Sleeping Habits

A/N: This is the first horror story i've ever written so please be kind. This was inspired by the song Painted Smile by madame macabre on youtube!
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Sleeping had always been one of my least favorite things in life. The possibility of dying whilst asleep or even intruders in the night, would plague my mind at night and turned me into an insomniac. The fact that I almost never slept was what led me to coming face to face with my demise.

It was incredibly late that night. I had just gotten home after a night out with the girls. I wasn't much of a drinker so I hadn't had any alcohol unlike the others. I looked up at my house, feeling as if something was off about it. It was incredibly dark so the only light illuminating the tall building was the moon. It was a large house. It had been left to me after the death of my parents three years ago. There were so many rooms that I never knew what to do with them all. Though the house in it's entirety were well managed. The maids and gardener tended to that. Though in the middle of winter it seemed eerily still and silent. The bushes along the porch were withered and trapped beneath snow, as were the roses. It was quite a sight. I shrugged and walked up onto the porch, reaching for my pocket to fish out my keys. Once inside I sat my keys down on the coffee table and kicked off my shoes. The house was dark and a cold draft seemed to waft through the entirety of it. I knitted my brows together into a look of confusion. Had I left a window open? I didn't see any open from the outside. I ventured up the stairs towards the source of the cold. Surely enough as I reached the epicenter of the chill I was lead into my bedroom where the window opposite from the bed was half open. I stopped for a moment to consider how this happened. It was winter....I surely hadn't opened this window earlier.

"Hm...maybe the maid opened it while she cleaned to air out the fumes." I muttered to myself.

I shut the window and began to shimmy out of my clothing. I wandered into the bathroom, turning the shower on and grabbing a towel from the cabinet. Once showered and in warm pajamas I returned to my bedroom. I shut off the lights so that the only one on was my bedside lamp. I grabbed a book from my bedside table and began to read. It was then that I felt the draft again. Though it felt as if it came from across the hall. I grabbed a flashlight from my nightstand and hesitantly stood from the bed. I shone the flashlight into the guest room where I felt that the draft had originated from. Surely enough the window across from the door was wide open. I was starting to worry. Had someone got into the house?! I closed the window silently before padding down the stairs and into the kitchen. I grabbed the largest kitchen knife I had and held it behind my back.

"Hello?" I asked out loud.
That's when I heard it. The mangled, disturbing, creepy laughter followed by a low raspy voice.

"Still awake now are weeeeee?!" The voice dragged out the last word in an eerily insane laugh.

"Show yourself!" I screamed, gripping my knife tighter.

Into the moonlight stepped a horrible almost human....creature. His ghost white skin glowed bright in the light. His black rimmed eyes void of sanity and lacking eyelids seemed to bore into my very soul. The worst was his mouth. It was bloody, mangled, and cut into a permanent grin as he smiled eternally at me. He clutched a bloody knife in his hands that he wiped on a blood stained white hoodie.

"Jeff won't hurt you as long as you do as I ask." He chuckled lowly.

"Now do me a favor will you?" He cocked his head to the side in amusement.
"Go....to.....SLEEEEEEEEP!"

The creature, supposedly called Jeff, screamed as he launched himself at me. I dodged the first stab with a roll to the side. I quickly recovered and ran from the kitchen towards the stairs. I ran into the bathroom, locking the door and covering my mouth with my hand. I steadied my shaky breaths as Jeff approached the bathroom door.

"Come on now....hiding isn't very fair now is it?!"

The door was broken down in seconds. I raised my hand holding the knife only for it to be knocked away from me. The killer grabbed me by the throat and squeezed. My lungs burned as they tried to suck in air. Every wheeze and gasp filled me with pain as I struggled in his grasp.

"S-Stop!" I choked out, trying to pry his hands off of me. My eyelids were drooping and my body was starting to become numb.
He laughed wickedly as my body struggled uselessly.

"That's right...go to SLEEP." He raised a finger to his mangled mouth as if to say 'quiet down'. I tried to move my aching limbs only to have him squeeze my throat tighter.

My entire world was enveloping into darkness as my tired body hit the floor, my consciousness fading into nothingness. As my eyes slipped shut i felt the cold of the knife slide against my skin and delve beneath the surface to pierce my barely beating heart.