I completely freeze up. I can distinctly hear deep, slow breaths from very close by. I spin around, shining the torch everywhere I could, which makes the flickering, uneven light almost go out, from me moving too much. I take a deep breath myself, and consentrate on where the sound was coming from. I slowly turn to face it, with a bright set of eyes, and a large grin of glowing, white, pointy teeth looking at me.I want to scream, but as I blink it disappears. It couldn’t have been more than a few feet in front of me, but whatever that was, it’s gone now… Or was it?
BANG!
There was a loud noise coming from the upstairs portion of the house, followed by a low, throaty growl, which seemed to make my very bones rattle. The horrifying sound which seemed to go on forever eventually faded out, leaving me in complete silence once again. I look to the watch. 2 am. The next five hours could not come fast enough. Now that I caught a glimpse of what I was sharing a house with for the night, I wasn’t too sure if I wanted to keep sharing a house with it. I decided that if I saw it down here again, I would just leave and spend the rest of the night in the Everfree… It’d be less scary than sharing a house with… whatever that was. If it stayed up there, though. I think I might be able to last out the night. I can say goodbye to any sleep for the next month though.
Using some of the furniture, I managed to get another small fire going, but this time, I didn’t have any extra fuel. I didn’t dare leave the house to get more wood, so whatever I had there, had to last. I pulled out my book, and began to read once again, and as before, I try to shut out the occasional noises from the second floor. Despite them being right above me. I considered moving to a different place in the room, when I heard the voice.
“Little girl, little girl, so far away from home.
Little girl, little girl, in the dark all alone.
Little girl, little girl, laying by the fire.
Little does she know, her situation is dire.”
The haunting rhyme echoes in my head long after it had actually ended. I squeeze my eyes shut, and try to forget it, but it only comes back stronger. I was stuck with that rhyme in my head until morning at the very least. Then that last line comes back to me. “Little does she know, her situation is dire?” I say aloud to myself. What was that supposed to mean? Was it a warning? Or was it a threat?
“Little girl, little girl, trying to be brave.
Little girl, little girl, her friends she never forgave
Little girl, little girl, to last out the night
But before it’s over, she might die of fright.”
The voice came again, in another rhyme. “W-was that to scare me? Because it’s not working!”
I shout up to the next landing, which was answered with just silence.
“Come on, Scootaloo” I say to myself. “You can’t let that big bully scare you out of it. You need to do this. Not for them… but for yourself.”
I tried to re-enforce this over and over again, but with each new sound coming from the upstairs landing, I get more and more frightened. No matter how much I try to ignore it.
3 am. 4 hours to go.
I can do this.
I know I can…
At least, I think I can…
I hope I can.