I heard the shrill voice of terror. It blocked out my thoughts. Who was screaming? What were they screaming for? There were reasons why someone would scream with that kind of voice. I had never quite heard any human scream like that, but I was still hoping it was a human. That kind of scream . . . I never heard anything quite like it before . . . It curdled the blood. It could make people fear for their life just by hearing it. It echoed through the walls of wherever I was. I had the urge to scream as well, but didn't know if it was safe to do that.

I eased up the wall behind me so I would be standing. My hand touched the wall; it seemed it was made out of bricks. Sticky moisture, cold and damp. Maybe red ones? I couldn't tell, it was complete darkness like some bad dream someone had.

Suddenly the screaming had stopped. Had the person died? Or was he or she safe now? I guessed it was probably a girl. What had happened? Was it my turn to scream with sure terror?