Inherited Scream

Inspired by bleedingfilms.com

The inconsistent dripping of the kitchen tap is keeping me from sleep. Throwing the covers off I swing my legs around and sit up, the old reclaimed metal bed creaking as I move on the new mattress. Old furniture fills the small house I inherited and I have been working on it alone.
The wood creaks and the pipes groan.
There is no heating so the wooden floor is icy when my feet touch it. I pad to the kitchen, yawning and hugging myself for warmth.
The plunk plunk of the water drops hitting metal assault my ears as I draw closer to the sink and then I frown. The tap is not dripping.
Another drip falls in front of my face and goes plunk in the sink. I look up.
Gravity is causing the pool of water on the ceiling to drip, thankfully straight into the sink. I was going to have to go into the attic.
I grab the torch off the bench as I return to my room to get dressed.
The pull down ladder nearly hits me in the shins as it once again descends faster than I anticipate.
The dim hall bulb lights the ground floor as I ascend into the dark attic and disturbed dust moves in the void as my torch beam pushes the dark away.
The kitchen is to my right under the black water tank and living room to my left beneath the brick chimney breast.
There is nothing else up here, not even a mouse.
I aim the light at the tank as I near it, my footsteps echoing dully off the boarded floor. It doesn’t take long to work out it is a failed ball-cock. The resulting waterfall is pooling below and seeping through the already soaked boards.
I balance the torch on a beam before plunging my hands into the icy water, guessing at what I am doing.
The strange sensation creeps up on me that I’m not alone and I peer into the darkness. But I can see nothing and shrugging I return my attention to the water tank.
A second later I catch a movement out of the corner of my eye. I leap backwards in shock and ram into the beam supporting the torch, dislodging it. It lands rolling back and forth on the ground about a foot away from me. It flickers but doesn’t go out although what I see next makes me wish it had.
A scarred malformed face hangs upside down against
the wall I realise I am being an idiot, it is a freaky Halloween mask. A sudden laugh bursts from my lips as I make myself get up and retrieve the torch.
Of course I am going to freak myself out, its after midnight and I am alone in the dark attic of an old noisy house. I go back to the water tank, ignoring the creepy noises from the settling house. I want to get back to the safety and warmth of my bed.
As I stand up, thinking I have solved the problem, the floor beneath my feet gives way.
I land on the cold stone floor of the kitchen and I am sure I have broken some ribs and possibly my left arm because the pain is intense. My ankle throbs where I have collided with the falling water tanks edge. As I look up I can see the extent of hole backlit by my torch that has remained in place.

The throbbing of my ankle causes me to clamp my eyes tight shut against the pain and an involuntary whimper to escape my lips. When I open them and focus on the hole again I see the mask, it appears to be peering over the splintered boards, its lank black hair hanging in curtains around its face. I surmise it must have been jolted from the wall when I fell through the floor.
It looks as if it is smiling at me and I shiver, creepy. I don’t start screaming until i see the long flesh coloured spider like legs descending from either side of it.
Screaming still I drag myself backwards, as its other eight legs appear over the edge and a human torso is revealed.
Scuttling around the hole it stops above me. I stop screaming, I don’t have any breath left.
Its mask like face turns slowly as it contemplates me. I force myself to move faster, flipping over onto my front and swallowing yet another scream, risking losing sight of it to gain speed as I attempt to get to the back door.
It grabs my already throbbing ankle and effortlessly pulls me backwards inch by agonising inch.
I begin to sob.
I scream and shake in terror as I realise I am being lifted from the floor. I am being pulled feet first back through the hole. As my head leaves the stone I black out.
When I open my eyes again I can see the hole below me and the kitchen beneath that. The first light of day is streaming in through the window, illuminating the wreckage, but I can’t see the creature.
My entire body from my neck to my feet is in a cacoon like substance.
Click click click go the creatures legs on the wood but no matter how I turn my head I am unable to locate it.
I try but fail to get my mouth down to bite through the cacoon and I can’t move my hands at all. My injuries hurt, ache like they are swollen and it is almost too painful to think through.
The scuttling sound I next hear is different, as if it is coming from more than one direction. I begin to panic as I see the legs coming into view from both sides.
Then to my horror I see my friend appear below me and the shock registering as he looks up.
“Run!” I scream at him “Run! Please!”
He frowns at my sobbing face as I watch the creatures nearing the lip of the hole.
“Run” I whisper as he sees them for the first time.
He turns running from my view as the creatures descend to the kitchen floor, creatures of all sizes, all pouring over the edge. It isn’t long before I hear his screams and only a short while later that I see them dragging his unconscious body up into the attic.
I scream his name as they cacoon him, hoping to wake him whilst there is still a chance he could escape.
Then their attention returns to me and I fell silent, a hungry look in their eyes as I feel the first tiny pink spider legs crawl over me. Quickly I am covered in a writhing mass of small pink bodies.
I scream as I feel thousands of tiny pricks in my skin and I begin to sob as I realise I’m baby food.
The last thing I see before I close my eyes for the final time is his eyes opening.
He begins to scream.

The End.