The Cloud

Before

As I go to lay down, I hear something. "It's probably just the cat," I say aloud to myself. I lay down on my uncle's couch (where I'm sleeping for the summer), turn off the lamp, and start my nightly routine-prayer and meditation. I start clearing my mind when I hear another loud noise upstairs.
Not being the one for confrontation, I pull the blankets over my head, hoping whatever is making the noise goes away.
I start clearing my mind again, getting more anxious by the second. Right when I'm about to press play on my meditation app, I hear a door slam upstairs. Now, I'm freaked out and I close my eyes, get under the covers, and put my hands over my ears.
I sit there for what feels like forever and finally loosen the grip on my ears. As I stop to listen, I hear another sound. It's faint, but constant. I hold my breath to hear even more. It sounds like something going up and down, coming and going. Too afraid to peek out of the covers, I just sit there, listening. Then I notice something.
I feel and weird pressure on the blanket that is covering me. It feels like a vent is blowing air on my stomach. I freeze again, hoping to hear the noise again, and praying that it's just the air conditioner, but the sound is too inconsistent.
I sit there, frozen in terror, wishing I was back home, wishing I was safe in my own bed, but then I realize something. The sound and pressure on my blanket are in sync. As the sound gets louder, my blanket moves. As the sound goes away, the pressure goes away.
Someone is standing over me. The sound is their breath. The pressure is their breath.
I roll over on my side, acting as though I'm unaware. I think of who it could be. I listen to see if I can hear any other sounds in the house, but I can't. It must be my uncle.
I roll back over, throw the blanket off my head and say, "Okay, very funny." Nobody is there. All I see is the small blue screen on the security system, showing that it is armed.
Freaking out, I throw the blanket back over myself and all I hear is my own rapid breath and heartbeat. I calm myself down and start thinking about how I could've made the whole thing up. Of course there wasn't anybody there; the fan must've been on, which would explain the sound and movement of the blanket.
As I'm completely doubting myself, I begin to hear something else, a completely different sound. It sounds like creaking wood. I know this house is old, so I just assume the air conditioner is shutting off.
The creaking continues. It gets louder with every sound, eliminating the chance of it being the air conditioner. I listen closer, it sounds exactly like-I realize what it sounds like. It sounds like footsteps, approaching me. I sit there, frozen in terror, again. As the steps get closer, I hold my breath.
I feel something-a tug at my blanket. I grip the blanket with all of the strength I have. The tug goes away and instead, the same pressure from before-the breath. This time, it's right over my face; I can feel its warmth. I feel another tug on my blanket, this time harder. I reach the grab my phone and make the mistake of letting go of the blanket.
The blanket flies off of me and the couch. I open my phone and turn the flashlight on. In the corner of the room, there's a figure. A dark, shapeless figure; it looks like a black cloud. I shine the light directly on it.
I see eyes glow back at me and a hand reach out from the cloud. It comes at me and I scream, but no sound comes out. It feels as though there's a hand over my mouth. I feel myself being dragged off of the couch.
I hit the floor, but I keep moving. I'm thrashing violently, still trying to scream, but it's no use. I'm dragged all the way to the top of the basement stairs. I feel a release, and I try to stand up.
As I get my feet on the ground, I'm pushed. I fall down the stairs, and when I hit the bottom, I look up at the ceiling.
My two uncles are floating, motionlessly right below the ceiling. I try to scream to them, but again, no sound. I stand up, but I'm thrown to the floor. I lay there for what feels like hours, silent and unable to make any movement. I pass out.
When I wake up, I'm back on the couch from the night before, and the sun is shining through the windows. I can hear my uncles in the kitchen, with the sound of bacon sizzling on the stove in the background. I slowly walk into the room, and ask them how the slept. They looked at each other, looked back at me, and simultaneously said, "great," with weird smiles.