Clarimonde

Chapter Two :The First Night

I lay awake in the bed as Rin slept soundly on the floor right by the bed. He had insisted that I should sleep on the bed and not the floor. I just laid there thinking, and waiting for sleep to come. Then something strange happened. I started to hear giggling. A little girl's giggling. I looked around to see where it was coming from. I looked at Rin but he didn't seem to hear anything because he was still sleeping undisturbed.

I quietly got out of bed and crept toward the bedroom door. I opened it and looked out at the hallway. The giggling seemed to be coming from the sitting room. I knew it was probably a bad idea to go out of the room, but I was just so curious. I slowly walked down the hallway toward the sitting room, careful not to make a sound. When I entered the sitting room, I realized the fire was out and it was very, very dark. It had to be at least two in the morning.

I tried looking around for the source of the giggling, but suddenly it stopped. Then I heard something knocking on the window that was by the front door. I turned to look and gasped. Standing outside was a girl about the age of thirteen, with brown hair and green eyes, dressed in a blue shirt that was ripped at the right shoulder, and a tattered jean skirt. Her shirt had dark blotches on it, but I couldn't see the exact color. I looked at the girl's face and saw a large, deep cut on her.....forehead. I gasped.

"Rose?!" I whispered. The girl stopped knocking on the window and pointed to her right. As she pointed the girl started mouthing something. I concentrated on what she was mouthing.

"Run! Run! Clarimonde!" the girl mouthed and then her eyes widened and she screamed. I looked at the window to where she was pointing and almost screamed myself. There standing outside the other window on the right side of the door, was a woman. Her blond hair, dirty, bloodied, and tattered. Her red dress was ripped in numerous places and also bloodied. She had large gash down her cheek. Her green eyes staring at...me. Her left foot was shoeless and her right foot had a black shoe with its heel broken off on it.

"Clarimonde." I gasped. Then the woman smiled cruelly at me and mouthed something.

"Rose!" the woman mouthed as she walked toward the door to get inside. The door began rattling. I was so scared at that moment.

"No!" I said and I turned to run. I tripped and cut my hand on the sharp edge of the table I had been standing by. I could feel the blood dripping down my hand, but I got up and ran down the hall, the door still rattled. I ran into my bedroom shut and locked the bedroom door and ran to the bed. I was almost there when I tripped over something and fell to the floor with a soft thud.

"What the?!" I heard Rin say. Tears dripped down my face as I lay motionless on the floor. I was too scared to move. I heard Rin's footsteps as he ran to the door. I heard him flip the light switch and was almost blinded by the bright light that greeted me.

"No! No! Stop!" I whispered but I realized the front door was no longer rattling. I felt Rin roll me over on my back. I looked at him; he had an expression of fear and concern on his face. He looked down at my bloodied hand.

"Oh my God! What happened?" Rin said, but he didn't give me a chance to answer, soon he was running toward the bathroom. I looked at the bedroom door and thought I saw a shadow behind it. I sat up and scooted up against the wall by the bed stand, and stared fearfully at the door.

"Rin, where are you?" I whispered as I kept my eyes glued on the door. I heard footsteps approaching me. I looked around and saw Rin coming toward me with gauze and cut disinfectant.

"What happened? How did you cut your hand?" Rin asked as he knelt beside me and gently grabbed my wounded hand. I thought about telling him what I saw but he would think I was insane, and I didn't want that.

"I got thirsty and went to get a glass of water but I tripped on the way and cut my hand on a table." I replied. Rin looked at me skeptically.

"You should be more careful." Rin said to me. I smiled,

"I'll try." I said smiling. Rin smiled a little as he put the disinfectant on my cut. I flinched. Rin looked at me.

"Is it burning?" Rin asked me.

"Yes, it's burning a lot." I said as a few tears escaped my eyes.

"It's getting any infections out. It's not that bad." Rin replied as he put more on my cut.

"I've hated the cut disinfectants ever since I was a little kid. Even though I'm eighteen now I still hate them." I said. Rin laughed a little.

"Okay, now all we have left is to bandage it up." Rin said as he wrapped the gauze around my hand and taped it. "There you go." Rin said.

"Thank you Rin." I said as I looked at him.

"Don't thank me. Just please be careful next time you want a glass of water." Rin said. I smiled and nodded. I climbed back into bed and Rin went back to sleep again. I soon fell into a dreamless sleep.

I don't know how long I was asleep but something woke me up. I heard a faint sound coming from the sitting room; I didn't know what it was at first, until I heard the door rattling once again. I let out a gasp and goose bumps had developed on my white skin. The front door continued to rattle, and I became so afraid that I couldn't move.

Finally I forced myself off the bed and sat on the floor by Rin. He was still sleeping and I couldn't believe he couldn't hear these loud noises. I grabbed his hand and rested my head on the edge of the bed. Startled by my touch, Rin woke up. He looked at me with concern.

"What's wrong Sora?" Rin asked me. I looked at him. Again I realized the rattling had stopped. I was so confused. Had the ghost story really scared me that much? It didn't make sense.

"I-I'm a little scared." I admitted as I looked at Rin.

"Because of the story?" Rin asked as he sat up and looked at me.

"Kind of." I said as I looked down at the floor I sat upon. Rin continued to look at me with his almond shaped eyes full of concern.

"Look, it was just a story. It's simply not true. It's just something to scare us." Rin said as he looked at me, I noticed that he hadn't let go of my hand and I continued to hold his hand.

"You're probably right, but can I stay next to you?" I asked. I really just wanted someone by me because I hoped that would keep us both safe. Rin looked at me for a while.

"Okay." Rin said. We sat against the bed and eventually my head fell onto his shoulder and his head rested on my head. I fell asleep, this time it was peaceful and wasn't disturbed.