Tenebris Somnia |Dark Dreams Halloween Anthology (featured)

One More Night by Gabriel Pope

I could've sworn I'd heard something snap in its body but that didn't concern me. Grabbing Jordin's hand in a rigid grip, I yanked her out of the bathroom. My head hurt badly, my hands were heavily soiled with blood and my vision was somewhat blurred either by tears or fear, maddening fear. I thought these only happened in fiction, how did I manage to get tangled up in this web.

Panic had taken over my body; I glanced behind me momentarily as my frail feet sprinted down the hallway with Jordin latched on to me. I had no idea of what time it was, 2 a.m.? 3? 4? I didn't really care; all I wanted was to bust through the front door at least. I twisted the door handle but it pulled out of place. This can't be happening, no. This can't be happening.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

That was Sally's footsteps approaching the stairs. My heart froze, my stomach flew into my throat and my breathing grew short and shallow.

"Peek-a-boo," the childish voice of the doll was followed by a creepy spine chilling laughter. "I see you."

Jordin's grip got tighter on me; the expression on her face mirrored mine. My lungs hurt with every breath I drew alongside a painful lurch in my sides. This had to end, this had to stop-but how? My nerves frayed for nothing. From where I stood, I could see the mess that had been made of the cartons I'd yet to unpack and there were also the cans of food and utensils littered around the kitchen floor. The Kitchen.

I hurried briskly into the scattered kitchen and placed Jordin on the island a bit too hard. My eyes darted all over the place, my jumbled clouded mind failed to register what exactly it was that I searched for.

"Mommy, it's-" I hushed her before she could complete her sentence. I knew she was scared, it was very obvious. We both were, but it wasn't the time to express the terror which was so evident in our eyes by words. I picked her from the island, threw open one of the yet to be filled cupboards and aided her inside carefully. Her eyes glittered with tears and I blinked back those that stung my eyes, placing a quick kiss on her forehead before carefully closing the cupboard.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

It was now descending the stairs. My eyes fell on a pan laying on the floor. I hurried over to it and picked it before returning behind the wall of the arched kitchen entrance.
Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Its footsteps was now clearer signaling that it had gotten close. I held my breath as though it would make me invisible to it as panic rose within me. My palms grew sweaty and my grip loosened on the pan's handle. Could I really do it? Did I have the gut to? My eyes glanced in the direction of the island.

"Come out, come out wherever you are."

My lungs were starting to burn. Mommy, she's evil. My heart thumped faster with the passing seconds. One foot in. Two feet in. Sally walked into the kitchen with a steady firm gait. My eyes shone, still in disbelief of what it beheld. Mommy, she's evil.
With a roar, I charged at it and swung the pan in my hand with the skill of a baseball player. The pan smacked its face, flinging it across the kitchen. It banged into the solid concrete foot of the island and scurried behind it out of sight, mumbling gruff words. My breath was coming faster now, my heart was in my throat and the hairs on my arms prickled with shock and fear as I stood there watching, waiting for what was to happen next.