I SEE YOU

Chapter 4

It was 3am and Florin still couldn't sleep. His mouth was dry. He tossed around on his bed to try and ignore the growing thirst but to no avail. Coupled with the fact that the creepy encounter from hours ago still bothered him. He had sneaked back in and to no surprise, his parents were still asleep.

He rolled out of bed and stepped out of the room. He could hear his father’s rhythmic snoring as he passed.
He switched on the kitchen light and made his way to the fridge. Opening it, he became conflicted with the options it presented. Initially he wanted a drink of water but here were varites of orange and pineapple  juices staring at him. His sugar tooth kicked in.

"Oh,well," he muttered, picking out a bottle of orange juice. He downed it in one swig and let out a tiny burp.

The lights above flickered all of a sudden. Florin stared upwards and then they were back to normal.

"Weird," he said.

He switched it off and made his way out of the kitchen. Making his way into the hallway, he stopped and his heart nearly left his chest.

Standing under the light was a strange figure who stared eerily  at him. It was clearly a woman. Her skin was as black as the night and looked burnt to a crisp. Her hair was wild and flowed about. She had empty pupils for eyes and long bony arms with sharp claws as fingers.
Before Florin could get over his shock, she walked slowly towards him.

"Stay back!" he cried as he took shaky step backwards.

The figure didn't obey. She kept on moving towards him and stretched out her hand.

"Peekaboo," her voice was scratchy.
She stood before him and Florin nearly passed out as her face was now visible.

"I see you." She smiled, revealing a set of rotten sharp teeth.

"Help!" Florin cried, shielding his eyes with his hands.

The door to his parents room burst open and his parents rushed out.

"Florin!" Joshua hurriedly picked him up. "What's going on? What happened?"

Samantha stood nearby with a wavering look.

"I saw-" Florin opened his eyes.

The woman was gone and it was only his parents there.

"What are you doing here awake by this time in the morning?" Joshua asked, placing his hands on his sons shoulders.

"I wanted to get a drink," Florin replied.
"I saw a woman here."

"A woman?"

"Yes," Florin replied,pointing to the spot where his father stood. "She was standing right there."

Joshua looked around the hallway.

"Florin." His word was punctuated with a heavy sigh. "There's obviously no one here but the three of us. You might have been sleepwalking."

"But-"

"Go and get some sleep." Joshua said and made his way into the room.

Samantha walked towards him and glared at him.

"The next time you want to seek attention," she said, "don't do it at the cost of my beauty sleep."

Florin watched as she made her way back into the bedroom, closing it violently.

"I was not sleepwalking," he said solemnly in the quiet hallway. "I saw her. I did."

As he made his way slowly into his room and shut the door, the light in the hallway flickered again.