Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-34657601-20180212024846

It was just a normal day at work. This was one of the busiest days I've seen in my career. I was assigned to work on some document in my cubicle, and I was trying to ignore everyone talking around me. I looked around at the clock. It was two o clock- lunch time. I sighed and walked to the break room.

As I walked in, I noticed the bland silver-gray walls and flooring. It was so silent, almost like torture. This was odd, considering that my co-workers were almost always in here on break. But there was only the strange high pitched ringing in my ears to keep me company. I sat in the room alone, eating two bland sandwiches and wondering where my best friend David was. He was almost always here at this time. Minutes went by, and I decided the silence was enough so I tried calling David. The phone rang once, then two times. Then it just dropped. I figured it was my phone being a bitch, so I tried again. However the same thing happened. Oh well, the bastard was probably declining my calls and playing some sort of joke on me. After all, this isn't the first time he's done this. But I couldn't help to feel that something was off. I gave up and started to walk out of the room, only to hear a strange noise behind me.

It was almost like knocking coming from across the room. I paused for a split second, wanting to blame it on my tired mind. I spun around, curious as to what it was, and for a split second I saw what looked like a figure standing there in the middle of the room. I can't really tell who, or what it was, as it just appeared and disappeared. All I saw was a figure with long, dark hair. For some bullshit reason though, I still dismissed it and walked out of the room. That should have been a red flag. I sat and continued doing my work at my cubicle, pretending like nothing happened.

The whole walk home after work was unnerving. The constant mixture of dread haunted me. I kept asking myself why I felt like this. I was eager to get home, ready to climb in bed and sleep. Maybe I would spent some time with my daughter Sarah for a couple hours. I could barely stand the feeling of being watched, so I turned my head for a split second. There was no one there. I turned my head and noticed that there was a little girl just a few feet ahead of me. She had her head down and was walking very slowly. Something about her was off. Hell, something about this whole day was off. She was about ten to twelve years old with long, curly, blonde hair. She was wearing a blue shirt with a black skirt and black tights. I tried ignoring her until she spoke.

"Excuse me, sir." She said in a raspy whisper. I was a bit creeped out because I didn't recognize her as one of the kids who lived around here. She should have no reason to be wandering around at night here, especially at this time of night.

"Hi. Where are your parents?" I said, hoping to get some information out of her. She seemed uneasy when I asked that question.

"I'm actually kind of lost... Can you help me get back?" She asked. I didn't know if it was just the way she said it with a smile, but I didn't really believe her.

"I don't know about that, maybe you can come to my house and we'll call the police to help you?" Just as I asked that question, her expression changed from friendly to angry. I stepped back as she reached for something in the pocket of her shirt. For a split second I thought about running. What she did next was very unusual. She paused for about ten seconds, then started crying.

"No thanks.. You're no help..." Once she said that she turned and sprinted into the woods surrounding our neighborhood. For some god awful reason I ran in after her. She had completely disappeared. I started searching for her, but I couldn't find anything. I started to feel uneasy, most likely because of the feeling that I was being watched. I just decided to go home, check on my daughter, and call the police to report the missing girl. That's when I remembered my daughter. I start sprinting through the trees to get home as fast as I can, tripping almost constantly because of the tree roots. The tree leaves were like blades against my skin as I was running against them. By the time I had finally reached the end of the forest, I double over and vomit because of how much I had just ran. I got to my house and opened the door. All the lights were off.

"Sarah?" I called out. "Sarah, where are you!?" I raised my voice in desperation. I ran to her room. Thank god she was just asleep in her bed. I took out my phone and started dialing 9-1-1, sitting by Sarah as I made the call.

"911, what is your emergency?" The operator said.

"Hello? I would like to report a missing littl-" I was cut off by a large thud coming from outside. I heard the familiar tone of the call dropping. I threw my phone down and quickly ran to Sarah's bedroom window to check it out. For a second I couldn't make out anything but a figure lying on the ground. Then my eyes focused. I wish they hadn't. Ten feet away from me was the dead body of my best friend, David. His neck was sliced open, crimson blood dripping down his nose and throat. The sight was nauseating. From the shoulders down he looked like he had imploded, his intestines were spilled out and cut up. You could only recognize his face, which was covered in cuts. I fell over in shock, and I couldn't stop staring at the mutilated corpse of David. I doubled over and vomited nothing but stomach acid this time.

I heard a sound coming from near the body. In the darkness, I could make out a figure crouched down, trying to hide themselves from being seen. There was a sinking feeling in my stomach as I realized it was the same figure I saw earlier. I quickly shut the blinds and turned to Sarah. I panicked as I realized she wasn't in her bed anymore. There was a scratching coming from down the hall, I went to the hallway and saw Sarah, scratching at the door, trying to open it.

"Sarah, Get away from there!" I yelled to her. There was no response. She was in a trance. I tried to pry her away from the door. Sarah started to scratch and hit my arms to get free. I picked her up and ran to the kitchen, where I grabbed a large knife. If the cops can't come, I'll need to at least try and protect this place myself.

"Dad!" Sarah suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs. I almost dropped her as I jumped.

"Sarah! We can't yell! We have to be quiet!" I whispered, shushing her.

"Can't you hear her? She's calling." She whispered, the seriousness in her voice made me even more frightened.

"Who, Sarah?" I whispered back in desperation.

"She needs me", she whispered. She was smiling like she was proud.

"Sarah, listen, this person is not good. Whoever they are will try and hurt you." Even if I wasn't sure of it, I still think whoever I saw earlier has something to do with trying to take Sarah. I stopped dead in my tracks, I looked down the hall and saw something, slouched over on the wall. "Stay here, Sarah" I demanded, slowly walking towards the figure, knife in hand. I looked back to see that Sarah was gone.

"Sarah? Sarah!" I started to shout. It's like she vanished in thin air. I ran over to the spot she was previously in. No sign of life anywhere. I started to break down screaming, the rage was uncontrollable at this point. I started crying out for her, running to the figure down the hall. I was ready to fight whatever it was. I stared at it in the darkness. I could make out a human silhouette. I didn't need to get any closer to realize it was David. Blood was everywhere, and oh god... The smell. How the hell did he get here? Who the hell moved him here? I turned around as I heard a footstep behind me, hoping it was Sarah. I wish I hadn't.

I instantly felt my own skin being shredded and the sharp, piercing pain of a knife as it entered my stomach. I was frozen. The last thing I saw was a pale figure in a black cloak. The figure was female, her eyes dark as night, her dark hair was down to her waist. Her clothes were black as the night sky. Her mouth was open in a big, wide smile as if she was about to go to a theme park for the first time in her life. Then all I remember is being strangled before I felt every bit of myself being torn apart.

Hi I was wondering if I could get feedback to improve my story. I need help to get this story above the quality standards so I can make an appeal to get the story back up. Thank you! 