Garbage Night

A plane flew overhead. At least, Luke thought it was a plane. Distant, but still easily heard. Luke looked up at the night sky, looking for where the noise was coming from. The constant note the noise held made him uneasy. He shook his fear off and tossed the garbage bag to the side of the road, shaking his head. He was just being stupid, scaring himself. He did it a lot, but who didn’t? Convincing himself something was under his bed, standing behind him, watching him. But the night does that to everyone. All it took was one odd noise, one thought appearing in his mind, to turn a quiet, peaceful night into a battle with his blankets, trying to fall asleep under the glow of a bedside lamp he refuses to turn off. It was just his mind being afraid of itself, he knew that. But still. It was easy for him to diagnose his problems, not quite so easy to just ignore the fear that had already begun to set in. Just a small fear, mind you, but still a fear.

After one last look up and down the street he walked back inside to grab the other rubbish bag. Once he had done the rubbish he could go to bed and sleep off his stupidity. He was seventeen for god’s sake, too old to be acting like a child, he thought to himself as he exited back onto the street. Wiping his face he tossed the bag next to the first and turned to go back inside. The noise was still there, it almost seemed louder than before. But, Luke knew it was just a plane. A slow, loud, pitch accurate plane. One more bag. That’s all Luke, you can do this.

He walked faster into the house this time, taking his time walking up the stairs, occasionally checking behind him. His trip inside didn’t last him half as long as he had hoped, and shortly after he was back on the street. The noise was louder this time, he was sure of it. It drilled into his head as he threw the last bag down. The noise grew louder and louder, blaring in Luke’s ears. He couldn’t ignore it anymore. He fell to his knees, clutching his head, eyes shut. He screamed loudly, but he couldn’t hear himself over the cacophony of noise in his head. Just when he thought his eardrums would explode...

...silence.

Panting with fear, Luke stayed on his knees, screwing his eyes shut. Footsteps to his left. This is the end, he thought. This is how I die. The footsteps came closer and closer. He could hear his heart racing, preparing himself for the pain that would soon shoot thorough his entire body.

“Hun? Are you alright? I heard you scream?”

It was his mother. Thank god, thought Luke, and opened his eyes. Behind his mother, the thing stood. A human figure made of complete darkness. Hatred and anger seeping from its black aura.

“Luke?” Hi mother asked, unaware. Luke looked around, through windows and into houses. Behind everyone he could see, one stood. On TV screens, in cars, in living rooms, in bedrooms. They were everywhere, including...

“...what are you?” Luke asked the figure standing behind him. Inside Luke’s head, he heard a voice. A voice that made his entire body seize up. Evil incarnate. “...we have always been here...we are what you see in the corner of your eye...we are the creatures under your bed...we are what haunts you in your darkest dreams...we are always with you…. We have been here since the dawn of time itself...and there is only one way we will leave...”

A body of a teenage boy was found at the bottom of the rapids. The police guessed he had fallen from the bridge during the night and drowned in the rivers fast flow, but they weren't so sure it was an accident. This was the fifteenth in a string of accidental deaths all over the country, all different ages, genders, races...

something was off. Detective Campbell sat down at his desk and rubbed his temples, stumped.

A plane flew overhead.

At least, he thought it was a plane.