Lost In The Light

“When you spend so long trapped in darkness, you find that the darkness begins to stare back.”

― Sarah J. Maas

***

I enter the building shaking off whatever rain was still on me. The damp, soaked fabric of my hoodie seeps through to my bare neck.

"Watch the floor young lady," a tiny voice croaked to my right. The elderly man smiles, gesturing his crooked, arthritic fingers towards the wet tiles of the store's lobby. He sits on a small, foldable chair that had seen its fair share of backsides. The man wears the familiar yellow vest with the name ERNEST printed on a red name tag and the SHOPPER ZONE patch below it. "the floor is quite slippery with all this rain. I don't want you to take a tumble."

"Thank you," I answer. "I don't want to slip either." I smile at him proceeding to walk carefully over the slick tile floor. My sneakers slosh through trails of dirty gray water and wet shoe marks from other shoppers who recently trudged into SHOPPER ZONE escaping the weather.

I had been here many times with my parents, however, I never thought how different it would be alone, without their guidance as well as their company.

Dozens of aisles with giant signs hang from the rafters above, summarizing the items you'd find listed on your shopping list. Today, nothing is the same. I remember the store being much smaller, today it seems 4 times the size. Everything so big, so far away, like a boat, drifting derelict, lost in the vast ocean with no shore in sight.

I inhale deeply, forcing myself to relax, C'mon Carly, get a grip, you're either doing this or you're not. The more I think about it, the more ridiculous the situation becomes. I'm in a store. That's it -- a supermarket. Again, my imagination has gotten the best of me.

Several stray shopping carts are huddled in a corner, behind them are the red hand baskets. I grab one, look at the list one last time and begin shopping.

I stroll through the store the same way I do when I come here with Mom or Dad. It's easy, I'm now carefree. The dread I felt earlier has subsided into a small morsel, tucked in the shadows of my thoughts.

I already located the lemons, the butter, all I need now is the sugar and flour, in fact, those might be on the same aisle, I recall Mom telling me earlier.

In a small way, I'm beginning to get bummed out. I couldn't wait to do this. Mom and Dad finally allow me to do some shopping on my own and now I'm almost done. Two items to go, then I'll pay, walk back in the rain to Dad's truck, and return home.

I decide to wander to the front of the store so I can catch a glimpse at the weather outside, mentally preparing myself to become soaked again. The massive advertisements displaying this week's deals cover the windows. There is no way of knowing if it was rain or shine outside. I can only distinguish it is daytime through those covered up panes. Obviously it is still daytime, only a handful of minutes have passed since I entered the store.

I stroll over to aisle 7. Ernest, the old man who had welcomed me when I walked in lifts his head giving me a small wave. I greet him back, but he continues waving, as though I'm not there.

I stop waving after noticing the elderly woman standing near the aisle I'm heading to. She raises her hand, waving back to the man. He smiles, turns away, and greets a new customer walking in. I dip through to the aisle's opening. I'm sure my face is flushed, red from embarrassment.

"Ernie Frankel..." the woman says as I walk into the aisle. A large smile covers her face, "He's about the nicest man you'll ever meet. Has worked here as long as I can remember. He waves to everyone. It isn't silly waving back to him darling."

I smile back sheepishly. "I thought he was waving to me," I giggle, "but he was actually waving to you."

"Well, still, if he was...who cares?" she laughs. "You young kids, always so worried about embarrassing yourselves. Don't worry so much sweetheart, life's too short for those kinds of thoughts," she pats my arm as she says it. Her smile and comforting words come over me like a warm wave of calm.

"Thank you," my shoulders drop, tension releases from my body. "Have a good day ma'am." I turn and begin walking down the aisle searching for the sugar and the flour. The final two things on my list.

Outside a deep rumble, thunder again, I imagine as I scan the items in the aisle. The lights being to flicker as another rumble begins. Vibrations buzz under my feet. I imagine Dad sitting in his truck waiting for me, reading his book, lost in another world. I smirk, guessing he might have been startled, flinching at the roaring boom.

The lights dim again, flickering slightly then go back on, only this time, the store goes dark for a fraction of a second. I overhear a child screaming several aisles away. To be honest, I almost did too. Fortunately, the lights are working fine now.

I grab a container of sugar, noticing the bags of flour on the bottom shelf. I add the bag of flour to the handbasket as the lights flicker once again.

I suddenly realize the old woman is no longer there. A moment or two before she was right here, a few feet away from me.

Where'd she go?

I look up and down the aisle, confused. Did she walk past me and I didn't see her?

Again the light's flash, this time for several seconds. I don't exactly know if I'm more concerned with the lights or that the elderly woman I was just speaking with seemed to have vanished out of thin air.

Out of nowhere, all the noise around me ceases, as if someone or something sucked all the sounds out of the entire space. There are no sounds of ticking watches, voices, or movement. Even the sounds that don't have a name -- the white noise -- the background, is now all gone. It reminds me of the sensation when I put my head and ears under the water of a warm bath. It's as though my body went into a vacuum all the sound was sucked out. I stand still, perfectly still. Listening, breathing, listening, breathing.

Nothing.

This unnatural silence alarms me. Terrifies me, in fact. So much so that I barely recognize the lights are now beginning to flicker more frequently. Sometimes they brighten, then dim to an almost amber, smoky tone.

A crushing sensation in my chest is happening again as claustrophobia begins to grip me. The lights flicker quicker, stronger now, shadows from items on the shelves dance along the white tile floor. I slowly turn, fearing the shelves are only inches from closing in, trapping me in this, this...I don't know what to call it.

I remember what my parents taught me all those years ago while resting on the edge of my bed after one of my nightmares. Illusions of being locked in the dark as haunting voices calling my name, beckoning me to stay with them. Paralyzed with panic. Stuck, not being allowed back out of these nightmares, the dark closing in all around me. Like a beacon of hope, I would sense the warmth of skin on my forehead. The warm hand of my Mother caressing my face, stroking my hair.

Take a deep breath Carly, it's only a dream. Now breathe. You're safe...just breathe.

I close my eyes, initiating my breathing exercise, but a thought begins to occur. A spine-chilling, hot, slimy sensation fills me, deep inside my belly.

Where was everyone else?

The old woman, Ernest, the old man that greeted me. Where were the cashiers, workers, shoppers, children...anyone at all?

I am alone in this place. I have to escape before I am trapped, like one of my old nightmares.

Where is Dad? Why hasn't he come in to find me, to save me?

All of a sudden the store illuminates with blinding light. The electricity rapidly begins pulsing through every bulb in the building. VOOM VOOM VOOM.

I hear it, as loud as the beating of my heart, the tightening sensation in my chest and throat amplifies. I don't yet realize I am clenching my fists, only noticing when some of my knuckles crack from the pressure of my fist balling tighter.

VOOM VOOM VOOM. The electricity surges more. The lights are getting brighter still. Everything is white. The floor glows under my feet as the light continues to brighten even more.

VOOM VOOM VOOM. What the hell is happening? I want to run, I want to leave, jump into Dad's truck and go back home but I'm frozen in place. It is like I'm standing in sludge. Mud I am too stuck in to move. Still the lights brighten. Impossible, I know, but true. I've never seen such white, brilliant light.

VOOM VOOM VOOM. My eyes are starting to burn from the brilliance of the light. I'll close my eyes and this will be over.

Maybe, if I just...breathe.

All of a sudden the noise stops. The eerie silence from earlier returns.

Again I stand absolutely still, listening for any sound, anything at all. A familiar and terrifying feeling of dread washes over me. I sense the hairs on my neck stand on edge. As a little girl in my dark bedroom, the same sense of terror would wash over me. The sudden and horrifying realization that I am not alone. I sense it, something is there.

Something is behind me. I attempt to turn, see who or what it is, but now it is too late. The lights flash one last time and go out completely.

Darkness.

Silence.

Something is still here with me. Something that terrifies me.

It is behind me - watching me.

A scream shatters the silence like broken glass.

To Be Continued

Authors note: This idea was simply a short horror story I began telling my 11 year old daughter. She asked that I continue it. I asked her if she wouldn't mind me sharing it. It is now something we are working on together.