Penumbra (#WelcomeToTheBlumhouse Entry)

Penumbra

Evelyn sat on her bed, letting the water drip down from her hair. The snake pendant was still cold on her skin from when she grabbed it from the bottom of the swimming lake. 

Her pen and papers lay on her bed, splotches of water flicked onto the pages. 

She looked to her open door. She could see out into the hallway where, pushing into the walls, were shadows. They ebbed and waved with breaths, right outside her room.

"Mom. Dad. What are you doing?" She asked. There was an unusual cold feeling in her stomach, echoing into her quickening heart as she waited for an answer. No response, but she knew they were watching her again. 

Evelyn got up from her bed and walked toward where the shadows flicked unsteadily.

She got to her doorway and stepped out into the hall. She felt a jarring pull through her body. Her parents stood and stared at her on either side of the hallway. The darkness around her felt deeper, and the air hollower.

"What do you want?" Evelyn asked, looking between them.

"Where'd you get that?" Her mom reached out to the pendant around her neck. Evelyn took a step back. Her parents watched her.

"I... The lake." Evelyn said. There was something too deep in the way the house's darkness was. 

"Let us touch it." Her dad said. She looked at their faces. They stared straight at the pendant, no reflection in their eyes.

"What? No." She said. Her dad then reached out and grabbed her arm. His grip was too rough, tightly digging into her skin. She pulled away, unnerved. Something was wrong with them. "Look, I'm busy. See you later." Evelyn said, backing up into her room and closing the door. She waited, holding it closed. And though it was silent, she knew her parents were still right outside. 

She locked her door and walked back to her bed, gripping the cold pendant. Her heartbeat was unnecessarily fast as she picked up her pen and tried to do her homework.

And then there was another shock to her body as her doorknob rattled. The thick ink of the pen splotched messily, a line crossing through the page. She looked toward the door.

"What do you want?" She asked. The doorknob kept rattling.

"Let us in." Her parents said. Shouted.

They knocked harshly against the door and the noise hit through the whole house. Maybe she should.

She got up and went right up to her door. Her hands shook. Her fingers hovered over the lock. She looked down and saw their shadows moving like ink through the crack. It unnerved her.

She backed up. Her door hinges creaked, and the bangs echoed through the floor. She turned and went to her window. 

She opened it and climbed out into the chill dark air, her wet hair dripping coldly. 

Her door splintered open behind her.

The darkness of the air swarmed her. 

She ran to the lake.