Chapter 2

Dawn Turner

I woke up with a throbbing headache. 

The second I opened my eyes, I felt a sharp ache making itself guest in my head. It was as though my skull was about to crack open at the intensity of it. I moved carefully in bed because it pained me so much to even breathe. The room felt darker than usual, the atmosphere even darker. I stole a glance at the clock on my nightstand and my jaw dropped when I read '9:12pm'. There is no way it’s night time already. And how the hell did I end up in bed?

I brought my hands to my side, slowly sitting up in bed. My brain was shutting down any attempts of me making sense of the strange dream I had. I don't think I have ever experienced a dream so vivid about a creature like that in my life. Despite waking up a few minutes ago, my heart still felt heavy and a frown remained stamped on my face. Today is not my day.

After a few more minutes of sitting in bed being overwhelmed with confusion, I finally stood up and made my way downstairs. The instant I stepped foot in the kitchen, my body froze as my gaze fell on a familiar pan I had seen in my dream. More specifically, the pan I used to defend myself from the scary devil man.

Was it not a dream? But how is this possible? He had wings...he made people fall to the ground and choke without even touching them...he read my mind...

I shook my head to clear the ridiculous thoughts that filled my brain. Just thinking about the man made my heart race again like it did in the dream. I gulped down the bile that was rising in my throat. I’m overreacting. I had to be.

I woke up in my own bed, I’m not hurt in any way, I was probably so exhausted from all the stress that I’ve been dealing with regarding my future potential job that I just crashed in bed after coming back from the grocery store. There is nothing to worry about at all.

The doorbell rang, drawing me out of my thoughts. Who the hell is visiting me at night? I put the pan down and started walking towards the door but the closer I got, the faster my heart was beating.

Something felt so wrong.

If my life was a horror movie, this is the part where the main lead makes the dumbest decision ever; opening the door. This is the part where thousands of viewers at home sit up in their chairs and scream at the lead not to open the door. However in most cases, the lead most definitely opens the door.

I’m the lead.

I placed my hand on the door knob with closed eyes, letting out a shaky breath. You know what; I lived a good 24 years. I’m ready to go.

Actually no I’m not.

So why the hell am I even debating opening the door right now? I could feel every cell in my body screaming at me not to open it but I felt like I was a puppet on a string, being forced to follow the puppet masters orders. I don't know what it was, but I couldn't stop myself from twisting the door knob and pulling the door open. I couldn’t fight the urge and I’m now regretting it as I continue staring at the last person I would ever want to see standing in front of me.

"Hello dear, would you like your heart served with kidney or extra blood?"

I screamed and slammed the door shut in his face. 

This is not happening. This is not real.

My left hand trembled at my side. I jammed my right fist against my mouth to stifle another scream. I couldn't move my legs as they were frozen in place.

"Oh come on love, open up. I just want to kil-play with you! A little fun game won’t do any harm, right?" He snickered from behind the closed door. My jaw dropped in a silent scream of terror as I realized that my dream was actually reality. This is definitely real. I wasn't dreaming.

"Leave me alone, whatever you are! I will never open the door for you.” I yelled from behind closed doors. “Well, again.” I added.

"You do realize I can just knock this door down with my foot, right?" He asked. I could sense the arrogance behind his tone and it made my blood boil. I leaned against the door in hopes that my small body would somehow be enough to keep it shut.

"Oh yeah? I'd like to see you try you idiot!" I mocked him but after I did, it occurred to me that if the dream I had was actually reality, he could probably do more than just kick the door down.

And he did.

The lights went out around me and I was surrounded by darkness. The only thing I could hear was my heavy breathing and the pounding of my heart against my chest.

"Oh sh--" I tried to walk backwards but I bumped into a wall.

I don't recall there being a wall here...

I turned around in urgency, immediately regretting it after seeing who or what was standing there, menacingly. Although it was quite dark, I could still see the massive wings sitting comfortably on the creature's shoulders right in front of me. "What do you want from me? I swear I’m broke if you're here for money." I blurted out while holding my hands up in surrender.

"Money? Not even close, love. You see I have a thing for playing with my victims before killing them. Quite the sadist, I am." I couldn’t see him well in the dark which made his threat ten times more threatening. He started approaching me slowly and I followed his pace, backing away.

"A game? Well you see, I'm a bit unexperienced in games and this sadistic stuff you mentioned. My neighbor though? He LOVES playing, yeah? Hell, I'll go call him for you, don’t you worry!" I faked a cheer and turned to run towards the door. I didn't get too far before I was stopped by hands wrapping themselves tightly around my wrist and turning me back around.

"As fun as that sounds, I'm pretty sure your neighbor wasn't the one who hit me across the face. With a pan. Not once, by the way. Three times! So excuse me if I'm a little aggravated and quite frankly, bloodthirsty." He chuckled dryly, raising three fingers in the air. "That's this many in case you're confused."

"I know my numbers." I rolled my eyes but then widened them when the creature in front of me gave me a cold stare. "Or not. I'm quite dumb as you have probably noticed." I laughed nervously.

"Today is your lucky day because I'm actually in the mood for having fun." He whispered in the dark and pulled me closer to him. The way he said fun made me believe it would be anything but fun. "Hide and seek? You hide." I was right. His mouth was near my ear now and I prayed to God he wasn’t able to feel my heart beat like it was running a marathon against his chest.

The second his hands released mine, I took that as my chance to bolt towards the door. I didn’t get far before I tripped on air and fell right on ground. I swear he did that.  

He’s a devil and a cheater.

I tried to stand up but my head hit the table leg near the door. It felt like someone quite literally slammed my head with a pan. That’s karma for hitting him with one, I guess. I brought my hands up to my head and felt a warm liquid making its way through my hair. I prayed to God it was sweat forming on my forehead due to how scared I was but after bringing my hand back down to my face, the smell of something metallic evaded my senses.

Blood.

The sound of the lock turning on my door brought me back to my senses. The door is now locked and I’m trapped here with him.

I was starting to get dizzy but still managed to pull myself off the floor and limp my way to the staircase. Maybe I can make it to my room and get my phone to call for help. Although I’m not quite sure what I would even say. I did not dare look behind me as I took another step up the stairs. My legs were trying their best to do their job but my injured head was failing me. I fell down to my knees on the 7th step and prayed I’d somehow make it out alive.

I tried to get back up on my feet but a tall body appeared in front of me and hauled me up to my feet.

"I finished counting, Rapunzel." His breath hit the side of my face like a knife and I screamed out for help while squirming in his hands. I was turning around agressively in his hands, trying to escape his grip, but my right foot slipped on the step and I fell backwards. As a last resort, I clutched the man's hand for support, only to end up falling off the stairs with him on top of me.

The man turned us both around before we could hit the ground and took the hit against the floor. 

Excuse my manners, I would awe in admiration but I was too busy cursing the bastard in my head for all the pain he's caused me in less than a day.

It was not until he moved around to stand up that I felt myself becoming drowsy. I was already exhausted from what I finally accepted to be reality this morning and now this just drained every last bit of energy I had left in me. I could feel the sweat drenching my skin while my fingers were curled into a fist, nails digging into my palm. 

My eyelids felt heavy again. I tried to fight it but it was a futile attempt. After a minute or so of struggling, I finally allowed myself to dissolve into nothingness. Before I passed out completely, I heard the sound of the door opening and my mother calling out my name in panic.