Dead By Night Time - [ENGLISH]

5. Suckers And Stairs

Pov Bea Hopkins
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I shot up from the table with a gasp and looked around, my vision slightly blurry and spinning. 

And it was just another nightmare... again. 

While taking my phone out, I looked around a second time while catching my breath. I was in the canteen from the video store. Everything was dark, which wasn't weird since my phone showed me it was 2.58 AM. 

After taking my glasses off to rub my eyes aggressively, I got up clumsy from the cracky chair I had slept on and looked emotionless at the table for a moment as I gathered my thoughts. Fear washed over me when the nightmare I just had flashed as a memory through my mind. 

The corpse I found in the shop, it had looked so real. And the setting of the store now and that of the dream were exactly the same at this moment, which scared me even more. Maybe I was in a nightmare again, or worse real life. If that was the case I would send myself to a psych ward straight away. 

With trembling hands I dig my phone back into my pocket and took a deep breath to remain calm, pushing the door that led to the shop slowly open, making it creak in a high tone, which worked excellently on my nerves. After closing my eyes for a second, I gathered all my courage together and sneaked into the empty and dark store. 

Everything seemed fine so far, but who knew what was possibly hiding in the dark? I didn't even want to know, though. With slow and careful steps I walked through the aisles, checking them just to be sure I was alone. 

'You got some nice shit here, Hopkins.' 

A yelp left my mouth and I jumped up, cursing loud when hearing Asher laugh. 

'Fuck you Asher, really, fuck, you!' I shouted at him, my heart beating hard and loud in my chest, making me wonder if he could hear it. He just gave me a shit-eating grin before looking at CDs in the cupboard again. 

'It's freaking 3 o'clock in the morning, what are you doing here?' I hissed, snatching a disk out of his hands and putting it back in place. 

'Sheesh, don't attack me like that, will you?' He said with his well-known poser voice, putting his hands up besides his head. I squinted my eyes at him and crossed my arms firmly. 

'The store is closed, Wilson, get out.' I muttered with a clenched jaw. I should never have fallen asleep, then I wouldn't have been scared to hell either by Asher. From all the people that possibly could have gotten inside, he did. He must have known that I work here... why else would he have come in?

'But I want to buy a naughty video, come on Bea, let me do so.' He whined, lowering himself to my level since he was a head taller than me. I raised an eyebrow and took a step back to get more distance between his face and mine, surprised about the fact he called me by my first name. Sometimes I really wondered whether he liked me or wanted me dead.

'Just no, Asher, I won't be selling you naughty videos.' I stuck to my opinion, finding it somewhere disgusting that he was here for that kind of CDs. He rolled his eyes and stood up straight again, digging his hands in his pockets. 

'Well, you're boring too.' He mumbled, looking around a bit. I shrugged and watched him for a while, wondering a lot. It stayed silent for a few minutes when Asher suddenly gave me a suspicious look with a smug smile. 

I gave him the same look in return when he suddenly snatched a disk off the shelf and rushed down the aisles, towards the exit. I shouted his name annoyed, following in his steps quickly, managing to grab his sleeve. 

'Give that back! Don't steal!' I hissed, pushing him against the still closed door. 

'I only want to borrow it.' He snorted, grinning down on me. While shaking my head, I snatched the disk out of his hand and crossed my arms after. 

 'Not gonna happen, now get out.' He rolled his eyes a second time, smoother than the first time, and turned to the door, opening it.

'Alright, my lady, I'll see you later.' He stepped outside and walked away without looking back at me. A relieved sigh left my mouth and I leaned against the doorpost for a bit, thinking. Asher's "flirty" bullying was definitely something else. I looked down while sucking my cheeks in to prevent myself from smiling before walking back into the store to put the disk back. 

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My walk back home had been worse than a standard horror movie would be. With the feeling of being watched and hearing things I shouldn't be hearing, I turned into the right street, looking carefully around me for something unusual or suspicious. After sneaking like a kind of spy to the back door of the house, I went inside and locked the door quickly again. I hated the night, yet I did night shifts, maybe to escape the dreams, but still. 

After dropping my jacket and shoes on the ground, I ran upstairs, keeping my eyes down to avoid any visions or hallucinations. If it worked like that, in my mind it did. With a sigh I fell onto my bed and groaned, annoyed by the fact I had to change in my pajamas first and brush my teeth before I could finally head to bed. 

While grumbling whiny I did what I had to do before I could close my eyes and say bye to the world for a while, which was one of my favorite things to do, was it not that those moments always got interrupted. 

The cold of my bed made me grunt and curl up fully like a baby in the womb. I clamped one end of a long pillow between my knees, laying my head on the other end of it and sighed deeply, trying to fall asleep, which didn't seem to happen any time soon.

I guessed it was around half past four now, but I still was awake. I didn't know why but from the minute I laid down in my bed I didn't feel tired anymore, and I didn't like that since I just wanted to sleep at the moment. 

After doubting whether I should go to the bathroom for a glass of water or not, I decided to just do it. What could happen anyways? A lot, but I ignored that risk fully right now. I slid off my bed quietly and went on my toes to the hallway, only to get scared once again. 

I stumbled back, facing one of my biggest fears. It was a tall man, but not the usual one. This was the one I always saw in my youth. I called him my "imaginary friend" like every child would, but he was far from a friend, he was a monster. Did I have a reason to call him that? Maybe not a valid one, but he appeared in my dreams to ruin them, his voice rang in my head for years and he watched me from the shadows. 

My name for him had always been "Liam", I saw him as my best friend when nobody else was, I could talk for hours to him and he had always been there for me. My parents told me he didn't really exist, but I still doubt that to this day. That nobody else could see him didn't mean he wasn't real. 

His hissing broke the silence, leaping forward at me. With a yell I stepped back, my back hitting the wall. With the thought that the slender figure would disappear if I covered my eyes, I hoped this would all stop now, but it didn't. 

For the first time I felt the touch of something that wasn't human on my bare arms, making me lose it completely. Without thinking I stepped back from who was with me, not noticing how close I was to the stairwell. When I got pushed aggressively on my shoulders, I lost my balance, tumbling down the stairs with a loud scream. 

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