Lights Off

 Whether it was Brady barking from the Haydens' house or cars passing by, Ellendale Point was always filled with noise. But it was unusually quiet in the neighborhood tonight. To add to the eeriness of the night, Vivien woke up with a cold, creeping feeling in her gut.

"Mom? Dad?" She was answered with silence. Alone. That's all that she could feel. Getting down from her bed, the floor creaked beneath her feet. She silently screamed and put her hand over her heart when she saw her shadow cast on the wall due to the moonlight from her window. Calming down, Vivien slowly opened the door so as to not make any more noise. Stepping out into the hallway, she noticed that it was pitch black, which was pretty unnatural since her parents always leave the light in the closet, at the end of the hallway, on. She tried to turn on the light in the hallway but it flickered and died out.

Seeing no other option, she grabbed her phone and walked out of her room with her flashlight on her phone turned on. Nervously, she went near her parent's room and cranked it open a bit. She flashed her light through the crack of the door. Her flashlight shone on the bear at the end of the room which made her jump out of her skin with fear. Her eyes widened when she saw the bears' eyes move around the room to meet her own.

Too afraid to go into the room, she backed away slowly and went downstairs as quickly and quietly as she could. She tried calling her parents and heard their phones ringing up in their room. Not knowing what else to do, Vivien quickly slipped some shoes on and walked out her house. Not a single house had a light on. Even the street lights weren't on and the air was thick with silence. Shaking, she walked back inside and called her friends, Natasha and Cameron. Neither of them picked up and, in a last attempt, she called 9-1-1.

When someone picked up, Vivien, overwhelmed with relief and joy, started talking immediately,

"Hello, I'm calling f-from Ellendale Point. My p-parents aren't home and their phones are at home. I-I tried calling other people, but they aren't picking up. I-I'm really scared, p-please, help me find m-my pa-", she stopped when she realized no one was on the line. She looked at her phone and face-palmed when she realized it died Her charger, thankfully, was downstairs. Stumbling through the dark, she went behind her couch and plugged it into her phone. Crouching near it, she waited for it to turn on, her heart hammering away in her chest.

Ten minutes went by in pin-drop silence and her phone switched on. But instead of showing the normal Apple logo, the screen was filled with blurred lines and then it vibrated intensely before it short circuited. Dropping it immediately, she stared at it for a full, agonizing minute before she let out an involuntary sob. Vivien lost her only hope of saving herself from this nightmare.

With panic coursing through her, she grabbed a jacket from the coat rack since it was winter. Just to be safe, she also grabbed a baseball bat from the shoe closet in case she needed to defend herself. Closing the door behind her, she locked her house and started walking towards the entrance of the neighborhood to see if anyone passing by could give take her to the local police station.

As she walked by, the trees loomed over her threateningly and the wind screamed in her ears. The dark shadows of the houses flickered around her and seemed to be whispering to her, warning her to turn away. The more she walked, the more a sense of forbidding grew in her mind. When she looked down at the ground, she immediately noticed that her hair in her shadow was let loose. She reached up and touched the back of her head to feel the bun she placed her hair in before sleeping. With terror pounding through her body, she ran as fast as she could towards Ellendale Point's entrance.

Right as she turned around the corner to reach the entrance of her neighborhood, she stood in front of her house, in the exact same place as she started. At that point, she knew her world had turned upside down. With tears silently streaming down her face, she walked back into her house as she knew it was pointless to keep walking around.

Just as she stepped back into her house, she saw a dark silhouette facing the window. Trying her hardest not to make a sound, she gripped the handle of the door to go back outside, when the silhouette spoke.

"Where do you think you're going my dear?" Vivien froze, chills running up her spine. "Don't you want to see your parents?", the figure breathed out in a raspy voice.

"Wh-who are you? Wh-what are you doing here? What did you do to my parents?" Vivien asked in a shaky but determined voice.

A cold, raspy laugh echoed throughout the house. Vivien could see it slowly turn around, hair flowing around its head, even though there was no wind. She couldn't see its face since the house was dark except for the moonlight that streamed through the window. She pressed herself to the door as she saw it coming closer to her. She felt her body unwillingly pulled towards the figure as she tried her hardest to escape.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" A hand clasped around Vivien's wrist and she felt herself lose consciousness.

Gasping, she sat upright on her bed. She looked around and saw that she was in her room. She looked out her window to see the moon shining brightly. Hearing Brady bark in the distance made her sigh in relief. Everything is ok. It was all a dream.

"Was it, my dear? Or was it more than just a dream? ", the same raspy voice from the dream said from behind her before she felt something close around her neck.