Bonded

Chapter One

For the third night in a row, I heard the scratching sounds underneath my bed. I'd been telling myself it was just a mouse in the wall, and the sound was just bent strangely to make it seem like it was underneath me, but now I was thinking otherwise. No mouse was capable of making such sounds. It couldn't be from the wall either- I'd looked under my bed earlier at the gouges in my bed frame, they weren't the type made by claws. They were shallow and crescent shaped... like human nails. I could feel it when the thing under the bed scratched the wood, could feel the nails scraping across it, breaking flakes away.

I was afraid that I was going crazy. I knew that there was nothing there, there couldn't be. My childish fear of monsters under the bed had been gone for years! But what I felt, what I heard, what I saw... It had to be real.

Nothing can hurt me; it's all in my head.

I chanted the words silently as the claws, or nails, continued to shred the bottom of my bed.

I clutched my pillow tighter as the eerie scraping abruptly stopped. I waited for some sort of sound, maybe a creak or rustling fabric, or a breath. I was scared, but never made a peep.

Nothing happened. Minutes passed, but it felt like hours, until I was finally able to fall asleep.

***

I awoke to my alarm going off in my face, which I soon stopped with a lazy movement of my warm. Luckily, I did not whack my wrist on the bedside table again. The clock read 10:30. Damn it, I thought to myself, I forgot I was going out with Jamie today.

Jamie was my best friend, but sometimes she could be a nuisance. I've known her since third grade, the stage where we both were finding ourselves and losing our childhood friends. Luckily, we found each other, and stayed together ever since. A few days ago we agreed that we would go and see The Fault in Our Stars today, and she was so excited. Me, well, I had never read the book, so I would have rather stayed home and watched cartoons. Those have always interested me more than love stories anyway.

I glanced at my bed and shuddered, thinking of the strange things that had happened over the past few nights. Sure, I'd heard of paranormal stuff, and sure, I'd had imaginary friends when I was little, but I was older now. I didn't believe in monsters under the bed. I haven't mentioned it to anyone because at my age, that isn't something you take serious; it's always just another joke.

I looked away and started on my makeup. I didn't use it very often, but I felt like making the extra effort. I made sure to conceal my freckles, and the slight dark spots under my eyes that I'd grown used to. Yeah, some people really liked the freckles because they were the same red color as my hair and they contrasted my green eyes, but I did not much care for them. Jamie said that they made me look childish, and I agree. After using a bit of mascara to darken my lashes, I finished putting on my makeup and walked out of my room.

My little brother Johnny was sitting on the couch watching The Spectacular Spiderman, and I fought the urge to join him, though if I did he'd talk in my ear the whole time. I had always been a sucker for shows like that, just something about the animation and voice acting skills called out to me more than real films. I only got to watch them on Saturday mornings, though. I kept walking through the living room to the kitchen, to find my mom. It was time for me to get out of the house and be social, as Jamie put it, to spread my little wings and become a social butterfly, instead of a chubby otaku caterpillar.

I found my mom and had her drive me to Jamie's, and then drop us off at the movie theatre. I braced myself for all of the emotional teenage girls bound to be sitting by us, and I somehow got through the movie. At the end, though, I couldn't help but shed a few tears. Dammit John Green! My emotional shield took so many hits in a measly hour and a half! I had to agree that it was better than I expected, and it was obvious Jamie liked it because she kept on talking about it on the ride home.

***

The rest of the day passed in a pleasant blur, and before I knew it I was crawling into bed, forgetting to wipe off my makeup as usual. As I drifted off to sleep, I noticed that the scratching sounds hadn't started. Maybe, I thought, everything is normal again. But that's when I noticed the shadow moving across my room, headed straight towards me.

As it made its way over, I realized it was in the shape of a person, slightly shorter than I was. It had no identifiable features, though, just an empty silhouette.

I frowned and clutched my pillow, unable to move from my spot from my irrational, childish fear. What was this, some kind of trick? It had better be.

"Johnny if this is you, I'm gonna kill you in the morning!" I whisper yelled, and I was surprised to see that the shadow stopped in its tracks. Then, it dispersed into a black dust, which to my horror, settled underneath my bed. My body catapulted itself off the bed and I ran out, and then cursed myself for being so jumpy. It's been a long day, I thought to myself. I'm just seeing things. After a quick peek under my bed that proved nothing was there but dust, I laid back down, and rolled onto my side to face the wall.

The scratching never came that night. However, a strange dream took its place.