A Haunted Imagination

School work I've found after a few years.

 

Haunted Imagination

 

   The cream, woven, silk embroidered duvet lay flat beneath the scrawny girl which had been carelessly thrown onto the large double bed. It was the master bedroom. She had lain there still, quiet, motionless for hours. She was dressed in nothing but a dirty, torn, white, velvet dress. Her eyes were bloodshot and her hair was as disorganized as a scruffy bird’s nest. There was also blood, a river of it which flowed down her face. Her dress was shaded red from the uncountable droplets and her forehead wore a dried red smudge just above her left eye leading to a deep throbbing gash where had earlier oozed scarlet blood.                               

   Her confused, blurry eyes sloppily scanned the room; not fully alert, like a bird spotting its prey. She didn't recognize it. The credenza dressing table, oak finished wardrobe and chest of drawers were new to her. The jewelled chandelier which scattered light around the dimly lit room was unfamiliar and the cream Wilton carpet, so perfect and unsoiled, too was unknown. A feeling of unknowing and terror swam through her. Her vision cleared slightly and in the corner of the room, in the corner of her eye, she saw a black figure; tall, shadowed, completely absorbed by the darkness.      

   Its cold presence silenced the room, her breath held and her heart beat slowly. She quickly looked at it, but it was nothing more than a portrait of a wealthy family sitting proudly in front of a fake unconvincing wooden background, hanging on the wall.

 "Must be my imagination," her voice croaked sorely. She sat up partially, still all over the place. Her mouth was dry as a bone. "Where am I?"

  "Libby" whispered a voice from behind her. She spun instantly only to collapse back onto the bed onto her front. Nothing was there, no adult to play tricks on her, to scare her intentionally. She sighed awkwardly and groaned slightly as the thumping headache boomed throughout her lobes. Still she remained strong and attempted to sit back up.

   There was a quiet but obvious creak from the floorboards behind her. Not the type you hear when your floorboards are adjusting themselves in the middle of the night. Oh no, this was because someone or something was stepping onto them. A single creak of the boards and then silence. Libby didn’t move, staying so quiet, she held her breath as she slowly gripped the silk tightly with one hand.

   Goosebumps earth quaked up her bare legs as she felt a gentle, teasing touch from a long finger-nailed finger as it scrammed up her soft calf. The shiver this sent down her spine caused the hair on the back of her neck to shoot up like lightening while she gripped the cold metal frame of the bed.

   A subtle, low, scratchy, growl echoed slightly behind her and Libby froze completely. Her eyes widened as big as bottle tops and every hair on her arms legs and neck rose. Afraid to move, even breathe she stayed as still as a statue, so afraid that her eyes began to water, her fingers became sweaty and her ears heard her heart beating.

   The room fell silent and cold; glacier cold. Libby felt a chill wind whisper around her body towards her beautiful face. It was abnormal. Not the wind like you feel during the spark of autumn, no, this was the kind of breeze you feel when someone breathes on you.

She felt it again; the coldness of the foul breath spreading over her in different places until she could feel it dancing with the hair on the back of her neck. She could smell it.

   The duvet began to shape uneasily as she felt the breathing blow over her again, shaping into the covers of a hand-like shape. It wasn't human and the hands printed into the covers lay either side of her so the creature or whatever it was, was lying over her. Hovering teasingly.

   The paranormal monster got closer, striking extreme fear into her. It got even closer but then, suddenly it vanished. Thinking the beast had fled her presence Libby slowly lifted her head from the silk as she breathed heavily. Had it left her alone, or had it decided to tease?

   Libby tried to look behind her but was too afraid to glimpse. The lump in her throat thickened and the metal between her fingers grew slippery. Hot tears flowed down her pale face and she breathed harder as she could feel in her gut that the game wasn't over.

   Jolting backwards, her ankles grabbed and hovering, clinging tightly onto the bed frame she was pulled violently towards the bedroom door, the bed stopping her being pulled further as it slammed against either side of the door. Her blood-curdling screams alerted no-one as she was being pulled harder and harder as the black nemesis jolted her body angrily.

  Grip slipping, screams increasing, her fingers slipped and her body slammed onto the wooden floor face first, her demon still hanging on dragging her along the skin burning floor as the poor girl swung her arms wildly in hope of grabbing something to avoid being taken. Scratching the floor until her nails lifted Libby turned around as her knees smashed into the corner of the landing. She jumped to her feet, eyes streaming with tears and she ran back to the room she just left.

   She didn't make it there; a woman grabbed her flinging her arms around her lovingly, concerned at her state. The child panic-stricken and hyperventilating in front of her she cupped the child’s cheeks in each hand repeating the same question.

   ‘What’s that matter, honey what’s wrong?’ her voice carrying concern.

Stumbling her words while looking everywhere rapidly, her hands and arms avoiding the woman in front of her. She couldn't answer. She just frantically looked and searched until her eyes met her clothes. She wore a velvet red dress equipped with a golden sash around her waist and her flat red shoes shone on her toes.

   ‘You suddenly started screaming in the corner, whatever’s the problem?’

Catching her breath she cringed as what just happened wasn't visible to anyone else. The actions of the horror where just to her acknowledgement.

 

1040 words

 

Author's Note

Old school assignment

Reviews

[Lina Grey]

Intriguing... was it a demon attacking her? Or was it just her imagination? Reading it, I'd want to say a demon, flinging her around, creeping over her, but at the end, it seems her imagination. Poor girl, such awful nightmares. A great write, you did an excellent job of drawing the reader in. I noticed at the end you have some run-on sentences, you might want to add some punctuation to make it easier to understand.

[Icelanna]

It is a demon although the girl and her family assume she is schizophrenic. :) Thanks for the review!

[Lina Grey]

ahh. that explains it. Is that what schizophrenia is like? I thought it was just hearing voices that aren't real. I don't have a very good understanding of it...

[Icelanna]

There are different forms of it, but when people don't believe in the supernatural (as this family doesn't) It's one of the first things they turn to.
Love to you x

[Lina Grey]

huh. interesting... love to you too :)

[Ufi Auttorri ~ UfoAutho..]

Sorry, but I have to ask, who threw that scrawny girl carelessly onto the large double bed? What it the invisible thing? Good pacing and imaginative action. How old were you when this was written? Just curious...

[Icelanna]

When I wrote it I was twelve I think, or maybe Thirteen, when I begin Comprehensive school. When I wrote it I always imagined for it to be a demon but the girl is convinced she is schizophrenic, along with her family, when really she's just tormented by the paranormal.

[Ufi Auttorri ~ UfoAuthor]

A juxtaposition of expectations and the definition of normal/sanity; that is an intriguing complexity. How that is/is-not eventually resolved is the tension. Thank you. :)

[Icelanna]

You're welcome x

[Dinali Sathma]

Stunning. I had myself at this very odd angle while I read. I didn't think I could sleep without knowing what would eventually happen to her. It was really dark and the descriptions very detailed. The supernatural force was the most haunting subject in the story. I feel sorry for Libby to suffer from such horrible nightmares.

[Icelanna]

Thank you :] x

[Dinali Sathma]

Your welcome