it. The shape of a humanoid. I’ll never know what it was. It’s barely there but I can feel it. Fear. Crushing me. I try to swat it away but my hand doesn’t connect with anything. I rush past it and through a door. I can’t see. I never could. I never saw the shape. I only felt it and just wished I could see it. In trade for fear I lost my sight. I’m not blind it’s just dark. I have an 8th sense. I can feel the presence of things.
I move about in the seemingly endless expanse. A bed. I can feel a bed and it's close. Everyone wants it. The Presences. It's other people. We rush to the bed and I can feel as we all feel waves of fear as we get close to each other. Some fall down. I tried to make it to the bed but it was too late. Someone was there. “Better luck next time” echoes through our heads. The room. I'm back in the room. Trapped forever until “next time”. I gather myself and prepare to go into the void once more.
1 Hour Later
I can’t. It’s pointless. I’ll never make it. I keep trying and trying but I am always too slow. The voice keeps changing the “game” they call it. They want it to be more interesting so instead of just fearful presences there is so much more. I head through the door once more. I fall and land on my back. I get up blinking away the stars. A library this time. I start walking around to explore. At least this time things are better lit. I find another person. We stare at each other trying to tell if the other is real or not. They look real enough. I becon and bring them around with me. “My name is Alex” the stranger says. I don’t bother to respond. We stumble across a pressure pad. “Do you trust me?” Alex says. I already know what he wants and I walk over and stand on the pressure pad. A shotgun appears and Alex grabs it. “Thank you I hope that this will be enough to defend against terrors.” We continue on and find a switch. Alex flicks it on and I grab the flashlight that appears. Now I can see when the terrors come out. We come across another person.
“I’m Rachel and you two better not be terrors,” she says. Before we can answer the clocks tick loudly and we hear faint gulping to our right. We all turn and look but the lights go out. One of the terrors found a blood bag but I hope they haven't found enough blood to transform yet. I turn on my flashlight and jump as I see someone. Hans I think it was. What are the odds that we would see each other again. Of course it could be not really him and he could be a terror but we will never know until it's too late. He did come from the direction of the gulping. I hear no screams so maybe none of the two had gotten enough blood. I wander towards the exits so I am ready to go. I hear the lights flicker back on and I go through the doors and see a garden. Four of us here and two others still out there. Probably the ones I can’t find are the terrors. By now they must have enough blood. I wander away from the group. I find a camera and the Scanner. I find Alex again and scan him. Innocent it reads. Ok well at least I can be around him. I look at his waist and see that he found the lethal injection. I hope he doesn’t choose me. I hear gulping and its close. I run with Alex to see who it is and Hans walks past us. Without hesitation Alex grabs him and puts him down. I’m shocked that Hans, who I thought was innocent, was a terror. Which means the real Hans made it out. Only to late I see Rachel walk by with blood stained lips. We were wrong. It wasn’t Hans. The clocks start ticking and I start running as I hear gunshots ring out as Rachel and Alex shoot at each other. Alex catches up with me unscathed. The lights go out and we hear the screams as the two terrors transform. Real monstrous things. I flick on my flashlight but it will run out of battery soon. Another person runs towards us but we see a flash of red and he is gone. We start running further away and find the vault door. We frantically start spinning the handle. We hear a screech and and I turn and see in my weak light from the flashlight, a terror. My light goes out and I fumble for my camera and turn the flash to the max and let a burst of light at the terror. It screeches a horrible sound and recoils backwards. I hear sound of the shotgun cock back and Alex blasts the terror to bits. One down.
“Good,” echoes through our heads. Alex goes back to spinning the handle and I keep flashing in behind us hoping to see nothing. I realize with my last flash I've left us blind. I hear guttural sounds and it is getting closer. Alex starts opening the door the ground opens beneath him and swallows him whole. I finish opening the door and run into the tunnel of light. The cold claws grip my leg and drags me back. I turn and see something unimaginable and then I am back in the grey room. “Better luck next time...”