sup. changing the writing style of this book cuz that's how all of my other books are so yeah lol and you can thank @mutantkid123 for the idea!
it's nearing two in the morning and josh has yet to sleep. you're probably wondering why.
you see, josh has been having nightmares. no, not just nightmares, night terrors.
it all starts out as a nightmare. the same one over and over again, every single night. josh sits in his bedroom, watching the television, minding his own business. the lights will flicker, followed by the volume on the television turning all the way up on its own.
he'll try to turn down the volume, but it never works. the second his finger touches the volume button, the lights shut off completely. it distracts him, and when he looks back at the remote, it seems as if it's a foreign object. he can't read anything on it, can't find anything that looks remotely like a volume button.
then the laughing starts. it starts inside of the television, whatever show is playing changing into a completely white screen. the little giggles work their way from the television into josh's head. they come from inside him, echoing in his ears and ricocheting back out. he always clamps his hands over his ears, hoping the action will help drown out the giggles. it never works.
it gets worse. the high-pitched giggles turn into dark laughter, the deep voice resonating within him. he shuts his eyes and cries. he's paralyzed with fear, all he can do is cry and yell and hope for it to stop. when he opens his eyes, it does. well... somewhat.
every time josh opens his eyes, he's laying in bed. he's awake, except he's not. he can see and hear clearly, but can't move nor speak. a heavy weight grows in his chest while a dark figure grows at the end of his bed. his mouth will open, but no sound will come out. he tries to scream, hopeful his neighbors will hear his cries and come to the rescue. that never happens.
his eyes grow wide, unable to look away as the figure transforms. an apparition of a boy climbs over the foot of his bed, crawls towards him, and sits on his chest. the features of his face are hazy, not clear enough for josh to make any distinctions. the only thing he can clearly make out is the eyes. those dark, dark eyes. the deep pools of utter black staring at him, piercing his soul.
josh shakes the thought away, downing the rest of his red bull. this will be the second night in a row with no sleep. he tells himself that it's fine, he's fine, but deep down he knows he's lying to himself.
weird things have been happening ever since he moved into this place. small, subtle things josh otherwise would've never noticed if not for the frequency of such events. lights turned on when they should be off, doors locked when they shouldn't be, misplacing objects like his keys or phone, only to find them in very random places.
josh also has been noticing a change in his mood. he can be completely fine one second, then go on a rampage the next. he frequently has bouts of anger or sadness, something he's never experienced before. all of his friends tell him it's his new house, that there's something wrong with it. he wants to doubt that but isn't so sure anymore.
he sighs, running his hand through the blue hair that hasn't been brushed in two days. hell, he hasn't even left his house in the past two days. he knows he should, but for some reason he just doesn't want to leave.
josh is currently in the living room watching television, buzzed off of the three red bulls he's had in the past hour. he's afraid of going into his bedroom. he's been hearing noises coming from there for the past four hours: shuffling, footsteps, knocks, bangs. he absolutely refuses to investigate.
