Awake

Let Me Out

Her eyes fly open. Whispers come from all around her, surrounding her like an army circling in for it's ambush. She closes her eyes and locks them tight. It's not real. This isn't real.

Emma, the whispers call her name. She grips her covers tighter, her heart pounding out of her chest. It's not real.

But it feels real. She can feel the breath on the back of her neck. Feel the spit from their chants on her face.

Then they are no longer whispers. Screams from downstairs. It's him.

She's out of bed and flying down the stairs before she can take the time to be afraid of whatever has been calling her name. The floor feels cold against her feet and her blonde hair falls into her face.

She stops now, nearly out of breath from her outburst. The screams are gone. "Killian?"

Suddenly the house feels bigger than it was before, like an overwhelming storm waiting to swallow her whole. There's nothing but her own heavy breathing, surrounding her like a thick fog.

"Emma," a whisper from the closet.

She turns, staring at it, "Killian?"

The whisper is even softer now, if there was anyone else in the house she couldn't have heard it, "Help me."

She approaches the door slowly, watching it. "Are you in there?"

The doorknob starts to shake, someone's trying to get out. Killian's voice is louder now, "Let me out, Emma, let me out."

She reaches for the handle, turns the knob. She can hear her heart beating, the only sound in the house. Until the sound comes again, his tortured voice, "Let me out."

She opens the door and he's on her, but it's not him. His face is distorted in a bloody mess and his mouth is open wider than a human mouth ever could. He opens it and screams. And screams. His tortured soul filling her ears and her heart and seeping under every door in the house until all she can hear is his agony.

She scrambles away from him, bounding up the stairs. He follows her, his screaming so deafening she can hardly think about where her feet are taking her.

She runs into the extra bedroom, slamming the door and locking it behind her. He rattles the doorknob, his screaming continues, "Let me out! Let me out!"

Emma runs to the window, fiddling desperately with the broken latch. Her fear makes her hands clumsy and her heart beats wildly in her ears. The window is coming open and so is the door.

She's frantically trying to yank the window open but it's still not high she can crawl through.

The door gives way. He's in the room. He's coming towards her. She turns. And that's when she realizes. He's not the one screaming.