The Man in the Dark

I suppose it’s kind of ridiculous to title it like that in my journal, right? I know, but frankly I couldn’t care less. This needs to be documented. Even now I can feel his presence as he strolls so disturbingly into the dim streets of my little town, with his trench coat and top hat, and his seemingly empty face, with just two milky white eyes staring out from the pitch dark cavern that seemed to be his face, never blinking. It all started three weeks ago. People began to complain that the power was turning on and off non stop, computers restarting and then shutting off and lights flickering. It was in the middle of the day, a Tuesday, when these power blips occurred, so no one was really that bothered. However, the power kept doing this for the next nine hours, and people began to get irritated. I’m not sure how many others did so, but I called the nearest electrician at about 6.00pm, in an instance when the power was on. The electrician I had called said he would be there within the next fifteen minutes, and with that we ended the call. By 9.00, he was not there, so I decided to just go to sleep. Waking the next morning, I tried turning on the lights, to no avail. Nothing worked, and even worse, there were no random occurrences when the power switched back on, it just stayed off, and never came on. At around 5.00pm, I went to see my close friend Joseph Henderson, who lived across the street from me. We talked for a while, and I found that he also called an electrician, who did not arrive at all. We spoke for a while longer, until about 7.00pm, when we heard a scream, coming from out on the street. The moonlight illuminated the outside, just enough for us to see the stretch of road from which the scream came.

There was a man, running down the street, glancing behind him with a terrified look on his face. “What the fu-“ Joseph stopped mid-sentence, as the clouds parted and the moonlight shone brighter than ever. We saw why he was running. Next to the shadow of the man, sprinting down the street, was another shadow. Two in fact. One on either side of the man. A pair of wings, like that of a vulture. Joseph and I instinctively looked up, but saw nothing. “Damn, damn… We need to help him!!!” I cried out. We both dashed out of the house and ran down the street, after the man. We could still see him, along with the shadow of the wings. “COME BACK!!!” Joseph bellowed, but the person was too panicked to respond, and just kept sprinting. Joseph cursed, and the both of us ran after the man. After about two minutes of sprinting, we could no longer see him. He had disappeared upon reaching the green in the middle of the town. Now, our green is basically composed of grass and trees, obviously, but on the edge of the south end of the green, is a well.

That is where we were facing at that time. As my gaze cast upon the well, I felt a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I’m sure Joseph did too. Sitting upon the mossy, ancient rim of the well, was a figure, who looked like he was composed out of the most sinister inky black darkness I’d ever seen. This ominous figure wore a top hat and a trench coat, and seemed to have a long black cane, as dark in the colour as the rest of his clothing items. We both stared in shock at the motionless man sitting on the edge of the well, until we saw two glowing, milky white eyes appear from the mysterious darkness that was the man’s face. These eyes held no pupils, no iris, just glowing, white circles. Not ovals, circles, making these eyes as unnatural as the being itself. That was enough for Joseph and I. We turned and ran back to his house, and bolted and locked the door.

Instead of resting that night, we sat there in his room, watching from his window, which had a good view of the street. Although we were both comforted with each other’s company, I feared that the demonic figure would appear to us in Joseph’s room, and end both of our lives in one swift and effortless motion. This fear was almost fulfilled at 4.30 in the morning. Joseph and I were both drinking cans of chilled coffee, attempting to keep ourselves awake. At this time, we both felt a presence, out on the streets. I nearly dropped my coffee when I saw it; the figure, walking along the streets with his cane tapping gently along the tarmac. The moonlight was illuminating the streets, but the man still looked as if he was composed entirely of darkness. Joseph and I ducked down, but peered slightly over the window sill, to see what the terrifying entity was doing. Half of me expected him to open Joseph’s fence-gate, and stroll into his house, to silently end our lives, but he did not. The figure simply continued walking straight on, until he could no longer be seen. After confirming that the shadowy man would not come back, Joseph and I fell asleep. As you may have imagined, we slept for much longer than usual, and woke up at 1.00pm the next day.

We did not leave the house, until, at 9.00pm, we encountered something that grabbed our attention. A whole congregation of people from the town was walking down the street towards the village green, shouting angrily and talking amongst themselves. We both exited the house and followed the huge number of people, who, sure enough, ended up at the village green. And there was the shadowy figure, sitting on the edge of the well. The supposed leader of the group strode towards the figure and stood before him confidently. Pointing a finger, he yelled; “Why have you come here? Who are you?” Several seconds passed, without the figure moving at all. The man repeated his question, and the figure’s milky white, glowing eyes opened. “Well, say something!” The group leader cried angrily. All of a sudden, the shadow of the wings appeared, casting darkness over the man. With an ear piercing shriek, like that of a bird, the man was thrown to the ground, and did not move. The other townsfolk began to panic, and yelled at the figure, who sat staring with milky white eyes. Then, someone yelled an insult that caused chaos. “You!!! You are the devil incarnate!!!” Once again the wings spread, and an almighty shriek exploded out into the night, knocking everyone down. Joseph and I turned to run. I was the furthest away from the well, and I was able to get away. However, as I looked back, I saw Joseph lying there, motionless. I sprinted back to my house as fast as I could.

It is now 9.00pm the following day. I am in my house documenting this event. I know that the man in the dark is coming for me. I know, because he is not at the well, he is outside my house, on the street, staring at me with his blank, white eyes. I know that any minute now, I would see the shadow of those huge vulture-like wings and hear the ear piercing screech, and the man in the dark would claim me for his own.