Numb | Scream

Numb

Turning on the tv, I sit down with a bowl of popcorn. The welcome smell of sweet and salty popcorn greets my nose; tonight is movie night. I hear the soft sounds of leaves rustling outside the window, and a strange feeling that I'm being watched. It's most likely just wind and my imagination, but I look outside anyway: nothing, just darkness and trees. I always get weird feelings like this, that turn out to be nothing. My parents won't be back for hours, so it's a waste of time scaring myself over nothing, when I could be scaring myself over a movie. I finally find the movie I was planning to watch, but just as I am about to turn it on, I hear the phone ring.

With a sigh, I get up from the sofa. The sooner I answer it, the sooner I can get back. I pick up the phone and with a sigh I answer "Hello?"

"Hello." It was a man's voice. I didn't recognise it, probably a wrong number.

"I think you have the wrong number." I hang up.

"Why'd you hang up?" It was the same voice.

"I told you, you have the wrong number"

"Well what makes you think that?"

"I don't recognise your voice. Well, should I recognise your voice?"

"I dunno.." the leaves rustle again, louder, "can I ask you a question?"

I groan slightly in annoyance, why can't this guy leave me alone?! But I can't tell him that, obviously. "Go ahead. Shoot."

"What's your name?"

"Why do you wanna know my name?"

"I wanna know who I'm looking at." My heart drops, everything falls silent but the silence is louder than anything I've ever heard.

"What do you mean? Can-" it's getting harder and harder to force the words out, "can you see me?"

"Yes."

He's just messing with you. He's just trying to freak you out. It's just someone playing a mean prank on you. He can't really see you. I repeat these thoughts over and over again as an attempt to calm myself down.

"So what-" I swallow the lump in my throat, "what am I doing?" I try to calm myself down, there's no way he'll know this.

"You're standing in the living room, you were about to watch a movie, Nightmare on Elm Street," Oh god. "That's a scary movie, do you like scary movies?" Oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god. Stop! You can't panic now! There's some weird man on the phone with you who can see your every movement, this is no time to panic!

"Uh.. I guess." I answer his question, not really knowing what else to say. I quickly hang up the phone and run to lock all of the doors and windows. I don't know why he's here or what he wants, I just know that I am not safe. The previous warmth of the house has since been replaced with a bone chilling cold. I jump at the sound of the phone ringing again. I pray it's not him. I pray he's given up and will never call again, and the phone ringing is just a friend asking if I want to hang out tomorrow, or my parents calling to check up on me. I never want to have to hear his voice again.

But I'm not so lucky. I pick up the phone and am greeted with his god awful voice. He's angry.

He screams and yells at me but I'm too scared to pay attention. He said something about gutting me like a fish if I hang up again. He then asks if I'd like to play a game. How can he go from sounding so angry, to sounding somewhat calm.

"Do I even have a choice?"

"Of course you do, who do you think I am?"

"I don't know. I don't know you! You're just some weird freak trying to be funny. Well you're not funny! And I don't want to play your stupid games!" I scream into the phone.

"Suit yourself then" what could he possibly mean by that? Do I even want to know?

The doorbell rings. Oh dear god I hope that's not what I think it is.

"Who's there!?" I call out, my voice shaky with fear.

"Go on, open the door and see for yourself."

Oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god.

"I don't think I wanna," I start backing away towards the kitchen and fumble to grab a decent knife.

The glass window beside me shatters, as a large, heavy body crashes into me and I let out a shriek. I feel something sharp cut into my arm as we fall, forcing the knife out of my hand, and propelling it a few feet away. I open my eyes to see a man in a cheap halloween costume: a white mask and a black cloak. Our bodies writhe together as I struggle under his weight. He raises a bloody knife. And that's when it fully hit me. That's my blood. A strange man holding a knife with my blood on it is on top of me. I'm going to die. I can't die. Not now. Somehow, I muster up the strength to kick him away before he can attack.

I get up and run to the door, fumbling with the keys before swinging the door wide open. I look around the familiar garden, a large lawn with plants around the sides, a couple of trees and a fountain in the middle. There's nowhere to hide and I doubt I could run all the way to town without him catching up and me running out of breath. I'd nearly ran to the road when I turn back to look at the house one last time before I die. I can't see him. Anywhere. Was that my imagination? Is he gone? I mean surely he would have followed me out, right?

I let out a sigh of relief, I must have lost him, somehow. I freeze as I hear rustling in the trees and bushes around me again. It's just the wind, it's just the wind, it's just the wind, it's just the wind, I repeat to myself. I hear the rustling get closer, I want to run, I have to run, but I just can't, like my legs have frozen in place. And they won't thaw until it's already too late. And it is too late. I crash onto the ground as the weight of him knocks me over again. I should have ran. I shouldn't have looked back- I should have ran to town- to my friends house- to the police station- and now I'll die because of my own stupidity. Maybe this means I deserve it.

Tears stream down my face and I sob as I feel his hand tighten around my throat, and he raises the knife above his head. I scream, loudly, as loud as I can, as I feel his knife press into my shoulder, he hasn't stabbed me properly yet. He's teasing me. Taunting me. Is this the kind of game he was talking about? He raises it again, and I choke back a sob. I stare dead into what I think are his eyes, hoping to gain some kind of sympathy, maybe a change of heart. But nothing like that comes. He swiftly brings down the knife, thrusting it into my chest. I scream, the intense, searing pain is like nothing I've ever felt before. He stabs me again, and again, and again, and again. My voice is hoarse and quiet. I've lost. I'm done. I take one last look at my killer, trying to catch any signs of remorse, even though he's wearing a mask. I see nothing. I look back at the house, the house I've lived in all my life, the house that's protected me for all these years, the house I will never see again. I feel numb. After everything that's happened I can't feel anything. Just the coarse ground as he drags me away, a rough feeling against my throat as he hangs me from a tree, and another throbbing pain as he cuts across my stomach. But it's all numb.

A/N- this was fun to write lol. idrk what to say tbh. sweet and salty popcorn is superior and i dont care what anyone else has to say about that. i think i've mentioned this before, but i'm working on an original story, im still working on the warriors one too. i wanna write more for different fandoms and stuff. might do more reader inserts in the future. might do xreaders if anyone wants that, too (or just if im in a fandom that doesnt have many *cough cough ghost band cough cough*). i also have like TONS of ocs that i rlly wanna make stuff of yk. but i dont know if too many people would be interested in that, i mean im never rlly too interested in oc stories tbh. shame its mostly what i write lol -frog