Are you afraid of the dark?

Lots of people are scared of the dark. However, I am not one of them. I am simply terrified of the things IN the dark. Now, I will tell my story to the world.

It was a mid-summer morning. A wild breeze swept through the trees, scattering a few of the leaves and making them hit the ground. I stood outside, waiting.

My seven friends, Emma, Ashley, Laura, Lily,Ash Alexa, Stormy, and Violet were coming. At least, I hoped they were.

The big sleepover I'd been planning for MONTHS now was finally ready, and I couldn't have been more excited. It was going to be perfect! The food, the sleeping bags, the scary stories (Or, maybe not, just in case.) and the new movie that had just come out!

I saw a red car pull into the driveway, and nearly yelled out loud as I saw my first friend step out, Stormy. she waved her mom goodbye, and ran up towards me.

"Im so excited," She said, running her fingers through her dark hair. "I basically had to BEG my mom to go!" I smiled at the thought.

"Well, Im glad you came," I said. "I haven't seen anyone else yet." Just as those words left my mouth, two more cars came, letting out Lily and Ashley.

"Wow," Stormy said behind me, "Say it again, maybe the rest'll come."

"I haven't seen anyone else," I whispered, but this time, nothing.

Stormy snapped her fingers. "Darn."

It was around one when everyone arrived. We were all gathered in the huge living room, bowls of trail mix, caramel popcorn, (Lily's many, many bags of candy), pretzels, and another, even bigger bowl of popcorn.

"Where are you parents?" Ashley asked, watching the TV as I turned it on.

"That vacation, remember?" I informed her, "Im allowed to have this sleepover as long as we don't go crazy."

"Alright, what's the plan?" Emma asked, tossing popcorn into the air and catching it in her mouth. "I mean, what time do we have to go to sleep?"

"We've got games," I said. "And we can stay out here, even if we do those. I think my mom said to go to sleep by ten." Violet jumped up, "what type of... games?" The way she said it was so... mysterious and funny, it made me want to laugh.

"I'll grab them," I said. I left the TV remote with Stormy, and headed to the game room. Violet was behind me.

"Ooohrgh, you have so many games!" She said, excited. "I wish I had even half of this." I laughed, picking up Monopoly. She grabbed the Game of Life, Checkers, and Sorry. I took them from her and led her back to the living room.

"I call Life!" Ashley said immediately, jumping up.

"Same,"

"Same!"

Me, Stormy, and Lily ended up with Sorry, Laura, Emma, and Ash had monopoly, and Ashley, and Alexa had The game of Life.

I sat, staring at my pawn who was nearly in home as Stormy hopped her red one three spaces. Finally! I pulled one of the cards, looking at it. Twelve, perfect. I landed directly in home, along with the other two pawns there.

"I win!" I said. Lily put on a sarcastic frown, and Stormy laughed. I glanced at the time, nearly eleven. 

"Oh, we stayed up later than we should," Lily said, following my gaze. Raising her voice, she added, "Guys! Time to sleep!"

"Where are we sleeping, anyways?" Ash asked, packing up the board game.

"My room," I said, "We've all got sleeping bags."

"Ooh, we get to see your room!" Emma said playfully. A few oooh's went up around the room.

“So fancy!” Laura teased. 

"Alright," I said, "Let's go." I led the group of us down the hallway and turned the knob to my door. The eight sleeping bags were spread out on the floor, blues, reds, pinks, all scatted there.

The girls fanned out, each picking their color, and settling down into their bags. Once they were all laying down, I switched off the lights. The only glow came from the small rock crystal on my desk.

I woke to the sound of a huge thud in the hall right outside my room. It seemed the rest of us did, too.

"What," Ash hissed dangerously, "Was that?" Ash took karate, and she was a black belt. Therefore, far more dangerous than the rest of us. Slowly, she and I stood up and walked towards the door. The thumping was rapid now, nonstop and getting louder.

Thump. thump. Thump. Thump. It didn't stop. I turned the handle, and switched on the light, and...

Nothing.

I stood there, gasping. I was certain the thudding came from here, right? Ash looked just as confused.

"Are we, like, all sharing a dream or something?" Stormy's voice piped up. "Oh, no, it's real."

"That was..." I trailed off, "Odd."

Ash nodded, climbing back into her sleeping bag. "We'll find out in the morning. Let's sleep."She let out a massive yawn before laying her head down. I glanced nervously at the light switch, but flicked it off again. Just before I closed my eyes I checked the time.

11:34

Thud. The sound of glass shattering. I jerked up, looking around wildly. Again, the thudding was back. I saw the rest of my friends huddled around each other, their sleeping bags even closer than before.

"What is happening?" Emma mumbled, her face pale. Quickly, I glanced at the alarm on my dresser. My heart skipped a beat.

11:44

It was ten minuets after last time. How? And what was going on? This time, though, the thudding stopped. Then glass shattered, a scream echoes through the house's walls. I winced, covering my ears.

"What is going on!?" Lily said, frantic now. Boom! a loud, thundering sound came, followed by a growl.

Ash stood up, keeping her hands in front of her. "Follow me, and stay close." She looked directly at Violet as she said that.

Ash led us to my door, and quickly swung it open, hitting the light switch.

The lights stayed off.

She flicked it a few more times, with nothing happening. I gulped.

This time, the noises hadn't stopped. It was almost like the house itself was making the noise, echoing through the whole place.

"What are we going to do?" That was Ashley, her voice barley more than a whisper. I oped my mouth to respond, but in that second, Emma fell to the floor, and was pulled away by some invisible hand.

"Emma!" Lily's terrified screech came, as she looked around wildly for her friend. "Emma!"

Another growl came. "Living room!" Ash commanded us, "Go, now!" We broke up, all running for our lives, or, at least we thought. Once we were back in the living room, I saw everyone-except Violet.

"Violet!" I yelled, "Violet!" I heard a small, muffled sound, but it quickly was gone.

"Alright, we have to be calm." Just as Ash said that, a chair flew through the air, whizzing by our heads. I ducked, and heard someone scream. Plates flew through the air, cups, too. A bigger, longer growl came now, and another scream.

"Alexa's down!" Stormy yelled.

As another plate whizzed by, Lily yelled, "So's Ashley and Laura!" I could hear the fear.

"Go through the front door!" I yelled, "It's the only way out!"

We ran, darting through all the flying objects, and trying to avoid the growling spaces although it seemed like the whole house was growling. I tried the knob.

Locked, of course.

"Were trapped!" I yelled, just as another louder boom came.

"What?!" Stormy yelled, "I-ow! Help!" He voice vanished, as if being carried away. I saw her hands hanging onto the stair banister, clutching on for life. I grabbed her hands, feeling the force behind her. I felt Ash's hands lock with my arms, helping me hold her back.

"Help!" The second call came from Lily, but it was too late. She was gone.

"Pull!" I orderd.

"Luna," Ash said, exhausted, "She's gone. Im sorry!"

"No!" I shouted. But I knew she was right, I could feel the thing pulling her back. Trying to tear her free.

"It's okay," Stormy said. "Let me go. Save yourselves." I blinked back tears, trying to forget she was my best friends. Her gaze hardened. "Let me go," And I did. I didn't mean to. or want to, but my fingers slipped, and the last thing I saw was her terrified face.

"No!" Ash roared, she kicked her legs and filed her arms, struggling wildly. "It's got me! Ow! Help me!" I couldn't see anything on her. Just the normal air around her.

I didn’t know what to do, so I started kicking the air around her feet, where she was struggling most. Her gaze softened. 

“It’s working! It’s letting me go!” she said, she kicked some more, and stumbled forwards a little bit. She ran towards the living room with me on her heels. 

“We’ve only got each other now,” She said, her voice shaking. “We have to be care-” she was cut off as a plate leaped off the table and came crashing onto her, making her yelp. 

“You okay?” I asked. I didn’t see any blood. She nodded, “Yeah, fine.” 

We stood back to back, looking around wildly. I couldn’t see anything. The TV suddenly jerked itself off the mantle above the fireplace and came hurtling at us. A few knives followed, swirling through the air like missiles, and us as the targets.

“Duck!” Ash screeched, covering her head with her arms and crouching into a ball on the floor. I did the same. My heart was beating so loud, I was surprised Ash couldn’t hear it. I had never been so terrified in my whole life. I couldn’t help myself as I shivered violently. Then, I felt something sharp prick into my leg, and the same force I had felt behind Stormy as she was pulled away. 

“Help!” I screamed, flinging out my arms, hoping to catch something, but it was too late. 

The thing gripped harder, and I was dragged back into the shadows.