The Glare

In a dark room a man woke from his slumber. The last thing he remembered was bidding his mistress farewell, before calling his wife to check on how their trip went. 

The wife had left with their son a few hours before his mistress knocked on the door. They were going to see her mother. He said he couldn’t make it. There were far too many loose ends at work that needed tightened over the weekend.

It seemed to him that his wife had believed his explanation, but he had been nervous about her finding out that he was unfaithful.

Nevertheless, he had some urges he needed to fulfill, that his wife just couldn’t. It was selfish, he knew that. Still, it felt right.

Looking across the room, he noticed that he was in a cellar of sorts. It was worn down; the gray concrete wall was crumbling. 

Above him, in the center of the ceiling, a lone bulb hang. The light was weak, flickering, which made it difficult to make out much detail in the room.

Because of the weak light, it was also difficult to establish how big the room was. He had never been good with numbers, but he estimated the size to be 50, maybe 60 square meters. 

In the corner at the other end of the room he suddenly noticed two lights pointing in his direction. When inspecting closer he realized they weren’t lights, they were eyes; big glowing eyes!

He was taken aback, pushing himself closer to the back wall. While trying to get to his feet, he was held back. 

The man’s right leg was chained to the ground. A big piece of metal connected around his ankle. He grabbed the chain and pulled, trying to see where it was attached.

It was difficult to say for sure, but the chain seemed long, and it was lying on the floor like a metal snake. The snake, it seemed, was connected at the other side of the room. Right below the glaring eyes.

Whoever the beholder of the eyes was hadn’t said anything yet. “Hello?” the man asked nervously. No answer. He tried again: “Hello, who are you?” Still no answer.

“Can you tell me where I am? Are you locked up here as well?” The silence was deafening. 

-Jesus Christ, where am I? the man thought to himself. Who would do this to me?

Was it his wife? Had she found about the affair? Is that why they left, so someone could kidnap him and bring him here because of his wrongdoing. 

No, that was ridiculous. She knew this marriage was a loveless one, and that it had been for years. She would probably have been relieved to find a reason to divorce him and take half his money.

He decided to check his pockets. If he were lucky, his phone would still be there. He could call the police and ask for help. But what would he tell them? He hadn’t the faintest idea where he was. Maybe they could trace the call? Yes, he decided, that would be a possibility.

In his right front pocket, he found nothing. The phone was usually there, but not this time. The left front pocket was empty as well. From the way he was sitting, he could already tell that it wasn’t in any of the back pockets either. The kidnappers, or whoever they were, wouldn’t be that dense, to not take away his phone.

He opted to check his back pockets regardless, maybe there could be something else of help there. Lo and behold, there was a key. He examined it closely, realizing that it was an unknown key to him. 

The key fit into the keyhole in the chain, but no matter how hard he turned, it wouldn’t budge. He followed the chain with his eyes again, all the way to other end of the room. Maybe the key would fit there. There had to be a reason why the key was in his pocket. Whoever put it there wanted him to use it. The only problem were the beaming eyes merely half a meter above it. 

That glare scared him. The bright eyes still hadn’t blinked once, at least not that he was aware of. Who could they belong to, he wondered. Was it another prisoner, just as himself? Or was it something wicked, that were just waiting to tear him apart? Was the creature chained just as himself, and therefore could not kill him even if it wanted to? He just couldn’t know. 

He tried to slowly pull the chain towards himself, but it was definitely connected to something at the other end of the room. Even though he was scared, he decided that he needed to try to unlock the chain from underneath the monster, or whatever it was. He slowly raised, as not to trigger the beast, and started walking as quietly towards it as he could. 

From the glaring eyes he could hear a low growl. The man froze in place, not daring to move a muscle. That definitely did not sound like a man. Maybe a wolf, possibly a dog. 

“Good boy”, he muttered to the animal. “Good boy, I am your friend.” He said it a bit louder and more clearly this time, while moving slowly forward again. 

A loud roar suddenly sounded from it, and the man fell back in terror, landing hard on the cement floor. He quickly backed up to the wall, getting as far away as the monster as he could. 

He was trembling with a certainty that he would be teared to pieces. Breathless, he stared into the eyes, which penetrated him. But nothing happened. There were no more growling, hissing or any other threatening sounds. The only thing he could hear was his own slow breath.

Another attempt was needed. The sounds were scary, but maybe it was just a dog, who was scared like him. He always had liked dogs, so he surely could befriend this one as well. Yet again he started the slow, but steady walk to other side of the room. No sound from the animal yet.

The growls soon could be heard again, but it wasn’t loud at first. The closer he got however, the louder they became. Now, they were almost deafening with barks and roars all at once. Terrified as he was, he still continued forward. What did he have to lose? He couldn’t just sit and wait forever.

“It’s alright, boy”, he said in a soothing voice. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He hushed quietly at the animal. The man looked into the staring eyes, which absurdly enough still hadn’t blinked. Not even once.

The quiet hushes and soothing voice didn’t seem to have any effect. The beast was still as loud as ever, even louder in fact. Still, he hesitated. If he could just reach the lock on the other side of the chain, and if the key worked, he would be free. The door was right there, just out of reach. As soon as he’d be free from the chain, he’d make a run for it. 

He still didn’t know why or how he had gotten into this situation, being locked in a dark cellar with a fierce animal. It didn’t matter right now. The only thing that mattered was getting out of here. 

Soon, he was by the end of the chain. Other that the eyes, and the weak, flickering light bulb in the ceiling, it was very dark. Maybe the animal couldn’t see him. He was still barking, but its eyes didn’t move. As a matter of fact, they hadn’t moved this whole time. Just staring blankly out in the air. He just assumed they were staring at him. He wasn’t sure anymore. He bent down low, but the eyes kept staring straight forward, not following his movement.

Soon enough he was right at the end of the chain. He couldn’t see anything, but he could feel the lock at the end of the chain. It seemed it was locked with a chain lock in a ring on the floor. He shook, because he still hadn’t forgotten about the glaring eyes. The growls had just gotten louder, but still he was determined to get out of this place. He kept watch over the eyes, while fumbling with his hands to put the key in the lock. It fitted! He didn’t know whether to be surprised or not.

The key turned easily in the lock, and a click could be heard, as it unlocked. He quickly pulled the chain and ran towards the door. The chain rattled on the floor while he ran. It was incredibly loud, he thought. He turned again to the eyes and the growls, which had descended in volume now. The eyes were still staring in the same direction, not looking at him at all.

Next to the door, he noticed, even though the lights were dim, that there was a light switch. He didn’t know it was for the lone light bulb in the ceiling or another light, but he decided to try it. When he pushed it, he could hear a rumbling and a click. Suddenly, four lights, one in each corner of the roof, shone brightly and lit the whole room. 

His eyes gazed around the room, noticing the filthy walls and floor, which couldn’t have been cleaned in ages. Bits and pieces of the cement wall was falling off. It wasn’t unexpected, it looked precisely as he expected. What did catch him surprise, however, was the eyes. The eyes he had been nervous about this whole time. Where the eyes had been, he only saw a silver stand. At the top of it were two circular lights, each with a little filter on them, made to look like eyes. Glaring eyes. Below the lamp, close to the wall, was a speaker. The speaker still growled and barked, a little less threatening now after having its secret revealed.

The man was completely dumbfounded. Who the hell had brought him here, only to trick him into fright, without it being any real danger? What was the point? 

Behind him the door suddenly creaked open. The person standing there grinned at him. “This was payback for cheating on me”, his wife smirked at him.

Martin Jensen