Haunting

chapter 22: Living the nightmare

I shouldn't have told him.

How can someone be so deceiving? How someone coax you so easily to tell him everything so that the next thing he does is betray you? Am I the only person who can't distinguish between what he is inside and outside or is it because of his exceptional talent in acting?

A small tear escaped from my eye. I lay on my bed sprawled under the bedsheets. I was trying my best to not to think about anything, but all I ended up doing was think about everything over and over again.

I felt so empty inside, like my guts have been sucked out and I've left with nothing inside, I felt alone.

After all that crying my throat felt hoarse. I moved out of bed and headed for the kitchen, opening the door to my room I was met with a foul odor. It was nothing new to me, that stench outside my door had been there throughout my stay here in this house. Infact, I would be surprised if it wouldn't have been there. And yes, that stench had been growing each day just like any other dread here.

Covering my nose with my hand I stepped away and walked downstairs.
I poured myself a glass of water and drank, another glass followed. I never knew that I was so thirsty.

I slumped myself onto a nearby dining chair, and relaxed for a bit, enjoying the feeling of cold water crawling down to my stomach.

I wondered when would be the right time to tell my mother about everything. Oh yes, my mother was back from her trip. She hugged me tight as soon as I opened the door for her earlier this evening. She looked exhausted from her trip, it might have not turned out to be the way I expected it to be. Dark circles were present under her eyes, and her shoulders slumped down. It was very unusual for her. I mean, my mother was always presentable no matter how much exhausted she was, she always carried herself elegantly. It looked like her work trip had taken a toll on her.

Seeing her that way was sickening for me, so I made her have dinner earlier than usual so she could retire early tonight and have as much rest as she can.

I stared into space when a white, silvery almost transparent thing near the stairway caught my attention.
I jerked my head towards it, narrowing my eyes at it to get a better look to what it was. It was growing bigger and more solid with each second.

When it finally stopped, my eyes grew wide and my mouth fell open. I gaped at the translucent figure of a petite little girl. My heart thudded within my chest, It was so loud that I could hear it. My arms and legs felt cold. She was the same girl I saw in the pictures, the same girl I saw running into my room giggling. But today, she wasn't giggling, she wasn't happy, She stared at me with a glum expression. Some sort of white substance stuck at the corner of her chapped bluish lips. Occasionally, she turned her head up towards the stairway.

"What do you want?" I blurted, my voice cracking at the end.

I don't know where that question came from. Although the question was very appropriate. I never formed it in my head, I said it without thinking.

When I saw that she isn't responding, intead she was was looking towards the stairway. I matched her actions and tried to look for something she was so busy looking at, but there was only an empty staircase. I looked back at her confused then asked another question.

"Who are you, and why are you after me?"

I don't know where all that courage came from but maybe it's better to seek answers from the victim itself. She kept glancing upstairs ignoring my questions completely, as if I never said anything. After a few minutes, her sad expression changed to what I assume to be a frustrated or a panicked one.