Days Gone By

Night - 1

The blackest of existence seemed to swallow up the small cabin that Danny confined himself in. A single door was the entry and exit for the cabin, living room, and tiny kitchen were separated by a bar divider. The furnishings were simple just a couch, rocking chair, and coffee table with a candelabra in its center for the living room area. The kitchen was much too small to have anything outside of cabinets and a wraparound countertop. Let’s ignore the dripping faucet that was the only thing breaking the eerie silence. Danny told himself to stay inside as he peeked out of the window to see nothing but pitch black nothingness. The only audible sounds were wind creaking the wooden walls and the sound of his own pattering heartbeat as he listened past the faucet. His unease would all but subside in a calm relaxation as he became more comfortable in what he was feeling to be a foreboding place. He found himself taking a seat in the rocking chair for a few moments he pondered how and why he had ended up in this place. He wouldn’t find himself in thought for very long as a loud bang against the wall would shake his senses back to alertness for the strange world around him. 

“What was that?!” His eyes would go straight to the window, that wall was the one in which the loud bang emitted. Breath shaky he would get up and slowly approach the window not getting too close. He had seen one too many horror movies to fall for the cliché death material. That thought gave him a small smile and a tiny sense of comfort. The front door would now bang and clang with a hefty might for a few moments as if something were desperately attempting to gain entry into the small cabin sanctuary. Danny being aware of his surroundings didn’t back up into the window but instead made his way into the kitchen area. He began searching for anything that could be usable a form of self-defense against whatever may be causing this disturbance. Rummaging through every drawer and cabinet he would find them all empty. It would seem the only thing he had on hand was the only light source the candelabra. He thought to himself break the rocking chair for a wooden implement. A scratching sound of metal on glass would make his unnerved eyes look to the window and hasten his decision to break the rocking chair. He was wanting one of the wooden back support dowels, he felt it would suffice as a nice makeshift club or stabbing implement. Quickly he would pick up the chair and throw it down on the floor. This did not work to break the chair, the walls in the kitchen would thump and bump aggressively. To Danny, it sounded as if whatever it was doing this was just walking around the house hitting walls and spooking him. 

“Why didn’t it break the window already?” he would say softly aloud as he began prying and stomping on the back of the rocking chair in a failed attempt to break any of it. In this failure he would get angry, his mindset would focus on breaking the chair, all but forgetting that there is something being a menace to him just outside the wooden walls. “Break you f*****g chair!” His mind would seem to snap, his eyes would start to stop seeing color as he yelled. Finally, after several attempts of stomping, pulling, prying, and slamming the rocking chair he would finally break some dowels for makeshift weapons. 

“Gahh!” as soon as the chair was broken, Danny would collapse to the ground in an unknown pain. A snapping pain that surged through his whole body like an electric shock. Rubbing his fingers and toes along the floor he would slowly regain feeling from the strange paralytic pain. In regaining use of his body he would hear an eerie sound from outside the front door area. It sounded as though someone softly chuckling with a small growl as an undertone. 

“Boy…” an unknown guttural voice would speak to break the silent visage of the outside world. “You had better let me in.” Danny’s face would grow into a new level of fear as he starred unsure of what to do at this point he simply laid still eyes focused on the door. A heavy thumping on the door as if whatever thing outside was knocking to gain entry. “I know… you’re in there… boy…” The ominous voice seemed to tear into the teenager's mind as he listened. “Just let me in, you won’t regret it…” The sounds of something scratching in long strokes at the door. A grumble of aggravation would be followed by silence.

“Who or what is that.” Danny would mutter softly to himself as he got up from the ground and slowly approached the door. Trying to steady his breath to a silent rhythm as his mind actually thought for a second to open the door. His hand even partially attempted to grasp the door handle. Seeming frozen in time with doing this he couldn’t bring himself to do it, and yet he couldn’t bring himself to pull his hand away. Something in his gut dared him to search this out further. However his mind was telling him over again it was a horrid idea, you open the door and you’re dead. 

“If I wanted to kill you Stormcrow, don’t you think I would of just beat the door in by now or burst out the window?” The stranger’s voice would strike a chord by calling Danny by that name.

He was hardly ever called by that name, he had no clue how this person would have come to find this name out. It was the breaking point for Danny, his hand would grasp the doorknob and softly he would turn it.

Before he could even c***k the door it would explode with violent force knocking the young man back almost through the window. As he gathered his senses he would look to the door as he watched a monstrous being squeeze his way in through the doorway into the inner cabin. Shaggy red fur adorned it's every inch, toenails were more like claws clicked against the wooden plank floor as it made entry. Looking up at this beast Danny froze with fear, as its menacing visage seemed to overwhelm the room and its entirety. Looking around the room it would inhale deeply in its muzzle nose. Standing before the patron of the cabin the predatory eyes of the beast would gaze down upon his body. 

“Finally, after so very long I have been let in…” His canine ears would flicker as Danny grunted trying to get up from his prone position. “You won’t regret this, everything you’ve ever wanted is finally in the palm of your hands.” The beast would clinch its hands in what appeared to be a triumphant way. 

“Wha, what ARE you?” Danny would question as he finally rose to his feet. Finding himself a few feet shorter than the creature, even though its legs were bent and it’s back hunched. Danny tried his best to keep a tough exterior but inside he was filled with fear, what was he thinking of opening the door to this thing?

A wag of its tail and tilt of its head its muzzle would seem to sneer a smirk. “You will find out that soon enough Stormcrow,” the beast would inhale deep the air. “You stink of fear, but that’s only natural… you’re face to face with one of the unformed lands most dangerous predators…” The beast would bring his head down nose to nose with Danny locking eyes with him, the soft pink tongue would roll along a series of dull pointed teeth. 

“This is all just a dream, that’s all it is.” Danny would say as he stared in horror at the beast, not looking away for fear that would agitate him. For some strange reason, Danny felt he knew this beast in some small way. “I want you to leave!” Danny would say with authority in his voice. “I don’t want you here anymore, get out of my cabin!” 

With a growl, the beast would lurch forward open-handed placed firmly on the chest of Danny pressing him back up against the wall with a heavy press effortlessly he all but pushed all the air out of Danny’s body. “It’s much too late for that Stormcrow! You have finally LET….ME….IN!” with each word the beast would draw nearer to Danny’s face, he could feel the hot breaths from the open maw at each word. The breath was somewhat nauseating to the youth as it smelled of raw game and blood. “I am never leaving, you had better just get used to the choice you made.” At that, the beast would release him to a degree of where Danny could breathe in enough to speak. The beast's eyes almost burning a hole through him with an intense gaze. 

Gasping for air Danny’s breath would catch up to his body's demand for oxygen quickly. With a paused moment he would stare at the monstrous beast that held him against the wall with but one hand. Unable to break free from being held Danny would reach up and clench the beast by the forearm and push. His face would snarl-up with angry effort becoming visible on his face. “I said…” by some strange means would be able to push back the arm of the beast. Much to the beast’s surprise, it was made clear to the agitated boy, that the beast was trying its hardest to push him back but to no avail. “GET OUT!!!” while yelling this he would back the beast up rapidly holding it by the arm. As fast as the beast came in the door it was shoved out the door effortlessly, swiftly following up with slamming the door shut. Taking a small moment he would look to his hands. “Did I seriously just do that? How?” Muttering all but confused at the whole situation as he shook his head. 

“Stormcrow!! You let me back in!” The beast would slam and beat on the door vigorously. “You can’t keep me out forever!” The rage in the beast’s voice made Danny shiver with fear. The beast’s growls of anger would slowly fade away into the distance. All that could be heard was the dripping of the faucet and the wisps of wind outside. 

“What is going on here? Is this a dream? It’s got to be.” Pinching himself only to find the pain was quite real but he didn’t awaken. “That never works.” Walking over to the candelabra on the coffee table he would look at his hand then back to the flames. “I have got to wake up…” Eyes would focus on the flame as he slowly brought his hand over the flame. He could feel the heat rising from it on his palm. Swallowing heavily he would bring his hand down slowly the heat would rise as he drew closer to the fire. His jaw would lock tight, teeth clenched awaiting the painful burning sensation that he was about to put himself through. It did not fully happen much to his disappointment. Something much worse comes to pass in his attempt to do this. The flame extinguished itself as he brought his hand down. Quickly he would attempt the middle flame only to find it snuffed out before he could bring his flesh to its fire. Only one remained lit to keep the encroaching darkness at bay from smothering out Danny’s ability to see his surroundings. His confusion had reached its peak but he dared not attempt the third candle flame for fear of absolute darkness. He looked to see about the broken chair only to find somehow it had mended itself back together. “What the heck?” Walking up to the chair his shaking hand would grip it and rock it back and forth, ensuring it in fact did restore itself somehow. 

“Asylums are funny like that.” A voice would break the silence, it was familiar to Danny’s ears. His eyes would raise up to where the sound had come from, the window.

The moment his eyes met the window it would shatter into thousands of pieces flying all about the cabin. A large rock would hit the floor bounce and roll to a stop. Naturally, Danny’s eyes followed the rock and he responded to the window bursting with getting low, hand up to protect his eyes from debris. Looking to the now busted open window he couldn’t make anything out but a set of odd-colored eyes peering at him. 

“Just leave me alone!” the boy filled with fear would plea to the darkness that laid beyond the now broken window.

A reply would promptly answer back with a simple hushed elongated “No.” the eyes would disappear into the darkness. The voice was not that of the beast, but it still struck a chord in Danny’s mind. The air from the busted window was cool and refreshing, drying the beads of sweat that adorned Danny’s face. His jaw shook with a quivering lip as he peered at the hole waiting for something to come bursting in at any moment but the only thing that invaded was varied winds. 

“How do I get out of here?” He would question himself as he rose up and looked around the cabin wondering what was going to happen next. The one candle remaining flickered softly making the shadows stretch and bounce lightly along the walls. Slowly he would make his way to the front door. As he made it to the door he would begin to hear a slight whining noise. Uncertain of its origin, his eyes would look around trying to locate it. Being brought to his knees, covering his ears the pitch would rise rapidly to an unbearable sound. His eyes shut tight grunting and yelling in agony as the sound kept on without relent. In reality, it was only a few moments, but for him, it felt like a lifetime of torment, the sound would ease away slowly. Opening his eyes he would see the window that was shattered had repaired itself during his moment of duress. To ensure himself it was whole again he approached it. Gently he would tap the glass pane. Inspecting the window as a whole with his eyes, he shook his head befuddled by this whole ordeal. Mind racing with what he was going to do, he approached the door once more. His hand mildly tremoring he would grasp the handle and swing it open fast. He was met with the darkness that barred itself at the edge of the door trim. 

“I don’t think I want to go out there, but what else can I do?” Looking over at the candles he would walk over to them and relight the two unlit ones. Quietly he would scold himself for not doing that sooner. What if the wind had blown out the one lit one earlier? The mind dared not imagine if that scenario had played out. He would take one of the candles out of the candelabra and go to the front door. Cupping his hand around the precious flame. He hoped would shed some slight light to guide him in the outside darkness. Cautiously he would step outside the front door. Discovering a small set of steps that led down to a gravel pathway. Even with the small amount of light, he couldn’t make out much but he would follow the path up to what seemed to be a small dirt road. It was crossed with the dirt path from the cabin. 

“Left or right?” softly he would whisper to himself, having no sense of direction in this strange world he would pick going left on the small dirt road. Danny wasn’t sure if it was comforting or unnerving. The fact he heard no noises aside from his feet pattering along the dirt path. No trees rustling, no wind, no animal noises, nothing. Just the noises he made as he made his way down the road. Moving the light around the area he could see unkempt grass on either side of the road, it was lush green and shaggy. Keeping on down the dirt track eventually he would end up to another smaller path. The path was to his left and it looked very familiar. It looked like the path that led up to the “Cabin…” He would speak as he approached it. 

“So… Did I go in one big circle? Maybe it’s a different one?” He would open the door to find the layout exactly as before, right down to the one missing candle from the candelabra. Frustrated he would turn around and walk a straight line, bypassing the crossroads. Going out into the grass walking out into the middle of nowhere. As he traveled this path, he would begin to hear strange noises as though something chittering and clacking. Shining his light around seemed all but useless, it only gave him about five to ten feet of vision. The frustration he felt was replaced by a small amount of fear, however, his anger had swollen to a point it wouldn’t be forgotten so easily. 

“Who’s there?” his voice commanded as the noises slowly got closer. His ears could hear something rustling in the grass drawing nearer to him. It was easy for him to determine the direction and he would shorten the gap between himself and the sounds. As he got close the shuffling would hasten towards him, he now could hear strange gagging sounds. This would make Danny’s face show a sense of concern but he would tackle this head-on.

Something would shamble into view and its horrifying visage made Danny back away, but part of him couldn’t run, he couldn’t even make a sound in reaction. He was awestruck by witnessing the terrible being that scuffled towards him. Stopping long enough to view him with a milky white eye that twitched side to side. The creature looked humanoid but its skin was almost like rags hanging off the muscle and bone. It shook uncontrollably, its mouth was literally ear to ear wide with broken and jagged teeth adorning the inside. It only had one arm and the fingers were elongated. It reached for Danny with an uncontrollable tic in the joints and knuckles. 

Danny would back up faster than the slow shambling creature could advance. Given a small amount of time the creature would grumble and stop moving, it would seem to be lurching or dry heaving. Danny didn’t care, he kept backing up until it was flooded with darkness. As soon as it was out of sight, he looked back to follow his foot impressions in the long grass. He would hear a sound from the direction of the creature like a choking sound. Upon hearing this he would see something long, black, and gnarled with weeping sores come from the direction of the horrifying monster. It would wrap around Danny’s waist and jerk him in the direction he was wanting to avoid. At this point he would let loose a horrible scream of fear, his heart pounding, and mouth dry, he knew he was going to die. Keeping the candle firmly held in one hand he tried to pry the slimy appendage off but this ended in failure. The creature would come back into view of the light, the extremity would be revealed to be the creature's tongue. That long-fingered hand reaching out would all but grasp the young terrified boy. 

“Should’ve stayed in the cabin.” The voice was gravelly and familiar it was the beast. Coming into view of the light the red-haired beast would growl and bark at the monster that held onto to the scared young man. It would murmur and gurgle giving a few small shrieks from its mouth. Slowly turning it seemed as if it were attempting to run away and drag Danny with it. This of course was ended in failure, as the beast would quickly assault the monster tearing it asunder with careless ease. The beast would give a grumble of annoyance as it eyed the aloof boy. 

Danny felt relieved of the events that took place, but he realized he was outside, alone with the beast he just throughout of the cabin. 

“Thanks?” Danny would say as he pulled the tongue from around his waist with disgust at touching it and its slimy ichor. 

“You owe me Stormcrow, you owe me big.” The beast would close the gap between the two, his large feral eyes staring down the boy. “The unclean are prevalent in this world, and you are no match for them. Get back to safety.”

“Unclean? What is this world?” The young man would question the beast as he wiped his hand on his pants in an attempt to remove slime. 

“Just go, your questions will only lead to more questions.” The beast would push him in the direction opposite of the torn apart creature. The stench from the beast’s hands would make him gag. Forcing Danny back to the cabin and ignoring everything he was asking. Shoving the irritated lad back into the cabin. “You let me in, and I’ll answer what I can…” The beast would bargain to Danny. 

“Why do you want in here so badly?!” Danny would sneer and add to the question. “What’s stopping you from coming in here in the first place?” 

“I will answer no questions until you allow me in and make a pact you will NEVER ask me to leave.” Demanded the red-furred monstrosity at the doorway. 

Danny would groan in frustration as plopped down on the floor holding his head. “I’m going to regret this but I need to know what is happening to me…” With a heavy swallow he would look up to the beast and motion him forward. “Come in…” a heavy sigh followed his decision to allow the creature back inside the cabin. 

Stepping in slowly, grumbling he would approach Danny and lean down placing a large clawed finger to his arm. Running a dull claw along the length of his forearm he scraped down leaving a small jagged cut. 

Dropping the candle he held on to so dearly. He would grip the fresh wound and exclaim in pain looking at the beast. “What was that for!?” Danny would look at the dribbling blood run down the sides of his arm. 

“The pact.” It would then cut open its hand and grip him by the arm rubbing and mingling their blood together. Danny would attempt to stop him but simply couldn’t overpower the beast at this point. Maybe it was due to being tired and mentally strained. Telling the beast to stop but it was ignoring his demands. In fear, the boy would grab the candle and jab it into the eye of the beast. The moment it made contact with his eye the beast would roar in agony. The very same eye Danny prodded with the lit candle would hurt Danny himself. As if he had stabbed himself in the eye with the candle. Feeling the sharp sudden pain of fire and melted wax jabbing into his eye. He would awaken in his bed screaming in pain.

Holding his eye, it throbbed in pain but it wasn’t injured. He would realize he was in bed and it was a horrible dream. Julia would enter the room with a look of alarm and concern.

“Danny!? Are you alright?” she would approach the bed and sit by his side, feeling his forehead. “You’re burning up dear let me go get you some aspirin and call the school and telling them you’re not coming in today.” Before Danny could say anything she was out the door to do the things she had said.

“It was all a dream?” feeling as if he was swimming in a pool of his own sweat he would wipe his forehead with his arm. A burning sensation would occur from the salty liquid. “I’m cut…” He would inspect the wound on his arm and it was the same he had gotten in the nightmare he just experienced. Realizing this he would swallow back a hard lump of nausea that filled his dry throat. “Grandma…” he would softly say towards the direction of the bedroom door. “I need to talk to you… I need help…” confessing aloud made him feel better. She did say she would be there for him if he needed her and he felt she was the only person in the world that could help him at this point and time. He just wasn’t certain how to begin his questions. He had a little time to figure it out as he laid in bed set up looking himself over awaiting her return.