Bogleech.com's 2013 Horror Write-off:

" The Ninth Sequence "

Submitted by Joseph Hartman

THE FIRST:

On the plains at night before time began, something stirred that was neither human nor beast.

TWO OF THEM:

A man on a horse rode triumphantly into the sunset. Appeased, the sunset digested him and vanished.

THREE IN THE MORNING:

She sat in the room with a therapist. "Those are all just bad dreams, alright? You need to focus on reality." She nodded, and woke up.

THE FOUREST:

The philosopher sneered at the druids. "Your god is dead! Do you understand me, fools?" They nodded. From between the trees, it stepped out.

FIVE STEPS AWAY:

The smell of rain usually calms you, but today there's something odd in the wind. It smells like mildew. You walk home from the grocery, umbrella hoisted above your head. But something's walking beside you. It smells like mildew.

SIX WORDS:

DON'T LOOK OUTSIDE YOUR BEDROOM WINDOW

SEVEN STARS BELOW HEAVEN:

Two survivors, then one, in an old abandoned warehouse. He lied to her, saying that they had no more first aid, but in truth, her wounds were simply too much. From the very start, the hordes invaded homes and ravaged cities, leaving no one safe. Reports were vague, but grim. Everyone expected the apocalypse, and so they stocked up on guns, fortresses, and supplies. But no one expected a foe that could not be touched. As her spirit left her body, it moved to the warehouse shelves, hefting rusty tools into its invisible hands...

EIGHT LINES OF CODE:

He just needed to compile it, and then he could sleep.

<15 ERRORS DETECTED> But that's impossible, the code was perfect! He pressed the compile button again.

<3,875 ERORS DETECTED>

<219,764 EEORRORS DETETETECTEDDDD> It just kept growing and growing. Even as it began to droop and crawl out of the screen, he couldn't bring himself to stop pressing the button.

THE NINTH SEQUENCE:

The captain sighed, looking out the thin clear porthole that separated him from the void beyond. They knew this would be a suicide mission, flying into outer space from which there was no return, but now the power had ran out. He would die first, and then as the reserve systems failed, the crew members in stasis would thaw and rot. They were sent out to find advanced life, hoping to prevent Earth's death, but nothing yet was found. But just as he lost his last bit of hope, a hunk of brown metal slowly started to drift past the porthole. No light could be seen within, save for a pair of glowing alien eyes staring back. He recognized the look in its eyes, the same desperation that reflected back at him in the glass. They stared at each other for as long as possible, both hoping that the other had a miracle that they somehow lacked. The two souls drifted helplessly apart, vanishing from each other into never-ending silence.