I opened my eyes then I gasped for air, unaware of what just happened, I leaned up with my eyes widened, it was crazy for me to realize that nightmare may or may not be real. It wasn't hard for me to think about the details in that dream, whatever that weird...humanoid spider is...I couldn't tell for sure if it was just my dream.
I specifically remembered seeing Nick in there, he was trying to reach towards me but it seems like that weird monster had a well thought out plan. Even though I wasn't sure how I got there being in that monster's large grasp on me, the only thing that I remembered was seeing Nick on the staircase trying to help him up from being dragged by something strong, I even remembered how much it even felt, it felt like two hundred ninety pounds of strength minus the human body weight.
Now that I was catching my breath, I couldn't help but to wonder or even think that there was something going on. The amount of times that Nick has been attacked and oddly beaten up, the nauseating feeling in my stomach tells me that I have to get to Nick as soon as possible.
So I tossed my bed sheets aside, got up and ran towards his door so before I did, I had to calmly pat on his door to alert him and open the doorknob but when I lay my left hand on the doorknob it was somehow locked on the inside.
"What?" I whispered curiously, trying to make sense of why his bedroom door knob was locked late at night. Since I couldn't figure out how to open Nick's door I had to think of something else other than pounding on it and waking up mom and dad. In a way I couldn't leave Nick alone, I wouldn't live with myself if I left him alone, he is the only one I can trust other than Susan and Reuben. I turned my body to my right side, tilted my shoulder against the door, it may as well be painful but I couldn't stand back anymore.
"You can do this..." I whispered to myself, closed my eyes and tensed my body to prepare for a sense of pain that I may not like. I slammed myself against the door with my right shoulder, it almost felt like my shoulder wasn't strong enough to budge the door open, it just felt weak, it wasn't going to work so I tried again and mustered enough strength to give it time to show any cracks. Nothing. I stopped as I laid my hands on the door, although my hands felt like it was being under cold water in a sink or in a frozen river to feel the rough rocks under the waters. I am starting to become confused. I patted my hands on the smooth door and caressed it to make sure it wasn't the only spot, it feels like the coldness is everywhere on the door and somehow I felt the hairs on my arms raise up.
I have a very strong sensation that there is something wrong happening, it feels like a large brick on my chest and makes me unable to breath clearly.
"Nick!" I whispered but not too loud to alarm Reuben and Susan. I waited for a few minutes and heard nothing back. In a strange way I had an urge to look through the keyhole, I got down on my knees and peered my left eye through to look around to see Nick. Nothing, it was completely utterly dark in there as nothing to be seen as if it was just an empty room.
"Nick!" I whispered again hoping to hear something from the other side of the door, something clearly wrong and I knew if I left right now...I'll just be right back here.
Nick's door started to move, something banged against it which forced me to sprawl on my back and bonked the back of my head to the floor, the door banged two more times but increasingly got louder and then a deep dark growl quietly purred very oddly. I gasped when I was on the ground, hearing all of that in Nick's room makes my heart race in fear and so I couldn't leave around this time when I am highly concerned for my brother.
Seeing a brother or a sibling being spiraled out of control lately and unable to get well, I couldn't tell if I should really be crawling to Nick's door frame with my back against it. I wouldn't care about sleeping right here and doing nothing, or that I should keep on trying to open the door and get swallowed again in a pitch black mouth or a room of darkness. I grabbed my hair, not enough to pull out the roots since I couldn't do shit at any moment. I started to think more clearly to find a plan without getting back into the clutches of that weird beast. I may be weak but is it best to fight back? I feel like I have no other choice.
"Caitlin!" I heard someone whisper my name but when I looked through Nick's door, I was hoping to hear his voice to know that he is okay, that is the only thing that matters to me at this point.
"Caitlin, over here!" I could hear a familiar voice which made me spin around to see Jon close to my face, I nearly screamed until he placed a hand over my mouth to keep me from screaming, instead of screaming I slapped his left cheek for almost freaking me out.
"Ouch, watch it" Jon whispered.
"Don't sneak up on me! I still would have slapped you or anyone else who would do that!" I whispered back at him.
"Fine," Jon replied softly.
"Wait, what are you doing here at this time of night?" I asked.
"First of all, it may be night but it's six am, I didn't just come here to get slapped by you" Jon mentioned, I figured that Jon is here for another reason but I can already guess one thing, I know about his secret gay love for my brother, I don't really mind that but I don't think it is a good time at night...er...morning then.
"I have a strange feeling that I have to be here, something's wrong, I don't know what but I just...don't know how to explain it, but please, can I see Nick?" Jon said as it almost proved my point but I didn't want to be the one to keep secrets from my brother, but this isn't about me, it's about Nick and Jon's relationship and I want to respect that they can figure it out someday or sometime on their own. Just without me interfering.
"Well I can't get the door open, not sure if you can, besides the door is frozen cold" I mentioned to Jon, I redid the whole thing to make sure it is still solid cold, it was still there and soon I can feel Jon's presence next to me, his hands made contact and immediately jumped back.
"Yikes... that is worse than the outside of the house" Jon mentioned but left me puzzled.
"You didn't know? Before I got here a blizzard was heading over Chicago so I got here as fast as I could" Jon said which makes sense that the weather has gotten cold and into a blizzard, seems like school is no option today or a few days...who knows?
"How bad is it out there?" I asked.
"Pretty bad, the forecast says that we might end up getting twenty inches of snow" Jon answered, he quickly got out something from his pockets and held up a clipping pin, he bend the wires to undo the shape and went down on his knees, I took a few steps back for him to work on the door but when he was about to do so.
Nick's door unexpectedly opened on its own.
I just froze in place and was almost shocked to see that happen.
Jon turned around to see me and I'm pretty sure we were both thinking that it was weird.
The hairs on my arms didn't get any better, I was starting to get goosebumps and felt an unnerving chill from the base of my spine to my feet. Something isn't just wrong it feels like a warning to not go in.
Jon put the wire back in his pocket, back on his feet and went inside and before he did I grabbed his left shoulder to stop him.
"Wait" I said to halt Jon.
"What?" Jon almost spat at me, it was like this isn't what he wanted at the moment but I had the feeling to not go in, but even if I said that, it just makes Jon feel like being here was a mistake and I didn't want him to feel like he just lost respect for me.
"Be careful, I'll be right by you okay?" I said instead, the unnerving feeling being mixed with a strong nauseating feeling isn't a good mix. I didn't even want to mention what just happened to Nick and I to Jon, but I wondered if that just made Jon feel more worried for Nick and not leaving his side. I can tell that Jon has feelings for Nick and it is really easy to read since I am seeing the signs. Despite Jon's past I do feel genuinely concerned for him, he suffers a lot the same as Nick and I do which also makes me believe that he is another brother that I never wanted, even if it makes me feel like the only positive and sane person. I'm not sure about the influence of two negatives to one positive, but it may be hard to navigate to control with two troubled brothers of mine.
"Okay," Jon heaved as he walked in slowly as I followed him from behind, shielding me? Maybe, cautious? Definitely.
The weight of Nick's room almost feels heavy enough to be difficult to breathe in and out. I started to slowly control my breathing as Jon and I entered the heavy dark room. Something about Nick's room feels very negative and uneasy. I didn't seem to feel safe and I wasn't sure if Jon felt the same way.
I decided to not say Nick's name because I was hoping to not be afraid of what's in here, clearly there is something big and unsure what it might be, even if this negativity almost feels like it is around us or around me. I placed my right hand gently on Jon's shoulder, he was close, thankfully even if I feel like I might get lost in Nick's room, I feel a little safer with Jon here with me.
Strangely enough I couldn't seem to speak to make sure if Jon is also alright. I breathed slowly and carefully, I could feel Jon just standing in place and not exactly moving. I know how much he cares about Nick but I also care about him, because siblings right?
There was a strange and awkward silence and Jon wasn't even moving an inch, I was trying not to show my fear but I kept it underneath my skin. Although I was afraid to speak my mind out of my mouth, nothing was coming to my mind to say anything.
I felt Jon grab my right wrist with his left hand, he spun around towards me and I can feel something wrong about him, he tightened his grip on me and that is when shit got terrifying. The lights in Nick's room were flickering on and off, Jon was looking at me that wasn't a human face, his eyes were pitch black, his mouth opens and his jaw is unhinged that shows off some of his teeth with black inky substance drooling from his eyes, nostrils, mouth, down his chin and over his clothes. Jon screeched loudly at me that makes me deprived of hearing some ringing in my ears, I also screamed to see Jon's face becoming more of a mix of a human face but shows parts of his skull shearing through like his human facial skin was slashed multiple times, it was almost falling off that seems to be wiped clean with some blood also being mixed with the black inky substance.
I pulled my right hand away from Jon but he seemed to not want to let me go just yet, he yanked me close to him as if he was wanting to bite me somewhere or instead to kill me.
With my fast reflexes I knew where Nick's favorite gargoyle statue was. I could feel it with my left hand on the table. Even if I am not very strong physically, I had to dig deep enough to bring out as much strength as I could to knock out Jon. I grabbed the statue as I held onto the actual statue and swung the base against Jon's right side of his forehead, not in a way to slash open his skull or stabbing him through the brain, I operated the statue like a baseball bat as the base only bonked onto his head.
Jon let go of me and he fell to the ground on his left side with a sound of a thud, while I was breathing heavily against the door. I quickly turned on the lights to also hope that it wasn't flickering anymore, it was quite a stupid idea for Jon to just walk into a pitch black room without turning on the lights first, even though he and I wasn't expecting the lights to flicker on and off so fast, it just surprised us out of nowhere, I kept my grip on Nick's favorite statue and ended up looking at it to make sure it didn't draw any blood on it and found nothing. Thank god. I'm just glad that I didn't kill him. I then placed his statue back on Nick's table.
I slowly inhaled and exhaled in relief, with my tired eyes, I relaxed myself to then tell myself that I am okay as Jon and Nick...
Shit.
I opened my eyes and stepped over Jon on the floor to make sure that Nick is okay. He seems to be shivering with his bed sheets thrown off at the end of the bed, his eyes closed and possibly dreaming. I lay my right hand over his left cheek to feel if he is feeling okay, then I place my hand over his forehead to see if he has a temperature change. He was getting cold so my best option right now is to get his bed sheets back on him so he wouldn't shiver all night. I quickly looked away for a moment as I grabbed the bed sheets on the ends and pulled it up. When I was about to look back at Nick, I almost tripped over Jon on the floor when taking a few steps back. I felt a small sting of fear rising in me when I saw Nick leaning perfectly straight up and facing towards the wall in front of him. Nick's eyes were still closed and I walked back towards him just to feel the room temperature decrease.
"It's okay Nick, you are about to sleep walk, just go back to sleep, I love you" I was being gentle and sweet for Nick, knowing that he has been through enough I couldn't stop being this close to him. It has always been me and Nick against our parents when we were kids, Susan and Reuben never bothered to know us for real, all they cared about was getting the chaos flowing in the household. Susan would lie and manipulate us into thinking that we could be the younger versions of her, teaching manipulations to children isn't a good parenting skill, period. Reuben would hurt and abuse Nick and I whenever he drinks or gets unstable in an unexpected moment.
I can hear that Nick is coughing and slowly he is leaning back against his bed, his neck and head lay gently on his pillow, the other thing that I noticed is that he couldn't seem to breathe through his nose, but instead through his mouth only to make gasping and groaning sounds.
"What do you do when you have a guest over who tried to sneak up on you? Slap them..." I was mocking myself to realize that I was being more than responsible but also very annoyed when something terrifying happened in front of my face or my eyes to see.
"What to do when the guest doesn't look like themselves? Maybe never bash a statue against their head..." I was still mocking myself with enthusiasm, while ranting like that, I did set a few pillows beneath Nick's head so he can get some elevation and to help him with his breathing.
This took me around thirty minutes to set up and care for both characteristics of my brothers, even with Jon being the second brother...he's going to end up in the living room couch to sleep on, since I got most of the things done for Nick, I have to get Jon into his bed as well but dragging his unconscious body isn't much of a help even when I have no other choice down the stairs.
It wasn't my idea for Jon to risk his life through a blizzard just to see his boyfriend, whom that boyfriend is my brother...ugh. It wasn't my idea to follow Jon into Nick's room in the dark only to see the lights flicker. I had no choice but to wack Jon unconsciously, who has a disfigured zombie face that looks more like a Halloween mask...and yet here I am...cleaning up the mess...
I quickly looked at my phone to see the time, I got one blanket and one pillow in my hands just to put them on the couch for Jon, the time read six forty one am, it felt like I am almost done with this process right before Susan and Reuben wakes up and going down the stairs. I still had enough time to grab Jon's waist and heave him on my left shoulder. Surprisingly I may not be strong enough to move a body like this, but I can already tell that this might be an early morning energy boost for me.
Thankfully I walked towards the couch and carefully eased myself to lean my body forward, Jon was still asleep as he slowly slumped against the pillow right at the couch's arm, I can already tell that Jon is quite a snorer... somewhat a little annoyingly loud and deep to hear that it is worse than Reuben's...
I sighed in relief even when I wasn't done just yet, I finally lay the blanket over Jon and I walked through the kitchen towards the restroom, I opened the window door and took out the benadryl bottle, then I walked back into the kitchen to grab two glasses to fill up with water from the refrigerator, next I walked towards the window sill and also grabbed the ibuprofen bottle.
I looked through the window and saw the blizzard still going. Most of the window is partially frozen and some of it is being patted quietly by the intense snowflakes.
"Typical teenagers of the Misfit Family... but with very strange reasons to do risky things..." I mumbled to myself as I walked towards the living room, I placed the ibuprofen bottle and a glass of water on the table next to the couch for Jon.
Now I was heading upstairs to go to Nick's room without a sense of what is still in his room, the nauseating feeling in my stomach tells me to stay away from there, but I couldn't let my brother suffer through a night like this, so I quickly set the benadryl and the water on Nick's desk for him to take when he wakes up. Finally I just left Nick's room and left it all like that.
Unfortunately for me, I was unable to fall back asleep in my bed so the remaining time of my alarm clock about to go off in another thirty minutes, I just laid down in bed and looked out my window or up at the ceiling.
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When morning became official when Susan and Reuben woke up, I had no choice but to inform them that Nick had fallen sick, not only that but to mention that Jon came here overnight and fell asleep on the couch. Now I was trapped to make sure that Reuben and Susan were entirely informed with the Nick and Jon situation and yet they didn't realize that they have to survive through the blizzard for work.
Since I was unable to eat breakfast at home, and school has been canceled due to the heavy blizzard outside, most businesses are still open and I have to stay at home with Nick in bed, who is still not feeling well. It became unfortunate that the King Eider Hospital is closed also because of the weather conditions, so getting Nick at the hospital would be risky. Even Susan believed that all of us have to wait in the following week before getting Nick to the hospital. Reuben's opinion wasn't really helpful... some things about him aren't good, all he did was shake his head and a fist as if he was going to punch something.
"That kid shouldn't really be acting like this," Reuben said almost angrily. It wasn't a good sign as Reuben is about to burst into Nick's room and shake him by the shoulders to make Nick wake up and be back to normal. Ruthless monster of a dad...
Because Reuben believes that Nick is acting sick, it doesn't mean that he has to be a primitive reckless gorilla. No wonder why I still hate my own dad..
Susan didn't care about Reuben's aggressive behavior, she just went along with his ways and stayed in his shadow, even though a part of Susan does have a motherly instinct, she tries her best to not slip into a mind just like her husband and I don't blame her for that.
"If Nick is really sick, we have to wait for a week to make sure that he isn't faking an illness, most illnesses can't really go away overnight, so we need to give him some time to rest just to be sure" Susan said.
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"And that is what both of my parents would say, don't you think that this is something weird to think about?" I was talking to some of my friends from school, most of them are my brother's friend's sisters. Being in a four way call on a mobile phone isn't easy but in a way, it helps me get my emotions and get back in control at least, even when it helps my mental health, my three girl friends always listen to me and the other three would also do the same. It's not because I am a member of my brother's gang of being a Misfit Family Member, but similar with my girl friends at least so I am not the only girl being haunted with family drama.
"Do you really think they could be exaggerating all this time?" Asked Lexie Tasha Cameron, sister of Wesley Dan Cameron, my brother's friend. She is my age of fifteen, she has blonde pink long pixie haircut which makes her almost like a human barbie doll, her gentle and pretty green eyes almost match to an emerald green, she has a fade of light Native American skin tone, she may not be tall or intimidating since she is only five foot four feet tall, I don't even know how she keeps her skinny appearance to a hundred seventy seven pounds... probably because she's been doing yoga and dancing practices.
"Hardly true, I mean what makes you think that they get to say such rude things? You don't deserve any of that abusive treatment, period" said Alice Ava Allen, sister of Nick's friend Luther Allen, again with the same age of fifteen, she has Ombré long black hair with faded purple, she has the most softest and normalcy of dark brown eyes, since Luther having dark maroon eyes is very rare in his family, except his ancestor has the same eye color long ago, she also has flawless African American skin tone with no visible scars, she stands to five foot seven feet tall and is only a hundred forty seven pounds. Not sure how Alice does it but may as well be in the same class with Lexie doing yoga and dancing maybe.
"Okay you got to be serious about this, girls, we have to do better than any of this shit, look, from my opinion, either you and Nick have to be at a friend's house or run off, I'll be down to take both of you with me. I'm responsible enough when I'm close to being eighteen," said Jessica Maria Rollins, she has beautiful straight long blonde waterfall braided hair, she has very pretty ocean blue eyes, also her white skin tone does have some scars but she will never tell anyone how or why she got them, all because she just wants to keep them hidden, she stands to five foot nine feet tall and is only a hundred fifty eight pounds. Jessica may as well be a mystery girl even when it comes to the times that she just wants things to be left unsaid.
"You are kidding me, Jessica, this is a Caitlin and Nick situation and not always about you okay? We all know that you are turning eighteen in a few months, but got to realize that our Caitlin needs our help" Lexie mentioned over the phone as I heard some papers shuffling from her end of the phone.
"Homework, Lexie?" I asked.
I can hear Lexie sigh frustratingly, she has been trying to figure out some of Dean Hopkins Christianity class homework, with his recent book, the way that Lexie has been struggling with is the relationships of angels and demons being told by Jeremiah in class.
"Ugh... you wouldn't believe what weirdness happened, after all I was there and saw your brother doing some childish game of ring around the rosie...so weird..." Alice said even though her voice sounded odd when thinking, I can hear some movement as if she was getting up from her bed or doing something else.
"What was he doing?" I asked.
"I didn't know at first, when Jeremiah laid his hands on Nick's shoulders... he just...jumped...as in... like he was about to be in another fight-" Alice got interrupted by Jessica.
"Oh my god... that fucking lunatic, just be glad that Jake is in jail and not doing shit" Jessica said as I can already tell that she is not just a bit ticked off when being reminded of the fight between Nick and Jake. Surely Nick and Jake are enemies but whenever a fight goes on, Jessica would do anything to break off fights by being a part of it. Reckless of her but with reasons for doing so remains a mystery for Lexie, Alice and I.
"Jess, calm down, jeez no need to sound so crazy" I said to Jessica.
"Go on, Alice" Lexie said just so Alice can continue.
"Right... because of...you know who...Nick just looked so...lost or confused as if something scary was going on and didn't know what to do. The only thing that I heard from Nick was some weird chanting, it sounded like French or Latin maybe?" Alice said with a skeptical and shocked tone, she was sure that something is more than wrong, maybe something about the topic, the lecture from Jeremiah or Mr. Hopkins himself.
"French or Latin? Are you sure you are just hungry for French fries all of a sudden?" Jessica asked firmly, she may as well be a tough girl but she's very protective of her friends and for others. Even though Jessica is protective she is also quite a funny girl. Two things that I like about her.
"Jessica...well...it is only ten thirty two and I haven't eaten breakfast or lunch yet...sorry for going off topic there for a moment" Alice replied and sighed as we can all hear some movement on her end of the line, as far as I can tell she is getting out of her room and going to the kitchen to get some food.
"Besides, Nick looked like he was about to freak out as if something was about to hurt him...the expression on his face showed a lot of fear and confusion...and guess what happens next? He bolts out of the door which really confuses all of us" Alice answered as she was warming up something from last night's dinner or something else to heat up.
"It almost sounds like there was something invisible there" Jessica said which almost made me think of something that happened a while ago, it was when Nick got Cameron on his own to meet us at the Safe Haven. It was like something was getting Nick and Cameron's attention somehow, everyone else heard nothing as if something was there but unable to hear or to see.
"Agreed" Lexie and Alice both agreed.
"Invisible..." I whispered as I was thinking back to the past experiences that have been happening lately. There was undoubtedly something there for sure. It would explain the scratch marks on Nick's back and chest, it explains what dragged him in the halls, explains the red pentagram on his left hand, explains the whispers that the Misfit Family has been hearing and the whole rest of the events that has been unraveling lately.
"Hey Lexie, could you do me a small favor?" I asked Lexie as I leaned up from my bed as I curled my legs close to my body and wrapped my left arm around them.
"What's on your mind, Cait?" Lexie asked me in return.
"In Mr. Hopkins' book of Christianity, didn't he mention something about demons being invisible?" I asked back.
"Let me see..." Lexie said, while Alice sighed and Jessica was silent. Lexie was flipping through the pages of the book and tried to find the right page that might explain some more details about demonic beings.
"It says here on page seventy six of Mr. Hopkins book, that demonic creatures can be unseen by the human eye, but can use some tools to communicate to the creatures, to hear them and to see them with the surrounding environment...spooky..." Lexie explained from the book that Mr. Hopkins had written, some of it seems to make sense and because I've experienced most of those signs.
"You don't think that...Nick could be..." Alice spoke quietly and cautiously.
"Haunted?" Jessica finally mentioned the word.
"Please no" I said in disappointment, I closed my eyes, scrunched up my nose and placed my index finger and my thumb to pinch my nose on the bridge or in between my eyes.
"Do you think it could be a reasonable explanation?" Alice asked.
"I'm not sure, but down on the same page from Mr. Hopkins book, it explains that if there is any proof of a haunting, you need to capture the evidence by using a recorder to capture voices on tape, or by video to show anything that isn't unedited, or by taking photos to show what has also been captured, which is also unedited..." Lexie paused and went through another shuffle of a page, even though this might make me want to be afraid, I can't even show fear when it is around and so I have to be strong enough for my brother.
"Well thank god for not giving me goosebumps" Jessica mentioned as we can hear something crunching on her end of the line, she also seemed to have gotten hungry since she mentioned French Fries to Alice.
"Oh... it doesn't seem to stop there... I'm afraid..." Lexie said nervously, I can tell that her voice is quivering a little.
"Oh?" Alice said skeptically.
"If the evidence shows the demonic presence... they won't leave on their own until they get what they want" Lexie mentioned which almost made my skin crawl, the realization that the invisible creature that is haunting Nick... won't leave.
"Well... what is it that Nick has that the creature wants from him?" Alice asked even worse since her voice was shaking and somehow could seem to speak clearly.
"That's the thing...his soul..." Lexie answered.
I dropped my phone on the floor and both of my hands were over my mouth to prevent myself from screaming or freaking out. At this point I wasn't just showing my fear but the worst thing that I didn't want to hear from my friends...
I couldn't believe it.
It wants my brother's soul.
At this point I didn't know what to do but at the same time I have a few options, even though I didn't want to show fear but ever since Jon...well... Demon Jon screeched at me with a demonic face that wasn't his...I guess my fear has gotten the best of me already.
"Caitlin! Are you okay?" Jessica said through the phone as Lexie and Alice also chimed in, their voices were overlapping each other, I tried to get myself together but my body was shaking or jumping as if I was running fast. I tried my best to also not scream since screaming is likely a sign to get myself vulnerable to this creature.
"Caitlin, it's Lexie! Alice, Jessica and I will be on our way to your house okay? Forget about the blizzard, we'll be there for you! Alice and Jessica already hung up so don't wor-" Lexie said until her voice was cut to a fading static sound that soon became louder like television white noise.
I couldn't show my fear but with my mind thinking of all of the possibilities to hurt Nick from that creature, I don't know how to fight something invisible! My body was shaking since I didn't want to feel hurt again like what Demon Jon did to my right wrist. I moved my right arm up and noticed a slight purple and blue shadow forming around my right wrist from mere hours ago. This might be another sight of evidence that whatever took hold of Jon, wasn't a human spirit.
That's it!
I knocked myself back into reality but when I was about to reach my backpack to grab Mr. Hopkins's book, I felt a strong and intense wave or push in front of my chest, it slammed me against the wall with no sight of anything in front of me, I can also feel something cold on both of my wrists and another huge wave was forming in front of my face, I can tell it was huge and it continued to push me even higher up to the wall and towards the ceiling. The pressure felt like I was about to be stuck with the wall like glue.
The static grew more intense from my phone on the floor, slowly I could somehow hear a few unusual sounds coming from it, some of it sounded like high pitch mouse or rat squeaking until something darker started to come through, a message.
"His. Soul. Belongs. To. Me!" A dark and deep voice broke through the static and the high pitched squeaking, I wanted to scream out but I knew if I did, I would be it's next target and it took a lot of inner strength to keep myself from doing almost anything stupid.
Instead, whatever was holding onto me had held its hands or claws around my neck, it threw me like a boomerang with my body twirling in the air and landed against the edge of my closet. I even felt a lower part of my spine shocking every part of my body to become stiff and a gun-like bullet pain seared through me. I landed on the ground, on my right side then to my stomach and I screamed so loud, it was like I couldn't move my legs but I can move my upper body, but the pain was so painful I couldn't move another inch when I was close to my bedroom door to escape.
I grunted in pain, since I can no longer feel my legs, I can only crawl on my arms to get to the door, the only problem is, I can't reach the door knob with as much effort I was trying to reach towards it, I was merely inches away to grab it but couldn't get a hold of it at all.
Something strongly pinned me to the ground that felt cold and intensely strong, it made my upper back and head to the ground with my right cheekbone on the carpet floor. I closed my eyes to make sure that I wouldn't see what it looked like, along with the other reason for my back burning with strong pain.
The next thing that happened was hearing something insanely loud in my ears, it sounded demonically strong or intense, it roared at me as it kept me pinned to the ground until I could feel sharp claws digging underneath me and threw me against the wall right in front of my closet doors. I then felt strong burning sensations on my stomach and so whatever slashed at me just let me fall to the floor.
I felt completely defeated since I could no longer run to escape or to find help, my arms are weak from trying to get to the door knob, my spine is broken which explains why I can't move my legs and I have possible scratch marks on my stomach...
I slowly moved up my shirt, of course I was afraid of what I might see, I was once again shaking and when I looked down to see my stomach...that's when I saw three bloody long scratch marks.
"No..." My voice quivered.
It is foolish of me to be afraid, since it is something to feed on and I'm giving it to the monster without even knowing all this time. Which brings me back to when Nick had suddenly grabbed Cameron to go against the old church wall, it wasn't like my brother at all and it may have found my brother as a food source to feed on, it is manipulating Nick to puppeteer any kind of attack even with no control of himself.
This monster is viciously strong and it doesn't want me to interfere with it's plans for my brother, I have to be there for him, to protect him at all costs by now, finding out that this invisible monster is likely a demonic being, I have to get to Mr. Hopkins phone number for help, but it seems that this thing knew I was going to do so. It attacked me viciously enough to leave me weak and in intense pain. It was easy for the monster to attack me but didn't know about leaving me with visible evidence.
"Hello! Is anyone home?" I can hear Lexie's voice from the front door, unaware that she has an extra key to get inside if anything goes wrong. She is probably thinking logically right now and is fumbling with the key.
"Oh for Christ's sake, here I got it" Jessica's voice sounded annoyed and I could hear the door unlocking, next I could hear their feet rushing towards the upstairs staircase and then I could hear all three of them gasping for air and looking for where I might be.
Thankfully I still have my voice and yelled their names, while my entire body is slowly growing numb and still in pain, I couldn't care less if my friends see me like this, so they opened my bedroom door and they see me on the floor, I was clearly beaten up by the invisible monster that had attacked me and I knew that it might do it again.
"Caitlin! Oh my god!" Lexie exclaimed and rushed by my side, she grabbed my left arm as Jessica grabbed my right arm, I can feel my body trying to slump back down to the ground and just lay there.
"Jesus Christ, what attacked you?" Alice asked as she could see the scratch marks on my stomach and blood dripping from it. She grabbed my white t-shirt and pulled it down just to cover that up to wash later on.
"I think this isn't the time to ask, let's just get her out of here and to the hospital" Lexie answered to Alice's question but I had to stop them for a moment, I pulled back and tried to walk towards Nick's room but I forgot for a moment that I couldn't walk, I couldn't even move my feet and it stopped my friends in place to question me.
"What's wrong now?" Alice asked.
"Can't leave...Nick..." I said as I feel a few coughs and I can feel a cold bloody trail on my lip, I looked at Nick's room and tried to get to him but my friends got a hold of me and helped me down the stairs.
"He'll be fine, right now, you need medical attention at the hospital" Lexie answered and was still holding onto my arms to help me get the support down the stairs.
"Ugh, why are you not using your legs?" Alice asked as she tried to keep her strength pulled together but soon answered her own question to see why.
"Never mind, I'm so sorry" Alice apologized.
"Wait... are you kidding me? Whatever attacked Caitlin somehow broke her legs?" Lexie asked.
"Oh come on, now you are the one asking the questions?" Alice asked back.
"Would you two just shut up! Fine! I'll get the medical equipment from the basement, I'll be right back!" Jessica said in frustration and walked away towards the basement while Lexie and Alice helped me to be on the couch, unaware that Nick's friend Jonathan Maxwell is still resting there as he snores peacefully like a flying sheep over his head.
"Jon? What is he doing here?" Lexie asked but shook her head and led me towards a chair that is near the window, so that I can sit down at this dark maroon rocking chair for now as Jessica is in the basement finding supplies.
"Caitlin, can you at least tell us what just happened?" Lexie asked as she walked into the kitchen to grab some alcohol from one of the lower cabinets and a glass of water from the fridge.
"Invisible force" I mentioned as I can feel and hear my voice grow dry, I coughed a few more times as Alice got out of her winter jacket, hat and boots. Alice wears a nice light turquoise V-neck T-shirt, dark blue boot cut jeans and a few gold bracelets on her left wrist.
Alice knelt down in front of me and leaned in to get another look of the scratch marks on my stomach, she folded the front of my shirt and stopped midway from my light pink bra showing.
"Your shirt may have to be washed, but don't worry, we'll help you figure this paranormal shit okay?" Alice reassured me to get me to relax for now, I nodded slightly in agreement with her.
There goes one of my favorite shirts...ending up being bloody...while my light blue flared jeans turns out to get a few drops on it as well. Perfect...sarcastically as I just sighed with some frustrations.
Alice and I can hear Jessica's stomping feet coming up the basement stairs with a box of medical equipment, the reason that Jessica knows where it was, was because I sneaked in my girl friends a few times in the house with no parents or my brother around, so when it is just me, these three girls will be here, of course they helped me in the past when my father would hit me and leave bruises on me along with his abusive nature.
"I can't believe you guys still have these things" Jessica noted, she took out a few wrappings and tossed them away, since it was just going to be useless for my back to wear, it may end up showing underneath my shirt slightly but that will be just fine. Jessica took out the larger wrapping bandages and helped me lean forward without making the scratch marks bleed out, both Jessica and Alice wrapped the bandage around me and knotted it.
"It's best that they do," Lexie said and even she took off her winter clothes, underneath she wears a green half high neck t-shirt, dark blue skinny crop jeans and blue fuzzy socks that she forgot to switch with normal socks.
"No kidding" Alice replied to Lexie and Jessica.
Jessica and Lexie stood in front of me, while Jessica rubbed some alcohol on the wounds on my stomach that is underneath the loose wrapping bandage, I did end up feeling some stings but I remained strong and relaxed also while getting my thoughts to be more collective.
"This is all so weird...did the...thing...know it was going to do this?" Alice asked all of us while she was carefully rubbing a towel on my stomach to wipe off the blood drops.
"I didn't know at first, but on the second thought of it I did know...it slammed me against the wall, tried to suffocate me, it threw me against the outer edge of my closet...like that, it broke a part of my lower spine that stopped me from escaping by foot, it pinned me down against my right cheek..." I paused and showed a large circular red shape on my right cheekbone with my right index finger to point at.
"...I heard it speak... 'His. Soul. Belongs. To. Me' right onto my phone when I dropped it in shock and moments after that, it also roared right into my ears which was really loud..." I finished as I couldn't seem to speak after that, my mind was running through the moments when that monster flew around me like a child throwing toys against a wall.
"So it is best that I am here then..." out of nowhere, Jon leaned up and heard our conversation, his dark auburn red hair looked messy, his green eyes were likely that he hasn't been awake for long. Lexie, Alice and Jessica looked at Jon with a surprise to hear Jon halfway across the room.
"Oh really? When did you get here?" Jessica asked in an angered tone, it's always like this for her, she's likely aggressive and protective but the way she spits on anyone with mean words, it's like she talks, means it or just to show how tough she is.
"Not sure but Caitlin can answer that" Jon said.
"Well sneaking up behind me at three or four in the morning is never a good time, but slapping you made me feel better, so shut up" I spat at Jon with my reason as I tried to stand up but I felt the pain on my lower back growing stronger, I once again forgot that my legs are not working due to a spine bone had been broken.
"Easy, Cait" Alice reassured me to keep me calm down rather than to make my body feel worse, I was nowhere near feeling any better but in a desperate need to get to the hospital, but staying home with my sick brother with this monster feeding onto his soul and enjoying my painful agony? No thank you. What's even worse? Four of my friends are here and possibly going to become the monster's next targets to attack.
I just remained still on the chair but I was glaring at Jon with disappointment, hoping that he gets my message and by the look of it he does but seems to brush it off.
"There is more than one reason why I came here, something was off, but by the way it was...was completely...wrong..." Jon said as he pushed the blanket aside, stood up and turned towards us but his expression changed into something else, like he was more than worried mere hours ago and now he looked like he was about to cry as if something terrible happened.
"Like what?" Lexie asked.
"That's the thing, girls... Nick is not the one to be worried about..." Jon paused as he wiped away a tear and his lower lip quivered as if he was trying to hide himself by showing that he is scared of something worse.
"Jon?" Alice asked worriedly.
"It's us that we should be worried about... because we are in danger" Jon said firmly but with a quirk of sadness and fear, he tried to fight off the urge to hurt himself by tightening his left wrist with his right hand, as if he is trying to remove his skeleton forearm with the visible muscles showing, the skin intact and the blood splatter all over the room that may look like a crime scene. Amputated.
"I didn't just have any usual nightmare but this one was terrifying enough to think about my emo cliche lifestyle, how I may be slipping away like Nick who..." Jon stopped as he fought his tears and put his left hand over his mouth then to his left cheek, to think about what happened in his nightmare and it seems obvious that it was terrifying enough to break Jon's emo phase or his life.
"...Nick...he...he killed you, Caitlin..." Jon said shockingly.
"...What?" Alice looked confused and looked at me just to see me still here, still alive, what makes me think about Jon whom he thinks that...my own brother whom I protect...would kill me? I may never know until Jon says everything.
"Not just you, Caitlin...but everyone, he killed Reuben and Susan, anyone who would be close to him, family first then friends... but even when that happened he...he did unspeakable and unbelievable things to everyone's...corpses...to devour every last ounce of blood... to ravenish the flesh, the bones into shattered fragments...and finally to eat the soul, whole...like that...it doesn't seem to be our Nick...because...our Nick...was never human..." Jon said which does bring Alice, Lexie, Jessica and I to rethink how big this situation is. Alice looked down at the floor, her jaw dropped with shock but I quickly had to shush her, Lexie and Jessica before they reacted, I raised my hand into a gesture of a stop sign.
"Shush!" I shouted that it wasn't loud enough to awaken Nick in his room, but enough to get everyone to be quiet and to confuse them to look at me.
"You guys need to understand me right now, this is also quite serious as well..." I said from a normal tone to a careful whisper for only us to hear.
"It will know that you are scared...it will feed on that...you can't let it know that you are, that is what got me into this part of my situation...all because it is way too powerful for any of us to provoke" I said and whispered the last part into a lower and quieter whisper, when everyone looked at me, giving the impression that this monster...of whatever it is. Can. And I mean it can break a body by whatever it takes to injure me...or to kill anyone in my home.
But in this case.
This house is no longer a home to me.
Not a home for Reuben and Susan.
Or to Nick.
It is going to be the worst nightmare to live in or to live with.
My house is now haunted and this monster is hiding in the shadows.
It will feed on any sense of fear that my family will experience.
Terribly haunted...
...By these haunted shadows.