Dead Dreams

Seven

There was a time when I loved the moon. I studied it a lot in my elementary school years. Each night, the moon would never quite be the same. It changed little by little. But, The moon only had 8 confirmed phases, and would cycle through them each month. I could tell you each and every phase by name. That was how much I loved it.

But what I saw just now was not a phase.

It was a face. Complete with a mouth, nose and eyes. But I think those things would point to the fact that it wasn't the moon at all. No matter what it was, I refused to look at it again. I stared at the bottom of the shower, arms around my knees, Feeling the hot water run down my back. Hot as it was, I still shivered. My eyes were so wide I could feel the water slip into them every couple of seconds. It burned. I focused on that, rather than my thoughts.

'What the hell was that?"

'Did it see me?'

'What am I going to do? Just sit here?'

My breaths came out in pants, and I felt faint. If I stayed in here any longer I would. I clawed at my legs to wake myself from the endless thoughts. I was getting out of here.

I stood up, slower than I would have liked, but made sure to never look back at the window. I quickly shut the water off and stepped out of the shower. Maneuvering my hand behind me in an awkward manner, I managed to shut the curtain without turning around. I snatched the towel and extra clothes sitting on the counter and threw everything on in a hurry, Just wanting to get out of the bathroom.

I stumbled out of the bathroom and shut the door immediately behind me. I nearly slid down it once closed, but I made myself walk as far from the door as possible. I walked down the hallway in slow, somewhat uneven strides until I was in the living room.

Once there, I saw a familiar face pleasantly gazing at me. He seemed to have no clue of what happened.

"I was starting to get a little worried! You were in there for over an hour."

I felt myself flinch. Maybe he was angry after all. People always complained when I took showers.

"Ah, not that it's a bad thing! I just hope it calmed your nerves some."

Now I felt like he had stabbed me. My gut clenched and I looked down to the floor, in awareness that my fear was tangible at this point. He noticed my change right away.

"What happened?"

I bit the inside of my cheek, desperately wanting to change the subject.

"Do you...not have curtains for the bathroom window?

I had managed to look back up at him while I was talking. However, once I had finished speaking his expression became...off. His mouth hung open a little, like he was about to speak, most likely prepared for a simple question. My question was simple, but it looked like I had triggered something. His face remained pleasant, but his eyes were completely blank. Much like that of a statue. I recognized it though, because I made that expression a lot myself. He was lost in his thoughts. Or perhaps he was only stuck on a single one.

But just like that, it was gone.

"Oh! Yes I forgot that I was washing them, thank you for reminding me! I will put them back in there as soon as I can. I hope you weren't worried about that too much though. We are very deep in the woods, so I don't imagine any incidents occurring with the window."

I nodded in response, afraid my voice would give something away if I did speak.

"Ruth."

My eyes snapped to him from the floor, my natural resting place for them.