"B, I don't want to go to the party." I told my best friend on the phone.
"But Claire, Kurt is here. Look I get it, you just moved into a new apartment, you have boxes to unpack, whatever. But it's Halloween night, you're 22, the guy you like is at a party and you're going to stay home? How.... Lame. You're just lame. Why are we friends again?"
"Because I saved your life once." I laugh lightly.
"Jesus, Woman, you plan on holding that over my head for the rest of my life?" Beatrice asked in mock exasperation.
"I was going to, actually. Look, I know for a fact there'll be another party tomorrow, I'll just come to that one. I have a lot to do. I'll talk to you later."I say.
She sighs deeply before agreeing and hanging up.
I walk into the bathroom to brush my teeth, almost too tired to do it. It had been a long day, I'd been moving since dawn and it was only 8 P.M., but I was exhausted.
I opened the medicine cabinet pulling out my toothpaste and my toothbrush, and call it cliché, but I refused to close it back for fear of something being behind me when I do.
I'd kind of had that suspicion since I was little, so I always turned my back to the sink when I brushed my teeth. That way I could make sure nothing was behind me.
Dropping my toothbrush back into the holder and rinsing my mouth out, I headed back into my room to change into my pajama shorts and my tank top before sitting on the edge of my bed.
I cut on the TV, finding a channel that was showing a marathon of scary movies and laid down to watch it.
I loved Halloween, it was probably my favorite holiday, mainly because the atmosphere is always so fun and exciting.
After a while, I got distracted on my phone, scrolling through social media until finally, the exhaustion took over and my eyelids started drooping.
I locked my phone, rolled over to cut the tv off and then snuggled up and got comfortable.
TAP. TAP. TAP.
What the hell?
SCRATCH. SCRATCH.
What is that?
TAP. TAP. SCRATCH SCRATCH SCRATCH. TAP.
It sounded almost like it was coming... from under my bed.
I hesitated. Obviously this is the part in the movie where the girl looks under her bed and there's a vicious murderer, waiting patiently to snatch her up.
But I couldn't just go to sleep. Mainly because the tapping was annoying, but what if someone was actually under my bed? I can't just ignore it.
SCRATCH. SCRATCH. TAP. TAP. SCRATCH. TAP.
What if I got up and ran to the door?
They could grab my ankles and trip me up and I probably wouldn't make it.
TAP. TAP.
What if I did make it to the door? Would I run to a neighbor? Or just outside to the street?
SCRATCH.
I could call the police, but odds are, it would just trigger whoever is under there.
Or whatever.
Stop it. I thought to myself. I was paranoid because of the horror films.
Halloween has your imagination running wild.
SCRATCH. SCRATCH. TAP. TAP. SCRATCH. TAP. SCRATCH. SCRATCH. SCRATCH. SCRATCH.
It was getting louder and more frequent. Almost... Impatient.
Just check. You have to do this.
I reached for the the nail file on bedside table.
If someone is there, you aim for the eye, and you use all your force. I tell myself. Injure now and ask questions later.
I rolled to the far left side of my bed, peeking over and staring at the floor.
Lord please don't let there be anything under my bed. I sent up a quick internal prayer.
Just get it over with.
I cut the flashlight on my phone and leaned over quickly.
There was nothing under my bed. Not even junk, seeing as I hadn't really unpacked everything yet. It was completely clean.
See, you're being paranoid. I sighed in relief.
Okay, well that was fun but now-
SCRATCH. SCRATCH. TAP. TAP. SCRATCH. TAP. SCRATCH
I whipped my head up, still half off the bed, and looked towards the closet.
You've got to be kidding.
I moved to a sitting position, my legs over the side of the bed, my feet planted firmly on the floor.
You can make it to the door now, Claire.
But could I? I know the noise was coming from under my bed. But now it's at the closet?
It wasn't a who. It was a what.
My apartment, my new, cute apartment was haunted.
SCRATCH. SCRATCH. TAP. TAP.
I inhaled deeply, bracing myself.
I walked over to the closet door, resting my hand on the knob and waiting.
TAP.
I yanked it open shining the light into the blackness.
Nothing.
It was playing with me and I wasn't having it.
I pushed the door closed, not all the way in case the tapping started again. I walked back over to the bed, rubbing my eyes and trailing my hands through my dirty blonde hair.
A cold sensation started on my ankles, and I looked down.
One pale grey finger at a time closed slowly around my ankle; pinky to thumb.
My eyes went wide, but before I could even think about jerking away, it tugged. Hard.
I hit the ground, back first, the air rushing from my lungs.
Wheezing, trying desperately to pull air back into my body, I look down and locked eyes with this... Thing.
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-M
