Submission

CHAPTER : 17

"Y-E-S!"

"Nada nope!"

"Yada yes!"

"No means no Lizzie!"

Liza had dug out all the popcorn she could find along with all the horror movies found on Netflix. She was on a mission. A mission to make sure I had no way of having a good night's rest for the next couple of days.

"Yes means yes Rosie! C'mon! Don't be such a chicken!" She made those puppy dog eyes with a cute pout that can melt anyone but even that could not break through my fear for paranormal beings. 

Yes, I am 20 years old, and I am afraid of ghosts.

"I don't understand! I thought we were celebrating. This looks more like a punishment" I whined like a five-year-old. Horror movies can be exciting, all that adrenaline and rush is something that I didn't face all the time. A different reality. What I didn't like were the jump scares that scared the living daylights out of me and sent my heart into a frenzy. Moreover, it's hard to forget those scenes in the middle of the night in my bedroom. All shadows look like devious forms, standing in the corner, waiting to rush towards me the moment I blink my eyes.

"Well, this is a celebration! It's been a long time since we had a girl's night and I thought it is a great time for some bonding. You know...just you and me, on the couch, sharing a blanket, cuddling." She winked at me and pulled me towards the sofa to start the endless torture of a horror movie marathon. 

*****

After many screams and shouts and scared jumps and debates like "that bitch is so dumb!" or "turn on the freaking lights!" or "don't leave her alone you silly bitch" or "Run!", it was decided that the movie-marathon-celebration be adjourned and both the participants may return to their rooms.

I was quite scared to sleep alone, so I thought I should ask Liza to sleep with me but after being called a "chicken" I decided against it.

I switched up all the lights in my room and prepared myself for a sleepless night when my eye caught a piece of paper peeking from my crumpled hoodie on the floor. It was the same hoodie I wore to college.

I took out the piece of paper which was actually an envelope. There was a small bump on the envelope indicating that there was possibly something inside it.

I cautiously opened it and found an earring in it.

My earring.

It was quite strange because I was positive that I had lost the earring after Max and Liza's party. Possibly during the mishap which occurred after the party and whose memory I did not hold.

****

I was surrounded by fog and mist, lost in a forest. The moon was high up in the sky providing my blind surroundings a little light. The place was dead silent with no living soul in sight.

I slowly started moving forward and saw a house a few feet away. The bushes around me swayed a little as if they were blown by the wind but the silence still prevailed.

The house looked quite familiar to me, yet I could not remember where I have seen it before. I decided to slowly creep towards the house and peek inside the window where a bright yellow light was illuminated. The glass windowpane gave me a clear view of a room. A room with a fireplace, a couch, and other such furnishings.

Suddenly the door to the room slammed open, and a small girl was pushed inside with such force that she dropped on the floor. Two men entered the room. The elder one had a wooden spatula in his hand while the other younger one had a jug of water. It seemed to me that they were father and son.

They were shouting and cursing, yet I could not hear a single word they said. My ears were totally deaf. The small girl had curled up on the floor with her open dark night hair splayed like waves.

The younger guy came forward and splashed all the water on the girl and hoisted her up by pulling her hair. Yet the innocent girl didn't utter a word, as if her lips were sewn shut. The older man was still shouting when he raised the spatula high up and brought it down crashing on her head.

I woke up in a cold sweat with a scream trying to escape my lips. I clutched both of my hands on my mouth to stop its escape. My body was drenched in sweat, so I threw off the covers off myself and brought both my knees to my chest to bury my head in between.

My room was pitch black with only the moonlight entering the room from the windows as a source of light. Everything was still and silent as if my nightmare had not ended yet.

I slowly brought my right hand towards the top of my head and traced the dent on it, hidden by my hair.

I realized that the girl in the dream was me while my father and brother were beating me to unconsciousness.