The Faces in the Night

The storm seemed to come out of nowhere, the beautiful day quickly turning dark as night. “I sure hope the power doesn't go out or I'll never get any work done.” I thought to myself. Who was I kidding though, I was alone for a change and work was the last thing on my mind. “Finally a day by myself, I almost forgot what it feels like.” I whispered as I sat down on my couch. No wife or kids home to bother me I could finally relax, and I must have fallen asleep but I can't say for how long.

The next thing I remember I was awoken by a loud crack of thunder. I opened my eyes and sat up as fast as I could only to realize the lights were out. “Oh well that figures” I thought to myself. Just then my dog jumped onto the couch with me, nearly giving me a heart attack. “Dog you scared the piss out of me” I said out loud while he whimpered obviously scared from the storm. “Well hold on guy I gotta go find the flashlight” I said as I got up off the couch and walked into the kitchen.

When I entered the room out of instinct I flipped the light switch, and the light turned on. “The Hell? I swear I didn't turn the light off” I thought to myself as I was frozen in confusion and fear. I said to the dog “I guess I must have been sleepwalking again. Great, the doctor said this new medicine would help what a load of crap.” I guess in an attempt to calm myself down.

I went through the downstairs of the house turning back on all of the lights that I had on earlier, and sure enough each switch was flipped. When I entered the dinning room I realized the chairs were pushed back in the proper place. “Okay this is weird, I know I didn't do this. I ate and went into the living room to relax. I was too busy being lazy to care about cleaning up after myself. But nobody would break into a house and turn the lights off and just clean up then leave.” I was starting to freak out then, so I locked the doors and sat down in the living room to take some of my panic attack medication.

“Deep breaths Deep breaths, it was just you sleepwalking again man. Calm down nobody broke in, it wouldn't make any sense nothing is even missing.” I remember saying trying to calm myself down. It didn't help though, I felt my panic attack coming on and my medication never did anything. I laid down in an attempt too calm myself while repeating the words “nothings wrong nothings wrong”. But just when I felt the end of my panic was in sight, a loud noise came from upstairs.

How did I forget about the upstairs?! I jumped off the couch, now trembling in fear not sure of what to do. I put a chair up against the stairway door hoping to keep it shut. I ran into the living room to call the police but as soon as I got there the power went out. “Oh my fucking god” I remember almost screaming out loud. I grabbed the home phone but of course the lines were down and I was too panicked to remember where my cellphone was. I was shaking and crying in pure fear.

That's when I looked up, and out the window and I saw a mans face looking in at me. My heart almost stopped I just remember running into the most secure room in the house, the bathroom. I locked the door from the inside and just curled up into a ball in the corner. In the darkness of that room all I could picture was that mans face, soon it was all I saw, just faces in the darkness. That's when the pounding started. Banging, Banging on the front door trying to break in. I thought they were yelling something, but I couldn't understand it over the sound of my heart beating. I remember hearing crying, then I saw a new face. It wasn't the mans and it was right next to me, I didn't know what to do so I just began attacking what I thought was there out of fear.

I heard the man break in, finally get past my front door and run to where I was hiding. The last thing I can remember is when he hit the bathroom door. Bang... Bang... and that's it. I woke up at the police station, to people asking me what happened. I know now that the new medication just made everything worse. My wife and daughter must have returned home because it was storming so bad. My wife, cleaning up after me like she always did. That's why the chairs were pushed in, that's why the lights were out. When I started sleepwalking that night I must have scared her because she went upstairs to call the police. The noise I heard was her searching for our daughter, the face I saw was a police officer trying to get me to come outside. Our little girl must have been downstairs using the bathroom, and when the power went out she hid in the laundry closet, She was always terrified of the dark. When I hid in there...the face I saw was her's. I killed our girl in the darkness, watching her face cry but I was just to scared to realize the face was hers. And now every time I close my eyes, in the darkness all I can see is her face.

ChickenStories