body

I was sitting against the foot of my bed when I heard the scream from down the hall.

The scream held for an instant then seized just as a quickly as it had started. I sat there frozen, waiting for the next sound to break the still. I waited for an eternity, but not a squeal nor squeak came. I decided that I had merely imagined the sound.

I picked up the deck of cards I’d been playing with and grabbed a cigarette from the stash tucked under my mattress. All the cards were facing downwards, save for one- the ace of spades. I flipped over the stray and lit a match. My father had told me never to smoke inside, but he was out. What he doesn’t know won’t kill him, I thought to myself.

The embers danced off the end of the cigarette. Just beyond their pretty little movements, I noticed an outline on the floor. It was quite dark, but I could still make out the shape of a head pressed on top of misshapen body. My eyes dashed up to the doorway, but no one- or nothing- was there. I turned my head back to the floor and the black shape had disappeared. Was I going mad?

I took a drag from my cigarette and let my head fall back. When I blew out the smoke, I felt at ease. I closed my eyes and let the white fill my lungs. I kept puffing until I could barely hold the cigarette anymore. That’s when I heard my father’s car pull up the driveway.

“Shit!” I said to myself. I had forgotten all about the meeting. I hustled downstairs, and was nearly out the door when he honked at me.

“Let’s go!” he roared.

I leaped into the passengers seat and he began to pull away. As we pulled away, I realized that I had forgotten to turn off the light in the hallway. When I looked back at my house as it shrunk into the distance, I saw a tall, black figure pass the light and move towards my bedroom.