[This was the third-place entry for our Ghost Story Flash Fiction contest.]
Barry stood at the entrance of the skyway, seeing only darkness.
“Just a couple of steps will change everything,” he said, entering.
Barry had never been on a skyway before. It’s like a hallway, but with a lot more windows and an ever-present 30-foot drop. Clicking his flashlight on, Barry looked at the surroundings. The floor, checkered. Rusted beams of metal incrementally imbedded in the walls. Looking through one of these windows, he seen distant city lights. The flashlight swept over the door that he was looking for. He continued walking but was halted by a noise.
Rapa-tap-tap.
Barry looked at the windows, nothing. Turning back, Barry raised his light
towards the door, but he couldn’t see anything for the light was swallowed up by darkness. Barry
thought about turning back, considering what could happen. Though the idea of bailing out on
this dare kept him going. Continuing forward, there was just silence, only being broken by his
shaky breathing and crunching glass from broken windows.
Peeking out from one of those windows, the frigid air laid heavy and the distant city lights now glowed a ghostly blue.
Rapa-tap-tap.
It’s much closer. Barry spun to the window, the light barely revealing a pale shape that sank out of sight once the light hit it.
“I have a chemistry exam this week,” Barry sighed. “Why the hell am I even doing this?”
As he was complaining, Barry noticed the hall began to contort and corkscrew
exponentially, throwing his balance off to where he had to walk with a limp so that he wouldn’t
fall. The twisting hallway ended with the wooden door. It had glowing symbols that shifted to
many colors.
Rapa-tap-tap.
The noise came again, he ignored it and went towards the door. The windows near him began to shake, and the dead plants began to resurrect, dancing with the wind from the windows as he drew near. He reached the door and pulled out the red candle and lighter.
Rapa-tap-tap.
He flicked the candle to life and reached his hand out to the door.
Rapa-tap-tap.
It’s coming from the door now.
“If you do it,” Lucille said, clearly joking. “I’ll consider a date with you.”
“Bet,” Barry said aloud as he knocked on the door.
Crimson light flooded the hallway, and the door began to splinter then broke, a gnarled arm reaching from the door. Barry ran as fast as he could, only looking back once as the candle flickered with each step. The pursuer had dark pits for eyes, a stitched mouth, and head that twisted so many times, that it bounced on his shoulders as it followed. Barry reached the entrance, heaving with exhaustion. Giggling echoed behind Barry as the thing snapped and cracked back to the darkness.
Looking back, the skywalk twisted back to normalcy. He looked down to his hands, symbols singed onto his skin and the candle completely melted.
“That’s enough proof there!” Barry said, leaving the building.
