My Horror Stories:

The Fatal Escape:

The moon shone brightly against the burnt Orange night sky, it was almost midnight and the eeriness of the forest at this time of night made it more frightening and dangerous.
A man was running through the forest, the air cut sharply as he hurriedly ran past the tall trees and the thick bushes, his Black combat boots left dirty footprints, he put a gloved hand over his head even though it did nothing to protect him from the harsh Winter weather.
He was running away, leaving his life behind, running away from the danger he was currently facing, he was being chased, it wanted him dead because of something that he had done in the past, it was his worst fear the past that the past would come back to haunt him, what was even scarier was that the thing chasing him wasn't even human.
He turned around for a glance, the shadow was still hot on his heels, it was just a Black shadow, he couldn't see the eyes or the face at all, it was in the shape of a human but he knew very well that it wasn't a human, he knew that looks could be so deceiving, all his life he had been deceived by things he thought were something that turned out to be something else and now he had no option but to run and to escape, although where he would go, he had no idea, he just knew that he couldn't stop running.
'Life or death, this is a life or death situation. What have I gotten myself into?' He thought, but to begin to understand why he was being chased you would have to understand his life's story and we would have to start from the beginning.

It was a cold Winter's day in the city, it was the type of day where you sat in bed and drank a hot mug of chocolate putting the heater on full blast, not the type of day where you felt like going to work or even to experience the cold outdoors.
Michael lazily opened his eyes and checked his blaring alarm clock, it read 05:00 AM, he reached over and tried to grab it, after a few failed attempts he finally managed to switch it off and got out of bed, he slowly walked into the bathroom and checked himself out in the mirror, his hair was dark and messy, his skin was pale like a vampire and his eyes were sunken with dark circles underneath it, just by looking at him you could tell that he was a night owl and that he took his job seriously, often working late hours after everyone else had already left. His employees never treated him fairly because he was a janitor, they would often leave their lunch on the tables, make fun of him behind his back and force him to clean up after them.
Michael was a janitor, he was not some old scruffy type either, he was a young guy in his early twenties and he was deemed fairly attractive by women but they would never talk to him because he was not in a high enough position or rich enough for them, he was the loner at his workplace and he preferred it that way, after years-long of the abuse he had finally accepted it and gotten used to it, it was just the way things were, poor people were looked down upon while rich people gained everyone respect and their morality was never questioned.
Michael quickly cleaned himself up, brushed his hair, ate cereal for breakfast, brushed his teeth and got dressed in his Black jumpsuit and Black boots that he had to wear for work, he grabbed the keys to his Audi and drove to work. Because it was so early in the morning he didn't have to worry about the traffic as the road was mostly empty with only a few drivers, half of them too tired and sleepy to care about what was happening, the city wouldn't be properly awake until a few more hours later.
He saw a coffee shop and drove to the drive-thru window and ordered a cappuccino, he plopped it into his car's cup holder and drove to Starwell Building, he sat in the car park and slowly drank his coffee when he was finished he looked at himself for the final time in the front mirror, opened his car and walked out, he threw his empty coffee cup into a nearby bin and headed into the office to start his day.
There was a lot of garbage to clean up and Michael went into the Storage Cupboard, he grabbed a mop with a bucket, filled it with disinfectant, pulled his Black rubber gloves on and got to work, he started in the hallway there were some empty cups on the floor and chewing gum smeared on the side of a wall next to a "Help End Bullying" poster, Michael frowned, how ironic it was that there were posters all over the building that discouraged bullying yet it happened almost every day to quiet introverted people like him who just minded their own business and wanted to work.
He continued cleaning until it was 08:00 AM and office workers started to enter the quiet building, 'oh great, more messes to clean up' he thought to himself. Little did he know that his life would change that very day and he would no longer have a job or be able to work ever again.
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It was now the daily lunch hour and Michael headed into the cafeteria and grabbed a sandwich with a water bottle, he wasn't that hungry and he didn't have a long lunch break as the other employees did, so he quickly ate his lunch and went back to work. Somebody had spilt a soda and the drink had made the shiny wooden floor wet and slippery under the table were piles of sweet wrappers and a few stray chips had fallen on the floor, Michael pulled out a Black trash bag from his bucket and started to clean up the mess that the people had left, sometimes he wondered if they were even human, no one should be allowed to be that messy.
A few hours later Michael had finally cleared up the mess and the sky was pitch Black outside, all of the employees had gone home and Michael decided it was time to leave as well since he had nothing left to do so he put his bucket and cleaning supplies back into the Supply Closet and locked the door with the key that only he had access to and was about to exit the building when a man came up to him and started swearing.
"People like you shouldn't be allowed to live, you are so worthless!" The man grunted angrily, Michael turned around in shock, he knew people hated him but this was undeserved and uncalled for, "What? Why?" He asked the man, the man ignored him and pulled out a knife. "I'm going to kill you, get rid of you and your useless life," the man said. Michael started panicking, suddenly the man started attacking him and Michael could feel himself bleeding with bruises and cuts, the man finally used the knife and tried to stab him but Michael managed to step out the way and with some strength he grabbed the knife from the man and stabbed him with it, realising what he had done, he stared at the lifeless man in pure horror and shock and without thinking too much he exited the building and got into his car.
He drove and drove for several miles until he reached the forest, the moon was shining high in the sky and the trees were covered in frost and swaying against the icy wind. Michael got out of the car, his breath was visible in the air like Grey smoke, almost as if he was smoking, he started to walk, he thought a walk would help him to think rationally and he could understand what decision to make next but then he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps coming from near a tree, he turned around to face the tree and a Black shadow came and started walking towards him, frightening Michael panicked and started to run.
He ran and ran until he become tired so he decided to take a breath, he found a broken tree log and sat on it, staring up at the moon, he slowly breathed in and out and rested for a while, it was a shame that he didn't realise what was behind him, but he turned around the Black shadow was standing behind him with glowing Red eyes, it swiped at him with its huge claws and tore a hole into his heart, he fell onto the soft cold earth and died.