The woefully insufficient lamp posts cast a dim yellow-orange glow on the sidewalks of the park. Taehyung didn’t mind, though, because the light of the moon was more than bright enough to use to find his way. Warm wind whipped through his hair as he sailed by on his skateboard, Jungkook trailing only a few meters behind him.

The older boy stopped suddenly to breathe in the humid, sticky air. Crickets were chirping somewhere in the bushes to his left, and Taehyung could even see a few lightning bugs zip past as he took a seat on the weathered bench.

Taehyung had his eyes closed when Jungkook caught up to him, but he opened them as he heard the sound of the younger man’s wheels approaching.

“Tae, I’ve gotta get back,” sighed Jungkook as he hopped off his board. “My parents want me to be home before it gets too late.”

“Aw! Come on, Kookie,” groaned the other man with a smile. “It’s not that late.”

Truthfully, Taehyung had no idea what time it was. It wasn’t cold enough to demand a jacket, and in what was either a terrible design flaw or a mistake at the factory, the shorts he was wearing didn’t have any pockets - so there had been no place for Taehyung to stash his phone before he and Jungkook had left to go wandering earlier that night. Even without the ability to keep track of time, Taehyung couldn’t imagine that they’d been out for more than a few hours, and it had only just now started to get really dark, so-

“It’s 10:05,” said Jungkook, interrupting Taehyung’s train of thought.

The younger man flashed his own phone, which showed that that was in fact the time, before stuffing it back in the pocket of his jeans.

“Yeah, see?” pressed Taehyung. “Barely late at all.”

“I was supposed to be back five minutes ago, though,” fretted Jungkook.

He was already walking toward the entrance of the little park, and Taehyung leapt up to follow his curfew-bound on his skateboard, screeching to a stop in front of the younger man.

“Do you really have to go?” whined Taehyung.

“Yes,” laughed Jungkook with a playful punch to the other’s ribs. “You know how strict my mom can be. I’m probably grounded already.”

“Exactly! So stay out; let’s go explore the other half of the park.”

Jungkook shook his head. He hopped on his own skateboard and pushed off on the sidewalk so that he traveled away at a leisurely pace. Taehyung stayed stubbornly where he was, so Jungkook looked back at the older man while he spoke.

“You should get going, too, Tae. It’s not good to be out so late.”

Before Taehyung could protest, his friend was already out of sight, and before long the sounds of wheels against the pavement faded off into the distance, too.

❧

Taehyung kicked up a small cloud of dust from the dirty pavement. Most of the powder had been turned to mud by the recent string of rain showers, however, so his shoe did little more than shove some of the muck around as the looser bits floated and clogged Taehyung’s lungs. He sat down on his skateboard with a dissatisfied huff, and rested his chin on his knees as he tried to decide what to do.

Exploring the other half of the park wasn’t going to be nearly as fun without Jungkook, but Taehyung didn’t have to be home for several more hours, and besides, he was curious about what could possibly lay beyond the small connecting tunnel. Going there without his friend meant that he would at least have something to gloat about to the younger man, but on the other hand it was an activity that they had been excited about doing together. In the end, Taehyung decided to just roam around in the familiar half of the park for a bit and then go home - reasoning that Jungkook would be able to go see the other section another day.

The young man stood back up on his skateboard, and without another thought he was sailing off down the sidewalk, which twisted into a downward slope the farther he went. It was refreshing to be out there alone with nothing and no one holding him down; the whoosh of the wind and the shadows on the pavement his only companions as Taehyung rolled swiftly down the gentle hill. The concrete was smooth and easy to travel on, so Taehyung had no trouble with navigating the gentle curves.

Eventually, he grew tired of going around in circles, so the young man decided to do one more lap before calling it a night. It had rained on and off while he was skateboarding aimlessly, and the ground was now pocketed with fresh, scattered puddles in the ditches at the edge of the sidewalk. Taehyung looked up at the cloudy patch of sky, feeling energized and content.

Turning his attention back to the road, Taehyung caught sight of a large patch of slick pavement just as his wheels passed over it. The water made him lose his balance, and he barely recovered as he continued to roll straight down the hill.

That was a close one.

A second later, he was nearing the tunnel at the bottom of the hill, when suddenly the young man fell backwards, causing the skateboard to shoot out from underneath him. Taehyung tried to turn his body in midair, but that only served to make his left knee hit the pavement first. He let out a sharp cry of pain as he came to a rolling stop, receiving several additional scrapes and bruises along the way.

❧

“,” he whispered.

Apparently he hadn’t recovered as completely as he’d thought. Taehyung opened his eyes, which he had squeezed shut at the time of impact, and looked down at his knee, which was already starting to turn purple. His shorts were a little ripped up where they had dragged against the concrete, and a thin trickle of blood s down Taehyung’s injured leg.

The rain started up again; but unlike the earlier drizzles, this episode was more like a full blown shower. The water was warm, although not particularly pleasant, and it made it difficult for Taehyung to keep his eyes open against the droplets as he struggled to stand up.

“Ow!”

The young man could make it halfway up, but as soon as he tried to put any weight on his injured leg, it collapsed out from under him, and he found himself back in a crumpled heap on the ground. He cried once as he smacked into the cool, damp pavement, and realized with terrible, sinking certainty that his leg was broken - in addition to possibly being dislocated at the kneecap - and finally that he was stuck there, stranded, without a phone.

“Well, this is just great,” Taehyung grumbled, and he looked up at the now completely covered sky.

❧

The tunnel’s mouth wasn’t too far away, so Taehyung half-crawled, half-rolled to the opening, and poked his head inside to check and see if there was anything visible. The tunnel was dark, without any lights to illuminate the inside, but it was at the very least dry. Although the structure itself was at the bottom of a hill, there was a slight lip at the floor of the tunnel’s entrance, and this was what kept the rainwater out as Taehyung eased himself over it, settling against the mossy stone wall.

It wasn’t raining very heavily yet, but Taehyung worried about the possibility of floods if the storm decided to really pick up. He was vulnerable to that threat at the bottom of the slope, and although the small pool of water stayed safely on the other side of the tunnel’s lip for now, he knew he couldn’t just lie on the platform forever.

Calm down, Tae. You’re gonna be fine.

The young man realized with some level of surprise that he was breathing rather heavily. He tried to steady the gasps by thinking through the situation logically, and found that doing so actually helped him quite a bit. It had been just past ten when Jungkook had left, and Taehyung thought that he’d probably spent the better part of an hour wandering aimlessly after the other man went home. That meant that it was now likely close to eleven at night, and Taehyung knew that a policeman or two usually swept through the park at around midnight. He had been warned to leave or yelled at to stop causing trouble by the officers on more occasions than one.

All you have to do is wait for them to come, and then they can call for help. You're okay.

Taehyung sighed as he sank farther down the rocky wall. It was his own fault that he’d crashed. He shouldn’t have tricked himself into thinking he could regain his balance so easily after slipping on the glassy concrete. He should have stopped skateboarding the first time it had rained. He should have just left the park in the first place when Jungkook had bailed.

Woulda, coulda, shoulda. No use in worrying about that now.

His leg hurt, but it wasn’t in unbearable pain. Taehyung felt more of a dull ache as he sat perpendicular to the hallway of the tunnel, squinting deeper into its length to try to see through to the other side. It was useless, and Taehyung concluded that the streetlights on the other side were probably just as miserably dim as the ones on this one. Maybe even more so, since it seemed like not as many people visited the other half of the now-empty park.

Working by only the light of the moon, Taehyung shifted to straighten his left leg against the wall of the tunnel, and pressed his skateboard flush to the other side of the broken appendage, trying to at least stabilize it until help could arrive.

❧

Taehyung was confident that an officer would find him, and the pleasantly wet warmth of the summer night made it so that he actually had to fight to keep himself from dozing off while he waited for rescue. He had experienced more than a few broken bones before, and was confident that after a few weeks of rest he would be perfectly fine. This thought comforted Taehyung while he sat, moving so that he could rest his side against the cool, mortared stones.

Snap.

The sound of something breaking echoed through the empty tunnel. Taehyung had his back to the covered underpass, but he sharply turned around when the noise reached his ears, wondering what it could’ve been that had sounded like a chunk of stone breaking off.

Another snap, followed by the sound of plaster crumbling, came almost immediately after the first. It was as if a section of the tunnel was slowly collapsing, but it was far too dark for Taehyung to see if anything was indeed going on.

Click.

That was new. This noise sounded more like something pointy and sharp hitting tile, and it was definitely coming from the other end of the tunnel. Taehyung craned his neck, but all his effort was in vain. It was still pitch black just a meter or two into the passage.

“Hello?”

Taehyung’s call went unanswered as the rain outside the tunnel continued to fall. The sounds that were made as large droplets hit the pavement served to drown out any further noises from deep within the tunnel, so Taehyung turned back around to scan the park for any signs of help.

Just hang on a bit longer. Nothing to worry about. The policemen should be here to make their rounds any minute, and then I can-

Click.

Taehyung flinched, and felt his stomach knot and twist as he checked behind him again. Nothing but darkness. He swallowed heavily, and considered trying to yell something again, but decided against it.

Click.

Did it sound closer that time? No. Stop; you’re psyching yourself out. There’s nothing there. No one ever even goes to that side of the park.

Click.

❧

Taehyung felt like he was losing his mind. The clicking had been going on for several minutes now; each instance of it a solitary tap against something vaguely ceramic. There was always a short pause between one click and the next, but it never failed to come after a consistent interval. It was like clockwork.

Click.

Shivering although the dampness on his skin didn’t feel cold, Taehyung squinted into the darkness once more. The sounds were definitely getting closer, but Taehyung had no idea how long the tunnel was - nor could he tell exactly where the clicks were coming from.

Click.

He noticed that deeper into the tunnel, the uneven stones were replaced with yellowed, cracking tiles. These were what lined the walls on both sides, and Taehyung thought he could see the faint outlines of them on the ceiling overhead as well.

So whatever this thing is, it isn’t walking on the ground.

Taehyung shook his head. That was ridiculous. The ground of the tunnel was the same poured concrete material that made up the sidewalks outside, but there was no reason to think that that, too, didn’t switch to tile a bit deeper into the tunnel. Surely that explanation wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.

Click.

“H-hello?” Taehyung squeaked.

No answer, still. The young man decided that it was probably best to keep his mouth shut, and returned his attention to searching for the policemen he was sure would be arriving soon.

Click.

❧

It had probably been about twenty minutes now since Taehyung had first started hearing the clicks. And they were growing louder still. The waiting was the worst part, and it seemed like whatever was making the noise should have reached the mouth of the tunnel by now. Whatever is was could have been halfway through the tunnel or right behind him; the echos made it so that Taehyung had no way to tell.

Click.

How long is this ing tunnel?

Images and fears raced through his mind. What if it was pacing back and forth, teasing him before running up to strike? What if it was trying to play some kind of game while Taehyung sat there trapped? What if, perhaps worst of all, he was imagining the whole thing?

Click.

No; it was definitely worse if he wasn’t imagining it.

“Stop!” Taehyung commanded.

Click.

That one had come much sooner than usual. The noises were picking up speed, and they came even more rapidly now. A series of clicks came before a moment of silence.

Taehyung stared into the darkness. His eyes had adjusted to the dim light at least somewhat, but he’d ruined it by looking out at the streetlights beyond the mouth of the tunnel. He was met with pitch blackness as the noises started again.

Click. Pause. Click.

It was still moving around faster than it had originally, but not quite as rapidly as it did just a minute ago. Taehyung felt water at his outstretched ankle as the rain at the front of the tunnel began to flow over the slightly raised lip.

this; I’m getting out of here.

He removed the skateboard from its position of holding steady his broken leg, and placed it on the ground outside the tunnel. Trying his best to avoid the small swell of dirty water, Taehyung eased himself over the lip and onto the board, so that he was lying on the flat plank of wood with his chest and stomach. The skateboard was small and fairly thin, and it dug into Taehyung’s ribs as he pushed off with his hands, cruising a short distance up the gentle hill. He had to catch himself before he went rolling back into the tunnel, but after a few more glides he was totally out.

See ya later, creepy- tunnel.

The young man reached out in front of himself, preparing to drag his body up the hill with the help of the little skateboard.

❧

Click.Click.Click.Click.Click.Click.

Taehyung screamed. The thing in the tunnel was running again, and this time it wasn’t slowing down. Each sound was sharp and distinct, and Taehyung could hear the location of the noises bounce off the walls as the mysterious source swerved back and forth; up and down the tiles as it barreled toward him. It sounded like thousands of nails tapping in unison as the young man flailed desperately, trying to find his way through the blurry rain. Water and sweat plastered his bangs to his forehead, and Taehyung felt something slither around the ankle of his broken leg.

“STOP!” he shrieked.

“Hey! Hey, is somebody there?

There was a low voice coming from the top of the hill, and Taehyung looked up to see the beam of a flashlight shine down on his sweaty, panicked face. His ankle was released as a police officer came rushing down the sidewalk toward him, the pin of light bobbing as the uniformed man jogged.

“Oh my gosh. Are you okay, kid?” the officer asked, almost out of breath.

Taehyung could do nothing but choke in response as tears started pouring out of his eyes, mixing with rain and sweat as he laid his head down on his skateboard.

“Oh my goodness, your leg looks terrible,” noticed the officer. “Hang on, kid; I’m gonna call an ambulance.”

The policeman spoke into the radio clipped to his shirt pocket as he helped Taehyung to the latter’s one good foot. Leaning on the tall policeman for support, the boy began to hobble away, indescribably thankful that his rescuer had come just at the moment he did.

It was only when Taehyung closed his eyes in relief, letting his mind relax as he hopped up the slope, that he realized something.

There had never been any clicks to suggest that the thing had retreated.

Uh-oh. Do you guys think Tae made it out okay?

I feel like the set-up took a really long time in this story. Maybe that’s not such a bad thing, though, because you know there’s going to be something bad, and you get to be kind of on edge waiting to see what it is. Or maybe it’s just boring to read; I dunno.

Either way, tunnels are super creepy, and the monsters that live in them even more so. I’m also curious to hear what kind of creature people pictured as Taehyung was staring blindly into the tunnel. I did sort of have a specific thing in mind, but that’s just my interpretation of the monster. I’d love to hear what you all pictured, if anything! ^_^