Dream Trap || ONC 2021

Chapter Two: Night People

They had a small meal and then the sleeping bags were laid. The four friends waited till Rose, the baby, fell asleep on her mother's lap. They played some cards because Jennifer had them in her car. Soon the baby was off in her dream world. They all got into their bags. Nobody slept for a while. It looked strange, it felt strange to sleep in a completely unknown place with no access to the world. But sleep soon came to everyone. It closed the eyes of Lisa first, then Jack, Matt, and at last, Jenny.

They all slept peacefully with nothing to wake them up. The fire did not go down now, its flames kept them warm, cosy, and safe. It was after 4 hours when Jack turned towards one side but then immediately turned towards the other. The he became straight again.

'No, no.' he muttered in his sleep. A wood log fell from the fireplace and suddenly, Jack opened his eyes wide and let out a spasm of air.

Total darkness surrounded.

He opened his eyes once again; he was sleeping tilted on one side. He got up. Everybody was gone. The house was quiet, there were no sleeping bags, the fire was gone out many hours ago. He looked outside; the winds had ceased now. He investigated every room but no sign of life. He went for his coat but it was not there, it was gone. He cursed and opened the door. There was warmth instead of blistering cold. He felt odd about it. Reluctantly, he placed his bare feet in the ground but to his surprise it wasn't cold either, it was soft and plush.

He began to look around. All the dilapidated houses looked like they were painted yesterday. The strangeness crept slowly up. He began to walk towards one of the houses. He knocked on the door. It opened with a click, then door of every house in the village opened all at the same time,

CLICK, CLICK, CLICK!

Jack backed away, there were lights in all the houses. He focused on the house he knocked. There were orange lights spraying out, then he heard a footstep, then there were footsteps in all the other houses. It was like they all were connected somehow, they worked like each other. Then the lights shut off in the houses. Jack stood stunned. There were more footsteps, he could hear them coming from the front, the back, and sides. They were coming from everywhere. He was taken a step back. But he didn't mean to do it. Something had pushed him to take step back, it controlled Jack.

Jack's heart was pounding in his ears, he began to shiver. He noticed that the sky had become clear of the clouds, stars led the path. Then he could make the outline of the people coming out of the house. He braced for it, clenching his fists.

The people came, they were all black. Not black as in dark skin colour but black as night, he could see their eyes, all white. They walked outside, all of them. Jack watched them walking straight towards the other end of the village. His paranoia broke with a sudden rush of blood. He began to walk with them, he didn't know why he was doing this but it kept him away from fainting. His breathing became fast. The people walked without saying any word. Jack thought, those are not people, those are creatures. They are aliens not homo sapiens.

He looked far towards the end of the village but as it turned out, when he arrived at the last house, it was not the end. From there, the people went down. He wished to stop but his legs were controlled by something else, he couldn't stop.

'Stop god dammit!' he thought, he didn't like this setting, he didn't like this control. No not at all. I am not a fucking stringed puppet, he thought.

He was still being pulled and pulled towards the deep down. He didn't want to know what it led to, all he wanted was his friends. He thought of them now, where were they all? Did they leave him? Surely not.

Maybe they went to get help.

But all of them? Where were the cars? Where was his car?

He was getting worried each step. He tried to speak to these strange people. But as he looked around, none of them spoke. They were all walking in straight lines. Somehow, Jack felt completely repulsive of the fact that they walked in such an orderly fashion. Normally it wouldn't bother him but this was quite too much. He tried to open his mouth but found that he couldn't, it was like his vocal cords had lost all their sensory reception. His chest began to fix.

He pushed closer to the deep down. He saw that the people didn't hesitate to even look down. They walk straight upto to it and PLOP! They vanished into the Earth. He didn't like that.

Soon it was only five of those people left; soon it would be his turn. He tried his way best not move but his muscles worked regardless of his efforts.

Three more people;

He tried not to think of it. He just looked at the other way but that's what scared him even more. He looked at the side and the houses had ended but also did the land. He was at a cliff. A point where the Earth ended. He was palpitating, his stomach felt like it had rocks in it.

One more person,

He saw the gorge from the edge. It was black and deep. He sputtered and tears started to flow. He couldn't do it.

'No! no! no!' he cried and laid on his back. He felt the muscles pick him up but he wouldn't let them. He had to win. That's when one of the black men came with a garden-fork and put it right into stomach. He could feel its cold tips.

That's when they heard his blood-curdling scream.

Total words:- 1020