Its Watching

I woke up to the whisper of quite sobbing. It sounded like my roommate, but I wasn’t sure. I was tempted to sit up and ask her what was wrong, or to see if it was really her, but decided to stay lying down. I closed my eyes, listening to her sobs, praying that she was ok. It was an effort to stay lying to down, but I knew she was stressed out from classes, and also some problems with her boyfriend, so I figured it had something to do with that. Maybe a failed essay or a fight with her boyfriend. Either way, I had a feeling she wanted me to stay out of it. After a minute or so, her sobs stopped, and silence filled our room. Convinced that she was okay, I fell back asleep.

The next morning I woke up and found my roommate sleeping, her sides rising and falling as she snored softly. Draping my legs over the edge of my bed, I stood up and stumbled to my door, the carpeted floor grazing my bare feet. I gripped my door handle, the cold biting at the palm of my hand, only to be stopped by the sound of my roommates’ voice.

“Good morning.” I turned around and my jaw dropped. Her eyes were puffy and red, either from crying or lack of sleep, I wasn’t sure, her hair was a mess and her lips seemed oddly dry and cracked.

“So…. You were the one crying last night…” I murmured, my hand still rested on the door handle. She nodded stiffly. I pulled my hand away from the door handle and crawled onto the foot of her bed, still examining her tear stained face.

“What happened?” As I spoke her shoulders stiffened and she began to sway slightly. She seemed terrified. She glanced up and stared into my eyes.

“There was someone—something, crouched beside your bed, watching you.” As she said that, blood dripped from the corner of her mouth and ran down her chin. I screamed and leaped back, watching as blood pooled around her tongue. I began shaking as I backed towards the door, her hand shaking and reaching out to me, tears spilling down her cheeks as she moved her lips, trying to speak but failing.

“I don’t know what to do!” I wailed as my back pressed against the cold wall. I sobbed into my hands as she collapsed on her pillow, blood still running down her chin, leaving stains on her chest and shirt. My legs gave way and I hit the ground with a thud.

“P-please let this just be a prank.” I sobbed, my shoulders shuttering as tears continued to leak down my cheeks.

“Oh this is farthest thing from a prank.” A raspy voice whispered in my ear as a calloused hand clutched my mouth and muffled my scream. I struggled against the grip, but the raspy voice just laughed huskily as it forced the back of head against the wall. Fear overwhelmed my thoughts as the edges of my vision started to go hazy. The last thing I heard was the husky laughing of the intruder as everything faded away into darkness.