A Lantern in the Dark - A Short Story

A bolt of lightning filled the sky, shooting bright white light through the windows, immediately followed by a massive rumbling of thunder that shook the house.  The power suddenly flicked off. 

Ariel rolled her eyes and turned on her phone flashlight.  “Figures,” she grumbled as her husband quietly chuckled.  “You know I can’t stand the dark.  Come with me to get some candles and a flashlight.” 

Together they walked to the laundry room.  John leaned against the doorway as Ariel rummaged around in the closet.  She grabbed an armful of candles and 2 battery-powered lanterns.  Standing up, she froze.  Her eyes landed on the back wall of the closet – there was a door there that didn’t belong.  “John?” she called, ice running through her veins.

He appeared behind her.  “What?”

“Look…” She set down her light sources on the dryer and turned on the 2 lanterns, holding one up to the inside of the closet.  “Should we open it?”

“What else are we going to do?”  He stepped forward and opened the door.  A rush of cold air surrounded them, pulling them forward, as their legs seemed to move on their own.  Once they walked through the door, it slammed shut behind them.  They spun around, but the door was gone – there was just a blank space where it had been. 

“What the…” John reached around where the door should have been, but was met with absolutely nothing.  Ariel swung her lantern around frantically as the darkness of their surroundings hungrily swallowed the light.  Beginning to tremble, she grabbed John’s arm. 

They took small steps, forward?  Backward?  They weren’t even sure which direction they were going in.  Here it was totally silent.  There was no trace of the wind that pulled them in.  The only thing was the blackness that enveloped them. 

Ariel’s eyes frantically scanned the area, but as she looked towards John, something shiny caught her attention.  She stopped, causing John to pause and look at her.  She stared in horror at her husband as his eyes slowly widened. 

“John…your hair-“  “Your face-“ They said at the same time.

“You’re grey!” Ariel cried.

“And you’re…” John hesitated.  “You’re wrinkly and grey.”

She quickly loosened her bun and let her hair fall over her shoulders.  “No,” she whispered as the light caught on her own silver hair.  Her hand flew to her face as she felt the once supple skin hanging just a tad more loosely.  She looked at the back of her hand, noticing that it, too, was full of wrinkles.  “What’s happening to us?!” she cried, looking back at her husband, who seemed to have developed a slouch. 

“I don’t know!  It looks like we’re aging, but how?!”  He ran a hand through his hair then quickly lowered his arm, looking at his hand.  It was full of hair.  He watched the hair fall, shining in the light like glitter.  All Ariel could do is watch with tears in her eyes as he started hyperventilating and running his hands through his hair, each time coming back with more and more until he was nearly bald.

Ariel started to cough, a ragged sound that was swallowed up by the darkness.  “Hello!’ she cried, but her own voice sounded weak and foreign.  Feeling dizzy, she sat down and began to cry.  John tried to crouch down beside her, but struggled keeping his balance.  He fell backwards and gasped as pain shot through his entire body.  “John!” she scooted over to him.  She stared at the face of a stranger.  Sunken eyes, age spots dotting his face, and wrinkles – deep-set wrinkles.  She leaned over to hold him as he weakly lifted an arm to wrap around her. 

“I love you,” he said.

The light went out just as the feeling of John disappeared from her arms.  Ariel screamed, a bloodcurdling sound that was absorbed into the air.  She screamed until her throat was raw and sore.  She curled into the fetal position and cried. 

Over her sobs, she heard a sound.  She held her breath, trying to stop her attack.  “Help!”

The light flicked on, temporarily blinding her.  Once her vision returned, she saw a figure standing before her.  A figure in a black robe, so dark it looked like it was made from the darkness that surrounded them.  She sucked in a breath as her eyes traveled up the figure and to its face – a skull.  She screamed, but was cut short. 

A single drop of blood fell from the scythe in the Reaper’s hand.  It turned and walked away, the light flickering off for the last time.