Antichrist

Thump, thump thump! The wooden door bellowed through the suburban split level with ease. Jenna startled and, like any millennial, would never dream of opening her door without first knowing who was knocking and why they were here. She knew that her warm, incandescent light was spilling out of her living room window onto the front lawn, and that her car parked in the driveway was a dead giveaway if nothing else. She thought of how she might answer and began the ritual of running through endless scenarios of social anxiety. What if she said the wrong thing!? What if she stuttered!? What if they tried to sell her something!? What if it was Mormons!? What if- wait a moment. What would anyone be doing soliciting her at 9:02 in the evening? Thump, thump, thump, thump! She quickly and quietly closed her hardcover book, almost forgetting to place her bookmark.

Jenna stood up and climbed onto her couch backwards, parting the curtains just enough to see if she could catch a glimpse of her impatient stranger. Her quiet street was lit softly by the street lights. No additional cars were parked in her driveway or near the curb. She also couldn't see anyone at the door! Unease coiled itself into a tight, painful knot in her stomach. For a moment she considered calling 9-1-1 and asking the police to come by, but what would she tell them? Besides that would have her talking on the phone and that was, frankly, more than she could deal with right now.

Cortisol and adrenaline rushed through Jenna. She tiptoed down the half-flight of stairs to her door and glanced through the peephole. She sucked in her breath and leapt, not unlike a feline caught on unawares. She had seen only a thin man in a dark coat, with paper-white skin, eyes that were just a bit too big and far apart, and a smile shaped like a perfect crescent moon with no gums to show. Then, the door handle rattled getting more and more ferocious by the second. She dashed back to the living room and crouched behind her couch just in time to see the... thing drift into the room. At what must've been seven feet tall it almost touched the ceiling with it's head. It didn't walk so much as glide as if on wheels. It's torso seemed to snap side to side instead of turning it's head at the neck. The hollow eyes of the monster scanning, smile still wide and unnerving. It lingered on Jenna for a few moments longer than it should before POP! Jenna shrieked in horror, but the thing had disappeared.

For a long while, stillness hung over the house. Eventually, Jenna looked back over to where the monster had disappeared from. A faint, red, glowing marble lay where it had been. Timidly, nervously Jenna poked the marble and flinched. Nothing happened. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, and picked up the marble from the floor. What was that, she pondered as she turned the marble over in her hand. Why here? Her mind raced with questions about the creature that had wandered into her home. She became more and more puzzled, had it seen her? Had it been afraid of her?

She was pulled from her questioning by the sound of her alarm going off. Beep beep beep beep it screamed until she rolled over and pressed the off button on her phone. What a nightmare. Jenna got out of bed feeling more rested than she'd felt in her entire life! She went about her morning routine. Showering, putting on some cute pants she'd bought recently, and miraculously applying makeup flawlessly the first time. As she went to grab her keys to leave for work, she froze. Her face went pale and heart began to race. There, next to her keys, was the marble!

She gingerly grabbed her keys and rushed out to her car. As she went to start her engine, she noticed the marble sitting in the cup holder and she bolted out! What was happening? Why her? The world started to spin. Jenna pinched herself, once, twice. Then, she slapped herself. She was still there so it couldn't be a dream, right? What was the marble? What was the creature? Why her? What did any of it mean? Why couldn't she wake up? Why her? Then she looked down. She was floating! Six, maybe seven feet off the ground! The edges of her vision started to darken and she promptly flopped out of the air. What the fuck!

Jenna got up, dusted herself off, and realized the marble was in her pocket. This time she didn't panic, as much as she wanted to. Instead, she turned and looked at her neighbor, Grant, who began to glow faintly red, a tiny trail of wisps beginning at the marble and ending at Grant. Grant was probably in his mid fifties with his short, salt and pepper hair and somehow, immaculate fashion sense. Jenna's head was wracked with questions, confusion, and paranoia as she kept looking back and forth along the wispy, red trail from Grant to the marble. 

"Good morning! Beautiful day, isn't it?" Jenna heard Grant's rough voice call across the street.

Jenna laughed uncomfortably "Yeah, it's gorgeous!"

"You're not usually still home this late in the day. Are ya sick or something?" Grant's friendly question was like a slap across the face.

"Oh shoot!" Jenna bolted into her car and checked the time on her phone. 10:46! She was definitely gonna need to explain herself for this, she thought as she tore out of her driveway and off to the office.

Her drive in was even more bewildering, everyone she saw would end up glowing red. Her boss was furious by the time she arrived, which Jenna found entertaining as he began to glow red while chewing her out. She had no idea what the marble was doing but it didn't seem harmful. Not to mention, she hadn't seen anything even resembling that... thing since last night. She spent most of the day wondering what was going on. The marble was definitely waiting for her to do something to someone else, but what? And why? Was it dangerous?

Jenna went home that night with the questions circling in her mind, so lost in thought that she nearly missed that her lights were on. She got out of the car and went inside holding her keys like wolverine. Inside, however, was the monster. It stared at her unblinkingly from her kitchen just across the way from the living room where all this began.

"What are you!" She roared.

The thing didn't say anything, instead it pointed to her pocket where the marble rested. The marble began to heat up. Jenna threw it out of her pocket and at the creature. Then, things got really weird. It started out soft, and steadily got louder, surrounding her like a tornado. Whispers of various voices. Merlin they said. Jenna's confusion increased immensely. Merlin. Like the wizard from Arthurian legend? She was in America, not England. Merlin. What did the creepy thing and the marble have to do with any of it. Merlin.

Suddenly, the creature made a loud POP! Jenna didn't shriek this time, she stared in disbelief as a second marble dropped to the floor next to the first one. Then, the lights of the house all seemed to be sucked towards the marbles as silently a form began to pool up around the marbles. They lifted off the ground and settled into two red orbs, not unlike eyes, and a face began to take shape. All light vanished and Jenna realized she was holding her breath, not in terror, but anticipation. As she exhaled, light returned to the room and there stood a strikingly handsome young man. His eyes were red and seemed to glow faintly, his hair short but messy.

Jenna was never seen again.