Tomorrow's a new day, so I head to the window and grab the drapes so I can pull them shut across the patch of cardboard and glass.
“You're next,” a voice whispers into my ear.
I freeze, but before I can react I realize that there are people standing outside in front of the house.
Lots of people.
A shiver runs through my chest as I start to worry that maybe some of the locals have finally decided to come and tell us that we should move away, but after a moment I see that most of the silhouetted figures out there look young. I quickly count them and see that there are eighteen in total, and I can already feel my heart pounding in my chest. As my eyes get used to the dark, however, I start to see patches of blood on their shirts, and what looks like thick wounds on their faces.
“All in my head,” I whisper, forcing myself to pull the drapes shut. I stand in darkness for a moment, telling myself that there's no way those people are out there.
“You're next,” the voice hisses, closer to my ear than ever before. “You've got it coming.”
Chapter Ten
When I open my eyes, I see that morning light has begun to break through at the edges of the cardboard. I blink a couple of times, and slowly the events of last night come back to me. Looking down, I see that I'm still curled up in the corner of my room with a bread-knife in my right hand, ready to defend myself in case someone comes through the window. I don't remember exactly what happened, but I think -
Someone was in here.
I scramble to my feet, filled with panic, but when I look around I realize that there's definitely no-one here now. Someone came in last night, though. I remember going to bed, and then I saw someone in the corner, and that's how I ended up curled in the corner, not daring to make a noise, telling myself that I was just having some kind of psychological breakdown, and then...
There was definitely a figure in my room.
Not just any figure, either. It was Alan Boone, one of the guys who was shot dead by my brother. He came closer and closer, and then...
I fainted.
Just like before, when I saw someone standing in the street, I lost consciousness. I glance around the room, but nothing seems to have been touched, and then I head to the window. Looking out, I see a woman walking past the house, pushing a baby in a buggy, but there's no sign of the figures who were out there last night. My head feels muddy, the same as the last time I fainted, but I tell myself that it must have been a coincidence. After all, there's just no way that any of those things last night were real. I take the lid off the shoebox and see Rudolph's corpse, then I put the lid back for a moment before removing it and seeing the little guy moving about. Still not able to work out what's happening with him, I put the lid back in place and take a deep breath.
I'm losing it.
After trying so long to stay sane, I'm really losing my mind.
Checking my phone, I find a text message from Molly:
You okay? Shannon's still acting weird. Expect trouble at school.
I close the message and set my phone down.
“Great,” I mutter with a sigh, before hearing a bumping sound from my brother's room. I feel a flash of panic, before I realize that it's just my hungover mother stumbling through to the corridor. Sure enough, a moment later I hear her vomiting in the bathroom.
***
“Shut up!” Molly hisses, glancing at me as I get closer. “Guys, shut the hell up!”
The other girls turn and see me, and they immediately fall silent.
“What?” I ask as I reach them. “Carry on. I'm pretty sure I've heard it all before.”
“It's nothing,” Molly says firmly, but I can tell she's trying to hide the truth from me. Grabbing my arm, she tries to lead me along the corridor toward the school library. “Wanna go study? Let's go study!”
“Now I know you're panicking,” I reply, pulling free and turning to the other girls. “What's wrong? What am I not supposed to
“You're next,” a voice whispers into my ear.
I freeze, but before I can react I realize that there are people standing outside in front of the house.
Lots of people.
A shiver runs through my chest as I start to worry that maybe some of the locals have finally decided to come and tell us that we should move away, but after a moment I see that most of the silhouetted figures out there look young. I quickly count them and see that there are eighteen in total, and I can already feel my heart pounding in my chest. As my eyes get used to the dark, however, I start to see patches of blood on their shirts, and what looks like thick wounds on their faces.
“All in my head,” I whisper, forcing myself to pull the drapes shut. I stand in darkness for a moment, telling myself that there's no way those people are out there.
“You're next,” the voice hisses, closer to my ear than ever before. “You've got it coming.”
Chapter Ten
When I open my eyes, I see that morning light has begun to break through at the edges of the cardboard. I blink a couple of times, and slowly the events of last night come back to me. Looking down, I see that I'm still curled up in the corner of my room with a bread-knife in my right hand, ready to defend myself in case someone comes through the window. I don't remember exactly what happened, but I think -
Someone was in here.
I scramble to my feet, filled with panic, but when I look around I realize that there's definitely no-one here now. Someone came in last night, though. I remember going to bed, and then I saw someone in the corner, and that's how I ended up curled in the corner, not daring to make a noise, telling myself that I was just having some kind of psychological breakdown, and then...
There was definitely a figure in my room.
Not just any figure, either. It was Alan Boone, one of the guys who was shot dead by my brother. He came closer and closer, and then...
I fainted.
Just like before, when I saw someone standing in the street, I lost consciousness. I glance around the room, but nothing seems to have been touched, and then I head to the window. Looking out, I see a woman walking past the house, pushing a baby in a buggy, but there's no sign of the figures who were out there last night. My head feels muddy, the same as the last time I fainted, but I tell myself that it must have been a coincidence. After all, there's just no way that any of those things last night were real. I take the lid off the shoebox and see Rudolph's corpse, then I put the lid back for a moment before removing it and seeing the little guy moving about. Still not able to work out what's happening with him, I put the lid back in place and take a deep breath.
I'm losing it.
After trying so long to stay sane, I'm really losing my mind.
Checking my phone, I find a text message from Molly:
You okay? Shannon's still acting weird. Expect trouble at school.
I close the message and set my phone down.
“Great,” I mutter with a sigh, before hearing a bumping sound from my brother's room. I feel a flash of panic, before I realize that it's just my hungover mother stumbling through to the corridor. Sure enough, a moment later I hear her vomiting in the bathroom.
***
“Shut up!” Molly hisses, glancing at me as I get closer. “Guys, shut the hell up!”
The other girls turn and see me, and they immediately fall silent.
“What?” I ask as I reach them. “Carry on. I'm pretty sure I've heard it all before.”
“It's nothing,” Molly says firmly, but I can tell she's trying to hide the truth from me. Grabbing my arm, she tries to lead me along the corridor toward the school library. “Wanna go study? Let's go study!”
“Now I know you're panicking,” I reply, pulling free and turning to the other girls. “What's wrong? What am I not supposed to
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