Not as it Seems

Everything was muffled. The billowing wind outside, my steps on the tiled floor, and- to a degree, my emotions. Even the colors were muffled. Everything looked to be different shades of gray. I dully searched over the cereal options, a creeping fear slowly freezing my chest. I was hyper aware that I was the only one in the supermarket- from what I could tell. It felt like I had fallen into a different world. One that had nothing in it except growing apprehension. I lazily gazed over the options- Lucky Charms and Cheerios, among others. I sighed, not sure what I wanted, except to get out of this freaky place. I started to reach for the Cheerios. My hand froze as I heard a quick step behind me. Fear iced through me as wind lightly blew past my neck. Goosebumps decorated my arms as I swirled around.

”W-who’s there?” I asked, swallowing the ball nervousness in my throat. It didn’t do much, and I sounded scared. Not the impression I wanted to make. Silence returned my demand. I cautiously turned back towards the cereal, this time not paying any attention to it; instead I paid attention to my peripherals, seeing if there was any movement. After a few moments, I started to relax, blaming my hyperactive imagination.

A high female scream cut through the still market. I jumped higher than a hare, flight or fight reflexes kicking in. I quickly got them under control, wishing I could get my fast breathing under control too.

Do I go towards it? I swallowed again nervously. My heart beat quickly in my ears, drowning out other noises. I started inching my way towards the end of the aisle- and the scream, shaking. I was sure this would be how I died. Who goes towards a scream? Only the people who die by the end of the movie. I got to the end of the aisle and cautiously leaned out, checking to see if anybody was there. Nobody was. If I squinted my eyes, I could see something on the ground far away. I shook my head, focusing instead on the scream, as it had come from a couple aisles over.

I moved towards it, starting to separate my emotions from my body. Whatever I was about to see- it wouldn’t be pretty, based off the scream. It had sounded in pain. I judged the situation based off of it. A middle aged lady, in pain, in a creepily silent supermarket during a blizzard. This was definitely how I died.

When I got to the aisle, there was something unnatural and white writhing around in the middle of it. It’s limbs moved around creepily. It seemed to be on its back. It’s limbs were stretching about, hitting whatever was in its reach. I froze in fear. I took a deep breath and started creeping forwards, making a prayer.

I’m sorry I’m not religious, I regret everything, I’m sorry I pushed Cassie in the fourth grade- I was closer to it now. I continued on my prayer. I’m a good person, right? I never meant to push her- well, I did, but she was taking up the slide! That makes it okay, I’m sure you’d be annoyed if Cassie was in the way of your slide- please, please just help me! I don’t deserve whatever this is.

It was a baby. My prayers quickly came to stop as I looked at the baby weirdly. It looked creepier from afar. I swore the scream sounded like an older female scream, but I guess I was wrong and it was the baby. I slowly picked it up as it started crying. Definitely not an older female scream. Guess I was wrong? I questioned, doubting everything up until this point. Obviously it was my imagination, I heard this baby scream and thought it was a middle aged scream, and plus look at just a few seconds ago! I thought this baby was a terrifying creature. I decided I needed sleep once I got home.

“Shushushshsh, it’s okay,” I said, still freaked out a bit. The baby looked average, with the wonky proportions babies have, too big heads and small limbs. It was kind of cute- I was never one for children, but it had a cute little tuff of hair. As I was looking at it, I saw something in my peripherals. I went to briefly glance at it, but then focused on it, my eyes widening.

It was only then I realized that there was a pile of blood and bones to my left. My head slowly turned back towards the baby. It laughed, grabbing my finger. I looked closer at it, frowning as blood started to bubble and foam out of its mouth. I watched in absolute horror as this ’baby’ smiled. It’s teeth grew before my eyes, to sharp points. They were blackened and decayed. I felt my pants become not as dry as they were before.

I stared down in fear at this creature, as it opened its mouth and screamed one last time. It was my scream. I echoed it’s- my- scream, dropping the baby like it burned me. I fell to the ground, scrambling away from it. I bumped against the wall of the aisle with a lot of force. I tried to claw my way to standing, to get away from this creature. I fell, as I got suddenly and incredibly weak. Seasoning packets fell around me, falling off of the wall and lightly hitting the ground. My mind rushed. The muffled sounds and feelings from before came back with a vengeance as everything became super far away.

A couple drops of blood splat to the ground, faintly dripping. Drip...drip...... drip. Everything felt in slow motion as I slowly turned my head to see it, then slowly rose my hand to touch my ear. Blood came away on my hand as I got dizzy.

The last thing I saw before I passed out was sharp teeth descending down on me.