Entry 148: What Fear Is . . . -Andrew-

"Are you scared?"

She was huddled with her arms wrapped around her knees. She was only fourteen by the looks of it ,and the fear in her face was a kind of beauty you can't appreciate unless you've been where I have. Her eyes were so close to overflowing with tears as she looked up at me.

"I want to go home, but the doors won't open. We're trapped."

I knelt and laid a comforting hand on her back. A properly faked smile looked to have helped her fear fade a little.

"Being trapped isn't something you need to be scared of. You'll get out of here. I promise."

She sniffled and looked to the doors and back at me.

"Really? You promise?"

"Yes. Besides, there are so many other things worse then being trapped."

Like a flower blooming, her apprehension opened across her face.

"Like what?"

I sat next to her and pointed to a dark corner, "You see those shadows?"

"Yeah?"

"What you don't know is that within every dark shadow, a creature awaits. It sits behind the veil of darkness watching the people walk past, its stomach growling. See, the creatures diet consists of human meat, so it sits there staring at us, waiting for its moment to escape."

I felt her shiver next to me and edge away from the nearest dark shadow.

"If they were to escape, I am confident that they would keep to the shadows because their eyes aren't adjusted to the harsh lights. From what I know of them, they'd first drag their victim in to the shadows to hinder its sight. Then, they'd take their large club-like feet and stomp on the person’s rib cage until they'd broken them and punctured their lungs."

She was staring at me, her face having gone from trusting to horrified in an instant.

"Then, they'd take their razor sharp cup-like hands and proceed to scoop up the flesh and muscle of the victim’s limbs. All this time, the person is alive and screaming, only their punctured lungs turn it in to a soundless breath. The creatures then open the shattered ribcage, which usually kills them."

She sat for a while not speaking, then she breathed deeply, her eyes never leaving the shadow, "I don't believe you."

"Oh really?", I stood up and held out my hand which she took like a stupid puppy. I led her closer to the shadows and pointed.

"If you look inside really hard, then you can just make out them moving. They're real. Very, very real."

I heard her gasp and grab my arm. Her breathing became sobs as she tried to drag me away from the darkness.

"My greatest fear, is of them escaping their holds and being released on humanity."

I grasped her shirt and lifted her off the ground. She began to scream wildly as I moved her closer to the shadows.

"Are you scared now?", I laughed as she tried to fight back.

She screamed for help again, but no one would hear her; she had broken away from the group a while back. She shook her head as I inched her closer and closer.

"Yes, I’m scared! Stop! Please, stop!"

"No."

And I tossed her in the darkness.