Entity_17

Chapter 2: Sitting Ducks

After that rush of terror and adrenaline ended, I just assumed that it was gone for good, so I told Alexa to try and get some sleep. It was already 3:00 am and I had nothing else to say after saving her from potential death, and we were as tired as mules. As I was preparing my bed, I told Alexa she could sleep in my sister's room if she'd like, but she was apparently too horrified to budge. I didn't bother to force her from her spot, so I told her she could sleep in my bed and I would sleep in my beanbag. She suddenly started to move as if that's what she was waiting to hear since she got here. She hopped on my bed and slept like she was Sleeping Beauty. I jumped on my bean bag and eased myself to sleep. For a while, I slept peacefully, but that was soon interrupted by a knock on the door. I woke up and realized that Alexa wasn't on the bed. I rushed downstairs to see if she was there, and I noticed the window was open. I went over to the window and felt a chill slither down my spine like a snake stealthily snatching a snack. My heart dropped and the hair on my arms spiked up at the horrid sight of a body down the road staring at me. The dense dusk fog flew inside the room from outside, which blinded me temporarily. Soon enough, the fog disappeared, and so did the body. Once I turned back, it felt like an electric current surged up my spine, as I gazed at the wall in front of me, now plastered with the word "Beware" in dark red blood, presumably from that body on the streets. The walls turned a rusty red and began to crumble down until suddenly everything stopped.

After I woke up, I saw Alexa sitting beside me, I looked at her in confusion as to what was going on. She told me to stay put and wait for her while she got something to calm me down, but I noticed that as she closed the door, a tall and slender shadow appeared behind the door, which was now completely closed. The slender creature's body looked like it hadn't eaten in months, and its face was a sphere of darkness like a black hole had absorbed any expression it may have had. Its hands were also slender, with fingers like swords. As it moved to me, I saw what looked like a mouth opening up, ready to bring me to the same fate as its face. I tried to run, but I found myself going nowhere. I tried to scream, but I ended up hearing only my inner fear. All I could do was watch in terror and hopelessness as it approached me slowly, ready to consume me after all my efforts of survival. Its mouth opened fully to reveal a bright red abyss, wide open as pieces of its body's skin stretching, before it leaped at me, like a lion pouncing on helpless prey. Its face was as close as it could get to mine when I started hearing whispers. It was a voice that said "Wake up... Sean, please wake up". The whispers became louder and clearer until the creature's face faded into Alexa's, and I woke up. To my surprise, Alexa was sitting beside me with a gaze of worry. "Hey, are you ok Sean?", she broke out. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a nightmare." Suddenly, I heard movement coming from the Attic. I grabbed the 9 millimeters under my bed, and my flashlight, in case it was dark (which at the time, I knew there was a 99% chance that it was). I told Alexa to stay in my bedroom, in case anything happened up there, and so she stayed. I left the room, closed the door behind me, and went to the end of the hallway, which suddenly felt like an endless path. I found the stairs leading to the dark abyss that was the attic.

Like I expected, it was pitch black, but that problem was soon solved thanks to my trusty flashlight. As I turned it on, the footsteps suddenly stopped, as if whatever was making them got startled, and unsettling silence kicked in. As I went up the stairs, the wooden boards of the stairs creaked like an ancient mechanism activating for the first time in eons. When I finally reached the attic, I looked for a light switch, but then the lights flickered on automatically. I stumbled back in shock until I bumped into a wall and cornered myself. From behind a desk, a creature came out and approached me. As it emerged from the only shadow in the room and came to the light, I realized it was a human. "Sean?" I asked. "Sean, are you ok?" The person came closer, and I could see that it was William, a good friend of mine. "Ugh, William! Why are you here? You almost gave me a heart attack!" "Sorry bud, but don't you remember? You asked if I could come sleep over like the good old times." I facepalmed, and replied "Oh right, I forgot! Sorry. I had an absolutely miserable day but now I think I'm fine. But why are you in my attic?" "Oh, I saw that the lights were on and the door was open, so I thought that you'd be the-" before he could say anything else, I interrupted. "Wait, I never turned on the lights." "Wait, if you didn't, then..." He gulped. "Who did?" A jolt surged through my spine and the tingling feeling of fear struck as we looked around anxiously. However, there was no one around us. Suddenly, I realized there was a book on top of the table William was hiding behind. As I came closer to the musty old thing, I realized it was a relic or antique of some sort. However, what I couldn't wrap my head around was, why was it there and how did it get there?