Not Just Another Number

Strange Things Are Happening Here

Sarah's POV

I get out of my car and walk up to my house. I unlock the door and make my presence known. "Mom, Will! I'm home." I yell.

I throw my backpack onto the couch. I hear footsteps coming from the hallway. "Sarah? What are you doing home? I thought you went back to school." Mom asks, looking worried.

"I wanted to make sure Will was okay. And I'll be fine with missing one day." I reassure her. She nods her head. "So, Will tell you anything?" I ask, walking over to the kitchen.

I grab a cup and fill it with water from the sink. I hear the chair creaks as she sits down. She sighs. I turn around and lean against the sink. She looks so tired.

She has visible bags under her eyes. "He saw a monster. The one in this picture." She says, holding up a drawing. I look over the picture. It has a giant, lanky, and dark creature on it.

"He drew that. I found that thing in the recording from Halloween." The background is all red and it sends a shiver down my spine. This is what it looks like? What even is this thing?

I put the paper down and look back at her. "You said you saw it in the recording? Where is the tape?" I ask. She stands up and leads me to the tv. She grabs a tape from on top of it and pops it into the vhs player.

The video plays, showing all of us smiling into the camera. I reach up and fast forward to when Will goes trick or treating. I stop it, noticing the change on the screen.

The video shows some older kids pushing Will around and scaring him. Assholes. One kid in a clown costume shoves him, making him drop the camera.

It hits the ground, and the video starts to mess up. It starts to go fuzzy a little and it glitches. When the screen is clear, I see Will staring out, yelling Mike's name.

It starts to glitch even more, showing something in the background. Suddenly, the screen freezes, revealing the monster from the drawing.

"Holy shit. Mom, wh-" I turn to ask her, but immeadiatly stop. Not only was the video frozen, but so was she.

I stand up really quickly and take a step back. "M-mom?" I ask, but she's staring at the tv, frozen. I look back at the tv, hearing it whine. I cover my ears, trying to block out the sound.

The whining is accompanied by growling, most likely coming from the monster. "Get out of my head." I whimper, pressing harder on my ears.

It starts to get louder and louder. It hurts so much. Suddenly, the whining leaves, but the growling just gets louder. It's almost like it's shaking the house.

I push my hands out and ignite them, looking around. It sounds like it's coming from all around me, but also like it's not even real, just in my hand.

I make my flames burn brighter as my fear and anxiety grows. "Get out of my head!" I yell as loud as I can. And just like that, it goes silent. Almost like the quiet in the center of the storm.

"Sarah?"

I look behind me to see my mom, looking at me confused, and almost suprised. She's no longer frozen, and neither is the tv. "M-mom?" I whisper, feeling my body cool down.

"How did you get there? You were just in front of the tv." She asks, walking up to me. I feel my eyes well up with tears. I start to shake my head and run my hand through my hair. "I-I don't know. W-what's wrong with me?" I ask, mainly to myself, but she hears.

She moves closer to me and cups my face, making me look at her. I feel tears spill out of my eyes, making my vision blurry. She wipes away my tears with her thumb. "Sarah, are you okay? What's going on?" She asks, voice calming and quiet.