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58.07% Random Horror Stories - 500 / Chapter 168: Chapter 168

章 168: Chapter 168

The days of peace had long faded. One by one, the homes across the world went dark. No warning. No noise. Just a silence so thick it nearly pressed against the walls. For most, it didn't last long. Electricity flickered back, and everything seemed normal again—at least, that's what they thought.

The first time it happened, people assumed it was just some fluke. A simple glitch in the system. The second time? People began to whisper. But the third time, there was no denying it anymore. It was as if the world was being… erased. A soft hum of power surged back, and when the lights returned, people were gone. Not dead. Gone.

Families vanished without a trace. No bodies. No blood. Just empty rooms.

The last year felt like a constant ache. The streets outside were filled with the survivors, faces gaunt from lack of sleep, clothing frayed from constant use. The sky had been dull for weeks, as if the sun itself had begun to lose its fight. Fires flickered in barrels and makeshift torches, the only light they had now. There were no phones. No TVs. Nothing to distract from the nightmare creeping closer every day.

Henry hadn't seen his daughter, Lilly, for nearly three months. The blackout that had taken her home had been the longest one yet. It stretched on for hours. The silence was maddening. When the lights returned, his home was empty. No trace of her. No sign she had ever been there. His wife, too. Gone.

That night, he sat alone in his house, a chair propped against the door, holding back whatever unwanted thing might come through. But there was nothing. The quiet had become louder than anything.

He'd been a part of the small group of survivors who decided to stay in the city. There were those who left. There were whispers of people heading into the wilderness, into the mountains, away from the empty streets. Henry had even heard rumors about places where the blackouts hadn't happened yet. But all those stories felt like dreams, untrue things people clung to because the truth was too ugly to face.

Now, the power came back in fits, and every time it did, more were gone. At first, it was only a handful of houses, isolated events. But soon, whole neighborhoods vanished. Cities turned into ghost towns. His city had seen its last crowd long ago. Those who remained in the streets were only those who knew better than to expect anything more.

He passed through the ruins of what was once a shopping center, now littered with overturned carts, abandoned shoes, and clothes rotting where they lay. He wasn't sure where he was going. He didn't care.

The blackouts had become more frequent. Sometimes, it was like the world itself had forgotten how to keep the lights on. He'd been out on foot for hours now, walking the empty streets, listening to the wind howl against the broken buildings. The light from the few remaining torches cast shadows that stretched long and twisted.

Nothing had happened for a while. But that didn't mean he could relax. The power could go out again at any moment.

Henry stumbled down another darkened alley, kicking up dirt with every step. The smell of decay was starting to settle into his skin. He hadn't seen another person in hours.

It happened again.

The silence came before the blackout. A sudden, heavy quiet. One of those moments where you swear your ears are ringing, but it's just the stillness surrounding you, pressing in from all sides. And then, it went dark. The kind of dark that swallows everything. The light was gone. The torches snuffed out.

For a moment, he stood there, his heart thumping hard in his chest. He could feel the heat of his own breath. The ground beneath him was cold.

No. No, no. Not again. It couldn't be happening again. He needed to find a place to hide. His mind scrambled, searching for some way to stop it. He couldn't lose everything again. He couldn't.

He had to get back to his apartment. To Lilly's room. To the last place he saw her.

Henry's legs moved before his brain could catch up. He couldn't hear anything. Not even the wind. The world was suffocatingly quiet. Each step felt like a stumble, like he was moving through thick water.

His apartment was a few blocks away. It had been empty the last time he went there. No one had taken anything. But it didn't matter. No one ever came back.

He reached the stairs of the building, panting. The door to his apartment was open. There was a strange smell in the air. Something rotten. He stepped inside, but the silence was the only thing that greeted him.

The lights flickered. A spark shot out from a lamp in the corner of the room, casting long, erratic shadows across the walls.

No one was there. Not Lilly. Not his wife. Not anyone.

The blackouts had become their new reality. They could not live with the light anymore. They could not live with the hope of safety, of life continuing as it always had. The constant terror of waiting for the next disappearance made every breath feel like it could be their last.

His fingers trembled as he pulled his jacket tighter around himself. There was nothing left to keep him here. There had never been. Not really.

That's when he heard the voice.

It wasn't like anything he'd heard before. It wasn't a voice at all, really. It was something more like a hum, a vibration in the air. It came from all directions, filling the apartment until it pressed against his ears, his chest, his bones. He tried to shout, but no sound came out.

And then, the blackout ended.

The light flooded back into the room, harsh and blinding. His heart raced. His hands flew to his face, shielding his eyes. But when he lowered them—

The apartment was empty. Again.

The lights flickered once more, then went out.

Henry couldn't move. His body was frozen. The darkness had swallowed everything, but it hadn't gone away.

It was like the whole world had folded in on itself, like the sun had forgotten how to rise. The darkness stretched deeper and deeper, pulling everything with it. Pulling him. The room began to feel too small, like it was caving in on itself. The air grew thicker, more oppressive.

He couldn't leave. No matter how much he wanted to. The ground seemed to sink beneath his feet.

Then, the hum returned. Louder now.

And the lights flickered again. This time, he didn't have to look to know what was happening. He could feel it. He could feel the people in the building, all around him, beginning to fade, to disintegrate into nothing.

One by one, they disappeared.

And then Henry realized it wasn't just the people who were vanishing.

It was everything.

The walls, the furniture, the room, the world itself. It was all fading into nothingness.

No matter how hard he tried to hold on, it slipped through his fingers. He could feel the heat of the flame against his skin, but it didn't burn. It was cold. Cold as the blackness around him. Cold as the nothing that was coming for him.

His body began to dissolve, piece by piece. Not physically. No. It was more like his mind was eroding, his thoughts were being pulled from him like sand through fingers. He tried to scream. Nothing. He tried to move. Nothing.

And then the blackness closed in.

Henry didn't scream. He couldn't. There was nothing left to scream for.


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  • テキストの品質
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  • 世界の背景

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