the figure

Luke

"what the hell" Luke mumbled under his breath. this was the second time his car broke down this year. he had a dark grey Audi R8 sport. his parents bought it for him six months earlier for his seventeenth birthday. he liked it, but he would rather a day with is parents instead of a fancy car. His parents owned Williams Corp, the most successful law corporation in san Diego. they were busy all hours of the day. he was always alone. until he met Charlotte Jones.

he turned to face Charlotte, who was riding in the passenger seat. "God im sorry baby, im gonna check it out." She was the most beautiful girl he had ever met. she has wavy, dark blonde hair that falls to the middle of her back. she has deep, dark brown eyes. she wore little make up. Luke admired her for that.

he stared a moment longer before he turned to leave.

"be careful..." she added

he got out and turned to her, holding back a laugh. "baby whats gonna happen....the boogie man?" she gave him the "you know what i mean" look as he opened the car hood. he needed to go to a mechanic. he didn't even know why he opened the hood. he didn't know the first thing about cars. he asked his father to teach him when he was younger. his father was a mechanic when he was in high school. Luke always wanted to be prepared for situations like this. but he gave up asking when he was around sixteen. his father was never going to show him. he was always too busy.

as luke walked back to his car, he called a tow truck. "bad news Char, we are going to have to get a hotel room."

Charlotte

charlotte knew he was going to say that. Luke was no mechanic, she knew this. she had started looking for hotel rooms as soon as he left the car. she found a nicer, cheaper hotel room in Trembleton, not far from where they were. she researched the place a bit while Luke waited for the tow truck. it was a beautiful victorian home-turned-hotel. got out of the car to show luke the hotel.

luke

at first luke wasn't thrilled about the idea of a cheap hotel. who knows what kind of scum bags stayed there. plus he had the money to stay in the fanciest hotel.

"luke, we have a limited amount of money now. we need that money to support ourselves until we find jobs."

"but we can always get more"

"we left to get away from your parents. going back for money isn't exactly getting away from them."

he sighed heavily as he booked a room. although he hated it, Charlotte was right, there was no way he could go back to his parents. not after he ran away, taking ten thousand dollars with him. not to mention he took his girlfriend with him.

-------------------------------------

the hotel was only a block from the mechanics. when the building came into view, luke stopped for a minute before continuing.

the building was a greenish gray color. it was three stories tall with gothic exterior. all the curtains were closed. the only light was coming from the house was through the glass on the door. the light gave of an eerie sense.

he stopped and turned to look at charlotte as she walked up the steps.

"i don't like the looks of this"

"what do you mean, its just a building"

"i don't know char..."

"it'll be fine, don't worry so much."

she was right. what could happen. it was just a house. nothing bad could happen from a house.

charlotte

i tugged on luke's arm, pulling him inside. the inside looked like it hadn't been touched since the 1800th century. there was a bookshelf built into the wall on both sides of the fire place. the mantel had designs carved into the wood. a gothic mirror hung above the mantel. two small tables covered in white cloth sat at the end of the couch placed against the wall. the front desk was in the doorway of the lobby/living room.

"excuse me miss, we just called, you said you had a room for us?" the lady behind the desk was a sweet old lady. she had her gray hair pulled up into a loose bun. round wire glasses laid over her pale blue eyes. she couldn't be much taller than 5'2''.

"yes dearie, your room is up the stairs, second door on the left." she handed charlotte the key.

"no one walks through those doors after ten o' clock" she added as they walked towards the stairs. the sweetness from her face had transformed to pure hatred. Charlotte held tighter to luke's hand as they began to climb the stairs.

luke

luke looked down at his hand as charlotte tightened her grip. he was wondering what had her so spooked. this was her idea right? why is she the one who is afraid. as . they climbed the steep staircase, charlotte jumped back.

"whats wrong?" luke asked while trying to regain his balance.

"i saw a person"

"nobody is up there."

"yes i swear to god luke there was a person"

"i think you're just tired."

luke pulled charlotte closer to him. he ran his hands through her hair, brushing it from her face.

"its ok baby. nothing is there." he whispered in a soft, comforting voice.

charlotte broke away nodded for luke to continue up the stairs.

charlotte

charlotte couldn't have seen a person. there was no one here. she was really tired. it was nothing. luke was right. she felt a little embarrassed about it now. she felt her face go red. she let her hair fall over her face, hiding her embarrassment.

luke pushed open the door. inside there was one queen size bed, covered in red blankets. the room had a cozy feeling to it. next to the bed, was a lamp on top of a small table. charlotte thought the room was cute.

charlotte threw herself onto the bed and looked up at luke, who was leaning on the doorway. he smiled at her, with a real smile. she loved that smile. he rarely showed it in public. he was always good at faking a smile. he was fake smiling at her father as she got in the car with him this morning. he promised to have charlotte home by eight. her father probably didn't even notice she wasn't home. he never noticed her. he had told her she could go if she didn't want to be there. he wouldn't notice. he never noticed her.

luke

charlottes father probably noticed her not home by now. its 11:35. although he probably didn't care. luke feels charlotte's glare and turn to her. a smile spreads across his face.

"she is beautiful" he thinks to himself. he walks over and sits on the side of the bed. Charlotte wraps her arms around him and pulls him onto his back. he laughs a little and turns over.

"is there something you inquire of me"

"yes there is" charlotte says pretending to be mad.

"what is it my love"

charlotte smiles before resting her head on luke's chest.

"sleep" she whispers as she closes her eyes. luke stared a while before closing his eyes as well. luke thought she was much more than he ever deserved.

charlotte

Charlotte woke up from a nightmare and sat up quickly. she saw a shadowy figure standing in the doorway. she closed her eyes tight and prayed it would go away. she opened her eyes and heard a scream escape her. luke sat up quickly and turned on the lamp. the figure was gone.

"what's wrong baby, why were you screaming?"

"it came back...it was.... its here ... i swear"

"what is? what came back?"

"it was... why was... what ha...." charlotte couldn't even think straight. she was terrified. she wrapped her arms around Luke and buried her face in his chest.

"baby its ok, it was just a nightmare." luke wrapped his arms tightly around her.

she felt safer. he was right. nightmare....thats all it was... but why did it feel so real....

luke

luke pulled charlotte closer to him. this wasn't the first time charlotte had a nightmare. it was, however, the first time she had seen the same thing twice. he started to wonder if she had seen something.

who could it have been? he didn't see anyone else check in. no one was here except for the weird old lady at the desk. but there was no way she could move out of sight within the time it took for him to turn on the lamp.

he tightened his grip on charlotte before turning off the lamp. he looked over towards the door before rolling over and drifting off to sleep.

---------------------------

luke woke up to the sound of thunder. he looked down to see charlotte's body curled into his, her head resting on his chest. she looked so tired he decided to let her sleep a little longer, thinking she was still a little shaken from the night before. he slowly pulled his arm from under her head. Charlotte was a heavy sleeper, so it wasn't hard for him to sneak away. he decided to get breakfast for her. he left a note for her on the bed and slipped out the door.

Luke called the mechanics on the way to the closest diner. his car wouldn't be done until tomorrow. he mumbled some ungentlemanly things under his breath. he would be forced to spend another night in that creepy hotel. better yet, halloween night. he couldn't shake the sounds of charlotte's screaming from his memory. what had she seen?

charlotte

charlotte woke up in a cold sweat. she looked for luke, but only found a note:

hey baby,

i decided to go get you some breakfast. i would have invited you to join me, but its not very nice outside, and you should rest. i love you. be back soon.

xoxoxoxo,

Luke

charlotte smiled at the note, but her happiness was interrupted by a low growl. she looked towards the door, but saw nothing. she listened for the growl again, but the sound disappeared. charlotte assumed it was her imagination. what else could it be right?

charlotte grabbed her phone off the charger and powered it on. she had a text from her dad. this surprised her. she didn't think they would have noticed.

the text read:

where the hell are you charlotte? you didn't do your chores.

get your ass back here.

you're with your little boyfriend aren't you?

well, you better stay there because there will be hell to pay when you come crawling back.

when he leaves you don't call me to come get you. you ungrateful little brat

"nice" charlotte said to herself. what did she expect? i mean she didn't think that her father would say "hope you live happily ever after" or "i'll miss you everyday" but she didn't expect this.

luke

on the way back from the diner, luke felt his phone buzz. he pulled his phone out to see he got a message from his parents.

"oh wow only took you an entire goddamn day" luke mumbled under his breath. he reluctantly opened the message.

luke? come home please. we know you took the money, you can keep it, just come home...we miss you. we would call you, but we are both working with a client. please come home. we love you.

luke was not going home. why would he. if they missed him they would have spent time with him. plus they just wanted their money back. they didn't want to see him. they never did.

----------------------------

luke saw charlotte jump as he opened the door. she looked like she had been crying. he put the food down on the table and wrapped her in a hug.

"baby whats wrong?"

"everything......everything is wrong" luke felt her tears through his shirt. he could tell she was worried about something.

"here baby, why don't we eat. don't want it to get cold." luke sat down on the bed and pulled charlotte down beside him.

"i got your favorite, a ham and cheese omelet" charlotte gave luke a small smile before wiping her tears in her sleeve. they both began to eat.

charlotte

after luke was done eating, charlotte pushed the empty food containers to the floor. she moved closer to luke and laid her head in his lap.

"i heard him this time." charlotte said in a monotone voice so low luke was barley able to hear her.

"heard who?"

"the figure from last night."

"baby that was only a ni-"before luke could finish charlotte interrupted him.

"no it wasn't, it was a growl." she knew what she had heard. it was him. the shadowy figure.

luke nodded but she knew he didn't believe her. why would he? he didn't hear it. hell she wouldn't believe herself either.

------------------------------

at around 10:15 charlotte got up to take a shower. she was careful not to wake luke as she shimmied out of the bed. she grabbed her clothes from the garbage bag she had used as a makeshift suitcase. she walked into the bathroom and turned the shower to extra hot. she needed to relax. everything was fine. she had nothing to worry about.

luke

luke woke to screams coming from the bathroom. he quickly jumped up and ran inside the bathroom.

inside he found his girlfriend curled up in a ball in the corner of the bathroom. he immediately ran over to her.

"baby, what happened?"

"its.... he..... look" she sounded panicked. she pointed to the mirror. luke gasped as he saw it. written on the mirror was "TRICK OR TREAT" he pulled charlotte closer to him and carried her out of the bathroom.

"get your stuff we are not staying here" luke packed his stuff into his duffel bag. he watched charlotte slowly get up and grab her stuff. luke watched her stare at her bag for a minute or two before saying anything.

"what is it baby?"

"i...my other clothes....are in..." there was no way luke could let her go in there. he nodded and walked towards the bathroom. he watched the mirror as he bent down to grab the clothes.

nothing

nothing happened

he grabbed his duffel bag and charlotte's garbage bag and headed for the door. right before he stepped outside the door slammed into him.

"NO ONE......LEAVES.........AFTER.........TEN" luke flew across the room into the back wall. he grabbed charlotte's hand and pulled her close. she was trembling. he pulled her onto the bed and held her, covering her face so she couldn't see what was happening.

charlotte

crashing.......everywhere......shattering glass....shelves falling......lights shorting out.

thats all charlotte knew about whatever was happening. she tried to pull away from luke, but he was too strong. he held her face tight to his chest.

then luke's arms were gone. she turned around just in time to see luke crash into a wall. charlotte ran to him, but was quickly thrown in the other direction. she had no idea what was going on. what was happening to luke? what was happening to her?

luke

why didn't he listen to charlotte? he tried to crawl over to her, but felt another hit to the stomach. he fell back to the ground. he looked up to see the figure charlotte had seen the night before.

it had claw like fingers long skinny arms. the figure had a small head and a long neck. it had broad shoulders and a lanky torso. its legs were thin.

it turned away from luke to face charlotte. luke tried to call out to it, but he couldn't make a sound.

charlotte

charlotte was paralyzed with fear as the figure bent down and put its face closer to hers. she watched the face of the figure come into the moonlight. the face was distorted, barley recognizable as a face.

the hand of the figure came up under charlotte's chin. it lifted her up off the ground and she could feel death approaching her. she felt her lungs burning as she gasped for air.

this was the end

she started getting dizzy. she felt her head spinning. she kicked at the air around her and clawed at her neck. she felt hands tightening around her throat. she tried to scream, but she couldn't make a sound. she felt tears streaming down her face. she was not ready to die. there was so much she wanted to do. she had to hold on to life.

she suddenly fell to the floor. she gasped for air.

she was alive.

luke

Luke looked past the figure at charlotte. she laid lifeless on the floor. the only way he could tell she was alive was her occasional gasps of air. he turned back to the figure.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT" luke screamed towards the figure. everything flying around him fell to the floor. the . room became eerily silent. the figure disappeared, but it was clear he was still present.

"no one leaves........after ten" the figure spoke in a monotone voice.

an idea came to luke's mind. he didn't have time to consider if it would work, so he went for it.

"your lonely. you want someone to stay here with you. is that true?"

one book falls to the floor.

"you want us to not be afraid of you."

another book falls.

"come out in open, im not afraid." luke understood the figure. he was no longer afraid of the it. he wanted to help it.

after a few moments of silence, the figure appeared in the corner. it slowly walked towards luke. luke reached his hands towards the figure and took a step towards it.

"i am not afraid of you." luke was not sure what was about to happen. he just knew that if he didn't help this figure, charlotte was going to die. he had to save her.

charlotte

she looked up to see the figure approaching luke. luke looked calm and not afraid. she pulled herself up against a wall. she still couldn't make a sound. she gasped for air and watched helplessly as the figure approached luke.

"i am not afraid of you" charlotte cries turn to sobs as she watches in terror as luke walks closer to the figure. Luke turns to her and mouths "its ok". he takes another step towards it.

"i will not run away from you. i am not afraid of you" luke reaches out and touches the figure. the figure explodes into bright sparkles of dust.

luke runs over to charlotte and helps her stand. she glances at the clock. 3:57 am. she watched as luke ran to open the curtain. the rain has stopped. charlotte felt he voice returning. she rubbed her neck before she fell into a restless sleep.

epilogue

luke woke charlotte at 7:45.

"come on baby, the car is done. i already picked it up, its outside. i packed up your stuff and took it out there too."

charlotte grumbled a little before rolling out of bed. was it just a nightmare? or did it really happen. it was probably a nightmare.....but why did her neck hurt so much?

they got in the car and neither of them mentioned the night before. charlotte loved road trips. she was so excited to start her new life with Luke, away from her parents. away from the troubles of her old life. but the memory of last night still haunted her. she rubbed her neck before reaching for luke's hand.

luke was didn't miss his old life. he knew that life with charlotte would be so much better. he would give charlotte the best life he could. he would make her forget the night before. she had no reason to remember the horror of last night, or the nights before. she would want for nothing. luke silently vowed to it before taking charlotte's hand.