The Nightmare Room



 
The Nightmare Room



"We Call to YOU!"

 

"You walk without a care in the world, no fear or concern; we will STOP IT!" I heard hissing as

cold breezes pinballed from wall to wall; I sat calmly on the dirty floor of the derelict room. My

eyes closed and my legs crossed as I breathe deeply; standard martial arts sitting position. They

think that they have me cornered and scared; well they are about to be surprised. I am not alone

here; there are 2 bodies of others who were tested; one poor soul hung himself by his belt while

screaming and flailing around. "Get away!" were his last ever words. The other guy just sat crying on
 
the floor; "I can't believe this...who would do this?!" he sobbed. Hours later, he killed himself by
 
breaking his head on a corner of the room. I was the only one left.

 

The cries of desperation, the words of total hopelessness and paralyzing fear took their toll on

me before; I grew accustomed to it. I learned not to let them in; drowning them out by the Iron

Maiden records playing in my head. Fear takes control away, it failed on me as I countered it will

power and disconnection from the darkness. Whoever is trying to break me, he has a sick mind

but a weak body because he is trying to break us to the point of removal of the desire to fight.

I opened my eyes and returned to their domain; it was dark, cold and foreboding; like a

heavyweight boxer moving in on a skinny nerd. The walls appear to have everything that scares

the unprepared mind; images of sodomy, violations, taboos, demons, pain and death; things like

this are welcoming to the degenerates of this world who either try to scare us into submission or

convert us to their side. My top priority is to preserve my sanity and get out of this alive; put them
 
back in their place.

 

Fighting over Meat

 

It all happened very fast; loud thump in the dark, unintelligible mumbling noises, cold blade to my
 
throat; at least 2 of whoever/whatever they were walked out limping and nursing their

appendages. It was dark so I defended by reflex; the second I felt something wrap around me I

figured it was a hand hence a wrist-snap was executed followed by a flurry of desperate punches

and kicks; holding them back for a whole minute. Though I was still overwhelmed and thrown into
 
yet another place; this time it had cages that went all the way to the ceiling.

 

Picking myself up, I realized I wasn't alone and the cage doors now flung open; a part of me

almost broke and let fear in. Fighting it off with a clenched fist, contortion of my upper muscles

and a deep breath; I saw something I thought was only real in horror fiction; I was face to faces

with what looked like sentient apes (at least that's what they resembled to me) muscular arms

and legs, yellow enraged eyes and an upright walk-cycle akin to that of a human; there were

about 5 of them in the dark. I can't beat something like that, especially with ape-like creatures

who would rip me apart if I make a move on one of them.

 

One of them moved closer to me, growling and sniffing as it sized me up; maintaining eye

contact I walked clockwise akin to a normal fight. Suddenly, I caught sight of his "pack" moving

towards me as well, their limbs were covered in blood and one of them was holding....it was a

human hand! They were fed people!

 

 

"GET THE MEAT OR THERE WILL BE MORE" I heard from the top, a voice sounding like a

broken speaker. Given no choice, I had to face the apes to save others so I took another deep

breath, found the one who held the hand and springing off the cage railings, I leaped forward with a
 
knee strike; I wanted to disable his teeth. Shockingly, the creature recoiled and dropped the hand; fast
 
as I could I threw it outside the cage. Now the whole pack was on me; growling and baring their
 
teeth.

 

More meat rained from the ceiling; it was indeed human remains as there were parts I

recognized to be as such; I guess the more I save the fewer victims there would be; there was a

lot of it. Since they were similar, in body structure, to humans I could use pressure-point attacks

since their muscular frames would be more resistant to blunt force. If I was to die, at least few will
 
follow so with another deep breath and scan of meat locations, I sprung back into action.

Expectedly, the whole pack jumped at the piece I went for, quickly throwing it outside the cage,

physics betrayed me and I fell from trying to throw it as hard as possible; now one was looming

over me. Pushing his "hand" away so that the elbow joint was vulnerable, I pushed into the bone

and with help from my foot; I cracked it; following it through with a heel kick to his eye area.

 

The image of a massive ape creature recoiling in pain and nursing his broken limb has lifted my

morale and I was back on the attack; dodging charge attacks and with more confidence, throwing

 
meat outside the cell. They were strong but they were stupid, charging into me as I sidestepped and
 
hence, making them kiss the cell bars; damaging their fangs and claws. I must not lose focus now,
 
especially when there is only one-piece left. The creatures, it seems like, knew that I had offensive
 
capabilities, they were less eager to attack. Grabbing the last piece of meat, I suddenly felt furry arms
 
wrapped around me and forced to the ground. Using both my elbows on his ribcage, I barely escaped
 
with a roll to the side, meat in hand and making the last throw.

Covered in blood and cornered against the cell, I scanned around in case I missed a piece; I

didn't. Now, however, I started to ponder if I was tricked. Would a live human be next to fall from the
 
ceiling?! Suddenly, to my relief, the cell was opened and something threw me backward. Never did I
 
welcome being grabbed and thrown from the dark.

 

Dodging Knives

 

Hitting the cold, dusty floor, I immediately felt a storm of kicks as I lay on my back; elbows

covering my ribs and head between them away from incoming strikes. They didn't want me to

make it out alive. Suddenly, another silhouette barged in and pushed my attackers away,

gesturing towards another door. I was picked up and dragged to where he pointed. I was already

spent after the deathmatch with the apes, my focus was on gathering whatever I had left in me to

at least win by attrition; losing would mean innocent deaths. Feeling cold steel against me once again,
 
I saw that I was chained to a circle on a wall; I was on a stage where I spied a crowd of silhouettes;
 
all eyes on me. A bigger one appeared, he brandished a set of knives. So, I knew I had to dodge and
 
somehow, get out of this. "Survive or should someone else take your spot?! I heard the same voice
 
that scratched me inside the ape cage.

 

Deep breath, eyes wide open and muscles contorted; I braced for the first throw. It was accurate

but I barely dodged it as it flew towards my right eye; the thrower wasn't pleased so he threw one

more albeit less accurate since they all missed me by a large margin. I take it victims don't last

long and I was the first and only one. He ran out of knives and at this point, wanted to kill me with
 
whatever he could grab. To my surprise, he turned away and walked slowly towards the opening
 
behind him.

 

"IT'S NOT OVER!" I heard as something approached me from the side; it unchained my arms

and slammed me down. I rolled to the side, picked myself up and the moment I wanted to strike

what was to my side, it calmly stepped backward and gestured nonchalantly towards something;

as if oblivious to my capability to retaliate. Turning around, I saw 3 more figures; they wore goat

heads and were standing over 2; a man and a woman; both were scared. The goatmen held

what looked like branding tools and butcher knives.

 

"Go ahead," the silhouette hissed, "Take their lives in your failure of an attempt!" I was lost, what
 
could I do now? It was risky and it was stupid too but what I did was effective and deadly

considering they didn't expect this kind of retaliation. I went for the silhouette's pointing arm,

locked it so his elbow joint was under my control and put him to the ground using a leg sweep

while controlling the arm; executing a straight armbar takedown commonly used by police and

security forces. The silhouette was surprised and so were the goatmen; I had their undivided

attention now; after all, I could handle ape monsters.

 

"You will release them!" I yelled applying more pressure to the silhouette's palm, he was in

serious pain but didn't show it, he squirmed trying in vain to get away. The goatmen were also

shocked; they never had a victim fight back before; let alone with the boldness and skill that I

displayed. Both were confused, they placed the butcher knives on throats of their victims; without
 
hesitation, I snapped the arm of my captive. Screaming and nursing his destroyed limb, the silhouette
 
rolled about crying in pain; bone exposed.

 

Switching to fighting stance, I sized up the goatmen and approached both; showing no concern

for the victims; at this point, I was mad with power; grabbing evil by the throat and putting it in its
 
place was intoxicating; like a shot of epinephrine. Close enough for a roundhouse kick, I

executed it; the first one was out cold; got him below the ear; instant knockout. In quick

succession, I grabbed the second one by the neck, locking his head and my elbows restraining

him; I swung him around to get him off balance and knocked him out with a hard kick to the

forehead; leaving a blood-covered hole.

 

Hang on for Dear Life?

 

My assailants were disabled and their weapons were at my disposal now; 2 butcher knives;

deadly in the right hands. I didn't need to control my fear anymore as it slowly became a part of

me; like getting a new skill from the RPG games I played; it's constrictive and has a learning

curve but when you get to grips with it; it is devastating. This place is going down in flames and

rubble. By now, I have taken out many in this dark, dismal place; from the shadows, they hide in

right to open confrontations. None of them could stop me; this evil place of fear is my home now;      
 
I am hunting them and nothing they had could outmatch me.


Danil Shilov


"Daniil Shilov formerly worked as a content writer in the maritime industry in Dubai, UAE. An enthusiast of warfare, 1980s action cinema, gaming and heavy metal; all of which inspire him when writing his adrenaline-charged short stories of action and adventure.


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