No lullabies

Midnight

It was the end of the day and everyone finally slept. The house was immersed in an uncharacteristic silence; considering nine people live in here, silence wasn't a common occurrence. Which is why I made a habit out of taking my bath late at night and enjoying the solitude for a couple of hours; I'm an introvert so I thrive on whatever time I have to myself.

This was often misconstrued as me not liking people, which I'll admit I didn't for the most part, but it was still grievous to deal with such a stereotype. The warm water had become a cold soup after an hour of soaking, so I got up, soap running down my body, and wrapped myself in a towel. I took my time doing this, given there was no one around to rush me, and there was this sense of religiousness to my routine, it had to be done just right.

When I opened the door I found the hallway was dark; now, one thing working against me regarding my introverted nature was that I was an absolute coward, I guess deep down that's why I was so comfortable living with as many people as I did, even if the packed house often drained my energy. Occasionally I would solve this by turning into a night owl for brief periods of time, living and eating and working until dawn, going to bed comforted by the first rays of light, minimizing the time I had to actually spend dealing with people.

I stood in the doorway for a couple of minutes waiting for my eyes to adjust, or perhaps waiting for the foul monster that lurks in the dark to make it's appearance. Sometimes silently dared it to come. I would call it in my thoughts, challenging it. Appear now, I will face you wrapped in my towel, hair dripping... nothing.

As soon as I could see the outlines of the coat rack and the phone table I made a run for my room, which was almost at the very end of the hall. I closed the door behind me, frantically looking for the light switch.

The second that passed between entering a dark room and finding the switch had always seemed infinite to me, a whole horror movie could come to pass in that second. Click. I went about the rest of my routine before putting on my pajamas, which at the moment consisted of shorts and a bra, and proceeded to tumble into bed, ready for my nightly read.

I lay at the very edge, closest to the fan that blew warm air in my face as I could, trying to cool off before the humidity made my clothes damp as it usually did this time of year, the heat was almost unbearable, but all I could do was wait for the sleep to come.

It must have been two hours or more before my eyelids started to get heavy and I tossed the book I was reading aside. I reached for a single pillow, and piled some blankets on one side although there was no need for them, I flipped the light switch, quickly diving into bed. The upside of waiting to be absolutely exhausted to go to bed was that, when you did, it swallowed you in seconds, no time to fight it, which meant no time to dwell on the dark room.

* * *

I half opened my eyes with difficulty, my lids were so heavy I barely managed it, I was disoriented, how much time had passed? it was dead silent and dark, not yet morning I was sure. I slowly rolled my head to the left, because the rest of my body felt too heavy to even try, and saw a huge hole in the wall, close to the floor, it had an irregular shape and seemed pitch black, even the dark room seemed brighter in comparison.

I squinted, I knew on the other side of that wall was a room, where my friend would be sleeping, if I could just call for her... But I couldn't, my throat was sandpaper, and my mouth didn't move an inch in spite of my best effort. I wasn't sure if my eyes were open anymore, only that I could see the dark room and the even darker hole in the wall. But how could I be seeing anything if my eyes weren't open? HELLO? I screamed inside while my body remained set like a stone on the mattress, my neck drenched in sweat, my limbs heavy as I struggled to move them.

I'm waking up right now. I thought determined, and I sat up, my eyes never leaving the hole. After a few minutes I climbed off the bed and crouched down to inspect it, still couldn't see anything beyond the shadows, but I thought I could make out the outline of someone sleeping on the other side of it.

Disorientation suddenly hit me as I realized I was still as frozen as before, I was dreaming that I woke up but my body still refused to move, I was trapped, a prisoner in my sleep. And I could feel someone crawling next to me, their body felt heavy, their presence increasingly eerie.

A shock went through me, just as if someone was trying to revive me with those electric paddles doctors used to make your heart beat again, my body jerked, but I wasn't in control of it, I fought the heaviness with all my power, trying to lift an arm, move my head, for half a second I managed to open my eyelids, but the drowsiness was too strong, it kept pulling me back, refusing to let go of me.

I tried to stay calm but my mind was racing, I was half awake, but couldn't move an inch, and I felt as if my senses were heightened I could hear all the little noises in the room, I could feel the hole in the wall although I wasn't watching it, I could see the dark shape lying next to me, and the spiderwebs that had started to appear on the ceiling, from which long thin spiders made their way down to my bed, hanging from their delicate threads.

It felt like the battle went on forever, me wresting the invisible force that kept pressing me down, while a whole gloomy world unfurled around me.

Until, with one final jerk my body came back to me, and I sat up, agitated, sweating, my eyes darting to all the corners of the room, making sure there was no one there, the wall was perfectly smooth, there was no one beside me, and I could barely make out the spiders dissolving into nothingness as remaining visions.

Still disoriented I got up because I couldn't risk being sucked back into the drowsiness. My body was tense, I would've stretched but it felt too heavy still. It was dawn and I could hear someone moving about in the kitchen, I opened the door without hesitation and went to join in the morning chatter.

it's when you least expect it that company becomes vital.

* * *

I sighed in relief, the human had finally decided to stand up and leave the room, but I could still feel the ghost of her grip. I squirmed in the bed sheets, spreading myself as far as I could, they were unpleasantly warm and the dreaded morning light was starting to seep through the blinds. I shuddered. I could see the last of the arachnids crawling back to the blackness in the wall, which was oozing coolness, so I slid off the bed onto the floor and followed them inside.

* * *
Author's Note:
I often have this kind of dreams, when I can't move and I wake up seeing things. They are called Hypnagogic Hallucinations. Have you guys ever experienced one? As always feedback is greatly appreciated!