Crimson Eyes

It’s been an hour now and she hasn’t found a thing. She’s heard so many rumors about this old factory and all the things that have happened here since it closed down. She’s still intrigued about why it closed, or more specifically, the lack of reason. Apparently one day the owner just shut it down abruptly and laid off all his employees. And then, he just vanished. Never to be seen or heard from again. Then there’s all the stories about the “meetings” that took place here in the years after. She really thought that this would be a good place to catch some evidence, or just something in general. For as long as she could remember, she wanted to be a paranormal investigator and get some form of undeniable proof that ghosts and cryptids exist. She’s never been too scared of anything and tends to face most of her challenges head on. She prided herself on her bravery and courage, especially since her parents praised that trait of her’s as well. Nothing has ever stopped her before, and she wasn’t about to start letting it happen today. Most of her peers make fun of her for believing this stuff and started calling her “Carrie” even though that wasn’t her real name, but they seemed to think it fit her better. It used to bother her but then one day she just though to herself “screw it” and started to embrace it.

‘Drip’

“Just another puddle,” she thought to herself. The lack of activity was beginning to make her frustration set in as she started to get annoyed. She would be happy with even just one disembodied voice so she could show her peers and shut them the hell up for once. She looked up at the holes in the ceiling where she could see small rays of light coming from the tired sun as it slowly sinks lower than the horizon. Today it was a little darker than it should be at that moment due to some clouds that were rolling into the sky. “Must be a storm coming,” she murmured. She knows that rain and stormy weather can “charge” spirits which made her a bit excited but also added fuel to her frustration. “Just give me something you piece of shit!” she yelled into the empty air. After a few more minutes of disappointment, she was about ready to call it quits. She began to go through the room to collect her equipment that she had been using. She got to her still camera and was about to shut it down and pack it away when she froze. Out of nowhere she felt a chill run through her entire body, and she could have sworn that she saw a figure in the old manager’s office. Her adrenaline instantly began to pump through her veins and before she could even think about it, her body was moving towards the office on its own. The next thing she realized she was racing up the steel stairs to the manager’s office with the clangs of her feet stomping against the metal filling the empty building. She can see the office door getting closer and closer as her excitement grows and her heart beating like the double bass drums from her favorite band. She couldn’t believe that she was about to finally get the evidence she’s been dying for. She knew it had to be paranormal because there was really only one way to get into this place and she would have noticed it if someone tried to sneak by her. “Finally!” she almost yelled out as she burst through the office door. But as she calmed down, she realized there was nothing there, not even a gust of wind. Her eyes furiously scanned the area hoping to spot a figure that shouldn’t be there or catch something moving with no explanation, but nothing was there to be found.

Suddenly, her frustration peaked as she blurted, “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me! I’m never gonna hear the end of this if I don’t get back with something!” Her anger kept swelling as she clenched her fists. Before she can act out further on this emotion, however, the door behind her slammed shut sending echoes throughout the factory. Nervousness crept in as she stood there startled. “This isn’t a door that just shuts on its own,” she whispered as she turned around to observe it. She also noticed that the whole time she was up there that there hasn’t been any wind at all to cause the door to shut like that. This made her even more on edge. Normally this kind of thing excites her, she has experience with past encounters, but this felt different. She felt darkness and something else, something sinister. In her body she felt what seemed like hatred, or maybe even malice. “Is there evil here?” she nervously wondered as she turned back around to search the office. But before she could process any more thoughts, she felt every inch of her body tighten up and noticed that this darkness started to grow from the far corner and began to fill the room. The sun is still somewhat up and isn’t covered by the clouds yet as evidenced by the light beaming through the holes in the ceiling, so she can’t understand why it’s possible for the room to get this dark.

Eventually the darkness engulfed the entire office defying the sun and practically blinding her. She stood there on the verge of tears, unable to move anything no matter how hard she tried. It was then that she saw it. “What the fu-,” she couldn’t even finish the thought. Before her eyes materialized something that terrified her down to her core. There was a pitch-black figure that stood in front of her. It definitely didn’t look entirely human, and it gave off such a horrible feeling. Every cell in her body wanted to leave immediately. This thing looked like it was made of pure darkness, just like the dark that filled the room. Yet for some reason she could see the figure perfectly, as if it wanted to be seen. It looked like it had long hair, maybe a little more than shoulder length, but each strand seemed to have a mind of its own as they managed to flow in ways that defied gravity. Its legs were disturbingly long, and its arms were almost as long but seemed to have claws instead of fingers. Just then, where its eyes should be, appeared two little orange lights that seemed to glow brighter than the sun, and she heard it chuckle.

“YOU MADE A MISTAKE,” it said mockingly. She looked at this thing with tears now beginning to swell in her eyes and she couldn’t find the courage to speak. This thing just spoke to her clear as day, but its mouth never moved. A tear fell down her face as its eyes turned crimson red and it felt as if the whole building began to shake. The whole place felt like it was going to crash around her, and it started to seem like she might actually die here. The figure became more menacing with each passing second with its bright crimson eyes looking right at her with no intention to ever stop. It started to feel like it was even looking into her mind. She was finally able to open her mouth to release a deafening scream as the figure laughed manically. Suddenly, the girl got the feeling back in her body again and didn’t hesitate a single second to start running out of there. She didn’t even grab the rest of her equipment because all she could think about was getting home to where her father and sister were. Once out of the factory she ran through the streets as the sun finally set behind her bringing the darkness with it. The air burned her lungs as she ran, pushing her body way past its limit as she was desperate to get home. Every time she closed her eyes she kept seeing those bright crimson eyes that belonged to the figure of darkness. She wouldn’t let herself stop running, she couldn’t. If she stopped it would get her, it felt like it was right behind her. She couldn’t tell if it really was behind her or if it infected her mind somehow. All she knew was that she couldn’t take it anymore and wanted to home, safe. Then, out of the corner of her eyes she saw the misshapen streetlight that marked the beginning of her street, bent slightly from when somebody accidentally hit it a few years ago with their car.

“Just a little further,” she thought as her body was ready to collapse at any moment. A rush of relief flowed through her body as her house came into sight and she darted up her porch, too terrified to even look behind her. After slamming and locking the door she fell flat on her back as her body finally gave in. She knew she wouldn’t make it to her room so she decided to just let herself fall asleep right there and then she would go back to collect her stuff tomorrow when the sun is fully out. As she lay there finally catching her breath, she began to smile as she felt her eyes close, she finally felt safe and comfortable. Right before she could fall asleep, she noticed something: it was way too quiet in her house right now. With the exception of her mom being on a business trip, her dad’s car was in the driveway and her sister really wasn’t the type to go out much at all especially at night, but it seemed as if she was the only person in the house. She began to get a little nervous as she got up off the ground and started to look for her family. “Hello?” she called out hesitantly as she quietly maneuvered through her home. She checked the living room, then the bedrooms, but was still unable to find anybody. There was no note, no text, and nobody tried to call her. This was very unusual, and it made her start to feel vulnerable. As strange as it was though, she decided she was way too tired to deal with this right now and just decided to dismiss it and head for bed. She could figure it all out tomorrow after resting. Giving up, she decided to get a drink of water before heading to her room. She went to the kitchen and grabbed a glass to fill. After finishing and feeling slightly more relaxed, she put the glass in the sink and turned to head for her room. Right as she turned the corner for the hallway, with her bedroom in sight, she froze on the spot unwillingly. A bead of sweat formed on her forehead as she struggled to move. Her heart started pounding against the inside of her chest and her mouth trembled as she used all her remaining strength to fight this. All she wanted to do was go to sleep and forget this horrible night. She didn’t know how much more she could take.

Suddenly, everything around her began to melt away. The walls, furniture, framed pictures, and the house itself began to literally melt. She couldn’t understand what was happening as her eyes raced back and forth trying to comprehend. Exhausted and unable to handle much more of this, the girl started to think that she was going insane as her blood pressure rocketed up and she started to hyperventilate. But that’s when she heard it. She began to hear that manic laughter that made her bones freeze over. It filled the air and invaded her ears causing pools of tears to form in her eyes. It wasn’t long before she finally realized what was happening. As her house melted away even further, it revealed where she really was the whole time. Where her warm comforting walls were now appeared to be rusted metal and cement. She began to see broken windows and holes began growing in the structure. Her tears began to stream down her face as she heard the laughter get louder and more sinister. That’s when she saw it. Stepping into the middle of the room from the corner was the dark figure that she ran from before. It was obvious to her now; she didn’t understand how but she never left the abandoned factory this whole time. She saw the crimson eyes that she was just trying to run away from, and they stared right at her. It seemed as if it was looking into her very core. Suddenly, the figure raised its arm, pointing at her. Out of nowhere, the girl found her body beginning to move towards it. But it wasn’t like she was walking towards it; it was more like someone was forcefully pulling her like someone was pulling a statue with a rope. Her feet dragged across the floor as the air got colder and the room got even darker. She was only a couple of feet away from the figure now and its eyes began to glow even brighter than before somehow as if it was getting excited, and her face now had rivers rushing down it. She was now but a foot away from the figure and she saw something that finally made her snap, the face of the dark figure seemed to start ripping horizontally about a little more than halfway down, seemingly revealing a disfigured mouth turning into a monstrous smile. The darkness around her, which already seemed as pitch-black as possible, got even darker. The dark figure now became indistinguishable from the darkness around it except for its bright crimson eyes, staring right back into hers. Her mind started filling with disturbing thoughts, and images of her family dying horribly over and over again. With the figure still laughing, the girl let out a terrible scream that was filled with fear, regret, and hopelessness. Suddenly, the crimson eyes vanished, and the girl’s scream just stopped abruptly. The darkness quickly vanished just as fast as it appeared, revealing the empty office in the abandoned factory with the moonlight now shining in as nothing happened. After a month of searching, the only thing that could be found was her abandoned equipment.

Credit : Cmak