The Æther Cognizant

The Cognizant Report

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A Noise in the Night

A Noise in the Night

by GEIST von PA, Oct 26, 2011, 6:59:36 PM
Literature / Characters & Settings / Contemporary / Settings
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Jack was never much for a restful sleep.
Often times he would lay in an elusive slumber between dreaming and consciousness.

Jack's bug out bag was always within reach, along with his boots and jacket.
Changing would take too much time and time wasted when attacked usually was never in your favor when your life is on the line.

Jack sat up on the bed and slid his feet into his wolverine waterproof boots.
Like that of a firefighter being summoned.

He took pride in his skill and had he been in any branch of service he would have been a valuable asset.

Jack had a military mind but his heart couldn't bring harm to anyone unless his own was in mortal danger.

Jack was a thinker, he could think on his feet and act accordingly to almost any situation.
On more than one occasions he was able to talk himself out of trouble and evade conflict through thinking psychologically.
Jack wasn't a liar, he didn't believe in lying.
He simply felt he had a moral code that should be upheld, even if it was strictly his own.
He also felt that Logic and truth were far better tools then lying.

Taking cautious steps and still listening Jack made his way to the closet.
He had removed the closet doors simply because of it making noise.
He slid his jacket from the hanger, slid it on and then picked up his pack.

The door to the room was shut and locked.
The window offered no escape and would make too much noise anyway.
Jack approached the door; He gently grabbed the knob and listened.

Whoever was out there was rummaging through something at the other end of the house.
He heard what sounded like a plastic bowl bounce and then spin on the linoleum floor.
Jack pressed his body against the door so that it rested on the frame.

He unlocked and slowly twisted the knob.

Keeping pressure against the door as to keep the suction of air from making the door pop, he carefully opened the door.

The hallway was dark but he could see flashes of light from the two men's torches.

Jack widened the gap and slid out into the darkness.

Standing there listening and watching the lamp light Jack's heart began pumping warm adrenaline throughout his chest.

Jack reached behind the door and locked the knob and pulled the door a fist length away from the frame.

Jack heard one of them say something.
The first part was irrelevant to what followed; Something about finishing the job.

Jack's pupils widened in the darkness as the lamp light was extinguished.
He held the knob tight in his hand and thrust the door shut, causing the door to slam, crack and pop from force.

Jack took off down the dark hall away from his bedroom and away from the intruders.
The intruders, startled by the sound, looked at each other in the dark and raced up the stairs towards the sound.

They reached the top of the stairs and the door in unison, coming to an abrupt stop.
One of them tried the knob and listened quietly.

The knob didn't budge.

Jack heard them from his position down the hall.
The two men whispered to one another.

"Do you think he's in there, Marty?" one of them said
"I dunno. But if he is, he'll wish he wasn't after we get done whiff him." said Marty
"Right. We know your in there so you might as well come out! If you do we promise we won't hurt you." said Marty with an evil grin.

Marty listened and then tried the knob again.

"Ok, Flick. Let's knock 'er down." said Marty

The two men backed up and shouldered the door.
It creaked and cracked until the latch in the frame gave away.

From Jack's position he could see the lamp light showing through the open door of his bedroom.
Sounds of frustration, crashing of lamps and clothing echoed through the hall.

"Well he has to be here somewhere. Find him!" said Marty.
The men exited Jack's room into the hallway.

Jack had positioned himself just inside the door frame of the adjacent room.
Crouching next to the wall with the door open a crack so he could witness everything the two men were doing.

The men turned their torches down the corridor beaming the light directly at the door.
There was a flash of fire and a loud echoing bang of an explosion.
Marty dropped his flashlight as he flew back hitting the wall, half knocking Flick down with him.

Flick regained his footing quickly and aimed the torch on Marty as he slid down the white wall, leaving a trail of blood as he reached the floor in a slump.

Marty had managed to grab his chest but the expression on his face gave Flick the chills.
Marty was dead before he hit the floor.
Flick panicked and froze in place.

"Flick" was a nickname, granted to him by the other guys for never saying much but always giving them the finger.

He was blackmailed into this line of work for having sex with animals.
Outside of molesting primitive mammals Flick was a respectable family man in the community.
But none of that mattered anymore.

Flick's body now lay lifeless next to Marty.
Both men's blood pooling on the floor.
The Torch light mingling shadows of white, crimson and death around the hall.

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