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Welcome to a Round Two Battle Thread for the BoG Tournament! Be mindful now, as your votes are the determining factor to who takes the win!

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Now without further ado here are the works of our would-be Masters of Genre!

Chromium7 - Under the Cover of Dark
alone and the darkness is alive.
I feel it reach out- I feel it touch me.
I feel myself fondled in the black.
And though I sit here in silence, mouth closed, with hands threatening to fill my lungs- I am in prayer.
To you, God, who if this creature is to gloom, must surely be to light.

Please, whoever’s listening;
“Help me.”

The darkness recedes, and I am alone, until I awake. How long I was asleep I cannot know, but as my mind returns I know that my dream has not yet ended. And it is a nightmare. Immediately I reach for a light- my headlamp, which has moved from its position atop my head to a distant corner; damaged, I notice, but still usable. I turn on the headlamp, searching for the darkness. Not finding it, I take note of my surroundings.
The cage from which the darkness escaped is not the only cell in critical condition. There are others, always others- that merely lurk under the cover of dark, using that cover to hide whatever evil lies within. There is a reason these things are here, and that reason’s a part of my reasoning for trying to keep the bastards in here. The other being the paycheck, the next of which I was very much looking forward to cashing.
Until I saw the decapitated, mutilated, soil-drenched head of a former female co-worker, at which point I could feel myself beginning to puke. Feeling this, I instinctively bend over, falling to my knees, and expelling my stomach contents into the again decapitated head my former coworker.
“OH G-GLU-GUEEAAUUUGGHH!!!,” my voice echos.
And then, with a spank to the rear, I fall forward, into the mess before me.
Hands surround me once more, lifting me to my feet as I cough, lurch, and continue to vomit as the hands join to form a single, inward moving crux, once again forcing my stomach to lurch.
I can’t think. I can’t see- nor scarcely hear- but merely feel. It reminds me of the darkness once again. Though I know it gone- feel it gone within me, I tremble, I squirm, and I find myself desperate. I lash out, flailing blindly until I feel, with feet and hands, the gore soaked floor- and I attempt to run.
But a hand comes at me from behind, striking once more between my thighs, but, this time- lingering.
This monster- which I know it to be- now grabs me by the throat, and lifts me, neck to tailbone, forward.
And then, as soon as it began, I am alone, and it is dark. My mind once more begins to fade, and I can’t shake the feeling that I have been made to do something horrible- something vile- and that this somehow gave me pleasure.

When I awake, I am numb. Stiff, yes- but without feeling. In the back of my mind is the stench from earlier, but from within my cage I am able to close off my mind to the outside world. The facility at which I work has been compromised, and I have been placed in one of the cages. This problem is at its heart simple, and so the only one I feel able to set my heart to- as my heart, I would add, is feeling the strangest of all.
The cell door is closed and locked, but the lock was weak. All I need to do is jam something into the… into- into the. Into th- key into- i-into the…

Key. I have a key.

I reach for the key.
I reach for it.
The key.
It.

I open the door.
I unlock the door.
I open the door.
The door.
Is open.

Open.
Door.
Open.
Open.
opeN.
OpeN
OPEN!!!

“Jess?”
“Richard?”
“JESS!”
“Oh my god, Jess!”

Jess?
I’m Richard.

Jess is… Jess was…

“Jess?”
“Richard?”

“Why are you calling me Jess?”
“Richard. Richard, it’s okay.”

“Okay.”

“We’re going to be okay.”

Thank God.

Thank you, God. Thank you.
Thank you so much.
I love you God.
I love you Jess.
I love you Richard.
I love.
I love…

My wife.
Jen.
Jesus, Jen!

Oh Jesus.

Jen is my wife. Jess is my co-worker. Jess is my… Jess is… I love Jess. Jesus.
Jess is alive somehow. I thought she was- Jesus, I thought she was dead. I though- oh Jesus, oh Jesus- Jen! You’re okay! And the baby! The baby! The baby is… Thank Jesus, the baby.
Jen and the baby and Jess oh Jesus, oh baby Jesus thank you!
Thank you, Jesus.
Thank you.
Thank you, Jesus.
Thank you, Lord.
Thank God.

Thank you for everything.
Thank you for my life.
Thank you for Richard’s life.
Thank you for Jen, and the baby.
I love you, God. I love you for everything.

I would do anything for your child.
Anything.

Thank God.

It’s going to be okay, Richard.
You can sleep now.
The baby’s going to be okay.
Everything is going to be okay.
I love you.
Jesus loves you.

Richard was asleep.
I was happy for Richard. Him and his wife.
Jess, I think it was.
He’d been through a lot. We were going to get him out of here.



My name is Richard. And I’m getting the fuck out of here.
I know what’s happening. I wasn’t sure at first, but the trick with the door…
Jess- Jen-
My co-worker. She’s dead.
Something killed her. One of the things we put in cages. It’s supposed to be from a couple floors down. Not our problem. Kind of like the darkness. Then the lights went out. The levels- they went off one-by-one like they’re supposed to, but something must’ve…
That’s not what matters. I know what killed her. I know what fucking killed her.
It’s a creature- monster- born from the… born from the…
…union…
…of the dead and the living.

But it’s okay. I’m okay- Me, Richard- I’m going to be okay! The door’s open! I can get out of here!

And I can stay down here. Away from Richard.
Me, Jen- where it’s safe.
For the baby.

Thank God.



[/spoiler]

SpacePunk - Nyctophobia
se things live in the dark. The darkness is its own world full of evil and monsters. You must think I’m a child, but have you been in the dark recently? Have you walked down your hallway at night, having that feeling that someone’s watching you? That flicker of movement in the corner of your eye? It’s not your mind playing tricks on you. No. It’s something much worse.
***
“Yes, sweetheart, I’m on my way home, I got stuck closing out the register…I’m in the Macy's parking garage right now…Yes, I’ll bring home something for dinner…I love you too. Okay. Bye.” I hung up my cell phone and continued walking towards my car. It was about 9:30 at night here in Manhattan. Luckily, spring had just arrived, so it wasn’t too cold out. However, everything in the vicinity was closed for the night, so it was pretty desolate and quiet. For the city that never sleeps, it sure was fucking dark. I hated the dark. I never liked it, even now, as an adult. Especially in the city, where crime was high. But it wasn’t muggers or rapists that made me uncomfortable, it was the fact that I had no idea what was out there. And that was when my mind began to go into imagination mode. I’d create things in my head that would come out to get me, and make myself paranoid. I shook my head. There was nothing out there.
I reached my car and took out my keys. Since I was broke at the moment, I couldn’t afford a newer car with the keys where you just press a button and the door unlocks. Nope, I was stuck with a 2006 Chevy Cobalt. It was a good car with good mileage and it got me to and from work every day. I dug my hand in my pocket and grabbed my keys. But when I pulled my hand out, my wallet decided to come along with it. It fell to the ground and I sighed. I bent over and picked it up. However, out of the corner of my eye, something moved. I quickly straightened up and spun around, trying to catch whatever it was I saw moving. Of course there was nothing, but now I was uneasy. I turned back to my car and put the key in the door, the metal scraping against metal echoing through the silence of the night.
“Jordan…”
I spun around, trying to figure out who said my name. “Hello?” I called. “Who’s there?”
I got no response.
I let out a shaky breath and quickly got into my car. I put on my seatbelt, checking my mirrors for signs of movement. I shook my head. “Get it together, Jordan. No one’s there.” I pulled out of the parking garage and headed down 34th street.
I found a Chinese food restaurant down on 14 East. I found a parking spot a little way down the street. I sighed. Great. Out in the dark again. I got out of my car and walked down the sidewalk, the only illumination was from the streetlamps lining the streets. I shivered, though it was 60 degrees outside. It suddenly felt like 30. “It’s just your head playing tricks on you,” I told myself.
“You can’t run, Jordan…” I spun around in a circle, looking for the source of the voice. This wasn’t funny anymore. Actually, it was never funny. Fuck, I hate the dark. I looked around and noticed something weird. The shadows seemed to be moving. They were swirling around, licking and flicking the air. I blinked, and they stopped. I wiped my sweaty palms on my pants and hurried over to the restaurant.
I placed my order and since it was only me and some drunk college kids, I was out pretty quickly. As I headed to the door, I heard one of them call out to me. “Hey man,” said one of the boys, his words slurred. “There is some freaky shit going on outside, man. Some freaky. Shit.” I nodded to him and left. I headed down the sidewalk to my car, the streetlamps above me flickering. My heart started beating faster. I walked a little quicker, held my bags a little tighter.
“Jordan!” I yelped and turned around. Nothing. Whoever was out there was getting far too close for comfort. I ran to my car, not giving a shit about my seatbelt at this point. My tires screeched, disrupting the silence of the city and I sped off into the night.
“You’re okay, you’re okay, you’re okay…” I kept repeating those words to myself, hoping that if I said it enough, it’d be true. I kept glancing in my backseat, every now and then seeing a silhouette of a person. “There’s no one in your car but you, there’s no one in your car but you…” I was trembling now, my hand sliding down the steering wheel from the sweat. I swallowed hard. Only ten minutes left until I got home. Then I’d be safe with Sam, and we’d go to sleep together, safe. Safe.
I reached my apartment and dashed out of the car, slamming the door behind me. I locked the car door out of habit. Not even fear can mess up your brain’s routine.
“Jordan.”
“Jordan.”
“Jordan.”
Someone was whispering my name. I turned around for the billionth time that night and saw the shadows moving again. Only this time, they were coming towards me. I heard my name whispered over and over again. My heart skipped a beat as I ran up the stairs to my apartment door. I grabbed the doorknob and tried to turn it, but it was locked. “Shit,” I mumbled. I fumbled for my keys, looking back again and again, each time the shadows getting closer, my name getting louder.
“Jordan.”
“Jordan.”
“JORDAN.”
“JORDAN.”
“JORDAN!!!” My heart was beating a mile a minute, my hands soaked in sweat. I got the key in and turned, the beautiful click the door being unlocked was music to my ears. I yanked the door open and slammed it shut, just in time. Breathing heavy, I walked up the stairs. I unlocked the door to my apartment and stopped in my tracks.
The lights were off.
It was pitch black.
It was dark.
“Sam?” I called out. No answer. I put the food on the kitchen counter and took off my shoes. “Sam?”
“Sam’s gone, Jordan.”
“Sam left.”
“No more Sammy!” Laughter filled my ears but I couldn’t find the source. It grew louder and louder until the deafening noise was the only thing I heard.
“Stop…stop it…Leave me alone. STOP!”
“Jordan?” I looked up, tears streaming down my face. Sam was standing there, concerned. “Babe, are you alright?”
“There’s someone in the apartment. Call the cops, now.”
“What? It’s just me. There’s no one else.”
“DO IT!” Sam flinched and went to grab the phone. Once it was done, I nodded approvingly. However, the laughter hadn’t stopped. Shaking, I went to turn on the lights. Once I flicked the switch, the bulb exploded, and once again, we were blanketed in darkness.
“No, no, no, no, NO!” I ran over and grabbed Sam by the shoulders. “We have to get out of here, we need to go find some light, quickly!”
“Jordan, what the hell is wrong with you? You’re freaking me out.”
“Light, we need light!”
“Jordan…Jordan…” I stiffened at the sound of the melodic voice. The shadows. They found me. They were in my home. “We’re here, Jordan. We’re heeeeerreeeeee.”
“How did you find me!?!” I screamed. “Leave us alone!!!”
“Jordan, what the hell? Are you okay?” I turned to Sam.
“You can’t hear it? They’re calling me. They’re saying my name. They’re here.”
“Who’s here? What are you talking about?” I opened my mouth to further explain, but no noise came out. Instead, pitch black bugs came crawling out. My eyes widened and I tried to scream, but I only spit up more bugs. Sam backed away from me.
“Jordan, what the fuck!?! I’m calling an ambulance!”
“JORDAN. YOU’RE GOING TO DIE, JORDAN.” Tears streaming down my face, bugs crawling out of my mouth, I didn’t know what to do. The dark, it was the darkness doing this to me. I needed light, I NEEDED LIGHT.
I searched for a flashlight frantically, but I had trouble breathing, and my skin began to itch. I scratched it, but the sensation never went away.
“Hello? Yes, I need an ambulance, now.”
I looked down at my arm. There was something moving beneath my skin. I fell to my knees, gaging on the bugs. I scratched and scr

SpacePunk has my vote for this battle

Chromie, yours was interesting to say the least. It was too chaotic, and while I'm certain you understand what exactly is going on, it is very hard for your readers to follow. You've just got to bridge your ideas across in a more organized fashion.