It was a dark and stormy night, and Alaia had just settled into bed. As she was drifting off to sleep, she heard a strange creaking sound coming from the ceiling above her.
At first, she tried to ignore it and convince herself that it was just the old house settling. But as the night wore on, the noise grew louder and more persistent.
Alaia lay in bed, paralyzed with fear, as she watched the ceiling above her begin to crack and shift. Suddenly, a large hole opened up, and a slimy appendage reached down and grabbed her by the throat.
She gasped for air as she was pulled up towards the gaping hole in the ceiling, her fingers clawing desperately at the carpet below her. As she was dragged higher and higher, she saw that the creature attached to the appendage was unlike anything she had ever seen before.
Its skin was slick and black, its eyes glowing red in the dim light. Alaia screamed as it opened its jaws wide, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth.
Just as the creature was about to swallow her whole, Alaia woke up, drenched in sweat. She looked up at the ceiling, half expecting to see the monster staring back at her.
But there was nothing there, just an old, creaky ceiling. Alaia tried to shake off the nightmare and go back to sleep, but the memory of the creature lingered in her mind long after the sun had risen.
(CEILING, 2023)
