What If Instead Of...

6 Vivian

The house is quiet.

I go down the stairs to make sure I'm alone.

Despite the silence, the feeling of someone's presence doesn't leave me. Tension is building in the air, my heart is beating violently in my chest.

I head to the kitchen because it's the only place in the house where its inhabitants get together most often.
It's dark enough outside the window, so it's hard to tell if it's time for breakfast now or for dinner.

Even before I enter the room, I notice a female figure at the stove. According to the outline and her dress, she looks like...Grace.
Only she had never had dresses in such gloomy shades.

The woman stands without turning around, but I can see that she feels my presence.

My breath catches in my throat and my legs give way. There is an alarm in my mind about the need to call for help.

I was always afraid that being in danger, I wouldn't be able to squeeze out a sound that could let people know about what's happening.

I'd rather make a mistake and make a fool of myself, but at least I'll know that I did everything I could when I was feeling anxious.

Without uttering a word and without taking my eyes off the stranger, I take a cautious step back to disappear as imperceptibly as I entered.

At this moment, the woman abruptly turns to me with her whole body.

This is Grace.

At first, a slight smile appears on my face, but it's quickly replaced by a grimace of terror: her skin is gray-blue, her pupils are white, her gaze is empty and cold.

I can't feel a single part of my body, except for my feverishly beating heart.
I'm shackled by horror, but something inside, desperately wanting to live, begs me to run.

I hesitate exactly until the creature starts moving in my direction.

It's the adrenaline in the blood that gives my limbs strength.

I rush to the front door hoping to meet help outside.

The fog is so thick that I can hardly see anything at a distance of two steps, but, nevertheless, I manage to make out the outline of Aiden's black car in its usual place.

My bare feet are injured on the sharp carved edges of small stones, I find it hard to breathe – it hurts me to inhale air, as if it were fuel, and my lungs are a fire that flares up more when it meets a flammable liquid.

I remind myself not to turn around in any case, so as not to waste precious time and accidentally fall.
I know one thing for sure – there are no footsteps behind me.

As I approach the car, I do notice Aiden.
It gives me a new round of hope.

Please let him take me away from here.

I try to open the door, but nothing comes out, I look through the window and see that the guy is sleeping soundly, leaning back in the seat.

All my attempts to reach him fail – not a single sound comes out of my mouth.

Then I start pounding my hands furiously on the windows.

Suddenly, a shiver runs down my back, and a wave of goosebumps runs through my body.

I don't want to admit it to myself, but I feel that Death has come.

I freeze for a moment, then slowly turn around.
The monster in the form of Grace, wasting no time, grabs me by the throat with its cold, clawing hand and pushes me back, pressing me against the side of the car.