Day 5

Power's Out.

The rapid staccato of his heart against his chest increased as the bulb above him flickered. The power couldn't go out now. Not when he was so close.

“Jeremy….” said a low, soft voice, heavy with metallic feedback. “Hurry up, Jeremy…”

Jeremy’s feet pounded against the concrete, desperate for a door, a window, anything out of the dark, damp hallway. He could hear scrabbling noises behind him, but he didn’t dare to turn around. Instead, he flung himself around a corner and put as much distance as possible between him and whatever was behind him. Every 30 feet or so, he saw one of the rusty gray intercom boxes, alongside a small, wireless fish-eye camera. Anger stabbed through the wave of fear in his stomach. They would pay, whoever the voice was on the intercom. He wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of watching him die.

A low whine and more scrabbling, closer this time, made him try to put his feet to the ground even faster, but the dark blood from the gash on his hip had finally begun to seep onto his shoes. He stumbled, and quickly had to roll sideways as a black mass of hot fur launched itself out of the darkness. Its eyes reflected the light of the bulb overhead, and in the two black orbs Jeremy could see his face, covered with dirt and gore. He scrambled to his feet and sprinted further down the corridor, once again turning the corner. The animal, he had had no time to register what it was, let out a fierce moan as it stumbled and crashed against the wall.

Finally, Jeremy saw a break in the wall, too small to be another hallway. He ran toward it and saw a industrial steel door, flanked by two floodlights and several cameras.

“Good…. Good… You found me, Jeremy.”

Jeremy panted, bloody hands on his knees, and stared furiously at the cameras. He quickly searched the area around the door for something to break it down with, eyes combing the empty floor and wall, but there was nothing. Jeremy staggered over to one of the cameras and said ferociously as he could, “Let me in, damn you!”

“Oh, I will…. But first…”

Jeremy heard the scratch of nails on the floor. Down the hall, the black creature stopped and emitted a whimper, then tore toward him. Jeremy’s heart leapt into his chest.

“Power’s out.”

With a click, the lights down the hallway began to shut off. The animal, it looked like a cross between a bear and an enormous hound, ran ahead of each bulb as it turned off. Then, as the thing reached him, Jeremy looked up. The light above him had not gone out. He jumped, not a moment too soon, and felt the back of the feral animal underneath him. Then he caught the lightbulb in his hand and brought his full weight down on top of the beast. There was a sharp crack, then a fizzle, followed by an unnatural scream as sparks surged through the broken bulb. It was only for a moment, but it brought the animal to its knees. Jeremy’s entire body shook. He had been a conduit for the electricity for a split second, and his heart felt ready to leap out of his chest. Clumsily, he drew his hand across the floor, until his fingers touched the wire he had ripped from the ceiling. He hurried to the animal, which was starting to recover its footing, and quickly wrapped the wire around its neck.

He pulled. It struggled, trying to shake him off, but he forced himself on top of its neck. With a yelp, it bucked and wriggled, but it could not move Jeremy. Then, after what seemed like an eternity, it finally wheezed, shuddered, and died.  

Jeremy rolled to the floor and stared up at the blackness, which was speckled with tiny red dots. The cameras were watching him silently. He didn’t care.

He heard the snap of a deadbolt. The steel door swung open.

A small figure walked over to him.

With a shock of recognition, Jeremy croaked a single word before the darkness consumed his consciousness.

“Grandma?”