My Smiling Demon

Chapter 4

I groggily blink my eyes open but all I can see is pitch black darkness. For a few seconds, I begin to think that I'm blind but then assure myself that it's just night time and that my eyesight is still 20/20. I try to move my hands to get my phone from the back pocket of my jeans, but I can't. My hands feel like they're tied up, so naturally, I start to panic. Where am I? What happened? I try to remember the events leading up to this moment, but I'm too freaked out to do so. I just get flashes, but I'm too distracted to focus on putting them together. My breathing is uneven as I realize that my bare feet are tied up, each foot on a separate pole or something that feels like that, anyway.
Suddenly, I hear the creek of a door being opened and footsteps coming towards me. I whimper faintly but stop as a candle is lit to my right. I realize that I'm in a small vacant room except for me being tied to bedposts on a bed sitting in the middle of what appears to be a log cabin with a little table next to me. Oh yea, and Jeff is here, too. My memory instantly comes back, and I turn to glare at Jeff. He chuckles and the candle light on his face makes him seem even more ghastly, which sends icy-cold shivers down my spine.
"Oh Clara, Clara, sweet Clara. You tried to run away from me. Why? Don't you like me?"
"Jeff! If you just wanted to kill me, you would have done so already. But you wanna play, don't you? Or at least you'll think of it as a fun game while I'll be suffering. You bastard," I called out to him.
"Aw now, let's not get like that!" he replied in a mockingly-hurt tone. "You know...this whole you-being-tied-up thing is really pleasant for me to watch. Thank you for being so...enjoyable." He cackles hysterically.
"You disgusting asshole! What do you want from me?"
After he slowly calms down, he responds, "We are gonna play a game, but I'm not gonna be the only one having fun. I expect you to play along, as well."
I try my best to seem exasperated instead of scared as hell but my voice comes out slightly shaky. "How so?"
He smirks at my response, "Well, you'll have to keep both of us entertained. Of course, I'll do some tricks too, but...think of it as hide and go seek. You can run, and you can hide, and but I'll find you. I'll let you run so I can chase you, and when you least expect it, I'll catch you. It's expected of you to become tired at some point, but don't even think about giving up because that's boring. And if you bore me, Clara Summers," he leans in towards my face, "If you bore me, I might have to just," he slowly runs his knife along my body, starting from my foot to my face, "have to cut our little game...short. And we don't want that now, do we?"
I shut my eyes tight because I can't handle his terrifying face and his threats. I don't even care if I'm hyperventilating with fear. I just want him to go away. I want all of this to go away. I want to be safe and secure in the comforts of my own warm bed, but yet here I am, mercilessly tied up in this cold, stiff bed in a freezing log cabin.
I suddenly feel my hands hanging down, so I open my eyes and realize that Jeff is cutting the restraints off my hands and feet. I pull my limbs to myself and sit up. I gaze at Jeff with wide eyes as I try to make sense of what he wants me to do.
"If you haven't figured it out by now, Clara, our game has begun and I'm giving you a head start," he laughs crazily and opens the door. He signals for me to get out, which I willingly do. I jump out of the bed and scramble out of that place as fast as my numb legs can handle. I glance back for a second and I see Jeff waving goodbye at me with his knife in hand. His unblinking eyes seem to be glinting evilly in the dark as he stares at me.
I turn my head back to the front, in fear that I might crash into a tree. I run and keep running, not even worrying that my heart might give out, as it is pounding so forcefully in my chest.
A day ago, I had been so confident that I had gotten over my fear of Jeff, but now that he's appeared again, I realize that it's impossible to get over a fear. I can find a way to ignore it, but it'll still be there, giving me a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach. Oh Jeff, why did you have to pick me to torture?