My Terrifying Relative

Chapter 3

 I woke up finding myself in a strange bed, not even the one that my aunt told me was mine. I sprung up and walked out of the room and through the only way the corridor led me. I finally found the stairs and descended them as I rubbed my eyes.

 “Well, good morning, Amber. I hope you slept well.” Sam said while pouring what looked like orange juice into a cup standing tall in front of cute little Len.

 It took me a while to properly process what she said; my brain slows incredibly down in the first forty five minutes of my mornings.

 “I did, thank you.” I sat on the same stool I fell asleep on last night. Someone must have carried me to that room upstairs… -

  “What do like for breakfast?” she interrupted.

 Three hours later, after doing everything I could come up with to kill my very free time; I sat in the living room, staring at nothing, for an hour. Time was passing way much slower than normal and that made me restless. I wanted to do just about anything but no idea would come to mind. So I got up and out in the backyard, and started doing push-ups: something I do only when extremely bored, and that happened like only two or three times in my entire life.

 I had nothing to do so I finally made up my mind to interact with whoever was in the house. I went upstairs to look for someone or something... but nothing. There was still that one room that I did not bother to check. I looked at the door from across the hall and thought that looking through this room won’t change anything; there is no one in the house. I sighed and went back downstairs and out to the backyard.

 An hour later, I heard a thump upstairs.  Maybe someone finally came, but how come they didn’t tell me? Maybe it’s that Jackson guy. I found myself walking up the stairs to see him; now that I think about it, he is my age and we could hit it off and be friends or whatever…and he can show me around or tell me what people do here when they are free. I looked through all the rooms, but they were all empty.

 Except for that one room…I walked to it and opened the door slowly. I giggled and mentally slapped myself for not opening that door earlier. I walked in and saw the short pink curtains and teddy bears on the shelves covering an entire wall. It was only little Lynn’s room. She was sitting in front of a big white doll house with a shimmering purple roof. I knocked lightly and smiled at her as she looked at me. Her gentle green eyes sparkled with innocence as they shifted to the dollhouse.  I sat next to her and held a large teddy bear that was at my feet to my chest, and let it absorb my warmth.

 Shortly after the delightful pretending of Sarah going shopping and fighting for a paper dress with Michelle, someone walked in on us but to my embarrassment, I did not look up to see who. A different scent that I didn’t recognize spread about the room.

 “Jacky!” her high-pitched voice pierced through my ear drums. She got up and ran into –whom I figured was- Jackson.  He smiled and kissed her small head. She looked up at him and reached up as if she wants him to carry her, but she only wanted him to bring his head further down so she can kiss his cheek. She hopped back and sat next to me. At that moment, he looked at me. A smirk drew across his lips, and then he nodded at me. My eyes shifted. I didn’t know whether I should look at him or not, not after our last weird encounter, so I just made up a smile on my face. After that, I turned my back to him and stared at the dollhouse.

 I heard him sigh then the sound of his footsteps growing lower. He slammed the door shut making me straighten up in my place.

    ***

 Night has fallen. And for the first time in this house, I sleep in the bed that is intended to be mine. The moment I dozed off, I found myself get sucked into a chain of dreams. The kind in which you wish you could slap yourself awake.

 I cried silently as I felt something yank me off the bed and pull me by my shoulders. I flew across the room and banged against the wall. All the air has escaped my lungs. I struggled for a breath as I looked up at whatever that has thrown me…

 Nothing. No one.

 A picture flashed in front of my eyes. Someone’s picture. No feature but the wide eyes was distinct. It disappeared. And all I can see is the bed I was sleeping in ten seconds ago.

 The flash and the picture came back again. This time, there was a piercing hum that came together with it. I whined as I covered my ears, and kept looking at those black eyes. Then I saw them tearing…blood.

 I shut my eyes and screamed as hard as I could. “what do you want from me?” I screamed at him as I finally opened my eyes and cried.

 I blinked at the scene in front of me.

 Everything vanished… no, it blurred. Then I regained my sight, only to see a man lying still in the distance. I didn’t know what to do. Whether I should see if he was alive and help him, or if I should just run away. My feet were moving unwillingly forward, slowly picking up the pace. I rested my weight on my knees and pulled my hair to the side and laid my head on his chest…nothing.

 I looked around for a sign of life around. Nothing, nothing that can help me get out of here. I looked back down at him. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on a memory of where I saw him last. Suddenly, he flung his eyes open making me gasp and fall back to the ground. He moved his lips but no words would come out. He looked like was choking, so I got up and pushed at his chest not having one clue of what I should do. He grabbed my arm and squeezed tight causing a numbing sensation crawl up my hand.

 “H-elp mee.” He literally choked those words. I screamed as I noticed the ground breaking underneath him. Thin hands erected from the ground and pulled him down through the ground. I could hear his bones crushing as he was squeezed into his grave. I felt the air getting sucked out of my chest. I put my hand on my throat as I tried to suck it back in, but I couldn’t.

 I blacked out.

 I gasped one more time as I sprung up to see how will I escape this sickening world. I panted in relief as I looked to my room again. I got up to see if I was no longer in wonderland anymore. I raced myself down the stairs and walked into the kitchen, laughing to myself the whole way. 

 "I'm out." I whispered to myself as I smiled ridiculously. I ran to the backdoor and to the middle of the yard. I heard the annoying sounds of the cricket. I looked up at the night sky and raised my arms up to feel the light wind running through my fingers. I started twirling around in a weird dance, all the while grinning in mind.

 "Ouch!" I stepped on something. I felt another sting in my other foot so I jumped around, trying to get to a spot where nothing prickly would be at reach. Next thing I could see...was the grass turning to ash, and me free-falling into the abyss.