Fear: the unknown

Natalie was walking home after a long day of work in her sister Jamie's cafe. It was nearly pitch-black as the street lights were her only light source aside from her almost dead phone. Her husband Jake offered her a ride home, however Natalie declined, explaining that she needed the exercise and that the full moon was too beautiful to not witness. She was about to take her usual route through the main roads into downtown where she lived. However due to construction, Natalie had to change routes through more narrow and longer streets into downtown. She Called Jake Explaining that because of construction she would be taking a longer route home and would be there later than expected.

As she was walking through the dark and narrow street, her heart began to race as her mind created nightmarish creatures from the shadows that were out to get her. She took out a flashlight from her bag and used it to light her path. All of a sudden she hears a crash sound as if something has fallen from the ground. She pointed her flashlight in the area from where the sound originated. She saw a terrifying monster ripping into a human carcass while the creature was devouring its flesh. However, on further inspection the monster was nothing more than a racoon scavenging food from the trash can that had tipped over and fallen to the ground. With a sigh of relief, Natalie continued to walk until she reached a fork in the road. She had no idea of which route was the correct one or if both led to her destination or if one path was shorter than the other. She decided to take the left path, taking a huge breath before walking.

As Natile made her way through the long dark path, she started to quiver in fear, her imagination running wild with hideous creatures of the shadows. Thunder boomed the night sky and lightning casting a blinding white light in the long narrow street and frightening monsters came to life before Natalie's eyes and unholy shrieks echoed her eardrums with fear as she stood frozen in ice cold fear. She used her flashlight like a beacon of light and revealed the shadowy figures as nothing more than household items and sports equipment. She stared at the recycling bins, hockey nets, garbage cans, basketball hoops, and water hose and took a deep breath and calmed down before walking the path again.

As she neared the ending of the darkened path, Natalie heard a chilling whistle behind her. The sound sends chills down her frozen spine. She held the flashlight like a baseball bat, ready to strike at the origin of the whistling. As the sound gets closer, she gets ready to attack. However, the whistling goes from a chilling howl to an upbeat musical. Out of the shadows arrived a man with skin dark as coal wearing clothes white as the snow with headphones blue as the morning skies. Natalie raised the flashlight preparing to attack, she almost swung at the stranger's head but stopped frozen right mid attack.

“OH MY GOD YOU SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME!” Shouted Natalie terrified after seeing the stranger arrive out of the darkness.

The man took off his headphones in shock. “I scared you, you were going to hit me with that FUCKING FLASHLIGHT!” The man shouted back.

“I’m sorry, all I heard was a whistle and all of a sudden you appeared behind me.” Natalie said.

“Why were you walking through that path anyway? It’s all dark and spooky. Word of advice: the right path is shorter.” the man explained with a calmer tone of voice.

“Thanks for the tip. I was just getting home after work. My phone is dead but I told my husband that I would be home late and that he doesn’t have to worry.” Natalie said in a friendly tone.

“Anyway, I’m trying to get to downtown, I leave near there and after what I just walked through I’m kinda lost. Can you point me in the right direction?” Natalie asked, explaining her situation.

The man pointed at a street sign that said downtown London and Natalie's eyes sparked with joy and happiness. “Thank you sir!” Natalie exclaimed, waving at the man crossing a different street.

She was close, almost home, almost in her loving husband's arms, waiting to sleep on his soft chest and listen to his soothing heartbeat. She was about to reach her house when all of a sudden, the whistling had returned. Natalie froze thinking that the man had followed her home. She turned around to see if the man had indeed followed her, but she saw no one. Thinking that it was all in her head she turned back to her home. She felt a sharp pain on her neck, covering it with her hand to ease the pain. Her hand began to drip liquid near the area she was holding. She let go of her neck only to see her hand covered in dark red blood still dripping off her hand. Natalie collapsed to the ground from shock and blood loss, falling chest first hands covering her head to protect it from the fall. She laid down motionless, bleeding constantly without stopping. The world became dark as night, the candle flickering against the wind, the only color Natalie could see was red. Her eyes took one more look around before finally she could only see darkness.