Status: My first story in a very long time. Enjoy!
3:33 A.M.
3:33 A.M.
She awoke, and the sensation was as though she had just landed on her bed from several feet above it. A jolt, a slight bounce, and a pounding in her chest were all hallmarks of a recurring dream she never remembered. Or a nightmare. Her eyes adjusted to the dim light provided by the moon out the window, and she yawned. Wondering how late it was, she pressed a button to turn on the screen of her smartphone. 3:33 in the morning. It was too early to be up. She rolled onto her back and sighed, blocking out the moon with her arm.
BANG!
It startled her to a sitting position. It sounded like it was coming from her kitchen. She peered out of her open bedroom door and down the hallway. Had something fallen off of a shelf? There was no one else home. There couldn't be. Her roommate was away on a family vacation. They had no pets. What was the noise? Would it be safe to investigate? Probably. Her apartment complex was in a perfectly respectable neighborhood, though her mother's frequent phone calls continuously reminded her of how much that didn't matter, "in this day and age." She gathered herself and cast her blankets aside. She turned on her bedside lamp and squinted in the comparatively harsh light it cast over the room. Her slippers were at her feet, on the floor to the right side of her bed, and she slid them on. Quietly, she crept to the doorway.
BANG!
She was unsettled before, but now she was scared. What would be making the same sound twice? To hold onto her courage, she told herself that it must be the pipes. Maybe they've frozen. It didn't sound like plumbing, not at all, but she ignored that. She tiptoed down the hallway to the kitchen, each step taking her farther from the light in her bedroom. She saw her surroundings darken before her very eyes, from the orange glow of the incandescent light, to blue, to an impenetrable, inky black. Faintly, she could make out the silhouettes of the kitchen counter tops, the toaster, and the table and chairs. Nothing seemed amiss. She turned around, ready to go back to bed, when something in the corner of her vision caught her attention. At first, it looked like a shadow, but it was too dark, and it didn't conform to the shape of the counter top it was perched upon. It was pitch black, its tail swaying like a pendulum, its yellow eyes glowing menacingly. It stared at her. She quickly hit the light switch on the wall, bathing the kitchen in a brutal, fluorescent glow. Where she saw the creature, there was nothing. She exhaled, relieved that it was only her overactive imagination, and turned the light back off. In that very second, she felt claws dig into the flesh of her back, on her spine, and drag down to her hips. She screamed and ran to the bathroom, turning the light on as quickly as she could. When she lifted her shirt and looked in the mirror, seeing the scratches oozing blood, she realized it couldn't be her imagination. Whatever that was, was real. But she saw her advantage: it hated the light.
Shutting off the bathroom light, she swiftly slipped back into her bedroom and sat on her bed, protectively covering her legs with the blankets.
BANG!
The noise in the kitchen again.
BANG!
This time, it was closer. The bathroom? In any case, she was safe with her lamp on.
BANG!
The light in her bedroom was suddenly snuffed out of existence with that final, deafening sound, and the creature lifted and overcame her without giving her the chance to scream.
She awoke, and the sensation was as though she had just landed on her bed from several feet above it. A jolt, a slight bounce, and a pounding in her chest were all hallmarks of a recurring dream she never remembered. The clock on her phone read 3:33 a.m. She was about to turn over and go back to sleep, when from the kitchen she heard a very loud
BANG!
BANG!
It startled her to a sitting position. It sounded like it was coming from her kitchen. She peered out of her open bedroom door and down the hallway. Had something fallen off of a shelf? There was no one else home. There couldn't be. Her roommate was away on a family vacation. They had no pets. What was the noise? Would it be safe to investigate? Probably. Her apartment complex was in a perfectly respectable neighborhood, though her mother's frequent phone calls continuously reminded her of how much that didn't matter, "in this day and age." She gathered herself and cast her blankets aside. She turned on her bedside lamp and squinted in the comparatively harsh light it cast over the room. Her slippers were at her feet, on the floor to the right side of her bed, and she slid them on. Quietly, she crept to the doorway.
BANG!
She was unsettled before, but now she was scared. What would be making the same sound twice? To hold onto her courage, she told herself that it must be the pipes. Maybe they've frozen. It didn't sound like plumbing, not at all, but she ignored that. She tiptoed down the hallway to the kitchen, each step taking her farther from the light in her bedroom. She saw her surroundings darken before her very eyes, from the orange glow of the incandescent light, to blue, to an impenetrable, inky black. Faintly, she could make out the silhouettes of the kitchen counter tops, the toaster, and the table and chairs. Nothing seemed amiss. She turned around, ready to go back to bed, when something in the corner of her vision caught her attention. At first, it looked like a shadow, but it was too dark, and it didn't conform to the shape of the counter top it was perched upon. It was pitch black, its tail swaying like a pendulum, its yellow eyes glowing menacingly. It stared at her. She quickly hit the light switch on the wall, bathing the kitchen in a brutal, fluorescent glow. Where she saw the creature, there was nothing. She exhaled, relieved that it was only her overactive imagination, and turned the light back off. In that very second, she felt claws dig into the flesh of her back, on her spine, and drag down to her hips. She screamed and ran to the bathroom, turning the light on as quickly as she could. When she lifted her shirt and looked in the mirror, seeing the scratches oozing blood, she realized it couldn't be her imagination. Whatever that was, was real. But she saw her advantage: it hated the light.
Shutting off the bathroom light, she swiftly slipped back into her bedroom and sat on her bed, protectively covering her legs with the blankets.
BANG!
The noise in the kitchen again.
BANG!
This time, it was closer. The bathroom? In any case, she was safe with her lamp on.
BANG!
The light in her bedroom was suddenly snuffed out of existence with that final, deafening sound, and the creature lifted and overcame her without giving her the chance to scream.
She awoke, and the sensation was as though she had just landed on her bed from several feet above it. A jolt, a slight bounce, and a pounding in her chest were all hallmarks of a recurring dream she never remembered. The clock on her phone read 3:33 a.m. She was about to turn over and go back to sleep, when from the kitchen she heard a very loud
BANG!
♠ ♠ ♠
Ta-da?