Behind you #Wattys2014

Chapter sixteen

The staircase leads me to a really really long dark hall. The second floor isn't that high, at least not as high as my house.

 I use my phone to look at all the doors on either sides of the hallway, but there aren't much to see, all the doors look the same, they're all cracked and wooden. There's water dripping from the ceiling, one drop gets me in the eye and blinds me for a while. I continue down the hallway.

There's suddenly a scream, the voice startles me so much, my phone slips out of my hand, it falls right side up, the flashlight shining right at a picture on the ceiling of a witchy looking old woman. I scream. Her eyes are wide to the size of saucers she looks so creepy that I grab my phone and trample down the stairs. I know it's just a picture, but I did hear a scream before I dropped my phone, same scream I heard when I first came that day back in junior year. I freeze at the front door, I remember keeping it open when I first came, but it's closed. It's not locked calm down I tell myself, and reach for the knob, I turn it continuously, heart pounding and sweating, but the door doesn't open.

I'm too late. I can feel someone behind me, making it unable to move. Why. Did. I Come. Here. Alone? I try to move again, but it doesn't work, I start to feel dizzy, like I might puke. This just has to be a dream. I breath in and out, and look behind me, nothing. Just as my heart starts to slow down, I hear the scream again. It’s coming from upstairs, I no longer want to know the secret of this house, I just want to get out, I try the front door with all my energy, but it just won't open. I turn and run helplessly to the kitchen.

A dead end. The kitchen is so dark, I hope that if I stayed still nobody can see me, it's better than my own kitchen anyways. There's dried blood stretched on the wall of my kitchen, just none of my family members other than Mom and I have seemed to notice.

I suddenly notice something on the walls, something I didn't notice the first time I came, there's one thing that's same about this house to mine, they both have that kitchen window. I run over to her, just as I hear footsteps in that hall, and jump out.

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Terrible landing.

My foot stings so hard, tears continuously ooze out of my eyes. I look down at my leg, it feel right on a sharp rock, which sliced a line down my shin. I look up, I'm right under one of those creepy willow trees. I slowly crawl away, one of the long strand of leaves brushes into my hair. Using the wall of the house, I can stand up. Taking one last look at an upstairs window of my neighbor's house, I see a light flicker and a shadow of a little kid run by. I look away, and suddenly my heart thumps really hard. There's just so much a person can take. I need to go home.... no, home is just as bad. I don't feel safe anywhere, if I go to visit Alicia now, there's spirits of people who died in the hospital. I look around, I have no idea how to go home. This is the back of the house. A light flickers again, this time closer to me. I don't take time to think.

I have no time to think, I start to run, and for a long while I couldn't figure out why I didn't wrap around to the front of the house and run home, but I ran farther and farther away from home, I didn't know that this house had an extending backyard too. Just how long is this place?

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It felt as if I ran a mile, and just couldn't stop running. Until something brings me to a complete halt, I stay there frozen couldn't even believe my eyes, if I look behind me that house is at least two blocks away. And in front of me is a huge cemetery. I didn't even know that there was a cemetery. The second the first few tombstone crosses started to come to view, I had skidded to a complete halt. My hand shakily travels to the unlocked padlock at the opening of the tall black fence. What am I doing? I think as I stepped inside. I felt hypnotized. I started to read the names, dates, and epitaphs on the tombstones. I pass graves belonging to Eleanor's friends. I walk down the rows of tombstones and wonder what is beyond the cemetery. I notice that my shin is still bleeding, I start to head back to the front of the cemetery.

By the time I passed the old neighbor's house my head started to spin I felt badly dizzy. The morning wind blew my hair, making it flow ghostlike behind me.

My house comes to view. I could hear my breathing, as cold white air exhale out of my mouth. I stumble to the front door and open it. Maybe because of the warmth inside, the blood leaks even more out of my ripped jeans. I quickly run upstairs, just to notice that my teeth are bleeding, also. I must've banged it or something. I take out my hand mirror, wanting to see if Eleanor's here. But I gasp when I see my own reflection.

I look like a vampire, pale, mouth dripping with blood. I close my eyes and drop to the ground. Living on, I don't know where my future's heading, dying is not a good option. I feel so trapped and scared.