The Dark Figure

There he was, standing in the rain. The dark figure that had haunted me for so long. I had never seen his face before, he always managed to keep it hidden in the shadows. Anytime he appeared, I knew something bad was going to happen. The rain poured down sounding like little pebbles pelting my roof above. I had only come to make sure it wasn’t hail crashing down outside due to the severity of the rain. That’s when I saw him, standing across the dark street. He just stands there, watching my house. It looks like he is wearing a long black trench coat topped with a black fedora styled hat, but it’s impossible to be certain. He looks like nothing more than a shadow standing on his own, only the fleeting street lamp illuminating his position.

I bravely crossed my living room, feeling the carpet squish between my bare toes with each step. When suddenly all the lights in the house go dark. I freeze in place feeling a cold wave of fear rush over me, feeling the burning sensation of someone watching me in the darkness. It feels as if the feeling is coming from behind me, that’s when my heart sinks. I look out my window across the street expecting to still see the haunting black figure, but he was gone. I hear the loose floor board in the kitchen directly behind me creak as if someone were stepping on it, but I live alone. Without another moment of hesitation, I turn and run full speed towards my stairs. My hand desperately reaching for the worn wooden banister, using it to slingshot myself up the narrow stairwell quicker.

Once I made it to my bedroom, I slam the door closed and lock it. I kneel down peering through the small keyhole in the door, trying to see if anyone or anything had followed me up the stairs. All I see is darkness. Then I hear it, a light tap..tap..tap. I swallow hard, not knowing what the sound was or where it was coming from. I quickly back away from the door retreating further into my room. I let out a high pitch scream feeling something grab me from behind. I turn around ready to fight it off, whatever it is. When I see it is just my coat rack, I had retreated into my room further and faster than I had even realized. My mind lost and dazed, being flooded with fear and the urgent need to survive.

Tap..tap..tap. I hear come from right outside my bedroom door. My eyes widen as they lock onto the golden door knob. I watch as it slowly twists clockwise, before slowly twisting the other way. It’s locked, it’s locked, I keep telling myself. I can feel my heart pounding in my chest, feeling the tension building in my throat. I watch the doorknob return to its natural resting position. I’m too scared to breathe a sigh of relief, my mind wondering on where this thing was, what it was, and what did it want with me?

It had been a part of my life for as long as I could remember. Ever since my accident so many years ago. I had been riding my bike too closely to the edge of the river one summer day, I took my eyes off the path for a minute and the next thing I knew I was in the water. The current pulled me under and kept me there, I remember tasting the bitter earthy water fill my mouth as I tried to scream for help. Feeling it fill my lungs and weigh me down further into the abyss, until everything just went black. I woke up in the hospital, my older brother Tom had pulled me out of river it turns out. The doctor told me, I had to be resuscitated and was lucky to still be alive. That was the day the dark figure appeared. I remember him that night, standing in the corner of my hospital room watching me carefully like a predator would its prey. But as the light came, he went. This pattern would continue off and on throughout my life, I’d think he was gone for good then he would appear in the darkness like he had never truly left.

Tap..tap..tap. I hear the taps again, my blood runs cold because this time they aren’t coming from just beyond my locked bedroom door. This time, they were coming from behind my closet door. I stay frozen in place, my eyes darting to my closet. I watch as the brass doorknob begins to slowly turn. The moment I hear the click and the door begins to creak open, my legs take on a life of their own running for the door. I fumble with the lock, desperately trying to get the door open as I hear my closet door glide across the top of the carpet in my room. I throw my door open and run out into the dark hallway, the smell of sulfur filling the air as I go towards the stairs. I stop running, my bare feet sliding against the hardwood floor as I see a shadow growing more prominent than the rest of the darkness. The dark figure was coming up the stairs, he was coming for me. I tried reversing back down the long hallway, I didn’t think I had time to make it back to my bedroom so I duck into the bathroom and close the door, locking myself in.

I try catching my breath a moment as quiet as I can, hoping he didn’t see where I went. Thinking to myself, hoping that maybe, just maybe I could wait him out until daylight. I hear a squeak, the sound of metal rubbing against metal. Then the water starts pouring from the faucet and down into the bathtub. I turn around pressing my back against the door, not knowing where to go or what to do. Was there truly no escaping the darkness?

I watch as the tub fills with water and overflows crashing down onto the white tiled floor. As the water begins to slip under my feet, I remember I have a flashlight in the vanity for emergencies just like this. I hurry over to the vanity, throwing open the top drawer and retrieving the flashlight. I click the button on and feel a sense of warmth and safety as the beam of light fires out the end of the aluminum tube. That feeling is short lived as the light catches something on the mirror. I shine the light up seeing something written on the glass, it looks as if it’s written in black sludge reading, “You can’t fight fate.”

I feel my heart drop into my stomach as I slowly turn seeing the water flooding my bathroom floor isn’t just any water. It’s the murky, bitter earthy water just like you’d find in a river. I feel all the hairs on the back of my neck stand tall at attention seeing the darkness move out of the corner of my eye. My flashlight begins to flicker on and off, with each flicker I catch glimpses of the dark figure moving through the water. The flashlight dies and I’m left in total darkness, hearing the water drip from the faucet a steady, tap..tap..tap. The air dense like I wasn’t the only one using the oxygen in the room. My eyes try to adjust to the dark, I squint around the room desperately trying to see any sign of movement as I’m too afraid to move. My feet feel as if they are glued to the floor, soaking in the murky water. I see a spot along the wall that looks darker than the rest of the surrounding darkness, it’s only when the figure begins to turn that I finally see his face. His charcoal black face only being illuminated by his haunting cat like eyes, he smiles with each tooth jagged like fangs. I try my hardest to look away from him, but the moment I do I’m pushed into the tub and feel his force hold me under the water. The familiar taste of bitter earth returning to my lungs.