Dead Zone Drop Out

Have you ever witnessed something so strange that it took you days, weeks even, to realize what you saw? Maybe by the 2 week mark you have convinced yourself that you were dreaming or hallucinating because it is cold and flu season. Maybe you are sick? Maybe you hit your head and conveniently forgot the experience and in the blackout, this is what you saw.

One such event happened on Halloween. The night where all the kiddies come out in costumes and run around getting free candy. Its fun to be a kid during this time. You get to dress up as your favorite character or a princess or warrior/ninja and run around screaming at the top of your lungs "TRICK OR TREAT! SMELL MY FEET! GIVE ME SOMETHING GOOD TO EAT!" Eventually that mantra is all you look forward to this time of year before the shock of Christmas coming sets in.

Those were the days.

I really miss them.

This night was unfortunately nothing like that. I was alone at the house giving out candy to trick or treaters. Due to not many kids living in my area or the fact that churches were actually doing safe things for kids that night that still left them with a bounty of candy at the end of the night, I didn't get many. I think it was 3 tops.

My house sits a good ways back from the road. I have no trees that block the view so I can see from one end of the road to a good ways up it. I noticed this one displaced silhouette in the distance. When a unicorn's flashlight shown on it, nothing happened. The light was absorbed into the darkness. The shape was like a man's and nothing like that electricity demon I came across before. This was different.

Imagine, if you will, taking negative space and giving it a shape and a purpose to stand in one spot and absorb light.

I felt a chill run down my spine. The temperature was 79 degrees fahrenheit and there was no wind in the air at 8:30 at night. I slowly closed my front door and peeped from the curtains behind my sofa. If weirdness was going to go down, I was at least going to be comfortable for it.

I watched the kids continue up the street, unphased by what was standing there. Then it moved. It didn't step. It didn't fly. It just moved. Maybe it hovered a few feet into the street. I blinked and exhaled on the window. I rubbed the condensation from my breath off the glass. It was definitely in the middle of the street.

A car's lights illuminated the hill at the end of the street and came rushing down the turn in front of my house. I almost threw up as I watched the car's headlights disappear in the shape. The driver slammed on his brakes and got out of the car. The thing moved to this side of the road and was now standing in my ditch.

The driver checked his headlights and scratched his head. "They're not out, Bertha! I don't know what the <expletive> that was!" He dashed back into his car and peeled up the road to get home. I hope he didn't kill anyone.

I watched the headlights disappear from sight and gave my attention back to the human shaped void that wanted to be a bother. It was now standing in my front yard, halfway between the road and the front steps.

I swallowed a lump in my throat. My stomach was in knots. What was this thing?

I turned to look at the room as the lights flickered. The currents would go out at different times in the room and I got up to approach the door. I felt a rush of cold roll down my spine. As I reached for the door knob, I felt a shock of static pop my finger tips. I threw open the door to see the thing standing there just on the other side of the storm door.

The all glass door was small barrier between us. I felt that even a battleship wouldn't be enough between us.

I hear a hiss coming from behind me and TC's tail flares out as he raises his haunches. Another hiss from outside gets my attention. Oscar, the tom cat that hangs around, was standing on my stairs behind the thing. Both cats started to growl.

The thing started to wave in its outlines. It was becoming displaced. It made high pitched squeals as both cats continued their warnings. I joined in their attack by yelling at it. It let out one last high pitched sound that had me cover my ears. There was the feeling of oxygen being sucked out of the room and it was gone.

Both cats growled for a minute longer before regaining their lordly composure. I gave both cats extra food that night.

​I just hope it doesn't come back.