//------------------------------// // -.-. .-. -.-- / ..-. --- .-. / -.. .- .-- -. // Story: Knock. Knock. // by Arreis Of Avalon //------------------------------// I stare at the ceiling for a few minutes, just… breathing. I know I can’t stay like that for long. It’s just that I don’t want to leave just yet. I don’t want to do this anymore. Why can’t I just sink back into sleep and run into the woods, away from the monsters and things and just… breathe? Alone? Nopony home. I stand, grabbing my candle, and preparing myself. “It’s no secret that everyone has to learn proper hide and seek technique. This is common knowledge handed down throughout the ages.” Hide and seek - the art of survival. It was turned into a game for the children to understand, but in the end, it’s all just survival instinct. “But, even as a child, I had an exceptional talent for this difficult art. To remain undiscovered, remember one simple rule.” “Don’t look,” I say, shutting my eyes tightly. “And then, no one will see you. What I can’t see, isn’t there… Strange, but it works.” I open the door and continue onward, slowly. I start on the light. It flashes on, and I contemplate turning it off once more. But it won’t be long before I return to this room, correct? Surely I can simply go one room down before retreating into the cold grip of darkness. I trot downstairs. Twist, turn, click. My horn sparks along with the light. I blink - a vent appears. Nothing useful. I leave this light on too - what can be the harm of alleviating my fears? Next room. Next light. So… boring. So routine. My wardrobe appears. It’s empty, filled with cobwebs. Only spiders live here now. Next room. Light streams in from the room I just came from. It fills me with warmth. Twist, turn, click, flash. I keep the light on. Next room. I hesitate only slightly - there, in the darkness, is that one of them? Steeling my heart, I continue forward. Twist. Turn. Places to hide appear. Nothing important. I refuse to look - if I can’t see it, those dusty machines that remind me of pink won’t be there. I descend. Twist. Flash. It’s… empty. Just empty. I turn off the light. Back upstairs? This is all so uneventful. It’s… different. Somehow, some way, I get the feeling that my house is in agony. It’s a whimpering animal, shielding itself from me. Everything is wrong. “Where is that diary?... Could it be hiding here somewhere?” I shout, “hey! Where are you?” The silence answers back. Darkness floods the room as I shut off the light. I continue into the next room, but stop short - a machine behind me shifts, forming a small table. I… remember this. “I know this place… A neat little hiding place - a secret childhood stash. Right… Right over here is where someone used to hide his little secrets.” His? Who was he? I tried for a name. I shut my eyes tightly. Blue, white… I turn on the light with my magic as I remember a name. “S...Shining?” I hear something upstairs. Hoofsteps? I kill the lights again and go to the next room. There’s tread marks on the ground. “Hoofprints. Dirt. Still a bit fresh - this is recent. What is that?” Are they… mine? “Did I really walk through the forest in my sleep?...” Were those dreams real? Were they fake? Was this all just a hallucination? “At least this is new news.” Next room. Drawings all over the walls. Moons. Stars. Balloons? I’m so confused. Happy ponies cover the walls in childish doodles. “A child. Could there have been a child here?” No, somehow that felt like the wrong guess. “A mare?... Is it me?... No, I can’t recall. I can’t remember anymore. I’m always forgetting things.” I want to forget them all. I kill the lights. Next room. I walk a bit faster. There’s a pounding sound swelling in my ears. Kill the lights - it’s louder - upstairs. Kill the light quickly. The sound suddenly cuts off. Next room. One I haven’t been in yet. I turn the light. Twist. Flash. Blink… My eyes stay shut longer and longer lately. A bed appears. It looks like… who was it… White, purple, diamonds… Her ‘fainting’ couch. I don’t… remember? My head hurts - I have a migraine. Too much is happening. I kill the light. I don’t want to see anymore - if I don’t see it, it’s not there. Upstairs. Twist, turn. Fla- BOOM I scream, surprised, as lightning strikes on the soundless night. I take a deep breath. W-What was- KNOCKAKNOCKNOCKAKNOCK I cover my ears, shutting my eyes tightly. Tears are rising to them. It’s so suddenly very loud, so very very loud. I look around quickly for an escape. The only way is down. I can only descend now, into the darkness. All the lights have shattered from the lightning. I look up as the light turns off all on it’s own. No, you can’t- I turn it on quickly, tears bubbling themselves down my face. “No no no no-” You’ve trapped yourself. “NO, I HAVEN’T!” The light won’t come on. It keeps turning off. Shaking, I look at the ladder. I don’t… I don’t want to see them anymore. Please. Don’t make me. I walk down. C-Ca-- y’hear us, hon--? I turn on the light. A shadow drifts through the door, a shade. I gasp, stumbling backwards. She sees me. I see her. I run. She follows. I run up the stairs. W-Wow… I turn on the light, but this room is empty. Nothing. Nopony home. I turn off the light, shaking. I hear something breathe behind me and run. I can’t stop crying. N-No, please don’t run… A new voice this time. Why do they sound so sweet? They’re monsters! They bring me so much pain, I-I can’t handle them! I keep running. I run to the door and start turning it. Hi! I open the door and hide. I shut my eyes tightly. Something enters the room. It searches. I can feel the eyes looking, searching for me. Why h--- u trapped your--lf? I don’t respond - can’t respond, am so frozen in fear. The feeling… fades. I step out of hiding. There’s a small pony, covered in leaves. She turns toward me. Are you okay, Tw---ght? My eyes widen. My… name?... I walk towards her - I haven’t heard that in so long - and I just want her to say it again in that soft, timid voice. As I reach her, she disappears. A shiver runs up my spine. “... Feels like I stepped on something living.” I turn, seeing a shadow approaching. I hide quickly. The shade searches and whispers, constantly trying to find me. I shake in fear, but do not reveal myself. I can’t stand this monster - I run with him in the room, running as fast as I can. She chases me, but I run and run and run. She will not have me today. I get downstairs. She nearly had me. I run around, room to room, light to light. But it’s a dead end, as always. I backtrack. Maybe I can… I get to my ladder, but I hear her upstairs. I take a step back. I shut my eyes, only for… a moment… I open them. My clock is there. I greedily drink up the time, sighing in relief. Yes. The dawn will save me. I know it. I can only rely on her. I can hide from everything else. I run upstairs. Wind, wind, wind. Creak. I see the eye of God watching me, and he growls. I have angered the lonely God. The shade sees me and runs for me. Turn on, turn on, turn o- Flash. I run downstairs to safety, my breath shuddering out of my mouth. I run and run and run, my breath wearing thin. I’m so tired. The light goes out in the last room I go to. I turn, quickly. Blink. TIME! I wind quickly. Yes, thank God, yes… I sit, shivering in the room. My eyes are wide and tired. I cry and cry and cry. I just need to wait it out. She will come. Surely, she will come. Except deep down, I know, I’m supposed to be strong enough to help myself - that’s what she will require of me, but I know I’ll never be able to be strong enough. Not with all these memories plaguing me. I breathe out. The sun rises. I waken with a scream.