I woke up from the nightmare of my family being brutally murdered by a demonic entity. This is normal; I’ve had this dream for months. I'm accustomed to it. It changes every time, always ending the same, everyone around me will die in a different way depending on the location and i'll wake just as my death starts to come. I heard the faint tapping as my eyes creaked open. My groggy, hopelessly romantic self stumbled, still trapped in the warm sheets, across the soft carpet floor to see who could be swooning below my window with a boombox. I cupped my hands around my eyes as I peered below to find nothing but empty darkness and the large pines illuminated by the eerie full moon. I let out a disappointed, over exaggerated sigh, as I began to turn around it happened again.
“Maybe it's just my phone” I said to myself as I searched beneath the mounds of pillows at the top of my bed, wrapping my chilled fingers around the glass square I raised it in front of me. Nothing, no notifications just the blank background of my love and I.
The clock changed and my heart fell to the floor, 3:33 am, the witching hour. The tapping started again, this time louder. My heart raced and my knees buckled, I slowly stepped forward. Anxiety raced through my veins. I felt myself lose balance, my legs were still tangled in the wads of blankets that had left my bed with me. My breath hitched in my throat as I fell forward, reaching out for the vanity in front of me. Breathing heavily I heard the horrifying familiar sound of nails on glass. I don't look up in fear of what I’ll find before me. My shadowed reflection emerged in the glass as my eyes struggle to focus. I found myself locked on my eyes, staring into my own soul. As my internal voice began to scream with panic, the voice stopped, as if a switch was flipped and my eyes shifted just behind my reflection. A dark mass emerges from behind my hunched shoulders. Long, almost alien-like, hands found my back and worked their way to my shoulders. Chills crawled across my skin as the nails began digging into my flesh, there's no pain, only a slight burning. My body began to go numb. I stared at the reflection above me and the somehow black but still glowing eyes met mine and a smile crept across this thing’s face. Everything went silent, my heart which seemed to be in my ears came to a stop.
I found myself engulfed in darkness. A hollow feeling lingered in the vast emptiness around me. The eerie feeling of something just inches behind me was uncanny. The darkness engulfed everything in it, even my hand that was just inches from my retinas. As I let out a long exasperated exhale to calm my rattled nerves, a pressure began at the dip of my back and slowly worked its way to the rough edges of my shoulder blades. The unnatural feeling made my skin crawl.
“Breathe” I whispered to myself. Intrusive thoughts ruptured through my mind in a voice that was not familiar.
Low, and raspy. “Turn around.”
My breath hid from my lungs, I began to choke. This could not be real, there was no way it could be.
“Pinch me, I have to be dreaming” I ran my hands over my arms trying to diminish the goose bumps that found themselves a home upon my skin.
Everything and death cluttered thoughts. The familiar cold grasp of the man, or thing, from the mirror hugged the skin on my right arm. My body spun and I was face to face with my nightmares. My heart fell from my body and rolled through the darkness. The voice of this creature invaded my internal jumble yet again. The crooked teeth emerged from the darkness and the thin lips spit out two words that I had never been scared of.
“Hello”
I squeezed my eyes shut until I saw various shades of white and purple. My jaw dropped and I strained to scream, not a single sound emerged from my shaken soul. I began to reach up to my throat, almost in attempt to fix what was “broken.” Tears flooded my eyes as I felt the long run of stitches that had choppily been laced through the entire length of my throat. Panic set it and the creature noticed and tried to explain the awful confusion.
“So you can’t scream”
I stood there in shock and fell to the floor with my hands around my throat, gasping for air as I choked on tears. My throat burned as I begged for my voice to return and to be sent to the comfort of my cluttered room. I gathered myself and stood before this monster. Wiping the tears from my eyes I announced proudly.
“I will go home, and I will have my voice.”
A deep evil laugh emerged, powerful and sharp through the darkness. This was not in my head. I ran into the void away from the source of the laugh, the ground shaking behind me as I was aggressively chased into the abyss.
“This has to end somewhere” I told myself, even my thoughts out of breath.
I saw a light in the distance and pushed full force towards it, a bloody murder scream rang out as this mass knew I would get away. It’s stomps drew closer as did the light. I threw myself into the brightness.
I opened my eyes to find the carpet of my room pressed to my cheek, a smile crept across my face as I struggled to see in the now bright room. I stood and found my phone on my vanity behind me. I looked at my reflection and noticed the now healed, scar on my neck. I sighed with relief as I leaned into the mirror and my fingers traced the now raised skin. The crooked smile appeared over my own and I stumbled backwards and I tragically realized, this horror story was not over.
To read more of Elizabeth's work, please click here.
“Maybe it's just my phone” I said to myself as I searched beneath the mounds of pillows at the top of my bed, wrapping my chilled fingers around the glass square I raised it in front of me. Nothing, no notifications just the blank background of my love and I.
The clock changed and my heart fell to the floor, 3:33 am, the witching hour. The tapping started again, this time louder. My heart raced and my knees buckled, I slowly stepped forward. Anxiety raced through my veins. I felt myself lose balance, my legs were still tangled in the wads of blankets that had left my bed with me. My breath hitched in my throat as I fell forward, reaching out for the vanity in front of me. Breathing heavily I heard the horrifying familiar sound of nails on glass. I don't look up in fear of what I’ll find before me. My shadowed reflection emerged in the glass as my eyes struggle to focus. I found myself locked on my eyes, staring into my own soul. As my internal voice began to scream with panic, the voice stopped, as if a switch was flipped and my eyes shifted just behind my reflection. A dark mass emerges from behind my hunched shoulders. Long, almost alien-like, hands found my back and worked their way to my shoulders. Chills crawled across my skin as the nails began digging into my flesh, there's no pain, only a slight burning. My body began to go numb. I stared at the reflection above me and the somehow black but still glowing eyes met mine and a smile crept across this thing’s face. Everything went silent, my heart which seemed to be in my ears came to a stop.
I found myself engulfed in darkness. A hollow feeling lingered in the vast emptiness around me. The eerie feeling of something just inches behind me was uncanny. The darkness engulfed everything in it, even my hand that was just inches from my retinas. As I let out a long exasperated exhale to calm my rattled nerves, a pressure began at the dip of my back and slowly worked its way to the rough edges of my shoulder blades. The unnatural feeling made my skin crawl.
“Breathe” I whispered to myself. Intrusive thoughts ruptured through my mind in a voice that was not familiar.
Low, and raspy. “Turn around.”
My breath hid from my lungs, I began to choke. This could not be real, there was no way it could be.
“Pinch me, I have to be dreaming” I ran my hands over my arms trying to diminish the goose bumps that found themselves a home upon my skin.
Everything and death cluttered thoughts. The familiar cold grasp of the man, or thing, from the mirror hugged the skin on my right arm. My body spun and I was face to face with my nightmares. My heart fell from my body and rolled through the darkness. The voice of this creature invaded my internal jumble yet again. The crooked teeth emerged from the darkness and the thin lips spit out two words that I had never been scared of.
“Hello”
I squeezed my eyes shut until I saw various shades of white and purple. My jaw dropped and I strained to scream, not a single sound emerged from my shaken soul. I began to reach up to my throat, almost in attempt to fix what was “broken.” Tears flooded my eyes as I felt the long run of stitches that had choppily been laced through the entire length of my throat. Panic set it and the creature noticed and tried to explain the awful confusion.
“So you can’t scream”
I stood there in shock and fell to the floor with my hands around my throat, gasping for air as I choked on tears. My throat burned as I begged for my voice to return and to be sent to the comfort of my cluttered room. I gathered myself and stood before this monster. Wiping the tears from my eyes I announced proudly.
“I will go home, and I will have my voice.”
A deep evil laugh emerged, powerful and sharp through the darkness. This was not in my head. I ran into the void away from the source of the laugh, the ground shaking behind me as I was aggressively chased into the abyss.
“This has to end somewhere” I told myself, even my thoughts out of breath.
I saw a light in the distance and pushed full force towards it, a bloody murder scream rang out as this mass knew I would get away. It’s stomps drew closer as did the light. I threw myself into the brightness.
I opened my eyes to find the carpet of my room pressed to my cheek, a smile crept across my face as I struggled to see in the now bright room. I stood and found my phone on my vanity behind me. I looked at my reflection and noticed the now healed, scar on my neck. I sighed with relief as I leaned into the mirror and my fingers traced the now raised skin. The crooked smile appeared over my own and I stumbled backwards and I tragically realized, this horror story was not over.
To read more of Elizabeth's work, please click here.