Time Warp
(A short story)
... and Zach awoke with a start. It was eerily still and pitch black, except for the ray of moonlight which slanted into his room through the open air duct directly above him.
Zach groaned audibly. Another nightmare. It had been uncannily vivid and realistic. "What had it been this time?", he frowned as his brows creased in concentration. Probably the same one again, he thought wearily, flopping back onto his pillow. The one about that shapeless black figure engulfing his wife ...
His wife ... Zach turned to look at Zara's bed. As his pupils focussed and adjusted to the dim light, his heart skipped a beat.
Zara's bed was empty.
Zach sat up.
"Zara?", he called out aloud. There was no response.
"Zara?", he almost yelled this time. But the all-encompassing darkness refused to throw back an answer.
Zach groaned. Had Zara been sleepwalking again? The anti-hallucinatory drugs seemed to have cured her for good.
"Probably a relapse", he thought as he wearily crawled out of those soft and inviting blankets, donned his pajamas and sandals, and shuffled towards the living room. "Hope she's not gone out of the house", he prayed as he flicked on the fluorescent hall lights. He squinted as the bright lights invaded his retina, then froze at what he saw.
Blood on the floor.
A dark red trail. Leading towards the cellar downstairs ...
Zach suppressed an instinctive scream. Had Zara been injured? Had she fallen down the stairs leading to the cellar? But that was impossible ... the entrance to the cellar was always locked ...
He rushed to the thick door which barricaded the house from the stairs leading to the cellar. The padlock was missing.
"What the hell", he cursed softly as he pushed the door. It swung open with a resisting creak.
Zach grabbed a flashlight from the mantelpiece and literally tumbled down the asymmetric steps leading to what he had often fondly called "the dungeon". The cellar had been the mystery room of this ancient manor for generations. But family history was the last thing on Zach's overwrought mind just then.
As he reached the vast cavern, he called out Zara's name again. His voice echoed around the cellar as he beamed the flashlight all around.
And then he saw it. Less than fifteen meters from where he stood.
That shapeless black figure.
Black. Pitch black. Oozing slime in all directions.
And about to engulf a limp unconscious Zara ...
"ZARA", shouted Zach in frenzied panic ...
... and Zach awoke with a start. It was eerily still and pitch black, except for the ray of moonlight which slanted into his room through the open air duct directly above him.
Zach groaned audibly. Another nightmare. It had been uncannily vivid and realistic. "What had it been this time?", he frowned as his brows creased in concentration. Probably the same one again, he thought wearily, flopping back onto his pillow. The one about that shapeless black figure engulfing his wife ...
His wife ... Zach turned to look at Zara's bed. As his pupils focussed and adjusted to the dim light, his heart skipped a beat.
Zara's bed was empty.
Zach sat up.
"Zara?", he called out aloud. There was no response.
"Zara?", he almost yelled this time. But the all-encompassing darkness refused to throw back an answer.
Zach groaned. Had Zara been sleepwalking again? The anti-hallucinatory drugs seemed to have cured her for good.
"Probably a relapse", he thought as he wearily crawled out of those soft and inviting blankets, donned his pajamas and sandals, and shuffled towards the living room. "Hope she's not gone out of the house", he prayed as he flicked on the fluorescent hall lights. He squinted as the bright lights invaded his retina, then froze at what he saw.
Blood on the floor.
A dark red trail. Leading towards the cellar downstairs ...
Zach suppressed an instinctive scream. Had Zara been injured? Had she fallen down the stairs leading to the cellar? But that was impossible ... the entrance to the cellar was always locked ...
He rushed to the thick door which barricaded the house from the stairs leading to the cellar. The padlock was missing.
"What the hell", he cursed softly as he pushed the door. It swung open with a resisting creak.
Zach grabbed a flashlight from the mantelpiece and literally tumbled down the asymmetric steps leading to what he had often fondly called "the dungeon". The cellar had been the mystery room of this ancient manor for generations. But family history was the last thing on Zach's overwrought mind just then.
As he reached the vast cavern, he called out Zara's name again. His voice echoed around the cellar as he beamed the flashlight all around.
And then he saw it. Less than fifteen meters from where he stood.
That shapeless black figure.
Black. Pitch black. Oozing slime in all directions.
And about to engulf a limp unconscious Zara ...
"ZARA", shouted Zach in frenzied panic ...
***
... and Zach awoke with a start. It was eerily still and pitch black, except for the ray of moonlight which slanted into his room through the open air duct directly above him.
Zach groaned audibly. Again the same nightmare ...
As he turned wearily towards Zara's bed, knowing he would find it empty, knowing he was living out yet another bad dream, knowing he was stuck in a time warp, in a vortex of inescapable thoughts, a frightened part of his traumatized brain silently asked the inevitable question.
A dream within a dream within a dream within ...
Will it never end?
| Permalink | E-mail this post 
