In Darkness Hides

Have you ever been alone in the dark, I mean really alone with no one in the house but you? Are you afraid because you are alone? Or is it because you can’t see what’s in the shadows? Monsters, snakes, an escaped lunatic, anything could be hiding in the darkest of shadows and you would never know, just watching and waiting. The fear becomes terror when you know what’s hiding there, just toying with you, waiting for the perfect moment to jump out at you.

Some say it was mass hysteria while others simply refuse to believe it, as if it never happened. Others just don’t talk about it, but it did happen and it will happen again. All we can do is be prepared and never forget. It started with a series of earthquakes throughout the night, everyone on Earth had to have felt them. They were nothing major but they were big enough to get your attention. I remember I had just woken up my daughter so she could get ready for school when a larger earthquake hit. After checking up on her, I ran outside to see if it caused any major damage to the house or neighborhood. Something was different. I noticed the sun was not rising, like it wasn’t there. I ran back inside to look at the clock and it was around 7:00 AM. This time of year the sun should have been at least brightening the sky in the east.
“What the hell? I must be dreaming.”
Then my world went black.
When I came to, it was hard to breathe and I could hardly move. For three days I was stuck to the floor, the only way I could tell was by the old grandfather clock we had sitting in the corner of the room. I didn’t know what exactly had happened or how but the gravity I felt on my body was immense, not normal. It seemed maybe ten times what it should be, I can’t be sure. All I knew for sure was that I was pinned to the floor and getting up was not an option. The sun was not rising and setting as usual, it started to set at about eleven AM. I also remember the sun would set though the picture window in the front of the house where as now, it would rise. The first day everything felt like a dream. I was disoriented and dizzy, in and out of sleep. It was very quiet and from what i could tell there was no electricity, the only sound I heard was that of my lungs gasping for air. I tried to move but nothing happened, my body squirmed a little so I knew I wasn’t paralyzed. I tried to figure out what was happening but my mind kept drifting away from the subject and nothing made sense. It was as if this was all some strange dream or nightmare. It didn’t really matter because it’s not like I could have done anything about it anyway.
By the next day the storms came in. I could hear trees falling and branches snapping but the wind didn’t sound that strong. Every drop of rain seemed to pound on the roof as if it were raining small rocks. I was still constantly drifting in and out of consciousness when a large tree from the neighbor’s yard, crashed into the garage and woke me. I tried to move again but the weight was still too much for me. I began to wonder if this was happening everywhere and at the time I just couldn’t comprehend that with the Earth being in a new position, it indeed affected the entire planet. My mouth was drying out and I remember wishing I had water when a strong wind pushed through the crack in the glass on the picture window. The glass shattered and the pieces nailed themselves into the hard wood floor. It scared me so much that I lost control of my bladder. With the added weight, that glass could have killed me. All I wanted to do was sleep.

Not even a title yet

This is from a very old idea and I have no clue how it will turn out. This is how I build up some of my stories. I set up the story line in first person and add on from there. So this is a rough rough draft and I’m kind of excited to see where it goes.

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My name is Cevin Del Lorrelli, pronounced like Kevin. My father was a clown indeed. That’s why he spelled it with a C, as in clown. He loved making people laugh and putting smiles on the faces of children. After a show, he would show up to birthday parties just for the love of it. He would never charge a dime. It was a sad day in clown history when he passed. He was duped into thinking he was going to entertain at a child’s party but when he got there… Well let’s just say he didn’t die doing what he loved. The show he worked for kept me with them and started paying me to work in the background. I tried to be a clown but they kept telling no. I just wanted to follow in my fathers footsteps.

One night while I was breaking down a tent, I learned a secret about the show that I was never supposed to know. I learned that everything was real. The magicians performed real magic and the trapeze artists could really fly. The clowns that ran everything were not human, they wore the makeup to hide what they really looked like. All this was hidden in plain sight, not even I knew. My dad knew they weren’t human and didn’t mind. He just saw them as fellow clowns. I found out that they kept my dad around to avoid suspicion and talk to police if they needed him to. They had to get rid of him once he learned what they were really doing. They would stop at towns with a high missing persons rate so no one would catch on, and no one ever did. These things would lure an unsuspecting family to a private show then devour them. In my fathers name, I couldn’t let that happen.
After overhearing them talk, I just had to see for myself. That night I crept into the private tent that I was never allowed to enter and I hid. They started with a simple show full of jokes and gags then would bring the family to the center of the tent and surround them. They became like wild beasts, ripping and tearing away at their flesh. I made my way out of the tent and tried not to vomit. I knew their secret and if they knew I found out, they would have killed me too.
The next day I avoided everyone and stuck to my job. I hammered in the stakes that came loose, picked up trash and made sure the show would go on. When anyone would ask me anything, I just kept my head down. The night came and they were getting ready for another private show. I hid in the tent once more and this time, I brought my hammer.