IT31 || 31 days of IT

15 - Don't Look Up

Ben walked down the busy street in Derry. He fixed the straps of his backpack on his shoulders and hummed gently to himself. New Kids On The Block played through his headphones. He shied away from any person walking his way, carefully dodging anybody that walked in his path.

He stopped in his tracks when he felt a hand grab his shoulder. He looked to see his older gentleman, pale and wrinkly, staring right at his face. Ben carefully moved his headphones back from his ears.

"Can I help you?" Ben asked in a soft sweetened voice. 

"Could you spare any change?" the strange man asked. His left eye twitched which distracted Ben's young mind easily.

"Sorry, I don't have money" Ben frowned. The man's eyebrows lowered.

"That's a lie" he grumbled. Ben quickly shook his head, turning his body fully toward the man.

"No, really. I don't. I'm not old enough to work just yet" he admitted sadly. "Is there anything else I can help with?"

"Ah, you're just one of them bratty ol' kids" the man pointed his index finger at the left of Ben's face, crossed it while letting his nail graze over Ben's skin, and stopped just to the right of his face. He mumbled something incoherent. Ben just watched him, confused. He slowly started to back away. "You've been cursed you naughty brat. Don't look up" 

Ben hurried away from the man, holding the straps of his backpack and stumbling past the strangers in his way. He checked over his shoulder a few times and only slowed down once he noticed the man was out of sight. His breathing was heavy. 

"What was that all about?" Ben asked himself. But he had no answers. He just shook his head and continued walking home. "Don't look up?" He muttered. He bit his lip and shook his head once again. He wanted to take a peek but something in his gut wouldn't let him. 

Instead, he just rushed home. He wanted the safety of his mother's warm embrace. Like a blanket just out of the dryer on a cold winter's night. He smiled to himself, the idea carrying him home. He forgot all about the strange old man.

He gave his mom a hug as soon as he got home. He talked about his day, forgetting to mention the old man right away. They held each other for a little while before his mother told him she needed to get dinner ready. He nodded and offered to help.

After dinner, Ben went upstairs to his room to finish some homework. Everything was fine until certain words from his homework reminded him of the old man from earlier. He shuddered, remembering his instructions. Don't look up. 

He ignored it but he still followed the instructions. There was just something twisting his stomach just enough to warn him of it. He quickly finished his homework, took his shower, and got ready for bed. He said goodnight to his mother, gave her a soft kiss on the cheek, then walked back to his room and sat on the edge of his bed.

He kicked his slippers off, letting them land just beside the bed. He moved the blankets out of his way and laid down on the cloud like mattress. His eyes were closed, enjoying the comfort of his bed. 

But then, he made the biggest mistake of his life. He opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling.

There, clinging to the ceiling with it's limbs, was a woman. Not a beautiful woman or human for that matter. This woman had long black curly hair, full white eyes, razor sharp teeth, and wrinkly rotting flesh.

She screamed, sounded like a dying pterodactyl. 

Before Ben could yell for help from his mom, the woman jumped down on him while baring her teeth and everything went black.