Disappearance

Each year, hundreds of thousands of missing persons cases are reported. Most of the cases are solved whether or not the actual person is alive. But there are a few that manage to seemingly disappear off the face of the Earth. Their cases are left to gather dust with no progression towards it whatsoever while their families grieve.

It's hard enough to imagine what it would be feel like to lose your loved one and not even know their fate but try and imagine being that loved one.

What happens to you? Where do you go? Is there anyway home?

You wake up in the morning and barely crawl out of bed. It's a Saturday so it's around midday when you wake up.

You go downstairs to your kitchen to fix breakfast. Do you cook yourself something? Or do you just want to pour a bowl of cereal?

After you're done with your breakfast, you notice that your parents and siblings either aren't awake or aren't home. You check their rooms to discover their beds empty and unmade. Their TVs are still on; however, the only thing that they show are static.

Ok, your TV providing service is a piece of shit anyways so you pass it off. And your family might have gone to your brother's baseball game or your sister's cheer competition so you pass it off as well.

You decide to listen to your music because the silence has become eerie. Not even the faint buzzing in your ears nor the creaking of your house's walls can be heard. Silence. The ice maker isn't making any ice and the oven's clock is stuck at 12:00. The clocks on the wall are frozen at 12:00 as well.

You walk around the house as you are deep in your music. You peer outside your window and notice the sky is bright blue and cloudless. But the sun is dim...

Dim?

This is very off putting for you as looking into the sun is no more strenuous to your eyes than a household lamp.

You turn off the music to make since of the situation.

Maybe an eclipse? No. Maybe a cloud is blocking the sun? Maybe, but there are no other clouds in the sky and by now the cloud should have moved to reveal the sun once again.

As your ears begin to settle from the music blasted from your headphones you notice that there is still absolutely no sound at all. Only your breathing and your heart pounding. The intensity of the silence causes pressure to buildup in your ears. Almost as if they were clogged shut.

Now you panic. You call your parents on your cell phone but after you press "call" there is no response, not even a ring. You try your siblings, your grandparents, your best friends, and even your ex.

But nothing.

You run outside and discover that the air is devoid of any moisture and is very nippy. You make your way to your neighbors house and pound on the door.

No response, once again.

You can feel your stomach shift as you try and make since of the situation.

What could possibly be happening?

You try your other neighbor's house with the same outcome. But now dusk is approaching.

Could you be completely alone?

You take your car to check around town to find empty streets and highways. No clutter, no cars, no people.

Nothing.

You turn on your car radio and search for a radio station. But it is all complete silence.

The sun is now setting and you feel the need to be at home. Just in cases. A since of safety, maybe.

But once you pull into your driveway you see your front door wide open, even though you distinctly remember closing it before leaving.

You enter your home once again and see a note written in plain black font on your kitchen table that reads:

"Welcome. Forever."

You are now done trying to rationalize the situation. Everything is wrong. That was not there whenever you made your breakfast this morning nor when you left and nobody else has been home.

You search thoroughly around the house for anyone else but find nothing out of place and no sign of that anyone else had been here or was here other than the open front door.

You are completely alone.

Maybe some sleep will help. After all by now you are becoming quite drowsy. Maybe when you wake up it’s just a bad dream. Maybe everyone was playing a prank.

But as you lay your head down to rest an eerie silence remains. An eerie silence finally broken.

In the distance, a womanly shriek echoes throughout the darkness and throughout the trees near your house. Its calling your name.

You cannot close your eyes now as the screams slowly inch closer to your house. You dare not look out the window and tightly close your eyes, hoping to never see what is calling your name.

The screams become louder and louder as the front door is opened from the outside. The shrieks pierce throughout the house vibrating the windows and wounding your ears.

You now miss the eerie silence.

The screams are becoming more and more audible as the wooden stairs creak at the weight of a foot. Still calling your name.

As the shrieks approach your bedroom door they stop. The knob on the door is slowly turned and the door is opened.

You are now greeted with the eerie silence of waiting.

And the raspy breathing that is not your own.

infuriatedsloth