"They keep creepin' towards the door." Those were the words that echoed through Violet's mind as each second pierced through her. They were coming for her, she knew it. She didn't know why they were here or how they got to her home but that didn't matter at this point. All that mattered was staying away from them.
The heavy, metallic footsteps continued to steadily pass by. Eventually, one of the mechanical monstrosities must push the door open and see the cowering woman in the corner of the room and the thought of what might happen then sent a shiver down her spine. Too nervous to move, the brunette simply sat there.
The only source of comfort being, strangely enough, a cartoon character on the screen of a television on the other side of the room. It was a rather odd companion but from her job working to watch these monstrosities, she was not surprised in the slightest and did not question how the TV could be on during the power outage or why the character looked so much like her. To her regret, she had worked at that job long enough to know that where the robotic beasts traveled, illusions were bound to follow.
Another creak was heard, and the brunnete girl pressed herself further into her corner. The loud, metallic footsteps grew closer and closer just as the scent of rotten flesh started to rise.
The cartoon girl waved her arms frantically, matching Violet's worried expression and catching her attention. The cartoon pointed repeatedly to the closet with panic. Violet understood and scrurried to the closet and closed the shutter door behind her. The door to her room burst open as one of the robotic fiends entered the room.
Violet watched through the blinds of the door as the beast stopped in front of her. The beast resembled a robotic humanoid fox, withered and aged.
It surveyed the room, evident by the lights projecting from its eyes and planting two moving circles on the walls and ceilings as Violet tried to stay still. Violet could feel her own nervous heartbeat skip and tried her best to hold back a scream as the beast's eyes highlighted the closet door.
It remained still, eyes still locked in her direction. The brunette sank further back behind the hanging clothes. She tightly shut her eyes and waited then froze as the beast suddenly let out a roar. Violet clung onto the clothes in front of her holding her breath, believing it to be the last she'd take but... nothing happened. The door to the closet was not touched though she could still hear the mechanical monster moving about. A crash almost instantly followed the footsteps and the girl opened her eyes again to see the beast searching for her in the room, pulling and knocking down anything and everything in its view.
Violet prayed that the thing wouldn't find her as the monster's search carried on, pulling and flipping her bed on its side to knocking down her dresser and the television her cartoon companion resided in. The sound of crashing and shattering glass filled the room but unfortunately, the voiceless cartoon was unable to compete and banged against the screen to get Violet's attention. A success! Violet looked at the cartoon with fear and uncertainty filling her eyes but the beast roared once again and she shifted her eyes back to the monster anxiously.
Violet turned her attention back to the cartoon girl who was attempting to mouth something. After precious seconds spent analyzing her mute companion's lips, Violet finally understood. At least, she hoped so. "Light."
The girl desperately scavenged through her closet, searching for the flashlight she stored inside prior. Why light was needed, she wasn't sure but she hoped her lip reading was accurate.
A light shone through the shutters and at last, the flashlight was found and she grabbed it with shaking hands. She noticed the silence on the other end of the closet door. The strong smell of a rotten corpse still remained so it couldn't have left.
In an instant, the brunette's blood ran cold. It pained her that she didn't notice sooner and the scent of death snuck past her nose and tickled her soul. Her clumsily loud searching had attracted the beast's attention. "I'm dead." She thought to herself, the latter word weighing down on her like a forty ton cinderblock.
Violet looked to the cartoon once more, pleadingly. What was she supposed to do with a flashlight? The cartoon mouthed something again though this time, Violet was even more unsure of what was being said. The beast took a step forward and the cartoon immediately pointed to its own eyes. Before Violet could turn back to the monster in front of her, it already began its sprint towards the door and within a second, the shutter door swung open.
The mechanical monster let out an ear splitting screech and wasted no time in reaching an arm to grab her. The frightened girl emitted a yelp of her own, her thumb instantly moving up to turn on the flashlight with not even a second to spare before the thing's hand reached her. The light hit its eyes and the beast stopped in its tracks and stumbled back, letting yet another screech sound. As it covered its eyes, the pointed hook replacing one of its hands gleamed in the light. The cartoon's plan worked! The animated character wiped the sweat from its brow and exhaled a silent breath evident from the swirling lines coming from its mouth.
Violet didn't feel anywhere near as relieved as her cartoon counterpart and her own shaky breaths only grew heavier as she stared at the staggering beast before her, still not believing she still drew breath.
Why was it here. Why were they here? The question and possible answers flooded Violet's mind but she willed away the frightening thought and sprinted past the blinded beast before her and through the threshold that once stood a door. She had to get out of the house fast.
She bolted to the staircase to run to what would, hopefully be safety on her left but a beam of light shot out from the window, acting as a border between the girl and her route to freedom. Violet couldn't help but let out another silent cry of surprise as she attempted to halt her feet only to fall back onto herself. They must have been patrolling outside of the house as well. Too nervous to stand, she supported herself on her elbows and decided to just wait for the
ray of light to pass.
"Come on…" she urged, not fully realizing that she was thinking aloud. Six seconds passed before the light finally parted but to the girl, the time was an agonizing six hours. That fox had probably recovered by now and without a need for a que, the beast affirmed her fear with a single roar.
She heard the wooden floor strain under the weight of its feet as its hooked hand pierced into the threshold. Its head soon followed and looked down the path opposite to the frightened girl. Violet needed no further motivation and scrambled to her feet to head down the staircase while she still could. Halfway down, she spotted another one of the mechanical beasts patrolling her living room. Bulkier than the fox, it seemed to be in better condition than its rusted associate which was terrifying in its own right.
With heavy steps, it stomped away into the next room. Loud CLANGS grew more and more distant. Sounds of screeching falling items. The exit was so close! Her thoughts became silent, ecstatic prayers, pleading to any and every deity she could think of, hoping that at least one of them would get her through this alive.
She lightly pressed her foot onto the next stair. Maybe she could sneak by. No sign of it hearing her so far but these rickety old steps were infamous for not dealing well under pressure. A misstep could easily mean the end of her. She gripped onto the rails and continued to carefully shimmy her way down the stairway. So far, not a creek to be heard. "Almost there."
A spotlight beamed down upon her from the top and like a deer in headlights, she froze. She didn't bother to turn around for she already knew the cause of the sudden light. That damned fox.
As though stricken with thunder, a sudden shiver and spasm coursed through her as the fox beast's deafening roar met with her ears again. Yet she did not move. Her feet were glued to where they rested. Despite this, her heart was the most active, frantically banging against her chest faster and faster in a desperate attempt to break free from her body and do what her feet could not.
She looked down at the shadow projected from the beast's vision as she noticed something odd. It was her shadow. It stood in a different manner from its paralyzed owner and pointed repeatedly to the door ahead, urging her to run. If silhouettes could shout, this one definitely wouldn't be silent.
Violet suddenly found the strength to move and wasted no time in using the gifted strength to hurry down the rest of the stairs and rush for the gateway out.
The quick, shudders that vibrated through the floorboards and shook the room proved the bulky robot had heard the fox's cry. A quick arm shot out towards the handle of the door as a new spotlight shone against her side. She was running out of time!
With a twist and forceful tug, the front door swung open and in a single motion she passed the threshold and locked the beasts inside.
And everything grew still.
There was no thudding from the other side of the door nor was there a crash or cry to be heard. Even the wind refused to howl in the cool night. Violet leaned against the wooden surface to steady her breath. She couldn't believe she actually made it out. If only she had a phone at helm to call someone. Still, the lack of any movement on the other end was… odd. Almost unnerving.
Now to find help. But she was shocked at what she saw upon turning from the entrance. Instead of the trees and grass the outdoors would promise, was her own room. Nothing was broken, nothing knocked down as if the fox hadn't tore through the room prior.
She stared, more than puzzled by the sudden change in scenery. "How…" This didn't make sense. She had just left her home. How was she back?
Violets ears finally picked up a sound. Not the beasts, no. In fact, It sounded just like her. She followed the quiet noise to a see herself sitting, curled up in the corner.
"No…" Violet's eyelids suddenly fell heavy, her lungs forgot how to function, and she collapsed onto the floor staring back at the silently whimpering girl in the corner.