Alone

My parents were away that week. They left me in charge of all of the house chores, along with my school work for the week. Despite the extra work, I actually liked this. I had the house all to myself! I felt much more independent than I did before, when my parents were shadowing me every two seconds, making sure I didn’t burn the house down. I felt like an adult and could actually get away with more than I could before, since they won’t be around.

However, the one problem I had was at nighttime. I’ve always been timid in the dark. I can never see what’s around the corner and even though the things I fear are not real, I still expect someone, or something, to be around every turn. Whenever I look in the bathroom mirror or turn around, I’m always scared that something will be waiting, looking at me with possibly blank, empty eyes. I keep reminding myself that I’m being a fool and that I shouldn’t be scared. I keep giving myself reasons as to why I shouldn’t be afraid. And yet I am. I’m always afraid of what might be waiting in the dark rooms or hallways.

During one of my parent’s nights away, it was exactly midnight. I was beginning to shut down my computer and get ready to go to bed. I was completely exhausted and just didn’t want to play anymore. I went to the bathroom, turning on all of the lights along the way, just to help myself see and not be afraid. However, tonight, I had a different feeling. It wasn’t a sense of shyness. I felt like I was being watched. I hear tiny whispers behind me and turn around…nothing. Just the same empty room and the hallway that is connected to it. I started to become more vigilant, listening for the slightest sound. Again, I hear those same whispers, and turn around again…nothing. I was becoming frightened. I’ve never heard these voices before. It’s just a constant chattering behind me every few steps I take. The next time I heard the sounds, they came from my left and right. I turned both ways and still saw nothing. My heart was racing and my body was quaking. I decided that I needed to run to the bathroom, turn on the lights, and sit in the corner for a little while. “Forget about the lights in the extra room!” I told myself. “I can get those later!” And so, I ran to the bathroom, turned on the lights, and crouched in the corner where I could see everything in that room…Everything, but the small pocket above me. I heard the voices again and they came from directly above me. I thought I was going mad! The room was as bright as day and still whatever was stalking me could still follow me into this room! I was scared out of my mind…but that wasn’t the worst of it all. Suddenly, the lights went out. “The circuit breaker,” I thought. “How could I have been so stupid? I forgot about the circuit breaker!” I couldn’t move. I was too scared to. Too scared to risk moving. I thought it would provoke whatever was following me into attacking me. The voices were just loud enough for me to hear what they were saying. And I wish I hadn’t heard what they were saying: “You’re going to die…You’re going to die…You’re going to die…” I couldn't think or move a muscle. It was the first time that I ever felt genuinely scared for my life. After a while, the voices suddenly…stopped. Not a sound was made in the room. I thought they were gone. Maybe they had left me alone. I got up and reached for the door. As soon as I opened the door, the last thing I saw…was a pair of purely white eyes staring directly at me.