…what I didn't know, was that things were only about to get weirder.
Almost like a scene being rewinded, I was stopped right in the middle of my tracks once again by a sudden and alarming crashing noise; specifically glass breaking into little pieces…
In an instant, all the fear pumped back into my veins. Blood running cold as ice, body shaking as fast as my teeth were chattering, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end, yup…I was terrified.
And before I could make another move, the booming echo of a door slamming shut followed by another loud THUD! made its way into my ears.
My eyes quickly darted to where it was coming from. It had come from the front porch of a house. Particularly, the one that I was about to pass by next…
And as I did…
I faintly saw the shape of…something making its way inside out of the corners of my eyes.
Amazing how certain situations can be very similar to each other; the house was also on my left side just like last time. An odd sense of deja-vu washed over me, as my mind tried to think that maybe it was just another cat or a similar harmless animal that went inside the house…but somehow, my brain told me that this was not the case. I didn't know too many animals living in the suburbs that walked on two legs…
Even so, I knew that the solution to this scenario was pretty freaking simple!
And that was…simply moving on. I mean, it did went IN the building, not out. So I was safe.
Still, my eyes were glued to the open doorway; the door itself was even missing. There was a good amount of distance from the front porch to where I was standing on the curb, and yet it felt like I was mere inches away from entering the killzone of this currently unknown assailant.
After arguing with myself for a while…I decided to move again. Despite the cold night air, several beads of sweat ran down the side of my neck. I felt my heart beating like a jackhammer as I took each step slowly and carefully, keeping my eyes fixed on the empty doorway that lead to what I could only see as darkness…
But…before I even realized it…I had made my way past it.
Well…past the front lawn of it anyway, was still a few inches away from the fence that sectioned it off from the next house.
It didn't matter too much though, because when I took note of this, I felt like I had a chance to run and win in a freaking marathon! Of course…just because I was past the house…didn't mean that whatever had come inside couldn't come out again and chase me…
When this particular thought crossed my mind, I couldn't help but stop again…and turn around. And on that front porch was…nothing. Nothing at all. And turning back in front of me was much of the same.
Half of a smile was on my face as I finally continued forward. That whole night was slowly turning into a story that would probably be best told while drunk, there was no way in hell I'd be able to keep a straight face while recounting those moments to my friends. I felt like calling them up at that moment actually, to ask them out for a girls night later down the week, have the next night be full of calm and relaxing people, instead of being alone with an never-ending sense of dread in my stomach…
Yeah, that was probably what was going to happen…
…if I didn't hear the crying.
Before I could even make my way past the next street lamp, I could clearly hear the faint sounds of a girl sobbing. A young one at that.
My feet stopped again. I turned to the direction of the sound and strained my ears to see where it was coming from. Two to three steps behind me, and I soon realized that it was indeed coming from the house that I was looking at moments ago.
The crying did not stop as the time went by. If anything, it had gotten louder than ever. I could've left, I could've just ignored it and went away. And everything would've been normal in my life…
And yet, I started walking towards the front porch.
The grass scraped at my legs, sending small goosebumps across my arms and legs. The cold night air and the fact that there had been no other sound except for that crying did not help at all. But I didn't stop…well, I did eventually when I reached the first step of the front porch. Somehow, that was what made me think about what I was currently doing.
Comparing my situation to the realm of horror movies, I was probably in the process of facing two possible outcomes: the main protagonist stepping into a series of unfortunate events that will haunt them forever (At least until they die), or the poor first victim of the signature slasher or monster at the start of the film. Both were bad, and the latter was the worst possible scenario I could think of…
But listening to the crying again, hearing the pain and sorrow in her voice…
I continued on.
I'd say I wasn't scared, but that would be as true as that Curse movie being based on real-life events…
Looking above the dimly lit porch, the empty doorway stood by; one end of an old and rotting door peaking out and resting on the ground. I realized that this was what had fallen down when whatever came in here slammed the door shut. Its other end was barely visible from the darkness that laid beyond, looking like the door was slowly being consumed by it…
I took in a deep breath, then made my way up the steps and into the doorway…which ended in me running into a wall. My nose was hurting like hell, but at least I now knew why it was so dark.
To my right, I could see a short hallway that turned left, rays of moonlight coming in at the end. Placing my hand on the rough surface of the wall, I walked carefully down it.
At the turn, I came across the remnants of what used to be a living room. The light came in from one (broken) window at the far end of the room, it was bright enough to let me see how barren and empty everything was. No furniture, not even trash. I could only guess that the only things living in there were unseen cockroaches and rats.
No crying little girl in sight, but I could tell that she was close. I followed the sound of her voice, taking slow and careful steps to the middle of the room. Exploring the place didn't help too much; creaky or broken down floorboards, doors that had long since fallen off their hinges like the one at the entrance, walls lined with grime and vines. It didn't take long before I followed her voice to an open door right next to a broken stairway.
A row of shelves and cupboards told me that the this was a kitchen; I could barely see one side of an ancient-looking oven from where I was. Her crying seemed to have slowed down, but I could still hear her sobbing to herself.
She was so close now, and yet…this was where I hesitated again. What was I going to see when I peeked my head in there? Would it be the crying little girl I thought I was hearing? Or maybe…something much more horrifying to imagine?
I readied myself for the worst and slowly walked forward.
Looking around, it was indeed a kitchen, right down to the faded black and white tiles on the floor and the yellow dandelion-patterned wallpaper that was slowly chipping away. A window by the sink let in a few bits of light from a streetlamp outside, making it easier to see everything in the kitchen.
Yet for some reason, it took a while before my mind registered the tiny sulking figure huddled beside the sink.
It was hard to tell, but I could see that this was indeed a little girl; around the age of eight or nine. Long messy hair ran down to the floor and what looked like thick-layered robes covered her body. She was hugging her knees and buried her face in them as she wept.
Seeing her made me tense, but I'd be lying if I said that I felt the urge to run. I was more relieved at the thought of her being an actual human child…unless she was a ghost or something. I tried my damn hardest not to think of that…
I debated with myself if it even was a good idea to interact with her…
"Hey," I eventually managed to say. "Are you okay?" I tried to keep my voice calm and friendly, similar to what I used for the younger kids I looked after.
The girl stopped crying, a small yelp of surprise coming from her when she heard my voice. She kept her face hidden still.
"I-It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you. Are you…are you hurt?" I asked, taking a step into the kitchen.
I could hear her voice mumble something I couldn't understand. She fidgeted in her seat, shaking. She was not taking my presence too well.
But I pressed on. "Hey, it's okay! Tell you what, why don't you look up at me for a second? Kinda hard to talk to somebody when they're not looking at you, don't ya think?" I joked, hoping to get rid of the sense of dread surrounding the atmosphere between us.
She did the exact opposite of that though, and buried her face deeper. Her breathing seemed to take in a more panicked state. This was not good.
"O-okay, I can see that you're scared…and I'm sorry about that." I blurted out. "I'm…I'm scared too. Really scared actually, but that's not the point. I don't know who you are sweetie, but I can tell you right now, this place is not somewhere we both want to be in. So…if you want to get out of this…super scary house of horrors, why don't we start with you looking up? Hm?" I explained to her as cheerful and campy as I could.
I didn't know why I wanted to see her face exactly--I half-thought of her maybe being a kid I knew who ran away from her house or something--but nevertheless, she did comply soon enough. She slowly tilted her head up, not saying a single word.
I instinctively gave her a smile as she did. "There, now that's…" my mouth went dry, and the smile instantly faded…
A pair of glowing white orbs stared at me in the dark. Two irises surrounded by nothing but pitch blackness. Two eyes that belonged to her…
It felt like time had stopped around us. I stared at her, as she did the same to me. She stared back at me with the same type of astonishment I had.
Every second that ticked by felt like I was participating in something that I shouldn't have. It was obvious that this girl was beyond what you would call Human… And yet…a part of me still wanted to wrap her tightly around my arms, and tell her that it was going to be okay.
She stood up from her spot. Her frame moving into the light from outside the window, making it possible for me to see the rest of her much more clearly.
An odd V-shaped symbol was on her forehead, barely visible through her dark bangs. It seemed to glow too, but not as much as her eyes.
Two tiny protrusions stood up from her hair; somewhat reminding me of a baby-goat's horns at an early age. Similar circles and lines running across the both of them. Except…they seemed to be moving somehow. Every five seconds or so, the pattern would change in position and shape on the smooth dark-grey surface.
The robe she was wearing strangely shared these patterns too. The rough leathery-looking cloth covered only her torso, right below the neck. Her legs were bare and covered with dirt, but looked fairly normal, albeit paler than most people.
She raised her hand, and immediately I noticed her fingers. All five of them were pitch black, as if they were soaked in paint up to her knuckles. And in the light…I could clearly see the shimmer of the long claws she had on each one.
Her lips were quivering, even more so than before. As if she was about to say something. "D-don't come any closer!" she exclaimed, hoarse and tired. "I…I'm n-not what you think I am! Please! Just go away…!"
I couldn't keep my eyes off of her.
Everything about her spelled Not Human over and over again. But just by her words alone, it was plain as day that she was just another kid. Lost, alone, and very scared…
I took one step towards her, which prompted her to step back. "I said stay back!" she shouted, a lot more fierce this time. That was something I couldn't do.
I stood my ground, and made one more step…
She looked at me straight in the eye…then ran.
She managed to move right past me before I could grab her, leaving me stumbling down to one knee. "Wait!!" I shouted, but to no avail.
I got up and followed her back to the living room. I saw her making her way to the broken window, stealing a glance at me before turning to the right and heading out the front door.
Running as fast as I could, I made it outside. I caught her slowing down halfway across the front lawn, uncoiling the strange-looking garbs covering her torso.
Only…she wasn't touching it with her hands, they were moving completely on their own. The leathery material was suddenly spread wide around her. The two mantels kept stretching wider and wider, as I realized what they really were…
Wings. Two long and oversized wings were attached to her back, similar to a bat's in shape and appearance. Revealing an old, worn-out sun dress for children beneath them.
I was struck with an odd sense of awe. The two wings slowly began to move up then down, creating gusts of air that made the grass of the lawn move in place. And with one strong kick-off, she ascended into the air.
Or rather…she was trying to.
She was still too close to the ground, it didn't look like the wings were keeping her in the air. Both flapping up and down recklessly, desperately trying to gain distance.
"H-hey!! Stop! I just wanna talk!!" I shouted, snapping out of my trance and running towards her.
She was about five feet in the air now, still a little close, but too far for me to reach her. I didn't even want to try, last thing I wanted was for her to panic and fall down on the concrete…
"Stop!! You're going to fall!!" I shouted.
"G-go away!!" she shouted right back.
She was getting higher and higher, but every now and then, she suddenly drops down, barely regaining control. It was obvious that she was getting tired, and she was not gonna last any longer in the air…
"Get down!! You're gonna fall if you keep going like this!!!" I shouted, but she still ignored me. This was not looking good. I had to do something, and quick!
She made her way to the middle of the road,
And before I could think of anything,
Her wings suddenly gave out on her…!
Leaving her falling from eighteen feet great of height!
"Ah, dammit!" I sprinted towards her with all I could.
Funny how things went on with my life.
One minute, I was a happy-go-lucky college graduate who recently moved out of her parents' place and thought she could do anything!
She was getting close, too close to the ground. "I got you!! I got you! Hold on!!"
The next…I was a babysitter who was so close to being broke and was desperately looking for a reason to find a new job…
"Crap! Crap! Craaaaap!" I took a giant leap, arms outstretched.
Lucky for me, a reason did fall into my arms.
Literally.
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