Crystal

Chapter 10: Safe...for a moment

I was cold. Kind of like winter, when you first walk outside and no matter how big your jacket is, it's fucking cold. You can barely move your face when it's that cold. That's how cold I felt.

I wasn't dead. At least I didn't think so. I wasn't sure how long I've been lying on the floor, but it felt like I've been here for months.

He was still there. Hovering over me, his body bent and distorted. He seemed to stretch out as he lowered his face near mine. I shut my eyes. He glided a long thin finger across my face.

It was freezing and I started to shake. It was the worse feeling I had ever felt. I couldn't scream I couldn't move. I was stuck underneath this creature and he was enjoying it.

I heard a door open, and looked towards my door. Rob, I told him I would be right back. Oh god, what if he comes up here?

"Cris?" He called out.

I looked up to see his face never stopped looking at me. But his body started to rise slowly. His long thin fingers stroked my cheek once more, causing my body to shiver violently. My throat went dry, I felt dehydrated. My insides felt like they were on fire. But I was still cold.

I watched him rise up until he disappeared into a black mist. Than the mist quickly moved towards the door and disappeared as it passed through.

After a few minutes I heard someone coming up the stairs, slowly. Was he coming back? Did he do something to Rob? I felt myself getting dizzy. The room was starting to spin. It was hard to hold my focus and everything started to get dark. When I glanced at my door I saw a figure but I couldn't concentrate hard enough to make it out.

"What the fuck?" Rob shouted.

Rob ran over to me and lifted my head up. His touch was warm and it made me feel okay for just a second.

"What happened? Are you okay?" He was shouting and I couldn't answer fast enough.

He lifted me up closer to him and laid my back on his lap.

"Jesus Christ you're fucking freezing." He rubbed his hands and then touched my neck and arms. It started to work. I could feel a little warmth now. I moved my head to look up at him.

"Just... get me ... out of here." Speaking felt like nails dragging inside my throat. But I needed to leave this room.

Rob lifted me up in his arms and carried me out of the room, my head slung by his upper arm. I lifted my eyes and looked at the room as we turned the corner.

It almost looked like Leza's head poked up from the side of the bed. But I'm sure I was just dizzy. I kept my eyes closed as he carried me out of the house. I just didn't wanna look at anything else. Not here.

I opened my eyes and felt a lot better. I felt warm. I looked around and recognized the dark walls and band posters all over the place. I was in Rob’s room. I turned over so I was on my back and realized I was wearing Robs t-shirt. I smiled at the thought of him undressing me and placing a t-shirt on me. By the feeling I just got when I touched my leg, I was also wearing sweat pants. He put a t-shirt and sweat pants on me. The thought of that made me smile at how cute the gesture was.

I rolled over to my side to face the door. He wasn't here. But I can hear music coming from downstairs. It was my favorite song. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the tune for a little until I heard footsteps coming my way. I opened to see Rob entering the room with a cup of tea, seeing the tea bag string sticking out.

"Hey, how you feeling?" He asked placing the cup on the nightstand near the bed.

"A little be-" I started to cough. My throat still felt really dry. He handed me the tea and I took a sip. It was a little hot but oh man it tastes good. Like berries and honey.

"Fuck this is really good." I thought out loud. He laughed lightly. "But yeah I feel a little better. Warm."

"Yeah, you were fucking freezing. If it wasn't for the fact you were moving I thought you were dead. What the hell happened?" I hated the look on his face. I've never seen it before. He looked concerned but a little freaked out. And I don't blame him. It might've been worse had he seen what I seen.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"I never seen someone look the way you did, like you saw a...ghost." He trailed off.

I looked up at him and his expression changed. It was more fear than before. His eyes widened for a moment. Then he calmed a bit. "Did you?"

I took a deep breath. "Honestly, I'm not sure. I'm not sure what the hell I saw. I don't believe in ghosts. I don't believe in much anymore. When Leza died things just changed. But I move here and I'm in her house and I can still feel her sometimes. Like really feel her, as if she's right next to me. Then there’s this town. Between these murders and the missing people, those little girls, and the thing I saw... He was there. He was in there house.... And he was in mine... He was in Leza's room..." I glanced at Rob. The fear was still in his eyes. But I couldn't make out if he believed me or not.

"He was in the house. Everything was shaking... Like a fucking earth quake was in the house. The door near broke off. He just walked in and he, he just morphed into this thing! He just twisted himself and he, he was hurting me. He didn't touch me but it was hurting me. But then he did touch me, like a fucking grim reaper. It was cold, it felt like death. I don't know I can't think of the right words but it was ... I don't know. I don't know what I'm saying."

I looked back at the cup in my hands. I moved a lot when I was talking some splashed on the blanket. I avoided looking at Rob. I didn't wanna think about anything. I wanted this to be a dream, a horrible dream. But I wasn't waking up.

"My friend Mike was one of the biggest atheists I've ever known. He had a logical or scientific explanation for everything anyone said." Robs voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"He was my good friend. Things were always dark here. People were dying, disappearing. But he found a way to keep light of the situation. Until he just changed. He was paranoid all the time, saying someone was watching him. He wouldn't leave his house for a while. One day I talked him into coming here. It took a while but he packed a bag and he drove over. After a few days he was almost getting back to himself. He started laughing again. But I left for work. I came back and he was gone. No one ever found him, or a body. But he described what he saw once. A tall pale man, but his fingers and hands were black, and his hands were like claws.  He said it appeared everywhere he went."

"What about the face?" I asked.

"He hated talking about the face, like he cringed at the idea of picturing it again. He just said he had a red smile, like a clown."

I felt a tear fall down my face. I was scared. I've never been this afraid in my life.

"I always knew there was something in this place. But I never saw it myself. I only watched people I knew be terrorized by it.”

More tears. I looked down and avoided looking at Rob again. But he placed his finger under my chin to look at him.

"I won't lose you."

He pressed his lips on mine and I embraced him back. For a moment, I did feel safe.