Déjà vu

Authors note*

This story was created as a school project so rules were in place to restrict the things I normally put in my writing, also it is a short story and is completed. 

"Why? Why does this have to happen to me?" Scarlet thinks to herself. Scarlet, a girl from the near-by town, sprints through the forest, hearing footsteps closing in behind her. She doesn't know who, or what is chasing her, but she knows she needs to run away. Only minutes before Scarlet was sitting on her bed, having just woken up from a nightmare, staring out the window, she saw something out there, she didn't see what, but she knows she saw something. Less than a minute goes by when she hears scratching coming from outside her house. Just then, the lock on her window clicks open. She doesn't give herself time to think, she just runs right out of her house. Her parents were out for the night so she couldn't stay with them for safety. Back in the present time, she's still running for her life. Now, you might be thinking, 'why in the nine levels of hell would she choose to go through the forest?' well, that's because her house is already in the middle of nowhere and the fastest way to get into town is through the forest. Suddenly the footsteps stop, not slow down, stop, right in their tracks, but Scarlet isn't as stupid as you think, she doesn't stop to see why, she knows she has a better chance if she keeps running but after only a few steps she trips on a root and the world blacks out.

After what feels like only seconds Scarlet wakes up, but now she's in a totally different spot. Scarlet sits up and looks around, where she is sitting there is no trees, or dead leaves, or even old sticks, it is a clearing, but right ahead of her is a house, no, not a house, a cabin. The cabin looked old and creepy, but it is the middle of the night and she didn't know where she is so, she started to walk towards it. The door creaked open as she approached, creeping her out but not enough to stop her. She continued to walk into the cabin, but the door slammed shut as soon as she crossed the threshold. The loud bang of the door made Scarlet jump, she wasn't expecting that. Now she is creeped out. As she walked, she noticed something, the house wasn't pitch black, there is light, but the light wasn't coming from outside it is coming from candles, there is candles lit all over the house, this must mean someone lives here, maybe they can help her. Scarlet walks around the house faster, opening every door, checking every room for this mystery person, hoping they will help. After what feels like 15 minutes, she has opened all the doors but one. If someone is in this house, they have to be in this room. Scarlet slowly opens the door, being careful of any dangers that may be inside. The slow creak of the old hinges interrupts the silence. A small beam of light shines from the crack in the door, getting bigger as Scarlet pulls on the doorknob. When the door is fully open, she can see a rocking chair with ten light candles illuminating the area around it. In the rocking chair sits an old woman around the age of 70. This woman just sits there, not moving, not talking, Scarlet wouldn't have even known the woman noticed her walk in if it weren't for the fact the woman was staring right at her.

"H-hello" Scarlet says to the old lady "um, sorry to impose but, I'm lost and was wondering if I can stay here tonight?" The lady remains silent, "of course, you don't have to say yes, I can leave right now if you want but I'd be really grateful if I could stay" the lady continues to stare at Scarlet, dead still, not moving a muscle. "I-I'll just go then" Scarlet stutters but as soon as she turns around, the door slams shut. Scarlet turns back around to ask the lady what happened, but the chair was empty, left rocking as if the lady had gotten off it in a hurry. Scarlet looks around the room trying to find where the lady went but before she could turn all the way around, cold fingers grasped her shoulder making Scarlet jump.

"Whatever you do, don't touch the mirror" a raspy voice said making shivers run down Scarlets spine. A large bang echoed from behind her and the hand lifted from her shoulder. Scarlet spun around to ask what the lady meant but she is not there. Scarlet panicked. Why is this happening? The lady was right there and now she's not, there no way that's possible. She continues to turn around looking for anywhere the lady could've hidden but there is no-where, the only door in the room is the one to get in and out and Scarlet is certain it wasn't opened, there is also no furniture in the room except the rocking chair and a bed pressed up against the wall with no space behind or under it to hide. Suddenly, all the candles go out, plunging the room into darkness. The only light is the moon shining in though the window. The smoke twirls from the wicks of the candles, filling the room with scent of beeswax, making Scarlet feel a bit faint. The moonlight shining through the window mixes with the smoke creating a veil like haze, making her vision blurry. Scarlet feels lightheaded, her eyelids start to feel heavy like every eyelash is being weighted down, making her unable to keep them open. Is it from the smoke? Scarlet doesn't know but all she's concerned with right now is keeping her eyes open. Before she can do that, her world blacks out once more.

This has happened before. Scarlet wakes up after what feels like seconds, having the same dreary feeling as before, and like before, she wakes up in the clearing, laying on solid ground, with no traces of life around her, and like before, the cabin is right in front of her. Scarlet has no clue what is going on, she has already woken up here, and just as she'd done before, she made her way toward the cabin. When she gets to the cabin, which didn't take very long, she notices something's different. Last time she didn't have to open the door, it opened on its own, but this time the door stayed still, not moving at all. Expecting it to open, Scarlet stands there waiting until she realizes it won't. She reaches her hand forwards and grabs the doorknob, which feels like ice on her fingers, but she doesn't let go. Scarlet turns the knob and pulls, as she does this, the door lets out a low creak and opens to show a dark room, no candles, no lights, Scarlet is hesitant to go in, but she will take the chance. She brushes her fingers against the walls, trying to find a light switch to light up the cabin and just before she is about to give up and turn around, she feels one. When she flicks it on, a singular light flickers on revealing everything that has changed. All though the room looked relatively the same at first glance, if you take a second look you can see how all the furniture is draped with white sheets and is covered in a thick layer of dust, as if it had been left untouched for years even though Scarlet was just here. She sees the staircase she went up to get to the old lady and immediately goes up, flicking another switch to light the way. She runs up the stairs, being careful not to trip, then preceding down the hallway. Soon, she reaches the door to the room and quickly opens it as to not give herself time to second guess. When she opens the door, she notices the rocking chair is gone and on the bed is a big antique mirror with a black ornate border around it. Scarlet walks towards the mirror. Something about it just drew her in, it is as if she wasn't in control of her actions, but her mind is only on getting to the mirror. The old lady warned her not to touch the mirror, but she couldn't help it, she reaches her hand forward and touches the glass of the mirror with the pads of her fingers.

This time it is instant, not the slow process like the other times, letting her try to stop it, there is no smoke, no root, this time there is nothing to blame it on. Scarlet fell to the floor, and while her sight blacked out, none of her other senses did. That's when she heard it, footsteps, the same ones as before, the same ones that had chased her through the forest. The footsteps made their way up the stairs at a slow taunting pace. Through the hallway, each step echoing into the room. Her heart beats faster, her sight still gone, and she dreads the moment to come, she knows it knows she's in here, that's the whole reason it's here, to get her, it's been here all along, but she didn't realize, it's been with her since before she woke up from her nightmare, quietly toying with her, controlling her without her realizing. Before she knows, it walks into the room, slowly coming up to her feet, its footsteps deafening in her ears, she feels cold, claw like fingers wrap around her ankles before she starts to be dragged across the floor. This is why she always woke up in the same spot, it wasn't magic or sleep walking, she is purposely put there every time she woke up. She is being dragged down the stairs now, her head hitting each step leaving a stinging pain, but she doesn't say anything about it, she doesn't cry out, for she can't speak, and she can't move, she is just stuck there feeling everything, hearing everything. She gets dragged outside, the cool air calming her down enough to think her own thoughts, how many times has this happened? She feels as if this has happened before, but she can't remember anything. The dragging stops and the thing let go of her ankles, Scarlet can tell that she is in the center of the clearing, right where she had woken up all those times before. That's when it happened, first her body went numb, all the pain she had felt leaves her, now, not only can she not move her body, but she also can't feel anything either, then her smell and her taste. Is she falling unconscious again? Will she wake up in a few seconds still in the clearing as if nothing had changed? She didn't know but finally her hearing goes out and her mind goes blank. Scarlet bolts up right in her bed, drenched in sweat. She just had a nightmare, a bad one but she can't remember it. She's scared, the feeling of dread overwhelming her, maybe she can go sleep with her parents the rest of the night, no, they're out tonight. She's left alone. Out of the corner of her eye she sees something out her window, she turns and looks out it, staring, waiting for it to come back. There is something out there, she didn't see what, but she knows she saw something. For some reason she can't shake the feeling she's done this before.