by Anna Michaela Balagot
"TRICK OR TREAT," children in the video cheer in chorus. It is one of the many videos my mother sent me, insisting that she missed our noise in the noise.
The video shows me surrounded by friends and candy at the tender age of 9. I wore a Chucky outfit, makeup sloppy with the amount of jelly I consumed mere seconds ago. My laughter fills the silence of the apartment I live in 11 years after that night. The video buzzes in the background accompanying that laughter.
*buzz**buzz*-kchk
"..., Fritz as Wolf, Bell as the Princess, Carl as the Frankenstein, and-- who is this?"
I study the last person to the very left, this figure had a very chilling appearance, pale white with hair that blended with the dark of the night. Their eyes a startling shade of maroon red, bright against the black schlera. They gave us an odd look, showing their teeth in a sort-of smile.
*buzz**buzz*buzzZ*
Their eyes then snapped to the video, their mouth widens, red gum showing at the edges. Many things happen at once, the buzzing grows louder, my surroundings start to develop a red hue, the video darkens, the figure floats forward and--.
*RING*
I snap out of my haze, sweat clings to the inside of my shirt and I feel dizzy. I look around the apartment, books litter the floor and curtains flutter around the open window. Strange, I don't remember my window open. I walk pass my bathroom towards the front door.
I open the door, a dark hallway meets my gaze. "Tsk, ding-dong ditch really? You'd think they'd ask for candy," I grumble, closing the door.
A pale figure sits on the chair, its naked form stained red. A body lays on the floor, face torn off, limbs twisted with broken bones sticking out. The door slams in the distance, the figure smiles. *slurp*
I return to my desk and notice the error. "File can't be found? What I just watched thaT," I close the video player and look for another old video to watch. *bz*
*thump**thump**thump*
"Mommy, let me IN," the girl in black shrieks. In the long, narrow hallway. Whispers grow louder and louder, the girl shuts her eyes in fear curling on the floor next to the door that will never open.
Darkness spoke in a language the girl couldn't understand, the voices sounded like that of an old woman as it tickles the back of her head. *buzz**buzz**buzZZ*
The darkness creeps closer and surrounds her like a wall keeping the light out. The girl remains within sweat building around her forehead and silent tears dripping down the side of her face. She chants a prayer over and over yet the voices continue always behind her, she never sees the figure in the darkness smiling at her distress. Then suddenly-
*DING**DING**DING*
A grandfather clock sounds in the distance and the voices stop. The girl sits up looking around her, the digital clock that hangs on the corner next to the stairs glow 5:10 AM. The chimes stop, the girl tells her mother hours later, her mother didn't believe her, and asks: "Mama, do we own a Grandfather clock?"
The girl looks at the camera.
*kchk*
I sat at my desk, the video ended. I hug my knees to my chest, against my heart beating fast. Tremors crackle through my body as I saw the girl's face, my face, at that last second. Her eyes sunken and mouth stretched beyond my chin. Wrinkles surround the eye sockets and the mouth with holes of darkness. Why is there a video of that? WHO took IT. How were the whispers there? WHY?-
*knock**knock*
The apartment is dark. When did the lights go out?, I take my laptop and turn it toward the light switch right next to the door. *buzz**buzz**fwhp*
*drip**drip**plop*
I pause by the bathroom. Water drips inside and I enter with the intent to turn the faucets off. A hand grabs my arm and I see a pale figure with red eyes, wearing my face. I open my mouth to scream and the figure closes her mouth, when did they get there-
*snap*
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