atelophobia ↠ e. kaspbrak | ✓

Chapter Eight

Right Here Waiting by Richard Marx played in my ears as I let my eyes flutter closed momentarily. I had been laying there and staring up at the ceiling for what felt like hours, letting my thoughts run rampant.

With a small groan, I rolled over and glanced at my alarm clock.

4:30 am.

A frustrated whimper escaped past my lips at the realization of my sleep deprivation as I ran a hand over my face and blew out a shaky sigh. I sat up and glanced around, letting my eyes fully adjust to the dim lighting of the room. Maybe I just need some fresh air...

I got up and yanked off my headphones. Walking towards my bedroom window, I switched open the lock and tugged the glass pane up partially before carefully sliding out and onto the roof. A chill ran down my spine as my bare feet hit the cold material of the shingles. Plopping down and resting my head in my hands, I inhaled the cool, fresh air of the night. I knew it wouldn't last long, as summer days in Derry were hot and humid the moment that the sun had the chance to rise and heat up, so I savored the feeling while I could.

Oh, Rosie... I heard the taunting voice creep out.

"W-what? I thought I- I thought- no. please, no." I murmured worriedly, squeezing my eyes shut tightly.

You thought what, Rosie? That I was gone? Oh, I'm never gone...

"Stop. P-please. I'll do anything, just leave me alone... please." I cried, choking back a sob as I placed the palms of my hands firmly against my ears to try and block the voice out, which only seemed to make it louder.

Do you really think I'm just gonna leave? The voice asked with a giggle. (a/n. well... :( you thought wrong. NEVER judge a book by its cover. Ok, sorry. I'll get back to writing now)

"I- I don't know. Please..." I begged, my breathing quickly becoming ragged.

The voice didn't respond at first, but when it did, it was deep and low, the childish glee in it becoming hungry, almost. I'm never leaving, Rosie... we'll be together forever when you float... we all float... we all float down here, Rosie... you'll... float... TOO.

I jumped suddenly at it's words, losing my balance and sliding down the incline of the roof as a startled scream tumbled past my lips. My body met the ground with a sickening thud and my hand immediately flew to my mouth, trying to muffle the cries that were escaping my throat. Black dots danced across my vision as I desperately attempted to stand up, yelping in pain when a sharp sting erupted in my chest.

My head whipped backwards at the sound of the voice's giggles behind me and I screamed when I saw a luminous clown approaching me slowly, almost as if he was dementedly teasing me.

I turned back around and began to frantically crawl on my arms away from the clown. My forearms dug into the wet grass with every move and I felt as if I was getting nowhere. I glanced hurriedly behind me again and screamed at the top of my lungs when I found myself almost nose to nose with the clown. It grabbed my neck tightly and I gagged at the smell of his rancid breath fanning across my face, hot tears streaming down my cheeks.

"ROSE!"

I could hear Tyler's shouts from the porch, but I couldn't do anything but writhe in pain and fear as I laid on the front lawn. The clown had disappeared, but I could still see him dancing across my vision in small pieces. The last thing I saw as I felt Tyler pick me up, place me in the backseat of his car, and pull out of the driveway was the clown,

sitting at the edge of the yard,

with a devilish grin plastered to it's face,

and a red balloon in it's gloved hand.

Can you say: "my favorite chapter so far?"
No, but seriously, this book is getting wild and I'm loving it😂