Fear /fɪə/

an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain or harm

Alice was walking home. As she walked, she took out her buzzing phone to check the flurry of messages as she passed through an area of patchy signal. Nothing of particular interest she thought, but she kept looking at her phone anyway, hoping the more she scrolled the more likely there was to be something worthy of her attention. Alice rounded the corner and all of a sudden there was an incredible roaring and a blaze of light, blinded, she stumbled backwards. When she was able to see again, Alice looked up to watch the tail lights of the car which had so nearly knocked her down speed away. She summoned her angriest glare and burned it into the receding car, which she might add was definitely going above the new 25mph speed limit. Carefully stepping off the curb this time, Alice decided she would ignore the fact that she had been paying no attention to the darkened road ahead of her and continued scrolling.

Taking the job at the restaurant had been her mum’s idea and the fastest route home after a long and tiring shift was down Howthe Avenue. Approaching the street, Alice slowed, no matter how many times she walked down this street in the daytime she could not walk down it comfortably at night. Perhaps it was the dim street lighting that made her heart speed up as it did. Perhaps it was that the street was only lined with houses on one side, the other side playing host to the large forest that bordered the town and gave Howthe Avenue its name. Whatever it was, this street made Alice’s breath hitch with anticipated fear.

Alice took a long breath that filled her lungs as if she were preparing to blow out birthday candles. Everyone knew there was something wrong with Howthe Forest. Strange sounds and shapes were always reported in the area, but people pretended not to believe them. She stepped forward onto the dingy street with a faint note of fear flickering behind her eyes, the leaves of Howthe Forest rustled, mocking her light footsteps. She knew she should just ignore them, if she didn’t look at them they would stop their whispering. Out of the corner of her eye, Alice could see something in the trees looking at her but she didn’t dare turn her head to check. She could see it looming in the corner of her eye, growing larger with every second. Alice quickened her step but the thing was getting closer. Soon she knew it would grab her, she knew that if she looked now it wouldn’t matter, it would get her anyway. Stopping abruptly, Alice whirled to look at the beast in an attempt to stop it with her eyes, almost choking on fear she saw nothing but the gently swaying trees. It’s hiding, it must be hiding Alice told herself like a mantra as she continued down the avenue, trying not to run. Perhaps if I step quietly it won’t notice me, I’ll be fine, but something had taken possession of her head. It wanted her to look but she knew if she looked now it would get her. She tensed her neck in a desperate attempt to stop it from turning but whatever had control of her forced her head around and made her look at the dark mass of trees. They were so old, the wizened shapes hunching over each other, protecting the beasts inside from the light, the perfect place for demons to hide. A space darker than any black she had ever seen, so black that if you ever entered it you would never be able to find the light, she could feel the blackness covering her like a thick slime. It squeezed her chest and she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see. Couldn’t feel anything but the cold oozing blackness all over her. Suddenly a face loomed out of the darkness from between the trees. Her eyes locked on it, a face that lived on terrible things, she could see it eating up her terror, relishing it, rolling in it, its obscene delight caused her heart to almost stop. She ran, she knew she shouldn’t, they loved it when you ran. They would chase you and knock you down and they would rip you apart with their desire to consume every depraved, terrified thought that was strangling your insides, that’s what everybody knew but never said. Her lungs constricted. Her intestines twisted. Icy terror dripped down her face, down her back the fear poured.

In an explosion of flailing arms she burst upon Merrion Crescent, slipping in her own irrationality she whipped round to confront the empty street. The autumn leaves rustled, a street light flickered. The parked cars gleamed in the bland orange light. Shaking and breathing heavily, Alice turned her back on Howthe Avenue and checked to see if anybody had seen her lose control. She knew the stories weren’t real but weird things happened to people at night around Howthe Forest and she wasn’t about to stick around to become one of them. She checked her phone and was quickly engrossed, Alice scrolled through her newsfeed and kept walking.