The Beautiful Face

I snuggled deeper into my bed, clutching my phone. It was raining outside, thunder occasionally rocking the house. The streetlights were little yellow smudges against my wet window. The water drizzling from the heavens had a nice sound. It was all I could do not to drift into dreams.

As I was scrolling through my contacts, the aggressive light blaring from my phone lit up my otherwise dark room. Moving boxes cluttered the floor, tiny snippets of paper stuck to the wall. A small fan hung lifelessly from the ceiling. I could hear my parents talking in hushed tones in the room next to me. The walls were like paper.

I finally found her contact and pressed call. As I waited for her to pick up, old fears crept up. Besides my phone, there was no light in the room because the fan lights don’t work, and mom and dad don’t have time to fix it, with all the problems around the house. I swear I could hear sounds, apart from my parents and the thunder. And it scared me to no extent. 

My fears went away when I heard Abby’s voice.

“Bella?”

“Hey Abby,” I replied, smiling. Abby’s voice never failed to make me happy.

And so, a long conversation struck. We talked about school, family, friends, rumors, etc. I laughed when she told me what happened at the school food fight.

“Renne Baker was hit in the face with an apple pie! Oh, you should have been there, it was hysterical. It’s a shame you moved.”

We chatted for hours, the storm still raging on outside, but I was in my own cozy little bubble with Abby. It didn’t matter.

Finally, we ended up talking about my new house.

“I dunno, Abby,” I said hesitantly. “There’s something strange about this place. I keep on feeling like someone’s watching me.”

I shivered.

“I’ll bet you’re just nervous. New house in a new state, it’s bound to be a mess at first. You’ll get used to it.”

I sighed in content. Leave it to Abby to make you feel better.

“I guess,” I said hesitantly. “But could you stay on the phone? To make me feel better?”

“Wimp,” she teased. I rolled my eyes, the corners of my lips tugging upward.

We talked and talked. With Abby, the conversation never ends. Finally, I heard a knock at my door, soft at first, then with urgency.

“Hold on a sec… come in!” I yelled to the door.

Nothing happened. 

“Come in!” I yelled louder.

Still nothing.

I put the phone on my bed, creeping towards the door, ignoring Abby’s questions. I opened the door slowly, but no one was there.

I looked down the dark hall, all the doors tightly shut. My heart beating rapidly, I closed my door and hurried towards my bed, picking up the phone with shaking hands.

“Bella? What’s wrong?” Abby asked.

I feverishly explained what happened. I could almost hear her frown.

“Well, it could have just been your imagination. Maybe-”

Then her voice was gone. I stared at the empty screen and looked outside.

The street lamp was off, my window just showing black darkness.

I cursed to myself, trying to call her back.

Nothing happened. 

I threw my phone on my bed as I got up, exiting my room. I walked down the hall and pressed my ear to my parent’s bedroom door.

Not a single sound.

Without Abby’s voice and my laughs, the house was eerily quiet. I could feel the air buzzing in my ear as I softly walked downstairs, flicking switches as I passed.

No light.

When I reached the living room, I tried to turn on the TV, but it remained blank.

I tried everything in my house that could conduct any light. Nothing happened.

Sighing in frustration, I sat on the couch and looked outside. It was pitch black, yet there was enough light that I could see around me just fine. 

The house was so quiet, it was unsettling. The only noise was my quick and deep breathing. I tried to ignore my pounding heart, screaming at me to return to my room. 

Yet this was my house. I had to reason to fear it.

But the thing was, I did.

***

“I don’t think this is a good idea, Paul,” my mom said nervously.

We just entered the house, the moving people rushing in and out with full and empty boxes. I sat on the floor of the living room, looking at my phone, pretending I wasn’t paying attention.

“Oh, Irene, it is fine. The rumors are rumors for a reason. You have nothing to fear.”

The rest of their conversation was drowned by the mover’s yells and noise. My skin tingled slightly. They never told me any of this.

***

My dad and I sat on the living room couch, watching a movie. Suddenly, a scream pierced the air.

We both jumped and ran upstairs, barging into my mom’s bedroom. She was standing on her bed, pointing with a shaking finger at the mirror that hung on the wall across from her. She screamed again.

My dad pulled her from the bed, mouthing quiet words I couldn’t hear. My mom replied, her scared voice shaking as tears spilled from her eyes, looking in horror at the mirror.

After that, I never went into that room again.

***

A deep scratching sound woke me up. I didn’t even realize I was asleep.

I got up from the couch, my eyes on a covered window. As I got closer, the scratching got deeper and deeper, until it was the only thing I heard.

I pulled back the curtain and screamed, jumping away.

My heart was pounding furiously, trying to escape the jail formed by ribs. The curtain swayed as a face stared at me, pale white, blood dripping from the corners of the mouth. The eyes were a deep black, and stringy hair fell damp from the white skull. Its lips matched its skin, and it curled in a sinister smile. 

I screamed again, running up the stairs, tears running down my face. I ran inside my room and shut the door, flinging myself into my bed and curling into a ball, my head tucked between my legs, rocking back and forth.

My mom was telling the truth… I want to leave… why… I can’t… I can’t…

I heard a high chuckle downstairs, and my ball tightened, my heart hurting and my blood pounding. I felt light-headed, as if I were to explode any time…

I heard that scratching outside my window, and if though I didn’t want to, I couldn’t resist. I opened the curtain and that pale face stared back at me, inches from me, rain dripping from its face, only a thin sheet of glass protecting me…

Then it opened its mouth, and the world became black. 

***

I was in a black hole, it was pulling me deeper and deeper, the air becoming too thick to breathe. I felt empty, devoid of everything. My throat felt tight, like it was choking on something. My eyes were squeezed shut, my lips trembling, as the abyss pulled me further and further, from what, I did not know. All I knew was that I was floating.

Beneath my eyes, the face was taunting me, grinning and laughing. My mind felt like mush, my muscles were limp. 

I felt unconscious, but my eyes struggled to open. When they did, what remained of my mind threatened to burst.

Instead of seeing black, I was seeing an explosion of colors. Red, orange, blue, purple, all the colors mixed and danced in suspended air. It swirled around me creating loops and sluggish designs. It was beautiful.

Then, a great tugging feeling snatched me around my waist. My eyes bulged, the colors fading, a faint scream in my ears, until my eyes could see no more.