𝕯𝖆𝖒𝖆𝖌𝖊𝖉 ☽ 𝕒𝕙𝕤

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕱𝖔𝖚𝖗

𝚖𝚊𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 - 𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚣

☽

There's something chasing me. It's face is almost like a human baby's, but contorted and wrinkled, big black eyes and blood around it's mouth. It has a few straggly pieces of white hair sprouted from it's mostly bald head. It's pale and glows in the darkness. I try to run away, but I trip over. I scramble to get up but I see the thing hurtling towards me. I close my eyes and brace myself...

I wake up with a scream, jolting myself upright, gasping for breath. I take a deep sigh as the nightmare starts to fade. The image of that thing is still burned deep into my mind - I can't describe it exactly, but that thing is the embodiment of evil.

As my breathing slows, a floorboard creaks in the corner of my room.

I look over to where the sound came from. It must just be my mind playing tricks on me but it almost looks like the outline of a person.

'Hello?' I barely whisper, my voice trembling.

The figure starts moving. I'm too terrified to move or even think. As it moves I can start to make out the figure of a large woman, and it looks like she's drenched with water and wearing a nurse's uniform. Her steps are loud as she shuffles across the carpet.

I close my eyes and flinch away as she approaches me.

This is just still part of my nightmare. It's just a nightmare.

My eyes fly open as I feel a cold drop of water fall on my forehead. The woman is standing right above me. Her face is grey and spotted with water droplets.

'Look what he did to me...' She mumbles.

I close my eyes again and I'm about to scream when my mom calls my name.

'Eve?' She calls.

When I open my eyes, she's gone.

'Evie, what's wrong? I heard you scream...' she walks over to my bedside.

I sit up, hunched over on my bed, shaking and confused. I can't say anything, I'm too focused on trying to figure out what the hell I just saw.

My mom leans down and wraps her arms around me. I bury my face in her shoulder and start crying. I can't just be imagining things. What if I'm going crazy?

She shuffles slightly and flinches. Moving back, she feels the carpet. 'The carpet's wet,' she looks at me, confused as I stare back at her in horror.

✧✧✧

The next week went by fairly quickly. I haven't had anymore nightmares, and the furniture has stayed in place. But there's a weird feeling in this house. It's almost like the very walls have absorbed evil and are secreting it - but that's totally implausible. Other than a few doors moving on their own and taps in the bath stopping by themselves, nothing much has happened. It's an old house, I guess. But what's really stopped me from going insane right now is Tate. I've been spending more and more time with him, and he's the first thing that has shown me a glimpse of happiness in a long time.

Today I start my new school. Westfield High. My parents think that by moving schools I just won't get bullied anymore. If only it was that simple. I sit at the dining room table, picking at my breakfast. I check my watch. 7:56. It's time for me to leave.

"I gotta go," I announce to the table. I gulp down the last bit of orange juice and sling my backpack over my shoulder. My mom gestures for me to come over and spreads her arms for a hug. I go over and hug her.

"Bye honey, have a good day and school." she says, squeezing me tighter until I can feel my insides about to explode. "And remember, don't let anyone get to you."

After a while, it seems that she's never going to let go. I'm gonna miss the bus. I pull away, relieved I can finally breathe again.

"I won't," I say with a smile. "Bye mom."

"Have a great day sweetie," my dad says, looking up from his newspaper as I leave the room.

I open the door and walk out. This is gonna be a good year. I repeat those words over in my head, as if it will make them more true. I already know this year is gonna be just as bad as always. It would be stupid of me to think this is going to be any different. I look up at the sun until I have to close my eyes because it's too bright. I just stand there and let my face soak up the rays.

"This is gonna be a good year," I say out loud. Then it might be loud enough to overpower the negative thoughts whirring around in my head. Spoiler alert: it isn't.

As I walk out of the gates I see a man staring at me from across the street. He's dressed in a black suit with a black hat. His left arm is uncomfortably bent upwards and I can't make out much from here but one side of his face looks malformed.

When I see him, he continues to stand there, not moving. I quicken my pace, checking over my shoulder a few times, but he's still there. I try not to let it get to me - I'm probably just imagining it. Since we moved here I've just been so paranoid.

✧