It took Lynn a minute to put the pieces together when she opened her eyes to the dark, quiet living room. Sitting up, she rubbed her forehead and ran a hand along the side of her face. After her crisis, she had expectedly fallen asleep — one of the known side-effects of her medication.
Taking a quick glance around, she pursed her lips at the sight of Dana sleeping on the chair. A pang of guilt clawed at her heart; she was the reason her friend would be dealing with sore muscles as soon as she woke up.
With a shake of her head, Lynn wrapped a blanket around her body and stood up. The floors responded to the sudden assault with an echoing creak, making it seem that the house was alive. Picking up her phone from the glass table, she silenced her worries and took quiet steps towards the front door.
Her bare feet relished in the cold touch of the wooden planks as she turned the knob, before her form disappeared inside the unknown. The observant stare of the dead bear was blocked by the heavy door as she closed it and stepped into the empty porch.
The moon returned her curious glance, gliding its white tears across her cold face like fingers tracing a map. Keeping the blanket close to her body, Lynn sat on the wobbly stairs and let her gaze wander around the wild landscape. What once had given her peace was now the promise of despair and chaos; the lake greeted her uneasiness by drawing on the humid grass.
Closing her eyes, Lynn gave into her first instinct and dialed a number. As she waited for the line to give way to the voice she needed to hear in that moment of full disconcert and dread, she mulled over her options.
There was something unnatural about that lake; something inhuman watching from the shadows. She just happened to be more sensitive than others; her mind had already been sliced open, drawing the path for that being — she was an easy target. Perhaps, the perfect one.
He was right.
No one was going to believe her; her hallucinations, albeit perhaps provoked by something supernatural, would be seen as a relapse. Because it's easier to believe someone is crazy than to open your mind and admit the world is bigger than we know, that it holds secrets never unfolded.
Lynn wasn't crazy, but she was alone in her beliefs. And in this world, that's enough to mark someone as insane.
"Do you realize it's almost two in the morning, Lynn?"
The sound of her voice felt like a ray of sun in a cloudy day, contrasting to the exasperation it had the tendency to awake in her. Her lips curled into an amused smile.
"I can always call in a few hours...," she drawled teasingly.
"No!" her mother panicked, before mumbling something under her breath as someone hushed her. A few seconds flew by, and then Lynn heard the sound of a door closing. "Thank God you called. Your aunt is going to drive me insane! Who was the genius behind the idea of leaving me with her for a whole week?"
Biting back a laugh, Lynn cleared her throat. "Me. And it's still your sister; she just wants the best for you."
"I highly doubt watching Jigsaw is going to do me any good," she retorted with a scoff. "She should at least pick a good film."
"Some people find it entertaining," Lynn commented. "How are you feeling, mum?"
"Revolted."
Lynn rolled her eyes. "Yes, I guessed as much."
There was a pregnant pause, and she expected her mother to hang up like she tended to do every time Lynn asked about her well-being. Hence her surprise when the woman sighed in defeat.
"I'm fine, Lynn. You should really stop worrying so much. But tell me about your holidays; are you enjoying them?"
Lynn wasn't sure bringing Caleb into the conversation was a good idea; her mother was finally overcoming the pain, she could catch glimpses of her old-self. But at the same time...
"I don't know if we're going to stay long," she replied eventually.
"Is the lake too cold for you?"
Lynn made a face as her attention was claimed by the waving waters. "No, but—"
"I think you should stay."
Her eyebrows knitted together. She opened her mouth to reply, but a loud crash cut across the silence of the night. Jumping to her feet, she turned around to face the looming house.
Nothing happened for a few seconds, only expectance as moonlight found the culprit's shadow through the window kitchen. But as soon as it was caught, a light flickered on somewhere in the house. For a fleeting moment, the room on the third floor came to life and stared at her with glowing power.
And then, it was dark again.
Lynn glanced back at the kitchen, but the shadow had slithered out of view. Phone still in hand, she ignored the whispers of the lake and stepped into the house. As the hinges complained and the door closed, her muscles tensed in anticipation and her stomach twisted in dread.
Dana was still sleeping, the bear was still dead.
Had they — the noise, the shadows, the lights — really happened; or were they products of her distorted reality?
She paused to listen into the deafening silence, yet nothing moved as she stood in the darkness of that endless night. With a quiet hum, she placed the phone against her ear as her feet carried her towards the kitchen.
"Lynn, are you there?"
She was about to answer, but her priorities changed the moment her eyes found the reason of the crash — a fallen pot, whose contents were painting the floor dark-brown. With the smell of chocolate lingering in the air, Lynn glanced around the silent room and found the culprit by the window.
The black cat sat still, staring outside with unblinking eyes.
Just a cat. A very strange cat, but a cat nonetheless.
Lynn heaved a sigh and shook her head, silently laughing.
"Lynn?" rang her mother's voice through the phone for the umpteenth time.
Leaning against the doorframe, Lynn averted her eyes from the animal and glanced at the head of the bear. And she froze. Because there was a person, standing in the dark hallway; a shadow among shadows whose outline was traced by the hesitant touch of the moon as it glided across the perfectly-still air.
A scream started building in the back of her throat as the man stood immobile, but no sound came out.
"Lynn."
As if the voice coming through her phone worked as a switch, his tall body stiffened and his head tilted in her direction. And it clicked then — she had seen him before. In a nightmare, watching from the third floor as water became ice and Death claimed her friends.
A hiss echoed behind her, and her heart threatened to jump out of her chest.
She felt the air around her, thick and heavy as an inner clock thrummed in her ears. Sweat started forming along her skin, coating even her hands and making her tighten her grip on the phone — a phone whose line was still alive, yet no voice demanded her attention anymore.
Not hers, anyway.
"Have you come down to play?"
It spoke through the device, shattering the silence with the strength of a hurricane. With murderous intent, hidden beneath layers of malice and the promise of endless torment. It seemed to bring the coldest winter of all to her; and her body responded to its invisible, gelid touch. Her fingers shook under the rumble of shrill chuckles as fear slithered up her body like a black snake, curling around her legs and sinking its fangs into her flesh to keep her screwed to the floor.
Another hiss rang in her ears, cutting through the expectant silence and triggering something around her.
Lynn didn't see him move; she felt his presence as a big, calloused hand swallowed her scream. Ocean-blue eyes pierced through her terror to write a message into her paralysed mind, before they flickered down.
"Do not even dare."
There were no traces of its previous laughter, but the man didn't show signs of the trepidation she felt breathing in her heart. His shadowy body tilted to the left ever so slightly, and her attention was caught by the unexpected movement.
The cat. Its yellow eyes returned her glance before drifting to exchange a look with the man. And then, it hissed again — louder, angrier.
His fingers found her phone in the darkness; she felt them lifting her hand to touch the screen.
Call ended.
A gust of cold wind born from the depths of the house carried an inhuman scream that blew the front door away from its hinges. It awoke her dormant muscles, making her bite down on the hand that was still holding her in place. The strong taste of blood filled her mouth as one last hiss echoed in the air, muffled by the distant yet powerful growls of the haunted lake.
She had no time to separate herself from the stranger. A sharp blow to the side of her neck made her wobble backwards as a black blanket fell upon her mind. His words, however, would follow her to her dreamless sleep.
"They'll believe when it's too late."
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Word count: 1.586
Total: 14.279