The ABC's of Fear

Acarophobia- Fear of Itching and Insects that Cause Itching

"Annabelle!" Her dad called down the hall.

"Yeah?!" She yelled back continuing to write her latest short story.

They lived in a three room apartment that was always stiflingly hot. The place was never any where close to clean which meant all types of bugs found their way inside.

"It's time for bed. You've got school tomorrow!"

Annabelle sighed. She loved school; she just didn't like how early it made her go to bed and get up in the morning. She closed her notebook and put it on her desk. She got ready for bed in a plain white tank top and a pair of dark blue and white gym shorts.

She ran down the short hallway and turned left into the living room. Her dad was sat at an upside down box on the floor. They didn't have the money for an actual table. Annabelle had actually been using the same notebook for almost five years. Her dad had bought it for her on her twelfth birthday and reminded her that she needed to use the pages wisely. She wrote a short story twice a year and that was it. The notebook had one hundred pages, so she was still good for a couple more years.

Her father at the moment, was working on the bills. She knelt down and clobbered him in a hug almost knocking him over in the process and said, "Love you; goodnight Daddy!" Even though she was almost seventeen, she would always love her dad no matter where they lived.

Her dad laughed. "Love you too! Don't let the bed bugs bite."

"The bed bugs aren't real are they?" She had always wondered if they were, but kept forgetting to ask.

"Of course they are," her dad answered. He turned back to the bills hoping to get finished with them.

"So what exactly do they do?"

Her dad turned toward her with a sigh and smiled. "If I told you that right now, you wouldn't want to go to bed tonight."

Annabelle smiled. "Tomorrow then?" She had never been one to press a subject a person didn't want to talk about.

"Sure, now get to bed," her dad said turning back to the bills.

Annabelle sauntered down the hall. She brushed her long, curly, brown hair and pulled it up into a tight bun. She then turned off her light and hopped into bed. She drifted off to sleep a couple minutes later.

An hour later it was eleven o'clock and she was still asleep. That's when they came. Tens of thousands of bed bugs came to both her and her now passed out father.

Half awake and half asleep, Annabelle began feeling the bites and was getting very itchy. She was still in a state of dreaming, so she never became fully aware of what was happening.

A week later the woman who lived next door filed a complaint to the apartment building manager. The complaint was about the stench of death she would smell every time she would walk past their door.

One day later, the manager went up with a spare key and let himself in. What he saw in the living room, left him frozen in blind terror!

Five minutes went by. Then a woman walked out of her apartment a couple doors down. She saw the manager standing in the doorway of the Goldenburgs' apartment. She hurried down the hall to the manager and looked inside.

She screamed. Mr. Goldeburg was passed out on his floor. He was as white as a sheet and had red bug bites all over his body!

The woman clumsily pulled out her cell phone and called 911. Afterwards while she waited for the police to arrive, she slapped the manager across the face.

The manager shook his head and brought his hand up to his now red cheek. He turned toward the woman with a look of confusion. "What was that for?!"

The woman shrugged and said, "It was the only way I knew how to bring you out of shock. I called the police already as well. Just wait at the front door for them; I have to get to work." She began to walk away.

"Wait," the manager said grabbing the woman by the arm.

She let out a sigh of exasperation. "What?"

"Do you know if his daughter is okay?"

"I don't know, and I'm not going in to find out!" The woman replied indignantly. She stomped away now late for work.

The police arrived a short while later. They walked through the small apartment to Annabelle's room and found that Annabelle was indeed dead just like her father.

A/N: I wrote this at 11:00. You're welcome. :) joking of course all you people that read this are awesome!