FIVE

As the sun began to rise on the new day, Sasha stirred awake from the restless sleep. She was still haunted by the events of the previous night, the terrible nightmare and the terrifying creature.

With a trembling heart, she knew she had to share her terrifying ordeal with someone. Without hesitation, she rushed to find her older sister, Sarah to seek for comfort and safety. She poured out every detail of the bone-chilling encounter and the unbearable fear that had consumed her.

Sarah didn't know how to help her despite worrying about her. Sasha was stressed out from everything that kept on happening to her. Things did not go well. This was the first time she had a bad experience after researching about faith.

What should she do? What is going to happen next? Sasha was overwhelmed by the possibilities of what was going to come to her.

She ended up spending her day cleaning up her room, throwing away all the pictures of Runia and it's believer. She ripped out the notes about the faith, and even deleted her account on the website. Sasha really wants nothing to do with the Runia and its people.

"I should've listened to the person that told me to stop." She said to herself as she put everything in a big box. She was going to throw it after this.

After everything cleared out, she decided to watch TV to distract herself from thinking about the scary loop dream she had. The sky had darkened, the sun had set and the moon was up. Sasha had her dinner and went back to her room. She closed the door and locked it, still scared of the shadow she saw in the dream.

She lied down on her bed, spending time on her social media and not giving a thought about the Runia. Hour by hour, time flew without her realizing it. The clock showed that it was already 12 in the morning.

A yawn escaped her mouth, "Alright, time to sleep" she said and switched off the light. She was staring at the dark ceiling - eyes wide awake, she could not sleep despite feeling tired. Sasha tossed around her bed, from right to left and vice versa to get comfortable.

Sasha got even tired, she decided to close her eyes to sleep but was soon disturbed by a rattle on her window. Her eyes shot open in shock. She took a glance at the window, the curtain kept swaying, a glimpse of the outside can be seen every time it swayed.

She covered herself with the blanket all the way up to her head, closed her eyes again, hoping she could fall asleep as soon as possible. Suddenly, a quick but strange cry of a bird echoed from outside, keeping Sasha awake again.

"Come on," Sasha sighed, "I'm tired, stop disturbing me". It was finally silent, Sasha slowly drifted into her sleep but a loud sound of something crashing into her window woke her up.

Her heart started to beat faster, she kept the blanket above her head even though she was sweating underneath. Her eyes wide open, and her tiredness was replaced with fear. There was no way she could fall asleep in this condition.

Something rattled again outside her room, the sound was faint but definitely loud enough for Sasha to hear.

"Stop bothering me, please, it was a mistake!"

The rattling sound coming from outside her window stopped. Only the sound of her ceiling fan echoed throughout the room, as the curtain swayed gently, letting a tiny fragment of light in. Sasha felt like crying, she was extremely tired, as well as upset.

She sat up on her bed, eyes tired and a frown appeared on her forehead, "Seriously? Why are you bothering me?" She yelled, despite nobody being around.

"I haven't done anything wrong to you. Please, go away." Sasha looked around her. She stared at every corner of her room, "I don't want anything to do with you, alright? Let me go."

She sighed heavily, and sat down in silence for a few minutes. Sasha finally felt tired again and decided to lay down. A gush of strong wind hit her window making it rattle. Sasha was taken aback, she pulled the blanket over her body while still in sitting position.

All of a sudden, she started hearing soft whispers of strange noises. They sounded peculiar, but oddly soothing, as if they were caressing her and slowly making her feel drowsy. Notwithstanding her anxiety and fear, Sasha reluctantly succumbed to exhaustion and slipped into a deep slumber, gradually drifting into the peaceful oblivion of sleep.

As the morning light streamed in through the window, Sasha woke up in shock, realizing that she had fallen asleep without even realizing it. She sat up on her bed, feeling confused and disoriented about how she managed to fell asleep without any warning. All she remember was the panic she got from the strange noises that kept her awake all night long.

To her surprise, she did not felt any sense of danger or creepiness. It was as if nothing ever happened. Sasha put her legs down on the ground, but suddenly winced in pain. She lifted her feet up to inspect the sole, and was flabbergasted to find a fresh scar.

She touched the scar and her body jolted in shock, it sure was extremely painful. Her heart suddenly started pounding hard, and she felt like she was experiencing a heart attack. Sasha grasped her cloth tightly, trying to stop the excruciating pain.

As the pain became more unbearable, Sasha collapsed into her bed and let out a piercing scream. She pounded her chest with her fist, desperately trying to subside the torturous ache.

Her sister, Sarah, knocked on the door anxiously, "Sasha, are you okay?". The door was locked, and she couldn't get in.

Sasha began sobbing uncontrollably, the agony still gripping her, "Leave me alone!" she screamed.

There was no way Sarah could leave without knowing what had happened to her sister. She turned the doorknob, desperately trying to unlock it. After a few unsuccessful attempts to turn the doorknob, Sarah hurried to the key box to search for the key to Sasha's door.

With the key in her hand, Sarah dashed down the hallway, her heart was pounding with worry. When she finally reached Sasha's door, she fumbled with the key before finally managing to unlock it. As she pushed the door open, her eyes widened in horror at the sight of her sister lying motionless on the floor, her body slick with sweat.

"Sasha, wake up!"