Silence
Do you ever get that feeling that you’re never truly alone? Background noise of movement in a building, cars outside, noise. You are always aware that other people exist. Even in the dead of night, the sounds of living are still apparent. We grow accustomed to it, blank it out as unimportant. But as soon as that noise is gone, you become more aware of your surrounding than you have ever done in the past. I’m writing this in the hopes that there is someone out there who will find this, and seek answers to the horror that has befallen this world.
If I recall, it all started one average Saturday evening. As usual, I was sat on my laptop browsing the internet for interesting things to do or watch. A typical night alone. And that’s what it was, a night alone. The only other sounds in the house apart from me were the quiet murmurs of the TV in the living room and the laughter from my parents. Cars drove by outside and people walked past my house chattering to each other or on their phones. Everything was…normal. God, how different it all is now…
As I was saying, nothing was out of the ordinary. But as I found a particular interesting looking video to watch, my computer’s screen went off. Great, the battery had died. It was only then that I had realised that my room seemed a whole lot darker than I remembered.
Have you ever been sat looking at a computer screen for so long that you get used to the light? That your vision is completely unaware of anything beyond the bright monitor to which you are glued to? That is exactly what happened to me. Only, once the screen had gone off, I realised how dark it had become. The strange thing was, it was the middle of summer and so didn’t get dark until much later. So what was going on? Putting my laptop onto my carpeted floor, I grasped around for the wire so I could charge it up. But even as my hand closed around the long thin cord and plugged it in; my laptop remained dead. Strange occurrence number two. Now I was getting really confused. I got up and went over to my door. Knowing my own bedroom meant I could navigate it rather well in poor light. I flicked the light switch and frowned. Nothing happened. Click… I tried again, still nothing. Had the power gone out?
It was only then that I heard how silent it was. I couldn’t hear a thing. No cars, no TV, no sounds of life. Dead silence. Turning away from my door I retreated back into my room and to the window at the other end. My blinds were closed as always and outside was almost black. It seemed that even the street lights were no longer working. Very carefully I parted my blinds just enough to see outside. But I couldn’t see anything at all. ~Nothing but my own reflection in the glass. Even as I cupped my hands over my eyes and pressed my face up against the glass, still no other shapes but my own face came into focus. The dead silence was still evident and it struck me that something was seriously wrong. This wasn’t just a power cut. You would still hear people, hear cars, life would still carry on. But it sounded like everything had just stopped. In the instant the power went out, everything in this area ceased to exist.
I was panicking now. I needed to find another person, another animal even. I needed noise.
Practically ripping my door open, I tore downstairs and burst into the living room. Nothing. It was empty all apart from the obvious furnishings. The curtains were drawn, the TV sat silent and there was no sign of my parents…My parents were gone.
I raced into my kitchen, banging into the glass cabinet where all the fancy glasses and plates were kept. The kitchen was equally as dark and devoid of life as the rest of the house. I wanted to shout, to scream and cry. To make as much noise as I could in the hopes that it would draw the attention of someone. But as I filled my lungs to shout for help; I held my breath. Some primeval instinct within me told me to stay quiet. Something wasn’t right in this world anymore and I knew I wasn’t dreaming. The last thing I wanted to do was attract the attention of some unwanted monster or person. It was that instinct, that fear that kept me from leaving my house.
I sat there for the rest of the day, or night; I wasn’t sure of the time anymore and every non-digital clock had stopped working. The silence never faded, it was always there. But it had become a comfort as the hours ticked on. I wasn’t sure when I fell asleep but I remember waking up on my sofa. A low rumbling had awoken me. Noise! Things suddenly didn’t seem so bad anymore. In my excited state I blindly threw open my front door to great whatever was producing that sound. But I was greeted by nothing. Just empty streets. The rumbling continued to I dared to venture out past my door and up my driveway. My father’s car was still parked there, unused.
I looked up and down the street but in this darkness I couldn’t see very far. The street lights still weren’t working and none of the houses appeared to have any lights on either. There wasn’t even a slight breeze to rustle the leaves on the trees. The air was still.
But that was when I saw it, or didn’t see it in this case. I’ve come to call this entity Darkness Mother. But then, all I could see was a large pair of amber eyes in the distance, and advancing quickly. I panicked and ran, not for my house, but in the opposite direction. I didn’t know what that thing was and I didn’t want to find out. It had been the source of the rumbling.
And I’ve been running ever since that day. Not once have I encountered another human being nor any animal other than the grotesque creatures that now rule our homes. I’ve seen a few. Dark, skinny creatures. Their skin didn’t seem to have form though, as if it was made out of some dark gooey liquid held together by some unknown force. Some were large, some were small but they all had the same structure. They walked on two legs, hunched over with their long arms folded up; much like a praying mantis. Long needle like fingers hung down from bony hands. Their head shared a similar facial structure to a wolf but its jaw must have been twice as long, and was adorned with long, curved, yellowing teeth. They all lacked eyes, having no other facial features other than that jaw. They could hear though, and their hearing must have been their only sense. I never saw one with any ears so I came to the conclusion they must just have holes and their dark bodies hid that from view. Now I knew why I felt the need to remain quiet the day it all started. They hunt with sound, in a world with no sound. Any slight movement and they would pick it up.
Those eyes I saw, which is the Darkness Mother; seemed to be the origin to all these creatures. I never saw its form, if it had any, I only ever saw those eyes in pure darkness and then those monsters would emerge.
Was this what ceased all life? Or are there still people out there other than me? I keep travelling with the hope that I will find someone trying to survive; looking for answers as I am.
I will leave this note here in the hopes that someone comes by this house seeking shelter. I cannot stay here any longer. I can hear the rumbling getting closer, the Darkness mother is on her way. I just hope I can get out before her children find me.
Please, look for me.
And for god’s sake.
Be silent.
