The Hour After Midnight

The Hour After Midnight

Imagine in the midst of night that everything stops. Between midnight and one o'clock, such a period exists. Time is frozen in an angelic state of peace, where the moon glows blue. All that are sleeping going into a state, similar to being dead and unmovable.

Imagine yourself in the position where such a predicament doesn't affect you, that your awake during the hour after midnight, when you're finally alone in the world. A blue effulgence peers through your curtain, shining right on your face causing you to awaken. Normally, you'd get up, go use the restroom, and return to bed; however, at this time, something feels odd. Your eyes instinctively look at your clock.

12:59.

Running a hand through your hair, you wonder how long you've been sleeping since you'd only had gone to be at 11:30. Unwilling to think it through, you slip out if bed. You notice that your dog (or cat, if that helps you imagine it more clearly) did not react to your abrupt movement. You place a hand on their head, slowly so you don't startle them.

They remain still, and cold. Shaking the animal, you begin to panic then quickly race from the room. Across the hall is your sibling, her back turned to you. You stand at the doorway, shaking. That pale blue brilliance casts through her blinds and is shining over her.

You murmur her name and expectantly, she doesn't respond. You jump onto her bed, hoping to alarm her. The vibration doesn't even shake her, she's frozen. Crying, you push away from her - her body resembling a stone.

You run all over the house, hoping to arouse someone - your parents have the same reaction as your sister. Your final option is to escape outside. The clouds looked as if they'd been painted on the sky, cartoon like. Looking at your hands, you look up at the blue eye.

"Is anything there?" You call into the loop.

A gruffly noise is heard on your driveway. Clutching on the door handle, you prepare to bolt back inside. A shadow moves closer and jumps onto the porch. Startled, you gasp but are immediately relived to see the neighbors ginger cat.

"What's happening?"

Responding, it begins to lick itself.

You loosen your grasp on the door, your eyes set on your bike. Instinctively, you slid a hand in your pocket, in search for your phone. You hand merely glides across fabric. You sigh, turning back to the cat.

No where to be seen.

A shudder runs down your spine as you realize you – once again – are alone. The urge to return into your house, crawl back into bed, and curl up in a ball seemed pleasant. You direct yourself back into to the door and freeze, as deep orange eyes meet yours. The cat – now shadowy and black – was inches away from your face, it's gaze turning your pale. Its grotesque legs were thin enough to allow it to stand on the doorknob. The sight was cartoon-like, the boney legs reached back up into the cats body as if it were just a sticks underneath a torso. The creature's body was wispy, flakes of dust flicking off its fur.

You swipe a hand off the door as the cat's legs suddenly wrapped completely around the knob and it slung upside down, hanging. It body began to thrust against the door like a doorknocker and the sound echoed so loudly through the empty air. Even though the movements were violent, its body seemed unaffected.

You merely watch the bizarre scene, eyes widened and you're frightened. The cat stops and looks at you, then simply meows.

Conscious to your surroundings, you dash off the porch and ran across the yard. The cat yowls after you. You heart pounds against in your chest and your legs shake so roughly, you're hardly able to move. A strange energy within you unleashes and you just run for what seemed like hours.

The street seemed miles long, cars parked on the side. Abruptly, a dark creature, with bladed hands and violet eyes leaps out and begins to chase you. With a sudden rush, your legs pound faster but it was as if your body was in slow motion. From one of the neighbor's houses, their front door opened and stood a absurd, elderly figure. Its lips moved into a scream, but the only sound you could hear was the cat's yowling. The figure to chase you as well.

Soon enough, a crowd of creatures just chased you. All the miles of the street and all the times your feet pounded against the pavement, all you could hear was yowling. But you dared not to look back. The hour after midnight was just an endless loop. A voice, louder than the yowling kept repeating Genesis 19:26.

“But Lot's wife looked back and became a pillar of salt”.

Over and over, the voice kept repeating this as the yowling became an electric scream. It was all just madness. Each house your passed, unleashed another distorted creature, large and small, but all with dark violet eyes and muted screams. Tears ran down your face, flooding back behind you into the sea of demons.

You finally cry out, breaking through the yowling and voice.

You look back.

The madness behind you ceased. Everything - for a split second - was froze. Your eyes skimmed over every rotten face. And there you stood at the foot of your driveway, as everything turned to salt, covering the grass like snow. Your gaze meets orange eyes, until you're just staring at a perfect pile of salt.

- H