A sudden jolt of fear is the shock that brings the heart of horror to life. It's not hard to imagine that the earliest men that walked the earth gathered around a campfire. The flames throwing shadows that danced across the foliage around them, everyone slowly edging closer together, lingering on the storyteller's every word before, out of nowhere, a friend jumps out and says "boo". Everyone jumps and everyone laughs. But some shocks can be traumatizing, they can change your world, or end it.
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I think it's the oldest pastime. To give up some control, let down those walls, to be vulnerable in a safe place. To suspend your disbelief and share in a common feeling, fear. Fear lives in the unknown. In the dark. In the depths. The fear of not knowing can be more scary than anything that lurks in the dark.
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The sudden sparks of terror are frightening but they're just a doorway into true horror. Because true horror isn't a flash, or a bang. It's the atmosphere, the ongoing feeling of uneasiness. It puts you on edge, unnerves you, unsettles you, to the point that everything scares you. It stops your heart from beating.
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It's the epitome of the unknown. Of the darkness. It's a shadow barely caught out of the corner of your eye. A rhythmic knock on the floor in the next room. That feeling that someone, or something, is watching you. You can't see it, so you can't explain it away. That's true horror. That's why when you turn the kitchen light off before heading to bed, and the darkness engulfs the room and hides every nook away, you freeze for a second.
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But sometimes what stalks in the dark comes out into the light, and you wish so badly that it had stayed hidden.
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Once upon a time one man learned this lesson hard, a man by the name of Levi Rem. A sculptor. Or he wanted to be, at least. His day job could have been anything. A janitor, a PE teacher, a fast food cook, the guy that collects the shopping carts in the parking lot of a monsterous grocery store. The only consistency was that it didn't matter. His heart was a marble sculpture.
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He didn't get the chance to sculpt often, it's an expensive art to pursue, so he wasn't that good at it, he held no fantasies that he was. But the passion was there, the heart. It was like his hands were made to hold a hammer and chisel. Everything else in between was just that, a liminal space. The place he had to pass through to get to the next time he could sculpt. Or try to.
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There was nothing and with a loud gasp for air, the world came to be. The sunlight was bright. Blinding. The feeling of the benches wooden strips lingered on Levi's back even after sitting up. Trying to catch his breath. His legs stretched out across the bench. His jeans dirty, well worn, well loved. Matching his sneakers.
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Levi blinked. Rubbed his eyes. They began to adjust. He realized he was laying on a bench, in some back alley. The grey buildings surrounding him like hungry wolves. The couple of green dumpsters stood out against the backdrop like flowers against the woods. He was confused. He felt drugged, or drunk, or both.
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Deep down, he was afraid. Waking up is always jarring, let alone in an unfamiliar place. He tried to stand up. Couldn't find his land legs. He fell back down onto the bench, catching himself as best as he could. Maybe he was still dreaming. He tried again. He was wobbly but he didn't fall. A small victory, he thought. Stumbling forward and examining around him, he saw the alley opening up onto the street. Bracing himself, he put one foot in front of the other. Stepping through puddles and newspapers. Making his way to the street.
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The town was dead, a ghost, a phantom. Or maybe just sleepy. It was hard to tell. Not a soul could be seen. He seemed to be on a main street, in a small, long forgotten town. A place that only exists in books, or dreams. Levi rubbed his eyes. Kept looking. Across from him sat a lake. Or an ocean. He couldn't decide which. Looking down and up the street. One side looked like it led to the woods out of town, passed a big log cabin. The other deeper in. Past bricks and hauntings. He chose the latter, he didn't believe in ghosts and he needed help.
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The sidewalk was old, the concrete faded and splitting. But no weeds sprung through the cracks. Well groomed. Every building was empty and lifeless. No lights were on, no voices talking, no cars. It didn't take long for it all to seem too eerie. Levi stopped at the corner.
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Across the street was a diner. "Oh Deer Diner" in neon was on the side. As empty as any other place. He didn't think of coffee but he thought of cake. His stomach growled. Before he could even think to complain to himself, he saw movement. It was subtle, it was quick. In one of the windows of the diner.
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He squinted. A figure came into view, lit up by the oppressive sun rays that invaded the windows. A woman. A waitress.
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"Hey!" Levi yelled. She didn't react. Her outfit was pressed, clean. It looked like bubblegum. Her hair pulled back into a high ponytail. Levi thought she looked like she would serve you tea while "pouring" the tea on all of the local gossip. She seemed easy to talk to if she gave you the chance to squeeze a word in, and she seemed harder to get to stay quiet.
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He yelled out again. "Can you help me?"
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She turned. Her face smiling wide. Uncanny valley. Like the lights were on but no one was home. She didn't seem so easy to talk to anymore. She made her way outside. It was puzzling, something felt off. The door was slowly pushed open. Levi rested against a street lamp. He felt weak again, it came in waves. In the direct light, seeing the woman made him more uneasy. That smile. She locked eyes with him, walked. Never taking her eyes off of him, not even to look both ways while crossing the street. Her hands behind her back. Levi gripped the street light. Everything inside of him was on high alert.
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She came closer. A few feet away, maybe more. The steps echoing on the asphalt. A pen dropping over and over. Rhythmic. Levi's grip on the pole tightened. Her smile made the hairs on the back of Levi's neck stand on end. And her eyes, hollow almost. He noticed she had this strange grey aura. Like she had walked through a blanket of fog. The waitress's hand started coming around. Time slowed. Same as Levi's breathing. Before her hand was fully in view the sunlight double crossed her. Catching on cold steel. A knife. A butcher knife. Her smile unwavering. It started to look more like a crescent blade, a scythe, and Levi looked like golden wheat, ready to be harvested. Before the glint clicked in Levi's head, time resumed back to normal. She lunged.
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Levi recoiled back but not quick enough. The knife made contact, cutting cleanly through his shirt but with him falling back only the tip broke the skin, leaving a somewhat superficial cut on his chest. He stumbled back, catching himself on the building behind him. The waitress continued to smile while raising her hand for another slash. Adrenaline kicked in, surging through Levi's veins. Survival instinct, like a cornered wolf. He threw himself forward, palms out. Her hand came down but not before Levi planted his palms on her chest, leaning with all of his weight. The knife came down, barely missing his forearm as the happy waitress was sent backwards. The smile never faltering. Levi ran.
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Even a wolf retreats when wounded. He sprinted, heart pounding. He couldn't even feel the laceration on his chest anymore, nor the blood seeping from it. What he could feel was fear and with it, he didn't dare to look behind him. He couldn't even if he wanted to. But he didn't need to, because along with his footsteps, he could hear a second set behind him, matching his pace. Passing parked cars and seemingly abandoned buildings, empty porches and mailboxes, he ran. The waitress pursued, or so he thought. Thoughts swirled in his head, accompanied by hard emotions and evolutionary impulses. So it was hard to tell. His senses were heightened but jumbled. Confused. His head started to turn, curiosity got the better of him. His feet didn't get the memo.
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His feet collided with each other and he fell forward before even glancing behind him. Landing hard on the concrete, rolling a bit onto his side. Right into the side of a parked car, in the shadow it cast. He looked up and his suspicions were right. The waitress did give chase, she stood about a car lengths away. Her unearthly glow, like a dim light bulb. But her eyes weren't fixated on Levi anymore, they wandered, searched. A step here and a step there. Like she had lost track of him but Levi laid right there on the sidewalk. Even holding his hands over his mouth. He trembled. The smiley waitress stood there, Levi thought any minute his life would end, she stood. Time is an illusion, there's no way to tell how long this stalemate went on before she turned around and walked away. The knife in her hand dangled, blood dripping from it. Levi watched, couldn't move. He watched her walk down the street slowly, not a care in the world, to the crosswalk and right back into the diner. He still couldn't move but he could breathe. Laying his head back, that's exactly what he did.
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The relief he felt was only overshadowed by the exhaustion. All of the aches and pains came to the surface at once. The cut on his chest burned, his arms were weak and his hands bruised. His legs felt like they had run a marathon. After accessing the damage to his body, he wondered why the smiley waitress didn't finish him. It was like he became invisible to her. His best guest was the shadow, the darkness. It hid him. But that didn't make sense, it wasn't pitch black, it barely registered as dark. And usually it's the opposite. It's the monsters that lie in the dark and it's the light that's a safe haven. It was either that or she was incredibly nearsighted and couldn't see past her feet. He didn't have time to make sense of it. He hurt. Not to mention, not much has made any kind of sense since he had come to. He tried to focus.
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He pushed himself to sit up, leaning back against the car. He stared down the street that he just ran up. He had only ran a little over a block but it seemed like it stretched on forever, like sidewalks do in nightmares. Keeping a close eye on the waitresses' lair at the end of the street he stood up, using the car for leverage.
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The throbbing in his ears died down and the silence came back. Aside from the wind, bushes rustling in the distance, the sounds of nature. All terrifying to Levi now. He turned around and realized he was on the counter of what looked like a town square. A four way road wrapped around a little garden plaza, colorful flowers dotted around, paved paths lined with short ornate fences but what stood in the middle really caught his eye. A giant statue of marble, a wolf. Perched on a rock, it howled at the sun directly above it. Almost like it was about to devour it in one gulp. Levi's eyes widened, the wolf had two heads. One to eat the sun, the other the moon, he thought. He walked around the car he was hiding behind and across the street. Finding one of the paths between the flowers and walked right up to the statue. Marble, cold, towering. It stood no less than 10 feet tall. It had extraordinary detail but the sheer size was what was most impressive. With the sun being right above it the wolf, or wolves, cast no shadows. It was an odd sight, to see something so massive, all of its nooks and crannies exposed, bathed in a perfect light. It looked fake. Artificial. Rendered by some computer. At the base, the foundation, letters were etched in. Small but eligible, makers mark. Levi's eyes widened once more, a look of confusion and fright.
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“Sculpted by Levi Rem”
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