Panic Switch
The darkness was alive. It threatened to consume him if he didn't get away fast enough. But that was just it--he couldn't get away. A feeling like quicksand pulled him back under repeatedly. Each time he began to feel as if he would break through the web that confined him, he was shot back into the darkness. Something grabbed at him with clammy hands, wrapping him in a chokehold. He struggled in its grip and tried to yell for help. If he could only get one word out, someone would come for him. Just as he was about to scream, that thing came out of the darkness. It circled him like a predator, its gnarled hands reaching out for him. He blinked, and there were suddenly more. Dozens became hundreds, multiplying until they were breathing right down his neck, trapping him in an icy coffin of terror. Their ragged, shuddering breath chilled him to the very soul. He knew what they were. He had tried to keep them locked away in the furthest recesses of his mind for so long, but they had found a way out. Unlike him...
Aaron's demons brutally murdered his loved ones right before his eyes, slowly. Again and again, his deepest fears played out before him, each person ripped apart along with his heart. As each death played out, he felt their pain, but he could not move. His body was paralyzed, whether in fear, rage, or agony, he could not tell. Maybe it was all three. All he knew for certain was that help wasn't coming. This was it for him. His own personal hell was here, and he would never escape it, no matter what he tried. He could lie to himself, he could try to crawl out of the hole, but something would always drag him back under. The only thing he could do was cry out in agony because there was no end to the suffering. Suddenly, he found his voice...
A chilling, drawn-out scream sounded in the barracks. It fell on deaf ears, for everyone else was in slumber. All, except for one...










