Do You Know?

[High Flying Maniac]

Wrote this about a year ago and figured I'd share. Feedback is welcome.

 

It's January 5th, Sunday at 2:03am and I'm watching TV, like always. It was after I helped finish replacing the Christmas lights with these new blue ones. My mom decided we could just leave up the lights up all year round. I also helped put away all the Christmas decorations and bring in our usual stuff. After I watched TV for a while, I decided to take a break and go on the computer. Went on Facebook to see if anything new/interesting was posted. As usual, that was not the case. Just before I log off, I see this video link in my news feed. It's odd because it didn't show who posted it, just a random link of a video called “Do You Know?” Out of curiosity, I decided to click the link. The video was about a minute long and it was a black screen the whole time. However, there was a man talking. He just rambled on about darkness and our inevitable deaths. At the end of the video, the man said "Without light, the darkness will consume you. And once consumed, there is no escape. So tell me, what will you do once the darkness swallows you whole? Do you know?” The whole video left me with this unsettling feeling. I went to share the link with a friend I was talking to on Facebook. But the link disappeared from my news feed. I went to my browser history but there was no trace of the video. The unsettling feeling grew stronger. I tried to convince myself that all of this meant nothing.

I figured I'd go back to watch some more TV, ya' know, to take my mind off what just happened. But before that, I noticed 4 recycle bags sitting across the living room. I decided I might as well take them out as they've been sitting in the same spot for more than a week. I went to my room to get my housecoat as I figure it's freezing outside. I turned the light on but it didn't turn on right away. My room was dark for about 10 seconds, then the light just came on. I won't lie, it startled me as I figured the light was dead. I didn't think anything of it and grab my housecoat. I went to put my sneakers on and take the recycle bags outside. I underestimated how cold it would be. But I toughen up and go on to put the bags away. I take 3 of the 4 bags with me and put them in the area where the garbage collector can take them. The other bag goes in the shed as it's all bottles and we trade in the bottles for money. I go to open the shed door but it won't open. The door handle is also freezing so I go back inside to get some gloves. The light was still on from when I put my sneakers on. The light starts flickering and then it burns out. I start to think about the light in my room but I convince myself it's just a coincidence. Once I'm back outside, I notice that the reason the shed door won't open is because there's snow blocking it. I kick the snow away and try to open the door. It still won't open. I kick even more snow and then I'm finally able to get the door opened. I throw the recycle bag into the shed and close the door. I struggled to close the door because of the snow. I lock up the door when I suddenly hear something from behind me. I turn around but nothing's there. I then realize all of our neighbors' lights start to go out. I turn back around and see that all the lights in my house went out as well. That's when I start to think about what the man in the video said. "Without light, the darkness will consume you. And once consumed, there is no escape. So tell me, what will you do once the darkness swallows you whole? Do you know?” Those words kept playing in my head over and over. Like a broken record player. I make my way to the house. Before I reached the door, I notice a dark figure off in the distance. I assume I'm just seeing things but my unsettling feeling returns. I hurry up and make my way to the door but then I stop. I'm frozen with fear. The dark figure is right behind me. "You've been swallowed by darkness. What will you do? Tell me, do you know?" says the dark figure. It's him, it's the man from the video. My vision begins to fade. I feel my body fall in the snow. All I can hear is my heartbeat. It starts to go slower and slower until eventually... It stops.

[WNX]

"What will you do?", almost as if you were being given a choice, only to find out that you have none.

 

Just curious, what prompted you to write this? Seems very "Alan Wake"

[High Flying Maniac]

Honestly just did this out of boredom. Somewhat had an idea and decided to write and see how it went. Everything just sorta came together as I kept writing. I've always enjoyed writing but never done anything with it so I figured I'd give it a go and see how it went.

[WNX]

Any plans to establish this dark figure and expand on this story? You could take this so many ways I'm getting a headache thinking about it.

 

Or is it a one and done, Twilight Zone-like thing?

[High Flying Maniac]

As of right now it's just a one off sorta thing, though I may expand on it in the future.