Into the Darkness
This is the short horror story I wrote for one of my final essays for my Horror Literature class. We had to mimic the writing style of one of the authors we read over the semester and I chose Shirley Jackson, the writer of The Haunting of Hill House (Yes, The Haunting was based off of that, but the movie basically had nothing to do with the book and the book was 1000000 times better). Jackson uses comedy and eerie real-life situations to write frightening horror stories that "make your bones chill and your scalp prickle," according to one critic.
So here it is...
Into the Darkness
by David Goodyear
Chapter 1
The sun no longer shines on the Albion observatory. The flowers were wilted; they were dead. Once effortlessly reaching out of the ground for every possible ray of sunshine, they were now frozen in time, pointing down toward the spoiled earth from which they grew. Light had become absent decades ago, along with all forms of life. Nothing escaped the endless darkness which surrounded the observatory. The doors were fastened, the rooms were silent, all that was left was the darkness-watching and waiting.
2
Mr. Aldin, or Jack as he was known to his friends, did not have one fragile bone in his body. He was prone to sporadic outbursts of anger and held nothing but contempt for teenagers and people in their early twenties. Most people who knew this about Mr. Alden were shocked to find out his job was driving college students to and from the airport in order to go home for breaks during the academic school year. Although he appeared very severe, Mr. Alden was considered a decent man, even by the college students who rode in his van. The morning of Wednesday, December 14th, Mr. Alden was preparing his van for one last departure.
Colby was naïve; she believed anything anyone ever told her. Unfortunately for her, people used this characteristic in order to take advantage of her. Her family was ridiculous. Her parents were still married, and she was the second oldest of five children. She was not looking forward to going home for the holidays. A trip home meant washing dishes, babysitting, and a complete and utter lack of privacy.
Andrew was an all-around nice guy who unfortunately had a bad reputation known by all students at the college. His kindness almost always attracted skepticism, as if there were no true decent men out there. Throughout his years at school, he had developed a charm that was completely irresistible. His charm, along with his naturally seductive smile made him one of the most dangerous men on campus. Wednesday morning he woke up early to pack, eager to see his family and friends back home.
James and Leanne were a couple. They made sure people knew they were a couple. Ever since James asked his friend to ask Leanne out for him, they were a couple. The two were inseparable, which ultimately led them both going to James’s house for the holidays.
Megan hated relationships. She hated being in them, being around them, and basically everything about them. She believed life had no real purpose. From the age of ten, Megan dressed in nothing but black, except for a gold bracelet given to her by her father. Going home for Megan meant facing the realities that she purposely avoids during each semester at school. Since the age of ten, she has never been able to sleep without a light nearby.
3
“No, I love you more, Leanne,” James said as he and Leanne were waiting for the van on the corner of Hannah and Cass St.
“No, James, I love you more,” Leanne argued while squeezing his waist with all her might. “I’m serious James, I love you-”
“Shh, someone is coming.” Just as James had finished his sentence, he and Leanne saw a girl dressed in black who neither of them recognized approach the corner with nothing in her hands except a cup of what smelled like coffee. “Light packer?” James looked over at Megan, but she did not respond to his question.
“Excuse me, my boyfriend just asked you a question.” Leanne positioned herself to the left of Megan and repeated, “Did you hear him?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t. I was too busy trying to decide which one of you loves the other more.”
James was embarrassed, but Leanne became furious with Megan’s response. “What gives you the right to-”
“Leanne, don’t worry about it. Let’s just leave her alone.”
Leanne did not finish what she was about to say aloud, but she repeated it under her breath about ten times. After five more minutes of waiting, the last two students, Colby and Andrew, showed up on the corner just as the van was pulling up to the curb. Mr. Alden got out of the van and with his stern expression that all the students came to know and love, he told them, “ALRIGHT E’RYONE! Put ‘em in the back o’ the van.”
“Put what in the back of the van,” Leanne asked harshly.
“Yer bags o’ course!”
The students all followed Mr. Alden’s orders and walked to the back of the van with their luggage. Colby was carrying three bags that weighed twice as much as she did. Andrew noticed her struggling and offered to help her, “Do you need any help with those?”
“No, I’m fine. The van isn’t that far away,” Colby said optimistically.
“Well, it seems like you’re kind of struggling.” Andrew grabbed for the heavy duffle bag strapped around Colby’s right shoulder. “I am sure it would help if I just took-”
“Don’t touch me-I mean, it. Don’t touch it.” Andrew backed off and got into the van with the rest of the students, regretting his act of kindness.
4
The coldness of the winter was spread all around the countryside. The sun had not risen yet, which left a feeling of emptiness outside in the chilly morning air. With the exception of James and Leanne, nobody in the van made eye contact. The dark and placid atmosphere outside was reflected by the moods of Mr. Alden’s passengers.
The ride had gone smoothly for a few hours, when suddenly Mr. Alden screamed, “JESUS CHRIST!” He slammed on the brakes and the van swerved by skidding on a patch of ice, and crashed directly into a tree. Everyone was in a panic. They all rushed out of the van to see what Mr. Alden had tried to avoid, but there was nothing in the street. Mr. Alden quickly checked if his passengers were all right. All of them seemed perfectly fine, except Leanne was kneeling over a rock next to the crashed van. She stood up and revealed that she had hit her nose during the crash and was suffering from a severe nose bleed. James rushed to her while she was screaming absurdities that none of them could decipher.
“Why the HELL did you brake so quickly? There is nothing out here,” Andrew yelled at Mr. Alden.
“Son, are ya dumb er somethin’? I ‘spose yer college education is worthless if ya ain’t got common sense.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Look at yer watch, ya good fer nothin’-”
“It’s 11:00 AM, so what?”
“So what? SO WHAT? I’ll tell ya what! Does it look like 11:00 AM to ya? Why the hell hasn’t the sun come up yet?”
The entire group quickly quieted, even Leanne. The students were so preoccupied thinking about the anxieties associated with their trips home, none of them realized the sun had never risen. The group could not even begin to grasp the severity of their predicament. Colby pointed to a sign tucked away behind a patch of evergreen trees. The sign read “Albion Observatory” and as they approached the brick building, Leanne screamed with terror. The dark observatory quickly occupied their worries and time as they had known it, literally stopped.
Chapter 2
Words cannot paint a description of the darkness surrounding the observatory; however, the observatory itself was a simple building. Composed of brick and with no particular extravagant architectural design, it looked as if it was built fairly quickly and without fuss. The windows were tall and narrow, and reflected a black glow that seemed to radiate from within the building, freezing the soul of whoever looked into it. If one thing was for sure, it was that the observatory was not to be trusted.
The van was wrecked, so the group had no choice but to look for a telephone to call for help. Megan realized her fear of the dark took over when she found herself tearing apart the remaining pieces of the van looking for a working flashlight. The others in the group knew her search must have been successful when they saw her emerge from the mangled van with nothing but a huge grin on her face.
Mr. Alden decided he should lead the way to the observatory because, after all, the rest of the group consisted of nothing but children in his eyes. As they approached the front door, the brutality of the darkness increased. Megan instinctively clutched the hand of the nearest person, who turned out to be Andrew. He smiled at her, but she looked away. “You don’t say much, do you,” Andrew asked Megan.
“What’s there to say? We’re all going to die,” she replied.
Just as Megan finished her words, the giant door of the observatory swung open. Colby and Leanne let out blood-curdling screams that were captured by the interior of the observatory. The screams echoed into the foyer and rushed back out ten times louder than they entered. The group simultaneously turned around and ran for the road, but the more they struggled to get away, the closer they got to the open doorway. There was no wind; the air was completely still. The force pulling them toward the observatory came from the darkness within. Hundreds of black arms were reaching out for all of them, dragging them into the recesses of that forsaken building.
As soon as they entered the observatory, the terrifying pulling continued. James and Leanne were dragged into one room with the door viciously shutting behind them, muffling their cries for help. Mr. Alden and Colby were violently thrown down a flight of stairs, while Megan and Andrew were being pulled up a spiral staircase. As soon as Megan and Andrew were thrown inside one of the upstairs rooms, the pulling stopped and the door slammed shut.
2
Megan was laying face first on the floor and Andrew got up immediately to check if she was hurt. “Are you okay,” asked Andrew.
“NO! I am NOT okay, Andrew!” Megan reached frantically for the flashlight in her pocket, but found nothing. “Where is the flashlight!?! I cannot be in the dark!”
“Relax, Megan. You are safe with me.”
“SAFE? Nobody is safe, Andrew! DO YOU HEAR THAT, ANDREW!?! THE OTHERS ARE SCREAMING! IT’S KILLING THEM!”
“WHAT IS?!?”
“THE DARKNESS!!!”
“You’re hysterical! Get a hold of yourself. I don’t hear any screaming.”
Andrew searched the pitch black room for any possible source of light. He found a set of candlesticks and a couple matches. Immediately, he lit the candles in order to comfort Megan. Her heavy breathing relaxed, and after a couple minutes she was more coherent. Megan and Andrew looked around and noticed wall-to-wall bookshelves and realized they must be in some sort of library. How they got into the observatory and into that room specifically terrified Andrew and he knew he had to change the mood immediately, for Megan’s sake. “I-”
“I hope you don’t realize that just because you are locked in a room with me that you’re going to get any action,” Megan said as she beat Andrew to the punch.
Before Andrew could answer, the library door swung open. All was silent and this time, there were no arms grabbing for them. Andrew took one of the candles and headed for the door. “Stay here, Megan, I want to see if I can find the others. You’ll be safe if you stay close to the candle.”
Megan could hear Andrew by the creak of each step as he slowly descended the spiral staircase. “Do you see anything?”
“No,” Andrew yelled back.
“Yell up when you-”
“THEY’RE DEAD!”
The door swung shut in front of Megan, leaving her alone in the library. Just then, her candle went out. The sound of her own screams flooded her eyes with tears as she was pulled into the darkness.
3
Nothing escaped the endless darkness which surrounded the observatory. The doors were fastened, the rooms were silent, all that was left was the darkness-watching and waiting.
So here it is...
Into the Darkness
by David Goodyear
Chapter 1
The sun no longer shines on the Albion observatory. The flowers were wilted; they were dead. Once effortlessly reaching out of the ground for every possible ray of sunshine, they were now frozen in time, pointing down toward the spoiled earth from which they grew. Light had become absent decades ago, along with all forms of life. Nothing escaped the endless darkness which surrounded the observatory. The doors were fastened, the rooms were silent, all that was left was the darkness-watching and waiting.
2
Mr. Aldin, or Jack as he was known to his friends, did not have one fragile bone in his body. He was prone to sporadic outbursts of anger and held nothing but contempt for teenagers and people in their early twenties. Most people who knew this about Mr. Alden were shocked to find out his job was driving college students to and from the airport in order to go home for breaks during the academic school year. Although he appeared very severe, Mr. Alden was considered a decent man, even by the college students who rode in his van. The morning of Wednesday, December 14th, Mr. Alden was preparing his van for one last departure.
Colby was naïve; she believed anything anyone ever told her. Unfortunately for her, people used this characteristic in order to take advantage of her. Her family was ridiculous. Her parents were still married, and she was the second oldest of five children. She was not looking forward to going home for the holidays. A trip home meant washing dishes, babysitting, and a complete and utter lack of privacy.
Andrew was an all-around nice guy who unfortunately had a bad reputation known by all students at the college. His kindness almost always attracted skepticism, as if there were no true decent men out there. Throughout his years at school, he had developed a charm that was completely irresistible. His charm, along with his naturally seductive smile made him one of the most dangerous men on campus. Wednesday morning he woke up early to pack, eager to see his family and friends back home.
James and Leanne were a couple. They made sure people knew they were a couple. Ever since James asked his friend to ask Leanne out for him, they were a couple. The two were inseparable, which ultimately led them both going to James’s house for the holidays.
Megan hated relationships. She hated being in them, being around them, and basically everything about them. She believed life had no real purpose. From the age of ten, Megan dressed in nothing but black, except for a gold bracelet given to her by her father. Going home for Megan meant facing the realities that she purposely avoids during each semester at school. Since the age of ten, she has never been able to sleep without a light nearby.
3
“No, I love you more, Leanne,” James said as he and Leanne were waiting for the van on the corner of Hannah and Cass St.
“No, James, I love you more,” Leanne argued while squeezing his waist with all her might. “I’m serious James, I love you-”
“Shh, someone is coming.” Just as James had finished his sentence, he and Leanne saw a girl dressed in black who neither of them recognized approach the corner with nothing in her hands except a cup of what smelled like coffee. “Light packer?” James looked over at Megan, but she did not respond to his question.
“Excuse me, my boyfriend just asked you a question.” Leanne positioned herself to the left of Megan and repeated, “Did you hear him?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t. I was too busy trying to decide which one of you loves the other more.”
James was embarrassed, but Leanne became furious with Megan’s response. “What gives you the right to-”
“Leanne, don’t worry about it. Let’s just leave her alone.”
Leanne did not finish what she was about to say aloud, but she repeated it under her breath about ten times. After five more minutes of waiting, the last two students, Colby and Andrew, showed up on the corner just as the van was pulling up to the curb. Mr. Alden got out of the van and with his stern expression that all the students came to know and love, he told them, “ALRIGHT E’RYONE! Put ‘em in the back o’ the van.”
“Put what in the back of the van,” Leanne asked harshly.
“Yer bags o’ course!”
The students all followed Mr. Alden’s orders and walked to the back of the van with their luggage. Colby was carrying three bags that weighed twice as much as she did. Andrew noticed her struggling and offered to help her, “Do you need any help with those?”
“No, I’m fine. The van isn’t that far away,” Colby said optimistically.
“Well, it seems like you’re kind of struggling.” Andrew grabbed for the heavy duffle bag strapped around Colby’s right shoulder. “I am sure it would help if I just took-”
“Don’t touch me-I mean, it. Don’t touch it.” Andrew backed off and got into the van with the rest of the students, regretting his act of kindness.
4
The coldness of the winter was spread all around the countryside. The sun had not risen yet, which left a feeling of emptiness outside in the chilly morning air. With the exception of James and Leanne, nobody in the van made eye contact. The dark and placid atmosphere outside was reflected by the moods of Mr. Alden’s passengers.
The ride had gone smoothly for a few hours, when suddenly Mr. Alden screamed, “JESUS CHRIST!” He slammed on the brakes and the van swerved by skidding on a patch of ice, and crashed directly into a tree. Everyone was in a panic. They all rushed out of the van to see what Mr. Alden had tried to avoid, but there was nothing in the street. Mr. Alden quickly checked if his passengers were all right. All of them seemed perfectly fine, except Leanne was kneeling over a rock next to the crashed van. She stood up and revealed that she had hit her nose during the crash and was suffering from a severe nose bleed. James rushed to her while she was screaming absurdities that none of them could decipher.
“Why the HELL did you brake so quickly? There is nothing out here,” Andrew yelled at Mr. Alden.
“Son, are ya dumb er somethin’? I ‘spose yer college education is worthless if ya ain’t got common sense.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Look at yer watch, ya good fer nothin’-”
“It’s 11:00 AM, so what?”
“So what? SO WHAT? I’ll tell ya what! Does it look like 11:00 AM to ya? Why the hell hasn’t the sun come up yet?”
The entire group quickly quieted, even Leanne. The students were so preoccupied thinking about the anxieties associated with their trips home, none of them realized the sun had never risen. The group could not even begin to grasp the severity of their predicament. Colby pointed to a sign tucked away behind a patch of evergreen trees. The sign read “Albion Observatory” and as they approached the brick building, Leanne screamed with terror. The dark observatory quickly occupied their worries and time as they had known it, literally stopped.
Chapter 2
Words cannot paint a description of the darkness surrounding the observatory; however, the observatory itself was a simple building. Composed of brick and with no particular extravagant architectural design, it looked as if it was built fairly quickly and without fuss. The windows were tall and narrow, and reflected a black glow that seemed to radiate from within the building, freezing the soul of whoever looked into it. If one thing was for sure, it was that the observatory was not to be trusted.
The van was wrecked, so the group had no choice but to look for a telephone to call for help. Megan realized her fear of the dark took over when she found herself tearing apart the remaining pieces of the van looking for a working flashlight. The others in the group knew her search must have been successful when they saw her emerge from the mangled van with nothing but a huge grin on her face.
Mr. Alden decided he should lead the way to the observatory because, after all, the rest of the group consisted of nothing but children in his eyes. As they approached the front door, the brutality of the darkness increased. Megan instinctively clutched the hand of the nearest person, who turned out to be Andrew. He smiled at her, but she looked away. “You don’t say much, do you,” Andrew asked Megan.
“What’s there to say? We’re all going to die,” she replied.
Just as Megan finished her words, the giant door of the observatory swung open. Colby and Leanne let out blood-curdling screams that were captured by the interior of the observatory. The screams echoed into the foyer and rushed back out ten times louder than they entered. The group simultaneously turned around and ran for the road, but the more they struggled to get away, the closer they got to the open doorway. There was no wind; the air was completely still. The force pulling them toward the observatory came from the darkness within. Hundreds of black arms were reaching out for all of them, dragging them into the recesses of that forsaken building.
As soon as they entered the observatory, the terrifying pulling continued. James and Leanne were dragged into one room with the door viciously shutting behind them, muffling their cries for help. Mr. Alden and Colby were violently thrown down a flight of stairs, while Megan and Andrew were being pulled up a spiral staircase. As soon as Megan and Andrew were thrown inside one of the upstairs rooms, the pulling stopped and the door slammed shut.
2
Megan was laying face first on the floor and Andrew got up immediately to check if she was hurt. “Are you okay,” asked Andrew.
“NO! I am NOT okay, Andrew!” Megan reached frantically for the flashlight in her pocket, but found nothing. “Where is the flashlight!?! I cannot be in the dark!”
“Relax, Megan. You are safe with me.”
“SAFE? Nobody is safe, Andrew! DO YOU HEAR THAT, ANDREW!?! THE OTHERS ARE SCREAMING! IT’S KILLING THEM!”
“WHAT IS?!?”
“THE DARKNESS!!!”
“You’re hysterical! Get a hold of yourself. I don’t hear any screaming.”
Andrew searched the pitch black room for any possible source of light. He found a set of candlesticks and a couple matches. Immediately, he lit the candles in order to comfort Megan. Her heavy breathing relaxed, and after a couple minutes she was more coherent. Megan and Andrew looked around and noticed wall-to-wall bookshelves and realized they must be in some sort of library. How they got into the observatory and into that room specifically terrified Andrew and he knew he had to change the mood immediately, for Megan’s sake. “I-”
“I hope you don’t realize that just because you are locked in a room with me that you’re going to get any action,” Megan said as she beat Andrew to the punch.
Before Andrew could answer, the library door swung open. All was silent and this time, there were no arms grabbing for them. Andrew took one of the candles and headed for the door. “Stay here, Megan, I want to see if I can find the others. You’ll be safe if you stay close to the candle.”
Megan could hear Andrew by the creak of each step as he slowly descended the spiral staircase. “Do you see anything?”
“No,” Andrew yelled back.
“Yell up when you-”
“THEY’RE DEAD!”
The door swung shut in front of Megan, leaving her alone in the library. Just then, her candle went out. The sound of her own screams flooded her eyes with tears as she was pulled into the darkness.
3
Nothing escaped the endless darkness which surrounded the observatory. The doors were fastened, the rooms were silent, all that was left was the darkness-watching and waiting.