Now our fearfull bat will experience the apex of horror of isolation. Well, to be honest, after writing this chapter I didn't sleep very well because of nightmares. You're warned.
Chapter 4: In the Darkness
Scaredy left the room and passed the beam of the flashlight along the entire corridor. After a few steps, he heard a long shout: "SCAAAAAAAAAREDY, COME ON!" He jumped and felt the urge to run into his room and hide himself. "Remember Ruby's advice: when you're afraid, hold on a security object..." He tightened his ghost trap and began to walk the corridor completely in the dark, exept for the cone of light emitted from the flashlight.
Seen from that perspective, the house where he have been living for so long appeared completely different. The creaking of the floor, usually ignored, caused his heart leapt at each step. After a while, Scaredy started to feel observed. It seemed that all the pictures was looking at him with evil eyes. Outside the winows, the shape of the trees stood out like deformed hands...
A crash broke the silence. Scaredy jumped and dropped both the flashlight and the ghost trap. While falling to the ground, the flashlight went out and in a moment the little bat was shrouded in the darkness. He looked around, but he could see only the black wall of gloom. He could only hear the sound of his steps. "But, I'M MOTIONLESS! OH NO, IT'S HIM, IT'S COMING..." He lean against the wall and fall on the ground. In the meantime the steps were sounded closer, and closer, and closer. Scaredy started to tremble with fear and to let out a groan. The steps were closer. Tears came in Scaredy's eyes and he started to sob. The steps were closer. Scaredy imagined himself chased by a huge and evil ghost. The steps were further. Scaredy prick up his ears. The steps were truly further and further.
He took out a sigh of relief, then he started to finger the floor around him. After a while his finger were clasping the flashlight. He switch it on and looked around. The ghost trap lied near him, fortunally unbroken. A bit further, he saw a mirror on the ground, probably the source of the crash. He headed to the mirror, with the intent to put it back, but, as soon as he picked it up, he saw his own reflection, with the eyes wide open and red with tears, the lineaments drawn in a mask of pure terror. He shouted and dropped the mirror, then he passed his hands across his face. "I'm not the bat I used to be. I'm sure that neither Ruby could recognize me." He pick up the ghost trap and headed to the great hall.
"I've never imagined that our house could be so terrifying. I was scared by a falling mirror! Normally, I didn't, because Misery has accustomed us to this sort of things, and..."
He got to the hall. The moonlight filtered through the window, lighting up the room and casting long shadows. Scaredy was consoled by getting out the dark corridor. He went downstairs, leaned the flashlight and the ghost rap on the table, got close to the huge window and looked outside. Gloomsville landscape has nothing unusual: the same violet grass, the same blue sky,... "I'm sure Ruby is having a great time with Skullboy. And I'm here, alone, with a strange and inquietant presence..." he sighed "I missed everyone. Even BooBoo... If only I wasn't alone..."
Another shout sounded "WHAAAAAAT ARE YOU DOOOOOOOING? HEEEEEELP MEEEEEE!" But this time Scaredy was ready. He listened carefully and, after a few moments, he was quite sure that the shouts came from the Cript. He took the ghost trap and, after a while, he went in the Cript.
The first thing the little bat noticed was that the room was incredibly cold and silence. He moved a few steps in. Now that he was so near to the source of his fear, Scaredy felt strange. he was feeling like the ghost was behind himself. He could feel himself surrounded by many ghosts. He couldn't see anything, but he knew that they are there. He would have ran, but he didn't know where he could go. And then he felt the ghosts in the darkness. No, there were not ghosts, it was the DARKNESS ITSELF! IT WAS ALIVE! Tentacles of darkness were holding the little bat, not allowing him to run. He saw (or thought to see) a monstrous being made of pure gloom. It looked at him with evil, red eyes and grinned.
Scaredy, without realizing it, aimed the dark monster with the ghost trap and pulle the trigger. Immediately an acute buzz sounded and a huge vortex of energy erupted from the reed.
The monster moved back and Scaredy take advantage of it. He dropped the ghost trap and ran off...