Arisu [ #JustWriteIt - Horror - Complete ]

Chapter Three - Waking Nightmare

"The rocking chair creaked back and forth.
Silver eyes - watching the boy fall far asleep."

The bell rang with sorrow. Once. Twice. Thrice.

Coryn awoke to the sound of chiming. His first reaction was to pull the cloak's hood over his head, shuddering as icy pinpricks crawled up the nape of his neck.  

It was an endless void of darkness - broken the faint flickers of scarlet as his robotic eye calibrated to tear it away.

He had no sense of what time it was. Had it been hours? Minutes? Centuries? Where were Trick and Alice?

It became light again; lit once more with shades of red. He was still in the study - which was completely still.

Alice wasn't in the room. Had those two crazy children gone off trick-or-treating without him? But no, their costumes were still lying in front of him...

Coryn stood up, absentmindedly pushing back his chair.

Unease was swirling around his heart. If he let it grow, it'd seize his breath from his lungs.

Panic wouldn't help. The solution was simple; find them, scold them, check the time and be well clear of the creepy manor by one.

The cloak soothed his fear, hugging his shivery nerves with welcomed warmth.

Coryn drew a deep breath and began silently counting to ten, mouthing the numbers to himself. He only got to five. Something interrupted.

Knock.

He slowly closed his mouth and shifted his gaze upwards.

Knock.   Knock.

His eye traced the sound to the study's unlocked door.

Knock.   Knock.   Knock.

Too high and heavy to be the knuckles of a child, or human in general.

Empty horror settled in his stomach. He wasn't afraid; just unnerved.

Swallowing dryly, Coryn reached for his grimoire of spells. It was sitting atop the dusty table, opened at a page about tying flamboyant bows.

How can this be? I searched this manor thoroughly - there were no supernatural presences! Is- Is Trick trying to scare me?

CRASH! RATTLE! RATTLE! CRASH!

Coryn jumped with jittery surprise when the rhythmic knocks became frantic blows against the door. The old book slipped off the table's edge.

No! He lunged after it, desperate for it to fall into his hands...

The grimoire ended its tumble with a soft papery crash, splaying pages across the floor. Loose notes were propelled everywhere.

Coryn dropped to his knees and reached for the book, ashamed of himself for such a clumsy mistake.

His ears registered an abrupt silence.

This was it; he needed a strong shield. His eye rapidly scanned the contents as he fanned the pages, desperation growing with each failed search for the defensive spell he needed.

Click.  Creaak...

Coryn froze as a cold draft blew down his back. It tickled his spine, breezing through a loose seam in his cloak.

He didn't need his nightvision to know that he'd see an open door if he turned around.

He lifted a hand to fully cover his robotic eye, squeezing the other tightly shut.

He didn't want to see it.

Escalating fear rode straight to his heart like a highway to hell. He recognised that terror - the subconscious affect of being graced with the presence of a corrupt... There was no word for it.

It was stalking him. Watching him. He was sure he could visualize its face, without knowing what it looked like.

Bright red eyes, glazed over, slitted. A malicious grin of needle-like teeth. Oh, the memories were killing him inside.

It flicked a loose lock of his hair back, reaching daringly into his hood to do so. Temping him to open his eyes.

I have to wait until it moves aside... He maintained the thought with patience, a platform to keep himself from spiralling into despair.

It sensed his calm demeanour and became aggravated once more. A violent jerk on the collar of his cloak; he didn't do so much as flinch.

It threw the grimoire against the wall, trying to startle him.

It passed him and went towards the bookcase and began throwing around some old volumes.

Coryn's eyes snapped open. He kept his reddened vision hazy; just enough to make out the doorframe.

There was nothing it could do to stop him from getting up and running.

He darted out of the study and into the shadowy hallway, his mind focused more on the safety of Trick and Alice than devising his own escape.

[A dazzling white star might keep it away... For now... I think. With love, from Phantom.]