Guilt
The sun abandoned the sky in search for the moon, but in doing so, casted a thick shadow on the earth beneath. None of the lives below were particularly disturbed by this event; they'd become accustomed to it by now. The crickets carried on with their nightly tune, the owls hooted from their perches high above in the trees, and the river continued to flow from some distant place within the heart of the woods.
A cool breeze blew through the open window, tossing Ivy's dark hair into her face.
She hurriedly scraped away the obstruction of her view of the oak wood grandfather clock directly across from her.
It seemed to be taunting her as the seconds ticked by, knowing full well that she was drowning in dread for what was about to come, just as she did every night.
When the big hand reached the twelve and the small one reached the three, the second ticker fell silent; Ivy's heart sank into her stomach.
There was a thump from behind the door beside the clock.
"It's not real," Ivy murmured to herself as she stared wide eyed toward the closet door, which slowly creaked open. Her grip on the blanket tightened. "It's all in your head."
A gut wrenching groan came from within, followed by the horrific sound of bones grinding against bones as they shifted into movement.
"Not real," insisted the petrified teen. She squeezed her eyes shut when a pallid and gnarled hand appeared from the pitch blackness. "There's nothing there." She didn't believe her mantra, no matter how many times she repeated it. How could she, when the grotesque creaking and wails of agony cut deep gashes into her sanity with each passing moment? No, it was definitely real. It always had been. From the moment she first had come face to face with it, until now, it was always real.
She opened her mouth to scream for her mother, but the words were frozen in her throat. Desperately, she wanted to spring from her bed and flee the room, but her body refused to do anything more than quiver in fear.
The creature found its way out of the closet now, and inch by inch it crept closer to the bed she sat hostage on.
Thousands of thoughts swarmed through her mind, but she couldn't seem to distinguish a single one. Tears of pure terror pricked the backs of her eyes, but she didn't dare blink. Her eyes stayed glued to the creature who had progressed to about the half way point between the closet and her bed.
The creature abruptly ceased its forward descent.
Ivy looked on in horror as it dragged itself up into a standing position.
"Tell them," it rasped. "The truth!"
The squealing of tires erupted from her closet, followed by the distinct sound of someone gunning the gas pedal.
"Tell them!" Demanded the horrid thing, stumbling forward.
The car sounded like it was coming closer. If she dared to take her eyes off of the monster, she was sure that she would see the glimmer of distant headlights from the closet.
"Tell them!" it cried. "Tell them!" It had made its way to the edge of her bed and collapsed onto it, then reached out a hand and grasped her leg. She at last had found her voice and let out a loud shriek, then scrambled to get the creature off of her leg.
It clung persistently, digging its yellowing fingernails into her flesh as it pulled itself up onto the bed. "The truth!"
The car's roars were so loud, the walls violently began to shake.
"Tell them! The truth! Tell them!"
"I can't!" Ivy shook her head, clamped her hands over her ears and squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as she could.
"Tell them the truth!"
"I can't!"
"Tell them!"
"Shut up!"
"Tell them!" Its foul breath was a hot slap across the face. "Tell them! Tell them! Tell them!"
"I can't!" cried the girl.
"Tell them!" The creature was shouting now. "Tell them now! The truth! Tell them what you did! Tell them! Tell them!"
The car sounded like it was merely yards away, but Ivy didn't open her eyes to see if her prediction was correct.
The engine's harsh roar and the incessant chanting of the beast pounded through her head and down her spine.
"Tell them! Now!"
She and the beast were shrouded in the car's headlights.
"Okay!"
"Ivy?"
Her eyes opened to see the concern etched onto her mother's face. "Mom," she all but whispered. A garbled sob escaped her throat when she found her room empty of both the car and the grotesque monster. She felt her mother's gentle hand on her back.
"It was only a nightmare, Sweetheart," she crooned. "You're alright."
"Mom?"
"What?"
"I have to tell you something..."
