The Thing Hiding In The Corner.

Many woke up to the blaring of the sirens or the sound of plains fast approaching, any who were awake and didn't know what was about to happen had gathered in the center of the street where a tall dark spruce tree stood proudly. It had been nicknamed Evergarden after the the towns sheriff that had died protecting a pregnant women from a drunk shooter.

A child at the age of 6 was watching through his window, unaware of the chaos that is about to ensue . He had been waiting for his mother to return. Her name was Robin Krieger, a government official tasked at creating peace between countries, she was unfortunately not good enough.

"We need to run, boy! If we can't make it then how will your mother find us?" He tried to hide his emotions but tears gathered in his eyes. They both ran outside towards a shed. Inside had a latch that lead to a bunker made by his grandparents in preparation for world war 2. It was never used, yet he kept it stocked for when the world has had enough. It had a filtration system so great you couldn't tell where the water came from and rations that could easily last 20-30 years without refrigeration.

Nico dragged his legs staring at the planes that opened, dropping a few football sized bombs. His father looked back, faster than before he pulls the latch open with a subtle "Oomph."

"Nico, climb inside. I'm right behind you." He said softly holding Nico's hand as he climbed down. Nico dropped silently as he awaited his father to come down the ladder.

"Stay strong kid." Dust flooded from the entrance, a bright light followed before a loud Clank. The earth shook as the lights started flickering like a nightclub. The surface had turned into a worldwide inferno.

"Why would you leave me alone? how can I survive without any of you?" He crumbled to the ground. Nico had fallen into the abyss. The shaking had slowed and the lights went out.

When the earth had finished, Nico woke up staring at a shadowy figure that floated above him. It had no expression, white holes for eyes, a crimson red liquid dripped from them.

He couldn't move, stuck staring at it as it's long body slowly moved. Its fingers were skinny like pencils and were long, to the point it could easily wrap around someone's head. Its fingernails could be compared to small knifes. With a loud CRACK its body twisted and started walking on all fours, low to the ground to avoid hitting the ceiling.

It crawled towards the darkest part of the shelter, a corner to the far right. It started going out of sight before abruptly stopping and turning to the body on the floor, cold sweat falling from it. The thing in the corner looked for a few seconds before moving its arms that were previously sagging on the floor. it grabbed its face, one pulling down, the other up, around where a mouth should be.

A burst of deep red blasted as a terrifying ripping sound echoed within the shelter, the thing had made a mouth. One side drooped far below the other, its mouth was an empty void. In seconds teeth protruded from the edges of the mouth. The teeth grinded against each other until settling with blood like liquid trickling past.

In the corner, it spoke, "Hello child... we will... be... watching your... performance." Countless voices spoke at once, they all talked in different tones and at different speeds before combining into one. It continuously stopped in between a couple words and had a slight whistle.

"Upon the... day... you... lie still... you... would have... lost... this game... of... life and... death," With it's hands, it attempted a few gestures and signs but reluctantly lied them low. "We await... your... achievements... and... blood spilt."

After a few silent minutes Nico could move his fingers. The shadow raised its arm and touched its chest, leaving lacerations at every point the fingernail touched. At last it broke the silence.

"Goodbye... small... child." instead of using its palm to help it climb up, it used its fingers that dug into the concrete tiles. Moving like a spider it disappeared into the darkness. Nico's eyes became heavy, like being forced closed by a mysterious energy.

When Nico regained consciousness, he immediately jolted up, frantically searching for the caliginous thing. the room was empty, it left only the deep scratches and scrapes to prove its existence. It's face was imprinted in his head, every few minutes Nico would look into the corner the shadow had disappeared, thinking it would return.

Worrying about it would overwhelm the millions, possibly billions of deaths on the surface. a sudden realization hit him, if he continued crying over the dead he would join them.

"No more crying, they want me to survive and that's what I will do." he said, eyes filled with determination, even if it was a mask.

Wiping a tear out from the corner of his eyes, he searched the room. Nico decided to read a book that was on a shelf that was clearly highlighted by everything that surrounds it. It read, "Dear survivor. Steps of how to survive." Flipping through the pages he read that he must figure out how much rations and water is currently available. Looking at a small square in the corner he found a consuming guide, showing age groups and how much calories and various nutrients a person would need daily. Just above that another box had a few exercises and a page number to exercise requirements for daily life.

He was always interested in learning, but this was to much information. A few minutes of searching and he found a paper and pen. Nico wrote a daily routine and current rations. Water wasnt included because there was a system made to clean the body's waste and turn it into portable water.

"As long as I dont think of it as that, it wont be a problem!" satisfied with the routine he looked for anything that could generate energy. a bike was against a wall, it didnt have wheels but was connected to a metallic base that connected to a battery.

"So that's why there was so many bike related workouts" Looking through the book once more he adjusted his routine to fit the bike into it.

7 years later

Nico was sleeping, twisting and turning on the bed. He was covered in sweat.

"If you were faster, I could have survived." Its voice was echoing in Nico's head "It's your fault I died." his father said towering over him.

"Why didnt you wait for me? I was in the driveway but you couldn't wait for me." his mother bellowed.

"Shut up. Shut up SHUT UP!" he yelled jumping up. Tears gathered as he cried, saying, "It isn't my fault."