What the World Forgot - a short horror story

What The World Forgot - By S'more

“Fears.

Instinct.

Something that scarred our ancestors so bad it scares us to this day.

Centuries ago, a spider or snake bite could mean the death of you. So could slipping on a high surface, or staying out late at night with the predators.

All those natural, instinctual fears we all share, they had to come from somewhere, they didn’t just pop out of the ground for no reason. They exist because at one point they were considered valid fears.

Explain to me why we’re afraid to look out our window at night, why we sometimes get the feeling to check behind us…just to see if something’s there. Or why the horror icons we have today even exist.

Tell me why creatures with dark, sunken eyes, pale skin, elongated faces, and sharp teeth are so terrifying. Tell me why we still check under our bed for monsters, tell me why you’re afraid of the shadows that lurk just out of your eyesight.

Tell me what happened so far back: forgotten to history, that instilled those fears within us so much that even today, they’re still there….lurking in the back of your mind.

Tell me what the world forgot.”

Rewind.

“Tell me what the world forgot.”

Samantha leaned back in her chair, rocking it back and forth as she tapped her pen to her chin, there was something off about the recording, something that just wasn’t right….Yet still, she couldn’t figure out what exactly it was.

“Sam, you in here?”

The girl swerved her head around to see her brother walk in, giving her a worried look before he quickly saw the old recording out. “No, Sam, we went over this…don’t get into that mess again,” he said, shaking his head.

Samantha frowned as she stopped the recording, placing her notepad and pen down beside it. “Oh, come on Elliot, you can’t seriously tell me that you aren’t interested in mom’s work at all,” she said, standing up to face her brother.

The older boy shook his head. “No, mom was crazy, all she ever talked about was complete nonsense! Why can’t you just leave it alone? Before you know it, you'll go crazy and disappear just like she did,” he told her sternly, glowering down at his younger sister.

Her green eyes met his blue in a sibling stare off.

“I’m just curious, I’m not crazy…not like her,” Samantha said, looking down as her voice went quiet. A still coldness filled the air, leaving her to take in what her brother suggested.

Elliot let out a sigh as he walked passed her to pick the recording up. “I never said you were, Sam, I just said that these recordings are useless…she didn’t know what she was talking about and I don’t want you to follow in her footsteps…we’re all that we have left, I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you,” he explained and sent her a crooked grin.

Samantha rolled her eyes. “Probably celebrate since you wouldn’t have anyone to look after anymore,” she joked, shaking her head lightly. “So, why’d you come look for me anyways? We going out for dinner again?”

“…Maybe,” he said, sounding a little embarrassed as he scratched the back of his head, giving a sheepish smile.

Samantha rolled her eyes. “It’s alright, I know we don’t have any food here. I’m not expecting you to cook actual meals…Besides, going out to eat gives you a chance to see Bethany again…At least, it does if we’re going to Arma’s again,” she said, giving a sly grin as her brother reddened in the face.

He quickened his pace to the door. “Just shut up and get in the jeep.”

Samantha laughed and followed her brother out, however she paused, remembering she left her purse in the room. She quickly reached over to grab it when something sent a chill throughout the entire room, making her pause.

She gripped onto her purse, feeling the little hairs on her neck stand on end as a shiver rushed up her spine, though not from the sudden chill. The brunette quickly looked behind her, seeing nothing but the empty room.

However a flicker of movement in the corner of her eyes made her head swerve to the corner, where an ominous shadow lurked out there…She looked at the shadow curiously, feeling more fidgety with each passing second.

It was as if….as if there was something there, something just inches out of her sight.

“Sam! What’s taking you so long?”

Samantha turned her head back to the door, forgetting about the odd shadow. “Sorry…coming!” She called out to her brother as she made her way to the door, glancing back at her room one final time before leaving.

The recording must have gotten her all jumpy, after all, like Elliot said: mom was crazy, there were no monsters under your bed, and there was nothing hiding in the corner.

That was all just superstition.

Just forgotten stories locked away from mankind, to remain only in their imagination.

But in the end….

Wasn’t there always a little truth behind every story?

-

“So, are you ever going to ask her out or is your sister going to have to do it for you?”

Elliot rolled his eyes, trying to hide his once again reddened face as they walked out of their blue jeep. They had finished dinner out and were making their way back to the small home out by the forest. “I’m just…biding my time,” he explained, gesturing with his hands to help him explain.

Samantha gave him a look as she raised her brow. “Sure, we’ll go with that and not that you’re too chicken to ask her out,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t know why, she’s clearly crazy about you…” She paused as they walked up to the door.

What made her pause however, was not the door, but rather…the fact it was wide open. “El, we didn’t leave the door unlocked, did we?” She asked, sending a look over to her brother, who looked as white as a ghost.

Elliot shook his head. “No…I locked it myself, the key’s right here,” he explained as he took out the key from his pant pocket.

Chills rushed up Samantha’s spine as she turned her attention back to the door. “…Should we investigate? I doubt whoever broke in would still be there…right?” She asked as a gust of howling wind flew by, stinking up the air with the stench of smoke, blood, and skunk.

Elliot was about to answer, however as loud thudding footsteps echoed from the house, he suddenly seemed unable to speak, going all the more paler than before.

Samantha looked around the porch, finding the small bin of umbrellas they had by the door. She quickly picked one up and held it close to her as a weapon. “I’m going in…” she said and pushed the creaky door open, taking a step inside the darkened house.

She didn’t know if Elliot had followed her, however it wasn’t long until he stood behind her, his own umbrella in hand. She smiled over at him and he shrugged.

“Whoever’s in here….we’ll take them on together.”

Samantha quickly agreed before turning back to the house, securing the first floor before cautiously looking up the long, windy staircase that lead upstairs. Everything looked so much more freaky when you put yourself in that state of mind.

Clearly the perpetrator had gone upstairs, however what room could possibly interest them up there was beyond Samantha. After all, the only rooms up there were the bedrooms, guest room, bathroom, and the study. None of which had anything of real importance in them.

Samantha quietly crept up the stairs with Elliot right behind her, determined to make sure his sister never had to walk alone.

As they got further up the stairs, it was easy to realize the thumping came from the study, where a dimly lit candlelight filtered from inside.

Samantha glanced over at her brother as they both seemed to think the same question.

What would anyone want in the study? There was nothing there but old research and shelved books.

The two snuck up to the door, Elliot taking the front in order to protect his sister as he reached a hand over to the cool gray handle, grasping it as he turned and pushed the door open, Samantha standing ready with the umbrella.

The door opened and all of a sudden, the illuminating light from the candles was all but gone in a wisp of small gray smoke. The darkness filled the room once again and….No one was there.

The study was empty.

Elliot searched the room, yet there was nothing to find. Nothing out of place, no footprints, no misplaced objects, and most importantly, no one was there but the siblings. He looked over at Samantha, still looking quite pale.

“Well…whoever was here…they left.”

However as Samantha stood in the doorway, the little hairs on her neck stood up once again, but she dared not look back in fear of what she might find. However she got the idea that whoever was there…still was.

-

Needless to say, neither of the two got any sleep that night and only by morning’s early light did they start to feel safe.

“There’s a lot that we don't know, a lot that no one can really explain…enough to leave plenty to the imagination. Yet it’s right there…just out of our grasps.

Well, despite what many think, monsters…they’re real, and I’ve seen them. They aren’t big furry creatures who only come out on Halloween.

No…real monsters look no different than you and me….or at least, they do at first.

They walk among us, waiting in the shadows for the perfect time to strike, to take back the world that once belonged to them and them alone. However they are weak, they are small in number, they are all together.

Only when they are strong, surrounding us, large in number will they attack. Rest assured, they will take their world back…and we’ll be powerless to stop them, we have always been powerless, it’s a mystery how we overtook them in the first place.

Be afraid, be very afraid. For monsters don’t hide in the dark and forbidden places of this world. They hide among us, hidden by their shadows, by their speed, by the mirrors, distractions, and misconceptions of this world.

They attack in the shadows, in the dreams, in the moments left alone.

Don’t give them a reason to fear you, or else they will make you fear them more.

Don’t let them attack.

Don’t let them see your fear.

Don’t fall asleep, they’re watching.

Don’t go out alone, they’re waiting.

Don’t investigate, they’ll strike.

They will destroy us, and that isn't even the worst part.

For the truly scary part is that there is nothing we can do to stop them.”

Elliot walked over and sat down beside Samantha, who had pulled out the old tapes again. “You’re listening to these now? Is now really the time to freak yourself out?” He questioned and Samantha looked over at him.

“Last night got me thinking…we both can’t be crazy, there was definitely something in our house yesterday, yet they somehow left the room that has no windows and only one door before we could get to them? It doesn’t add up,” she explained.

Elliot sighed, looking down as he thought about what his sister said. “No..it doesn’t.”

Samantha took a breath and picked up the old recording, holding it in her hands. “I think…I think it’s time to start considering that mom…wasn’t all that crazy. What if,” she paused, glancing around the room nervously. “What if there really is such thing as monsters?”

Elliot stood up. “Sam, what’re suggesting…it’s-“

“Crazy, I know,” Samantha cut him off. “But she has a point in these recordings…Haven’t you ever got random chills down your back? Felt like someone was watching despite no one being there? Thought you saw something in the shadows only for it to be nothing? There’s no logical answer for any of it, yet…”

Elliot sighed, running a hand through his dark brown, choppy hair. “Yet mom gives us one.”

“M-maybe we should continue her work, see if there really is some truth behind it all,” Samantha suggested, fiddling with her fingers. She had always found her mother’s research…interesting, yet Elliot had always tried to stay as far away from it as he could.

As she suggested the very idea of it, Elliot’s face scrunched up into a twisted frown. “No! I don’t want either of us getting into any of that…” He looked away, clutching his wrist tightly with his other hand as he took in a deep breath to help calm himself down. “Imagine if it was all real…If that was a monster in our house last night…what if it came back? Remember when mom disappeared?”

Samantha nodded, of course she remembered that…it had been a particularly scarring day for the entire family.

“Well…what if she didn’t just leave?” Elliot pressed, turning to look at his sister with a pale, panicked face. “What if she was taken? It doesn’t sound like these monsters wanted anyone interfering, what if mom’s research caused a problem for them? What if they took her because she posed a threat to them?” He looked down, shaking his head rapidly. “I-I don’t want them to take us too…”

While Samantha agreed with him on most of that, she couldn’t just do nothing. “But, have you listened to some of these?” She asked, gesturing to all the recording. “She talks about the danger these monsters are to humanity, to everything….She talks about their plan and how awful it is, I always thought she was crazy…but if she isn’t…”

Samantha trailed off for a minute before getting an idea as she quickly bolted up the stairs, Elliot following after her as she entered the study, browsing through the records. “Here, just listen to one of these…she explains everything…” She once again trailed off, but for a whole other reason this time.

“Elliot?” She questioned, turning to face her brother, looking rather sick. “One of the records is missing…”

Right then, the door behind them creaked open and before Samantha knew what was happening, a long pale, bony hand had reached out from the shadows beyond the door and grasped it’s fingers around Elliot’s foot, dragging him down.

“Do not interfere in our plans human…or you will see the true horrors of the world,” whispered something from behind her and Samantha swerved around to see….nothing, just a shadow.

She turned back to the doorway. “Elliot!” She called out, feeling her heart rate increase as there was no sign of her brother.

There was screaming…coming from somewhere….one of the shadows…but which one?

She didn’t know. However Samantha was able to get out the words “Run” and “Sam” out of all the screams. Samantha didn't know what to do, so she turned back to the recordings, grabbing a few and running for it, feeling the hairs on her neck stand on end as the entire house chilled.

Samantha heard footsteps behind her and didn’t dare look behind, knowing she didn’t want to see what was behind her. She had to run…She had to beat the monsters. She had to get away.

She rushed outside the house and made it to the car, pulling out her own car key and trying to start the jeep as a thumping began and suddenly a long, pale face was pressed up against her window. It’s mouth stood agape to show off long pointy teeth; dark sunken eyes stood staring at her as a bony hand began to scratch the glass.

Samantha’s breath quickened as she took a gulp and finally got the car to start, pressing down on the gas pedal with lightning speed to get out of there, leaving the monsters…and her brother behind.

-

“They’re after me, they know that I know…my family thinks I’m crazy…heck, sometimes I think I’m crazy, but then…then I feel the coldness, I see the darkness and I know.

I’m the most sane person here.

It’s my little secret, they would kill me if they knew I'm recording all my findings. But one day…I know that someone will find these, someone will put them to good use and stop them.

They were what humanity forgot, they were what we forced ourselves to forget.

We hid and we watched all those years ago as they caused their own destruction…we forced ourselves not to remember that once, long ago, we were the prey. That if they had not killed each other, we would not be here.

We owe everything we have to them.

However they weren’t supposed to come back, they weren’t supposed to survive…they weren’t supposed to haunt our dreams, our thoughts, our subconscious.

They were supposed to be gone.

Instead…they’ve come back, they’re preparing to overthrow us, to remind us of our place in this world. with the shadows on their side.

This time, there is no stopping them.

No matter how much we prepare, how many people put up defenses, no matter what anyone does, there will be no winning. They are coming to complete our extinction.

The worst part is that we’ll let them.

We let them into our homes, our lives, our minds, and that is where they have made their home. They will take us over without us even realizing it, and by the time someone does realize….

It’ll be too late.”

Samantha turned off the recorder as she pressed herself further into the chair. She had taken refuge at the only safe place she could think of.

Arma’s cafe.

There were far too many people for them to attack her here…she just had to worry about closing time now. Bethany wasn’t working today, there was no one she could contact, she was alone.

Which meant they were waiting…watching…and soon, they would strike.

Samantha didn’t know what to do, so she had taken to simply listening to the last of the recordings. There was something about them though…something about all of them that was just a little bit off. Yet she still couldn’t figure out what.

She looked around at the small cafe as people began to clear out…closing time was soon and very few people were left. Samantha felt fear tug at her heart as she bit the bottom of her lip. Elliot had been right…they shouldn’t have tried to investigate any of it.

Not only were literal monsters after her now, but Elliot was gone…all because of her…if she had just stayed out of the study and let the monsters have their way, her brother would be safe. They both would…but instead, Elliot was gone…just like their mother.

Samantha was now all that was left.

“Hon, I don’t mean to be rude…but it’s closing time, I’m afraid we need you to get out.”

Samantha blinked in confusion before snapping out of her thoughts as she looked up at a plump waitress who looked very done with her job. She shook her head. “N-no please, just let me stay a few more minutes…” she begged, hoping for more time…she needed more time.

The waitress didn’t look all that impressed. “Sorry kid, but you gotta go, you can come back tomorrow when we open back up,” she stated, placing a wrinkled hand on her hip.

The girl was about to reply when she noticed a long bony hand slip out of the shadows and she shook her head. “No..no,” she whispered and the waitress let out a breath, she got ready to say something and then…just like Elliot, the waitress got dragged into oblivion.

Samantha held her breath as she got up, clutching onto the edges of the table, she got ready to run when a recording started to play…she paused, she hadn’t done that….Which meant.

They had.

They wanted her to listen before they took her, they wanted her to know.

“…I have made a grave mistake.

I thought I could get away with it, that I could pass this information off to someone else, to warn them, to let them know of the horrors we all faced. I thought I had tricked the beasts. 

There’s no tricking them.

They know all.

They chose not to stop me, they chose to let me continue. Why? Because I was amusing to them…I was an interesting toy. That’s all any of us are to them….play things, toys, entertainment.

I thought I could make a change…No, instead, I’ve only angered them, I’m no longer a fun play thing. Now, I’m an annoyance, and one they plan on taking out.

This will be my last recording.

They’re coming….They’re coming for me, and with time…once they’re strong enough, they’ll come for everyone else, they’ll come for the recordings, they’ll come for our lives.

Play time is almost over, and once it ends there’s only one thing any of us can do.

Run.

Run for your life.

Run.

Get out, get away. Try to escape the fate we will all meet. I make no promises that it’ll work, that there’s even a place to run to, but run all the same.

It’s all we can do. It’s our fault really, all of this…this horror to come, it’s our fault.

For they are the monsters humanity let lurk behind us.

They are what the world forgot and lord help us for forgetting them.

For it’s our own end.”

As the recording ended and a cold, bony hand grasped her foot, Samantha finally realized what was off with each recording, every single one.

Her mother had never been alone for the recordings.

There had always been something.

Watching.

Waiting.

Lurking.

They had always been there, and if you listened carefully, you could hear the breathing in the background. They had always known, and they had always been there.

They are the ones who hide just out of your sight. That take refuge in the shadows, that watch you while you sleep or hide underneath your bed. They are the reason you don’t look outside at night, they are the sudden chills you get, the things that makes you look behind…only to see nothing.

They are the monsters we all fear.

They are what the world forgot and now, they were going to make sure we never forgot again.

The End.