Lily unlocked the tired door of her dorm room and flicked on the light switch. The fluorescents hummed to life, casting a depressing, sickly glow across the outdated room. The floor was covered in a strange shade of green and brown tile that peeked from the corners of a rug attempting to hide it. Cheap wood closets stuck out into the limited space with a yellowed marble sink sitting beside it. No matter how many decorations they tried to pile into it, the room kept its worn and ancient look.

It became slightly more bearable when she turned on the two small table lamps forced onto a corner of each desk. With a sigh, Lily slung her backpack across her bed and into the tangled mess of sheets where it finally stopped. The sun was setting behind the bent plastic blinds and a dusky glow of crimson drifted through. Lily pulled them open to look at the last drifting rays of light where they sank low across the trees, her thoughts still running themselves through the numerous tasks she had that night to complete. Luckily, it was the weekend, and anything she truly didn’t want to do, she didn’t have to. That thought in mind, she grabbed up her keys and jacket before heading out and down the street. Imo’s Pizza was calling.

....a.....

The night was calm as Lily strolled back along the sidewalk. Thinking back, she should have driven since the walk was long enough to be uncomfortable on a full stomach. But she was glad she had made the trip down to he small pizzeria. By the time she arrived, a small mob had begun to form of her friends, including her roommate who had disappeared earlier with one of the senior guys. They two practiced a strict don’t ask, don’t tell policy when it came to each other's goings and comings.

Finally, Lily found herself at the drab door again, no work completed and ready to fall asleep. Well, at least it was the weekend.

She quickly slipped into her blue pajamas before scurrying across the hall to the bathroom to take care of all necessary things before sleep. Thirty minutes after coming in the door, she was nestled beneath her sheets in the amiable silence of the dorm.

Silence was misleading term. There were bumps and whispers in the night that drifted down from other floors, but it was relatively quiet. Close enough that Lily was soon fast asleep....

....z....

It was darkness and the walls were closing in. Her breath was ripped from her lungs and forced into the air, ripping jagged cuts into the heavy substance. She knew she had to leave the room or risk becoming the glue binding the two walls, but she also knew that beyond its sanctuary, something worse waited. It watched, ready to pounce at the first chance.

Finally, as the pressure grew and pressed against her shoulder, from the room she shot. Like some creature of the wild, blinded by light, she threw her arms up against a blinding glare of the darkness. Had she lost her sight, or was it simply all the same? Could it really all be a never-ending corridor of black, with not a speck of light to show her way?

Her questioning was cut short as the sound of some great beast taking a breath began to echo through the room. She froze as it stood behind her, bristling against the narrow walls with every motion. But when she spread her arms wide, there was no wall for her to touch. Could a creature of that size truly stand in existence? Not willing to pause and find out, she fled.

It took chase, bounding along steadily farther back. But when she thought that perhaps she had outrun whatever monster it was, the sound of its heavy steps would again reach her ears with deafening clarity. Every whiff of air from the putrid beast smelt of carrion. Spoiled meat between its teeth, cowering beneath its vicious claws. She ran faster, trying to outrun it, but having it always a mere step behind.

Its breath was a hot mist against her neck when another figure mysteriously appeared in the distance. Was it there her savior waited? She sped on, pushing herself to the limits of her strength, but afraid she was going to fall short.

Now she was close, she could truly see the person. A tall man with the palest features she had seen. Only his eyes seem to possess any true color, a startling blue against the backdrop of white, almost translucence. She had to reach this white-clothed figure. But, as she drew nearer, she saw a sliver of light escaping his clasped hands, a light that seemed intent on forcing its way into the darkness. He looked at her pleadingly, sorrow and the want of forgiveness etched into every line of his face. And she understood.

He was going to lose the fight and let the light free. And then the image of her beast would be clear. She knew it was a visage so horrible and dark that she could not bear its sight.

“Please!” she called to him, but he continued gazing at her with that same sadness. He had to illuminate the monster behind her, even though the thought was more than she could stand. To be caught was death, to see was death. No place left to turn, she sunk to the ground, still pleading with the pale figure. Even as her knees sank to the cold floor and the first strokes of those behemoth claws ripped into her back, the light burst forth. One final word drifted from her lips with a painful plea. “No!”

.....b.....

Alexis quietly entered the room where Lily slumbered, trying not to wake her friend. She quietly slipped the door back closed, locking it tight for the night. Now, she just needed her nightgown so she could slip away to sleep for the last couple of hours of night.

Lily was talking in her sleep, muttering and tossing about. “Please, no you can’t, try, don’t let it out.” Alexis shook her head and pulled down the sheets of her bed, still trying to locate her clothes. What the-

In one instant of each other, the lights all over the room flared to brilliance, bathing the light in a blinding glow that had never before been achieved and Lily shot up into a sitting position in her bed. “No!“ she cried deafeningly at the same instant.

Alexis threw her hands over her eyes, trying to block out the light. One of the light bulbs burst, showering the room with glass and sparks. Lily sat there, eyes wide open and staring straight ahead. She was tossed about and blood splattered from three long gouges that appeared on her back. Another bulb burst and Alexis could see everything again, but wished she couldn’t.

Lily glanced over her shoulder, almost as if another hand forced her sight and a look of abject horror crossed her soft features. Immediately, she screamed a piercing wail. Another bulb burst, and another, until all the lights had been extinguished. Alexis pulled herself from the corner she had cowered in, walking on shaky legs towards her roommate’s bed.

Her hand quivered as she reached it out in her temporary blindness, searching for the warm body snuggled beneath the sheets. They found something warm. And wet. And sticky. It lay spattered across the sheets and the wall behind the bed. Slowly, as her vision returned, the substance became evident.

Alexis screamed as her hands brushed over the blood. Lily was gone.

.......End.......

Hehe. Yeah, this was just something I cooked up while sitting here. I really wanted to write some horror, but I’m really not sure how this went. I hope you like it. Please, do review and let me know how I can improve, what you liked, what you didn’t. Anything you have to say I would appreciate. Well, until I get Vendetta up, later!

GdlN