Horrific Shorts: Zombie Edition

A thick, cloying darkness swallowed everything. It wasn't just the absence of light—it was alive. It pressed against their skin, filled their ears with a low whisper, and made the air feel like wet, rotting fabric.

Draven gritted his teeth, gripping his shotgun. "Mira? Zara?" His voice barely carried. The darkness ate sound, swallowed it whole.

A whisper brushed against his ear. Draven…

He spun, firing. The blast lit the void for a fraction of a second, revealing shifting shadows with too many hands, too many eyes.

Then the light was gone.

Something clawed at his back.

Mira's Descent

Mira stumbled blindly, clutching the Cursed Book. The whispers had become voices, each one pleading, screaming, weeping.

"Help us."

"Save me."

"Stay."

Cold fingers brushed against her wrist. She screamed, pulling away. But there was nowhere to go.

She reached into the darkness, flipping through the pages of the Cursed Book. Her fingers trembled. The symbols shifted, unreadable.

Then—a single phrase burned into the page.

"The Hollow Man sees."

Mira's breath caught. "No—"

A shape unfurled in front of her.

A figure too tall, too thin, its grinning skull-like face leaning toward hers. The Hollow Man.

Its whisper was cold as death. I see you.

Zara and Elias: The Red Room

Zara slammed into a wall of flesh. It pulsed beneath her hands, like a living thing. The darkness around her rippled, giving way to a room bathed in red light.

Elias groaned beside her. He rubbed his temples. "Where the hell—?"

They weren't alone.

The walls breathed, and figures twitched in the corners—shadows of people, their faces stretched in silent screams.

Zara drew her dagger. "Nope. No thank you."

A door stood at the far end, but between them and it…

A figure rose from the floor. A woman in chains, her skin cracked like old porcelain, her eyes hollow voids.

"You came too late," she whispered. "You always come too late."

Her chains snapped forward.

Draven's Stand

Draven moved by instinct. He couldn't see, but he heard them—the creatures whispering, shifting, waiting.

He reached into his jacket, gripping something cold. A flare.

With a flick, he ignited it.

Fire bloomed, and for the first time, he saw them.

The Hollow Man, towering over Mira.

The Red Woman, dragging Zara into the floor.

The shadows, waiting to consume them all.

Draven didn't think. He threw the flare forward, aiming for the Hollow Man.

Flames erupted. The Hollow Man screamed, its grin melting away. The darkness reeled back.

For a moment, the house became real again.

And then—

The floor gave way beneath them.

They fell.

And the darkness swallowed them once more.