A/N: Good evening everyone, and welcome to another episode of "Eli has writer's block so he came up with a one-shot on the spot to help". Tonight's episode involves a personal problem and allows me to get it out quickly right now. So, please enjoy "It's Not the Dark".
Carlos was genuinely afraid for his safety right now as he looked around, legs clutched to his chest. And it wasn't exactly irrational for him to feel that way. Okay, maybe it was.
At 2 in the morning, the whole of apartment 2J was dark, save for the TV that still held the pause menu of Carlos' video game. The flickering light of the screen managed to illuminate the nearby coffee table, the Latino's curled up body, and the couch upon which he sat, but everywhere else was nothing but the suffocating darkness that came with nighttime. The tan boy had long since laid down his controller, shivering and looking around frantically, eyes wide with adrenaline fueled confusion and fear.
It's not like he was afraid of the dark itself. He had lost that fear years and years ago. Just the things that were lurking in it according to his imagination were scary. Obviously there was the ghost of a man standing at the top of the loft near the swirly slide; it wasn't just a reflection of light off the coffee table. There was definitely something (probably a vampire) under the couch that was just waiting for him to uncurl his knees from his chest and set his feet down on the floor just so that it could drag him underneath and eat him. And that wasn't his stomach growling from hunger, it was probably the sound of a ravenous werewolf that was standing in the hallway between him and his nice, safe bedroom where the wonderful sanctuary that was Logan's loving embrace was waiting for him.
The tan boy's head snapped to the side when he heard a loud creak. It wasn't the apartment "settling" or whatever Logan had said last time they had heard it. It was something huge walking across the floor that was coming to get him. Carlos could see the shadow of whatever demonic presence it was slowly gliding toward him. His eyes immediately turned away from whatever it was upon hearing a loud whirring sound followed by a 'thunk' from the kitchen. Of course it wasn't the refrigerator, it had to be some sort of evil robot that was just about to come rushing in with its glowing red eyes and giant chainsaw arms ready to rip the helpless boy to shreds.
And all these things were waiting for him in the darkness that surrounded him. It's not the dark that is scary. It's what lives and thrives in the lightless area that is really frightening.
One more thing would send the Latino into a panic. He would be screaming and dashing to his room as soon as something else got into his brain. And that's exactly why a meltdown occurred in Carlos' brain when a branch tapped against the window as a softly wailing gust of wind blew past outside. He sat, frozen in his spot, heart pounding and eyes wide with fear, the tapping and soft whispering of air continuing for a good long minute before dying away softly.
It wasn't a tree tapping on the window. It was some horrible, awful, terrible, gruesome, disgusting… thing… on the other side. The Latino's imagination held some terrifying things, but nothing was worse than what he imagined being on the other side of the window. He couldn't see it through the drawn curtains, but it was there. Right there. Outside the window. And coming for him.
And Carlos did NOT want to get "harvested" tonight. At least, that's what he thought the tree-wind-monster-thing was about to do. That's what all tree-wind-monster-things do. They harvest.
One last tap happened, and then there was silence. For a good long twenty seconds, there was nothing but the hum of electricity coming from the television. The silence was deafening, and the tan boy knew that nothing good would come of it.
Lightning flash. Thunderclap. TV dies.
The room was finally completely engulfed in darkness, and the Latino's breathing stopped. His eyes widened even more if it was possible, and that's when true panic set in. There was no more light to protect him from the ghosts, the vampires, the werewolves, the shadow creatures, the robots, or the tree-wind-monster-things. The sanctuary of his boyfriend's love and warmth was too far away to encompass his position on the couch when Logan was in the bedroom. And that made Carlos' last little bit of sanity for the night snap.
He screamed bloody murder, hastily jumping over the back of the couch and racing through the apartment toward his bedroom, almost (but thankfully not) losing his footing as he landed behind the orange furniture. The monsters of the darkness were definitely following him, and he felt his flailing hand smack against something that he could've sworn was a werewolf's fur-covered head. The door to his bedroom was only a few more yards away, but once he got within that space so close to being saved, he just had to trip.
That was it. He was done for. The vampire was going to suck out all his blood and then leave him for the werewolf to eat. Or the robot was going to rend his body to pieces as the shadow creature and ghost fought over his eternal soul. Or, worst of all, he was going to be harvested by the tree-wind-monster-thing, since that's what they do. Carlos pulled his head down, hands on the back of his neck and knees almost over his head, cowering in fear as the monsters of the darkness rushed toward him.
Then, there was light. All three doors in the hallway opened wide, glorious light flooding the area. Carlos could hear the creatures that were pursuing him scream in agony as they disintegrated before the light, looking up to see 5 faces looking down at him. Each held a different expression: Mama Knight was concerned for the boy's safety, James showed annoyance at his beauty sleep being interrupted, Katie was confused over the whole situation, Kendall was somewhat amused for some odd reason, and Logan… saying that Logan was scared for his love would be an understatement.
The brunet quickly knelt down next to the Latino, grabbing a hold of the boy and clutching him tightly, as if he wouldn't let go for the rest of his life. Carlos merely looked up at the tightly shut eyes and smiled, snuggling into the suffocating grip of his boyfriend and not worrying about the suffocating grip of the darkness that was now so very far away. He felt a few teardrops land on his face and looked up once more to see the brown orbs glistening with water.
"I'm never letting you stay up this late alone ever again Carlos," Logan whispered in a shaky voice, earning a chuckle from the boy in his arms. The brunet's eye burned with annoyance for a second before the Latino spoke once more.
"That's fine by me," he returned with a smile, watching as everyone else began to return to their rooms without so much as a word to him. His gaze turned back up to his boyfriend. "I know that as long as I'm in your arms, I'm safe from whatever monsters lurk in the dark. My imagination only thinks up beautiful things when you're around." With that statement, Carlos leaned up to capture Logan's lips with his own for a long, love-filled kiss before allowing himself to be picked up and carried off into the light, nestled into the sanctuary of his boyfriend's love.
A/N: So, whaddaya think? Well made? I dunno, that's for you all to judge.
This was just a random idea that popped into my head at around 1AM this morning since I did pretty much the exact same thing. Minus the scream, the boyfriend, and the general getting attention of everyone in my house. I knew that I only get good ideas at night!
Anyways, please do review. This story is kinda meant to get me over a bout of writer's block, but it's also to test the waters with how well I'm writing as a whole right now. And I'd say that I'm doing pretty well. Thank you all, and please, do sleep better than I have lately. I really wish I had some imagination repellant right now…