Twisted Roads – Twisted Horror Stories by Matthew Tonks

Frantic Motion

“You have to trust me,” he says as he stares into her hopeless, tear-filled eyes. She nods, signalling that she understands, as she bites down on her bottom lip.

“With everything I have, I know you’ll save us. I know you’ll get us out of here,” she says softly.

He smiles weakly. “Good, because what we’re about to do requires you to do exactly what I say, when I say it. You can’t stop and think. You can’t wonder why I’m telling you to do what you have to do. You just have to move. No thinking, no stopping, no nothing—just one flowing, unrelenting, unending movement. Do you understand?” he asks, nodding his head, his eyes locked on hers.

“I understand, Kevin. I know what we’ve got to do, and I trust you. Whatever you want me to do, whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it,” she says, offering her hand. He looks down at it, then back up at her face. His smile fades, and he shakes his head.

“I can’t carry you. I can’t hold onto you. You just have to follow. If you slip up, if you slow down, if you fall or stop, then it’s your problem, not mine,” he says. She pulls her hand back in surprise, and he smiles again. “I love you, honey. Don’t think anything but that. It’s just that I can’t do this if I’m carrying you as well. So just follow, listen, obey, and we’ll both make it to the other side, I swear.”

“Okay, just tell me when, and I’ll do what you need.”

“A few more moments,” he says, looking back at the towering landscape before them. Fires burn out of control, the very earth crumbling, falling into the abyss below. He studies their path, calculating each manoeuvre, each twist and turn, towards a little grey tile that holds their salvation, their hope, and, more importantly, their freedom.

“NOW!” he yells, leaping forward, grabbing a dangling electrical cord, and swinging down to the ground. She quickly follows, and they both run forward, dodging pieces of buildings crashing to the ground. The debris tears holes in the earth, opening more pockets of the unending abyss of nothingness, extending its reach as it swallows more and more of the world. They run forward, closing in on the tile, the platform. He glances over his shoulder and locks eyes with her for a moment. The look on her face is one of dread. All too late, he turns around and finds himself tumbling headlong into the nothingness.

He hears her cry out, and then only silence follows. Moments later, a computerised voice declares him dead, and he lets out a stuttered, long breath of frustration. The headset is removed from his eyes, and he stares at the screen as she makes it onto the platform, completing the level.