MY THROE

We made our way from the hostels to the pick-up station where we boarded our bus to the movies. We however opted to go eat at the restaurant first before hooking up with the others at the cinema. We met an old friend of hers in the restaurant and before we knew it, we’d already talked for too long so we raced back to the cinema. The movie had ended obviously from what we saw and from the fact that there was no one left around, we knew it’d ended ages before. The cinema was deserted and the buses were nowhere to be found. We soon accepted the fact we don’t have any choice and we started trekking towards the hostels. Everything seemed okay until we got to the bend linking the teaching hospital and the road to the staff quarters. It started with us hearing sounds. From deep in the forest, the sound seemed to emanate and it was louder, and sounded closer everytime. Soon as we went by the quarters junction, we discovered something really odd... The street lights were on but our shadows were flickering. This was disturbing but I reassured her and we kept moving. We hadn’t passed by more than 3 street lights when all the lights went out. I almost froze where I stood, I felt her hands tighten around my arm. We both were rooted to the spot, unable to summon enough courage to move on. The sounds had stopped already and there was something unnerving about the silence that dominated. It felt empty all over as if we were both in some celestial vacuum. For what seemed to be ten minutes, we were just still, trying to take in the situation. The lights came back on! We both jerked at the sudden illumination but there was a feeling of relief as we just marched on believing it was nothing but a power surge. From a distance, we could see the main lecture auditorium standing alone in all its glory. The lights were toggling on and off inside, that was strange. They don’t even leave the lights on I said to her. She suggested we check it out and put the lights off. Only if we knew...

Soon as we reached the entrance, I felt overwhelmed by an uneasy feeling, something didn’t feel right about this place, something was amiss but I went inside anyways. Just like I thought, it was empty, the lights were on but the lights directly above the last four rows on the fifth arc weren’t stable. They were flickering, at first, a chill was sent down my spine but she seemed to know what I was thinking and she quietly whispered, 'little glitch’. I made my way to the back of the large hall where the switches were, and put off all the lights. Soon as I hit the switch controlling the flickering lights, there was a loud thud. We were both startled. 'The basement' we both said in hushed tones. The sound had come from the basement, so we went towards the basement...

The door to the basement was locked as usual, large metal padlocks holding really thick metal chains on the doors. Much to the mystery of everyone who cared to look, a small crucifix was tied to one of the padlocks, no one really knew why it was there. All we were allowed to know was we shouldn’t under any circumstances, find ourselves on the other side of the door. Something is in there I said more to myself than to her. Indeed, there was something in it, we could hear it bang weakly on the door, and make strange noises each time its hands, tentacles, fangs, whatever it was it had made contact with the door. As we moved closer, it seemed to feel our presence and it banged more violently on the door. We were both too perplexed to turn back or say a word. We just kept looking at the chains, hoping they don’t give way. It was a wooden door however, we both knew at the rate, it was just a matter of time so I yelled 'let’s get out of here' I hadn’t taken two steps when we heard a little part of the wooden door chip off. It stopped. Through the little opening, I could see its eyes. They were red, and quite ugly, it wasn’t human. A look in the eyes of this monster and I swear, I saw a lot. Horror, malice, anguish, it was beyond seeing. A look in its eyes and I could feel all of these engulf me gently. She just stood still, about 5m from where I was. She seemed to be fascinated about something, she kept staring intently, I was starting to get scared. Suddenly, she started moving with a strange rhythm, definite patterns in a straight line towards the door. I tried to stop her, I felt like I wasn’t in control of my body, I couldn’t move, I yelled at her but she didn’t look back. A few steps from the door, she stopped and with a sharp twist, turned to face me. And it wasn’t Alicia I saw. Her eyes were red too in a familiar way, I felt like I was drowning again in a pool of agony, I felt a paroxysm of fear, in a familiar way. She had an expressionless look on her face, the right side of both of her lips parted a bit and to my horror, I saw a deadly sharp canine prod her lower lip from behind them, and then I concluded; this is not the girl I fell in love with. I tried to make a run for it, the main exit was locked. I turned sharply, and ran as fast as I could, making for the exit on the opposite side of the hall, it was locked too. The emergency exit was no use, it had been locked since the hall was built. ‘The end is nigh’, I thought to myself. Alicia always had the sexiest smile, the gentlest touch, and the warmest embrace. I saw my life flash in front of me; the days of sneaking into the attic to play glassboy with her, the moment I realized what it meant to love, moments I spent with family, the day I lost my dad to a gruesome road accident I was involved in too. It was the fourth day of April, fifteen years ago now. The day I was supposed to leave on an academic trip. My mum went against it, I couldn’t leave, how could I forget the anger I felt? I didn’t eat, neither did I talk to her until I heard the Boeing 767 my classmates boarded crashed, there weren’t any survivors. It was on the fourth day of April, ten years ago now. My school was closed down, we had to move to help me get over the trauma. The day my best-friend was struck by a lightning, he was right beside me, we were playing soccer. He died, I didn’t feel a pinch. It was the third day of April, he died in the hospital a day after, the fourth day of April, five years ago now. Indeed I was no stranger to death, this time, it has come for me, I thought. Raising my head, I noticed I was just where it wanted me to be. I was standing right behind the fourth row on the fifth arc. I somehow, smiled at the realization as the monster, now in her skin, with a devilish smirk on its face, exposed blood-thirsty teeth and with the speed of lightning, grabbed me by the arm then it became just black all over. All I remember is a cold sharp pain on my neck, and the feeling of blood gushing out through my severed jugular vein the feeling of all life leaving my body. The doctor said I had a bad dream, woke up in the middle of the night panting and lost consciousness with my heart beat rate towering at a deadly level.
A week later, on the fourth of April, 20**, we made our way from the hostels to the pick-up station where we boarded our bus to the movies. 'Say honey’, Alicia said, ' let’s grab something at the restaurant and join the others at the cinema, I’m hungry’, I swallowed hard, the pain in my neck came back...