Into The Void… A Tale of the Cosmic Gods

Part 1: The Cosmic Gift

We were like small children, staring into the unknown. How far did we fall? No one knew…

Somehow, we let it all happen. No one tried to save humanity. It spread through our ranks, and we just watched.

All the news stations showed us a strange apparition that appeared over the World’s cities. The sight of what was being broadcast on the television scared me to the deepest parts of my soul.

The mere sight of it made me want to tear my eyes from their sockets. A primal sense of disgust and fear crept out of every part of me… The darkest part of my soul felt scared, and I was sure there was nothing that could scare the parts of myself that I kept hidden away from everyone.

But I was unable to pull my eyes from the image. It hung in the sky unmoving… It was ready to unleash something horrible into our psyche that we could not return from.

The picture suddenly disappeared, and the black screen that greeted me somehow didn’t comfort me. An even greater sense of foreboding replaced the terror I felt.

From that moment, the World’s communication was lost to us…

In the following days, everything started to fall apart; even now, it is hard to explain the madness.

My neighbours, Mr and Mrs Chan, were the first…

It was the third day since the power went off, and I was starting to run low on supplies; the empty pain in my stomach told me I had to venture into this new World and get some food.

Gathering up my knapsack, I threw it over my shoulder; its empty weight felt worrying. The door swung shut behind me, and there was an audible click of the locking mechanism sealing me out of my apartment.

Climbing down the cement stairs, my steps boomed off the walls. I prayed that no one would hear me attempting to escape the building.

I had not seen anyone since the power went out, but I would hear screaming from outside. It was unnatural and sounded like people were suffering in unspeakable pain.

Dread seemed to build with every step. My shadow grew dark against the wall as I descended like it was a creature with a will all of its very own. I swear it was mocking me as I crept down the stairs; it made my steps seem louder than they usually would have been.

Descending ever deeper to the next floor, a vermillion red door appeared. I had walked past this door countless times, and I knew it was the home of Mr. and Mrs. Chan.

The silence was broken by a strange scraping sound that emanated from behind the blood-red door.

Pausing for a moment, turning my head slightly towards the sound, I strained to hear the source of the noise; I needed to understand what was causing it.

It sounded like a tiny animal whimpering and scratching at the door, much like a small puppy wanting dinner. After a few moments, the scratching and clawing at the door became more urgent, almost like it sensed I was nearby.

Not even wanting to breathe, I was mesmerised by the door; the scratching gave way to violent shaking and banging. Rooted to the spot, I could not move. Every cell in my body seemed aware of something horrifying awaiting me behind that door.

The whimpering turned into a loud hissing, and it wanted to get through that door…

As quickly as it started, it stopped, and an eerie quiet filled the air. I could hear the blood rushing into my ears; my heart was pounding against my ribs painfully.

Sliding my feet against the cold floor, trying not to make a noise, I inched closer to the door. My eyes started playing tricks on me; the door looked dripping with blood.

Reaching out towards the handle, I could feel the clamminess of my palms; they were suddenly as cold as ice. The fine hairs on my hands sprung to attention, trying to warn me to stop, but I do not know if bravery or stupidity kept my hand moving.

Not knowing what to expect, a million thoughts raced through my mind of the unforeseen horrors waiting for me. Images of the door bursting open or the door handle attacking my hand ran through my imagination…

The coldness of the metal knob seemed to shock my system as I touched it, snapping me out of my twisted fantasies. The knob moved ever so slowly as my fingers twisted it, the door was unlocked, and there was a soft clicking as the mechanism turned.

I pushed the door open just a crack, hoping to see inside, but the building sense of dread told me not to open it further. But being the fool I am, I let the door open a few more inches…

A bloody finger slid out from the crack and wrapped around the edge at the bottom of the door. The finger looked deformed, like there were tiny white bumps over the flesh; I could not make out what they were in the darkness. The force on the door increased; it was getting hard to keep it closed. Reaching out with my other hand, I wrapped it around the handle and tried to pull it shut, but it was useless… The handle was ripped from my cold, sweaty hands, and the door smashed against the wall with a loud bang.

On the ground in front of me was Mr and Mrs Chan. Their bodies were contorted in unnatural positions. Arms and legs were bent and twisted into impossible shapes for any human.

They were covered in blood; there was so much of it. It took me a moment to realise the horror of what I was seeing. Mr Chan’s head was miss-shaped, and I could not recognise him. His eyes… There were more than two…

His head had been split open, and where you would have expected to see his brain, there were eyes, hundreds of them. All those unblinking eyes were all focused on me… His mouth opened, and a long black tongue rolled out of his mouth; miniature eyes were all over it. Then I came to the sudden conclusion that his finger wrapped around the door was also covered in looks.

He let out a pitiful whimper and stared at me with pure hatred. His long fingers started cracking and dislocating as he looked at me. They dug into the floor and pushed his palms off the ground. Long yellow talons protruded from where his nails should have been and clicked violently against the floor.

I wanted to scream, but I was frozen; he started inching closer as he dragged what was left of his body towards me.

A shrill scream snapped me out of my haze. Mrs Chan was looking at me; she looked the same as Mr Chan. She was in a bit better condition; she still had her legs and started running towards me with venom in her eyes.

Without thinking, I grabbed the door and yanked it closed as hard as possible. There was a sickening sound as the door slammed shut on Mr Chan’s fingers.

“Thump”

It sounded like Mrs Chan ran at the door in full force.

Without another thought, I turned and ran back up the stairs. Taking three steps at a time, there was no time to wait. The fire burned in my legs as the lactic acid built up rapidly.

Thumbling with my keys, I struggled to open my door. The image of Mr and Mrs Chan is still fresh; what happened to them? There was a satisfying click as the key slid in and the handle turned.

I do not even remember getting inside my apartment but slamming the door and locking it tight.

Sliding down the door with my back against it… I heard it. There was a soft whimpering outside my door. Mr and Mrs Chan’s door must not have shut properly, and now they have escaped.

Scratching started at the bottom of the door; it seemed panicked and desperate to get into my room… Pushing myself away from the door, I turned to look at it, and a chilling thought came to me… It was now the doorway to hell.

Quietly, I lowered myself to the ground and peered under the door. There was one of Mr. Chan’s many eyes looking at me. It looked slimy as he tried to force it under the doorway.

There was a weird gurgling sound coming from him. It was terrifying…

Springing to my feet, I looked around the room for anything that could help save me…; I needed to use it as a barricade. I grabbed it, pulling with all my might, until it started to tip over and fell in front of the entrance.

For the next several minutes, I was too scared to move; the scratching was becoming more violent by the second. Mr Chan was desperate to get into my room. My mind was racing; what would it do to me?

The scratching gave way to banging; the entire door was moving in its frame, and I could hear the wood starting to splinter and crack.

Near the door was my high school baseball bat; I desperately grabbed it. The wood felt comforting in my hands. I stepped back and waited for those things to break the door down.

With a final push, the door exploded inwards, spraying me with fine splinters; I didn’t feel them embed into my skin. Through the hole in the door was Mrs Chan’s grotesque head, millions of eyes staring through the hole with hatred.

She pushed her head through the broken door, desperate to get to me… Hefting up the bat, I swung it with all my might; it landed precisely straight into what was left of Mrs Chan’s face.

It recoiled back for a moment; I could see I had damaged several of her eyes; they were hanging limply, the life gone.

A shrill moan came from her deformed face, her eyes… They burned with hatred; she wanted me dead.

She stood there, eyes glaring at me, her tongue swinging back and forth, and a caustic smell wafted through the hole in the door. Without warning, Mrs Chan turned and slinked back down the hallway.

It was then I realised I needed to escape this madness.