4:23AM
I didn't imagine it... I'm not fucking insane. My vision may have been distorted as a result of my excessive alcohol consumption, but I know what I saw. I know that it was real, I've been sat in a bath full of cold water for the past hour to try and shake the feeling of being covered in blood. Her blood.
– 5 hours earlier –
It must have been about 11pm when I stumbled through my front door. Perhaps 'stumbled' is an understatement. I quite literally collapsed from how mentally exhausted I was and all I wanted to do was sleep. It had been exactly 6 months since Hannah went missing and despite my efforts of distracting myself, I knew that it would take more than several vodka shots and the burning sensation that they left in my throat to stop me from thinking about her.
Hannah is my younger sister. She's an introverted, yet somewhat jittery 16 year old that always looks unsettled – which is why I don't believe that she ran away. No, she was kidnapped.
The last person that saw Hannah on the night of her disappearance was her friend as she was leaving the party that she was at, until I walked into my kitchen and saw her sitting on the floor tonight.
"H-Hannah?" I spluttered as I rubbed my eyes, trying to adjust my sight to the dark room. No response. She was sat on the floor with her back against the fridge, hugging her knees into her chest. Without hesitation, I slammed my fist against the light switch to illuminate the room but before I could run towards her, there were 3 loud bangs against the window. I looked up to see my sister, Hannah on the other side of the glass. Although her voice was muffled, the terror-stricken expression on her face which was covered in smudged makeup made it clear what she was saying. In between sobs, she was telling me to get out. I switched my attention to the girl sat on my floor – who was now staring at me.
I swiftly turned around and grabbed the door handle but the door wouldn't open, the handle wouldn't even turn. Whilst I was frantically trying to move the handle, I locked eyes with the girl in my kitchen, who was now slowly standing up. She wore the same baggy, faded pink sweater that Hannah always wore. However, it was ripped and soaked with blood, which caused the material to cling to her petite frame. I glanced over to the window but Hannah was no longer there. Had she gone to get help? I vigorously slammed my body repeatedly into the door in a futile attempt to open it. Then, she started to speak and my whole body froze.
"I found you", she whispered emotionlessly, not moving her empty eyes from mine.
"Where... the fuck... is my sister?" I growled. This can't be her, I thought to myself. The way that she was menacingly glaring at me... Hannah would never look at me that way. The girl standing in front of me looked inhuman and drained of life. Even though she looked identical to Hannah, it couldn't be her. Without a doubt, it was my sister outside through the window and I needed to get to her – I wasn't going to lose her again. Suddenly, the girl threw herself into me and wrapped her arms around my waist. I yelled as I thrusted my body forwards but she just squeezed me harder. Mindlessly, I kneed her in the stomach, reached for the kettle and swung it around her head. As she fell to the ground, the door burst open from behind me. It was Hannah.
She clung on to my arm and cried whilst I stood in stunned silence, staring at the unconscious girl on the floor who was now surrounded by a pool of blood. It must have been about 2 minutes that I stood there, but Hannah's chillingly cold hands which were gripped so tightly onto my arm made it feel like I was standing there for hours. As cold as she felt, her fingertips burned my skin. Suddenly, she let go and walked towards the girl. She still hadn't moved an inch. Hannah pressed her fingers into the girls neck to feel her pulse. She waited for a few seconds and then looked up at me, shaking her head. Had I killed her? No, she was bleeding, she would have bled out anyway. I knew that I had to do something about this, but I had to sort out Hannah first. I decided that I should put her to bed and that we would talk about everything in the morning; I didn't want to overwhelm her. So, I washed her face, tucked her into my bed and decided that I needed to have a bath and take it all in.
4:23AM
I was covered in the blood of that girl and my stomach churned at the thought of her lifeless body on my kitchen floor. She couldn't have been human... Even the way she walked made her look monstrous. Hannah hadn't spoken to me at all whilst I was putting her to bed which really worried me. All she did was stare blankly at me. Coming to think of it, I swear that she didn't even blink. She must have been through a lot for the past 6 months, all I need to do is concentrate on is keeping her safe. I stepped out of the bath, still feeling dazed. As much as I didn't want to deal with the dead body in my kitchen, I knew that I had to before Hannah wakes up.
I slowly crept downstairs as the floorboards creaked beneath my feet. I stood outside the kitchen door. Why was I afraid to go in? My throat felt sore, as if I had swallowed razor blades. I gulped and pushed open the door.
Gone. Everything was gone and my kitchen had returned to its immaculate state. The body, the blood, it was gone. I stepped backwards and screamed as I nearly tripped over.
Hannah.
I sprinted up the staircase to my bedroom where Hannah was sleeping. I pushed open my bedroom floor and collapsed to my knees. My head started spinning and all I could see nothing but an ocean of crimson. Blood stained my carpet and had been sprayed up the walls. The dead girl from downstairs had been cut up. Parts of her body were spread all around the room, including the head which had been decapitated. Above her sat a girl with long black hair, blacked out eyes and ghostly pale skin. She looked up from her cupped hands which were holding what looked like the heart of the girl, and slowly smiled at me – her mouth dripping with blood. That's not my sister. My sister is the girl that's currently scattered around my bedroom, it was her all along. Whilst hyperventilating and paralysed with fear, I managed to make out the words written in blood on my wall.
'YOU CHOSE THE WRONG ONE'
Before I could catch my breath, the creature sank her teeth into the heart of my sister and croaked, "I found you."