Ｓｔｕｔｔｅｒ [ｂｉｌｌ ｄｅｎｂｒｏｕｇｈ ｘ ｒｅａｄｅｒ]

ᴍᴏᴠɪᴇ ɴɪɢʜᴛ

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Every year since we were little, Eddie and I celebrated the end of the school year with a movie night. We always made a blanket fort and stayed up well passed the time Mom went to bed.

Eddie wasn't a huge fan of horror, so I always threw in a fantasy or a sci-fi. Tonight, we picked out E.T., and Children of the Corn, but I couldn't fine the Poltergeist.

"Hey, Eds, have you seen my copy of The Poltergeist?" I asked, knocking on his bedroom door. Maybe I moved it, or it got put away with the other tapes in the hall closet.

"Yeah, I think it's still by the TV," he said, opening his door. I nodded, turning to walk downstairs. I'd already gotten out the sheets and blankets we were going to use, I just had to set the fort up.

I set the tapes down by the TV and got to work, grabbing two of the dining room chairs and draping a sheet over them. I then remembered something.

From the base of the stairs, I called for Eddie, who was walking from the bathroom to his bedroom.

"Can you grab my quilt from my room?" I ask. I see him nod and disappear into my room. I got back to work on the fort.

Eddie came downstairs right as I finished, placing the last heavy book on the chair to keep the blanket in place. He tossed my quilt and stuffed bear into the fort and walked into the kitchen to get a snack. He came back with two Hersheys bars.

I crawled into the fort, snuggling into my blanket and slipping Poltergeist into the VCR. Eddie followed closely behind, handing me a chocolate

About twenty minutes into the movie, I had gotten thirsty. I stood up, careful not to knock any of the blankets down.

"Where're you going?" Eddie asked, reaching forward to pause the movie.

"I'm thirsty."

The only light in the kitchen was the dim lamp above the sink. I reached up into the cabinet for a glass and turned on the tap. When the glass was full, I turned off the tap and took a long sip, looking out the window. That's when I saw it.

What looked like a strangely pieced together face stared into the kitchen front outside. I yelped. The glass fell from my hand, shattering. Water soaked the bottoms of my socks.

"Y/n?" Eddie called. I heard him shuffle through the living room. "Are you alright?"

I look at him in the doorway and back out the window. The face was gone. I place a hand on my chest, feeling my heavy heartbeat. I was just seeing things. Nothing was there.

"Mom's gonna kill me," I mumbled. Eddie flipped on the overhead light. I yanked the curtains shut.

"What's wrong?"

I shook my head. "I saw something outside. It scared me," I said. Sure, I could trust Eddie with anything, but I was afraid that he would just think I was crazy. I frowned, kneeling down to pick up the shards of glass. Water soaked through the knees of my sweats.

He dug through a drawer for rags to dry the floor with and dropped them neatly onto the floor. I carefully swiped glass into the trashcan, but once piece cut into my skin.

"Ouch," I hissed.

Eddie looked over and saw me shaking my hand into the trashcan. He frowned.

"Come here," he said, beginning to walk to the bathroom. I sat down on the toilet lid as he got out gauze and a bottle of rubbing alcohol. He carefully grabbed my wrist and held my hand under the cold water from the tap. My hand became numb.

Eddie counted down from three before pouring some rubbing alcohol onto my cut. I bit my tongue.

"Okay..... and there you go," he finished, tucking in the end of the gauze and put everything back under the sink.

"Thanks, Eddie. Sorry," I mumbled. He shook his head, closing the cabinet door.

"Don't be sorry. You're okay."

We went back into the kitchen to collect the rags from the floor. And while it still wasn't very late, I think Eddie and I can both agree that we're worn out. As we entered the blanket fort again, neither of us unpaused the movie. Instead, we each grabbed a pillow and switched off the light.

Eddie seemed to be completely fine, as he almost instantly drifted off to sleep. I lay awake, staring at the sheet that was draped above my head. That face... I couldn't get it out of my head.

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