Midnight (Complete Story)
Author's Note
Ambient Wind Noise to set the mood of the story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eILoQChD_A
Extra Story Details
Writing Time: Approx 51 minutes
Draft Number: 1 Draft
Story Settings: Fluttershy's Bedroom, Her Bed
Story Themes: Fear, The Unknown
Story Background:
I wrote this story because I thought something in my room looked similar to what is described in the story. I saw something non-threatening when I turned on the light, but do not expect the story to be the same. :P
Midnight (Complete Story)
The darkness of Fluttershy’s room was punctuated by two pinpoints of faint white light sitting precariously close to the edge of her bed.
It wasn’t uncommon for Fluttershy to wake up to the pleading of one of her several dozen animals, asking for food or water. They had been better about it in the past few years, but every now and then one of them would forget the need for their owner to sleep and pester her when she needed rest. Still, she loved them anyway.
But this was different. Fluttershy’s eyes were having trouble adjusting to the darkness of the room. The nightlight she usually had on was, for some reason, completely absent. She could not see which animal was asking for her help.
She moved to speak, but something stopped her. In the back of her mind, a flash of instinct told her the only two words she needed to know. Two words which spoke to her very being and no doubt kept her living longer than she would have if she hadn’t listened:
Don’t move.
Fluttershy’s fatigue began to leave her as her adrenaline started to kick in. Something was wrong, and it was staring at her only three feet away off the edge of her bed.
The outline was hard to discern. A series of circular shapes congealed silently into a bulbous form, where a perimeter of fuzz, possibly hair or fur, dotted the edge of the shape. Two lanky elongated protrusions marked the sides of the thing hanging down from the side. They did not move. It swayed only the slightest amount. Fluttershy could not tell it was rocking side-to-side because it was nervous, or maybe because it was something it was consciously doing. Like a snake charmer moving slightly to hypnotize a snake. And Fluttershy could not look away. She felt that doing so would not end well for her, though she couldn’t tell why.
But the eyes…the eyes were the most telling. Two larger circles of faint illumination created a border around the “face” of the thing, moving inward towards the pinpoints of light. The strange thing was…even though the body swayed a little, the eyes did not. They stayed locked in position no matter how much this thing moved.
What could she do? Fluttershy’s heart raced and threatened to burst out of her chest. She started to shiver, but said nothing. She clutched the blankets of her bed ever so slowly, hoping not to startle the thing. Maybe if she hid under them, it would go away.
She was seconds away from curling under her blanket when a whisper of words was spoken into her ear from behind.
“ecaep ta eb reverof ro ton kaeps syaw sseleye ni sllik gniht eht”
Fluttershy froze. Her eyes widened and she noticed the light points in front of her widened as well. Frozen breath wafted in the air over her face. A chill ran down her spine. Something was right behind her, on the bed, and it had just spoken to her.
Her breathing became labored, but she did everything she could not to make noise. Tears began to fall from her face as she shook uncontrollably. Her mind searched for something, anything, to calm her down. And it settled on one key thought.
Why hadn’t the thing behind her attacked yet? She couldn’t see it. She wasn’t staring at it. Any predators who hunted in packs in the wild would not wait for their prey to become scared before attacking. All of her animals understood this. And yet it spoke to her. The words were not comforting in the slightest, but they sounded…cautious. As if the being on her bed had attempted to give her a warning.
Why would a predator do that for her…unless…
What if they weren’t working together? What if one of them was a killer and the other was a protector? It was her only hope. The slightest bit of evidence she had now was that if they were both working together, they would not be waiting to attack the prey when one clearly had the upper hand.
But who was her protector? Was it the one behind her or the one in front of her?
She needed to know. There had to be a way to know. If her hunch was right (and she had seen enough animals to know that it had to be right), then she had a fifty percent chance of picking the right thing.
What other options did she have? The night was in deep darkness and no doubt hours before dawn. She could not outlast these things. Not before one attacked.
She could stand to get more information. She didn’t know what the thing behind her looked like. But even if she did, how would that help? Maybe she couldn’t look. Maybe too much movement would set one of them off.
The one behind was her best bet. If it didn’t want her dead, why would it have said anything? She had one idea. She hoped it would work.
Carefully, and slowly, she lifted her arm and hoof, resting on her body with her hoof upraised slightly behind her. Any creature with limbs might see this as an attempt to reach them. She waited and felt her heart aching to make her put the arm down. To do anything but that. She had no other options. She needed to do something.
There was an exhale of chilled air over her. She moaned slightly in fear. Her body tensed the moment she felt contact on her upraised hoof. Something cold and rough wrapped itself around the edge of her arm. It was constricting and unrelenting. She dared not look.
The thing in front of her started to sway faster. Now the pinpoints of light were moving a little. Had she made a mistake? Was this one watching out for her the whole time?
What if she was wrong about both of them? What if neither was for her and they were simply chatting before dinner?
A creaking sound began to build behind her. Something deep and unnatural. It moved closer and closer to her ear. Something above her was staring. And it had the same two pinpoints of light in the eyes as the other.
She had to think fast. This did not seem like a friendly approach and she didn’t want to risk it. Wait…how light was the thing? She felt its grip on her hoof, but it was not overpowering. How big was it? The one in front of her was scarcely more than a few feet high. She barely moved her hoof and felt the grip tighten. It was not letting go.
Her breathing intensified and she felt a twitch in her wings. Of course…her wings! She knew what to do now.
Without thinking, her instincts kicked in. Her wings flared up behind her. The thing behind became startled and released its grip. Fluttershy had her hooves on her pillow the whole time and swung it out from under her head. She aimed at the pinpoints of light in front of her. It screeched an unearthly scream. She leapt out of bed, engaged her wings and sailed for the front door in-flight. That’s when she saw the open window and knew how they got in. She diverted course and sailed for that instead.
As she flew out into the night, she turned and looked down at the window she had escaped from. Four pinpoints of light stared up at her. Waiting.
