Tenebris Somnia |Dark Dreams Halloween Anthology (featured)

One More Night by Gabriel Pope

A shiver ran down my body when my back met against a wall. Jordin, I had to get her and escape from the house, that was the only way I'd survive the night if what I was seeing was true. Slowly, I picked myself up, glancing both at the stairs and the descending doll. Needless to say, my heart was going a million miles an hour.

One deep breath, two deep breaths, my feet broke into a sprint for the stairs. I jumped over the first few stairs and sped for the bedroom, taking the stairs in twos. I had only made it halfway when I felt strong tiny hands clutch at my leg, causing me to trip. My ribs landed with a painful thud on the hard wooden staircase and I let out a painful cry. Tears broke free from my eyes. I looked behind me, the doll gripped on to my left leg so firmly that I could feel my skin break under the force of its fingers.

"Mommy?"

"Get back inside!" I yelled at Jordin without even turning to look at her.
"Mommy, mommy, come let's play."

Jordin gasped at the voice of her doll-or that was what she thought this evil thing to be.
"Jordin, go!" I screamed in tears the second time at the pain of my bleeding leg as the doll crawled up my body. I smacked my foot at the railing in an attempt to get rid of it, another smack, and then another. It still latched itself to my leg. With a hard force, I smacked it with my other leg and whimpered as it clawed into my skin before rolling down the stairs.

I crawled up the stairs as fast as I could and then dashed towards the room once I reached the landing. Patches of blood trailed behind me, my leg hurt and as harsh as my breathing was, I could still hear the sinister voice of Sally from downstairs.

"Mommy, I just want to play."

I slammed the bedroom door shut so hard that the ceiling fan swung gently. My palms were shaky; my heart pounded in my ears, my breathing was heavy. My eyes scanned the room in search of my phone. Wait one moment, where's Jordin? I hurried into the bedroom, nothing there. The bedroom's window was still shut and the blinds down, she couldn't have made it out of the house.

"Jordin?" I called out, looking under the bed. "Bab-"

A shrill cry erupted from another room and my blood ran cold. Not sparing a moment, I unbolted the door and dashed towards the cry. I busted through the slightly ajar door into the dimly lit room and called out to my daughter as I rushed into the bathroom only to see her in tears, curled up at a corner of the bath tub.

"Baby, it's alright," I said to her, trying to calm her down.

"I'm scared."

"It's okay," I whispered, picking her from the floor. "We're leaving right away."

The door shut as soon as we reached it, a weight dropped on my head, pulling me back by my hair. The pain of my hair being yanked so hard made me scream, Jordin fell out of my grip and I reached behind me to get a hold of the doll. A Jolt of pain shot through my head when a handful of hair tore out of my head. Tears streamed down my face as I struggled to break free.

The feeling of blood trickling down the side of my face made my mind panic out of control. Without thinking, I rammed my head into the mirror. Splinters of glass sliced through my face painfully and even more blood dripped down my face. I went for the mirror a second time and Sally loosened her grip on me as though it could also feel the pain of glass cutting its skin. I reached behind me again and got a hold of its free arm, with as much force as I could muster, I threw it across to the other wall.