Chapter 9

At home, Regan was as drown in thoughts as she was in the school. She went to her room, expecting another rose. But there wasn't any. She wondered if there would be one in the morning.

She went to the backyard and sat there, watching the wind sway the trees gently. It was almost peaceful until she felt a piercing sensation in her scar. It was strange. The sudden pain only lasted for about two seconds and then went away.

She began to do her homework there, thinking that changing environment could make her focus more. But she ended up procrastinating.

It had been just three days and the mysterious figure in her dreams had gotten inside her mind insanely. And the red roses....the fact that someone sneaked in her room, was terrifying.

Thinking about him nonstop and seeing his icy eyes wherever she closed hers, it was becoming unbearable. She had been anxious her whole life, had felt like she didn't belong, and she still did. But this time, the unknown, the mysterious was curling around her thoughts like smoke.

And she couldn't help the pang of loneliness in her soul. Her aunt cared for her, but Regan still couldn't help the isolation creeping up.

"Dear, you're still awake?" Monica's voice startled her. She was so lost in thoughts, that didn't even notice her.

"Here are your pills, I bought you milk so you can sleep well," Monica said, putting the tray on the nightstand.

"Thanks," Regan murmured. It was half past eleven. What a mess. Had she been lost in thought for all this time?

"Goodnight, dear." 

"You too, aunt." Monica left, leaving Regan on the desk. But before leaving, she did give Regan a weird look.

She was in mood for nothing, not even sleep. Nothing felt safe. She drank the pill and then as she was scrolling through Instagram, an idea struck her. What if she recorded herself while sleeping?

She walked around the room and found a good place on the window, so it would capture the view. The phone was fully charged and she put it on record. Using cameras was better, but she didn't have them.

She slipped on a pair of pink pajamas, and then just a quick glance on the mirror made her heart race. There was another red strand on her hair. She rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was imagining this. 

"Oh, God," Regan murmured.

She stepped back to her room and fell asleep in her bed.

***

She woke up in the middle of the night from thirst and realized she had sweats all over her. She did saw that chilling dream, hated that she couldn't escape, and hated even more that the sleeping pill didn't help her sleep.

She reached for the bedside lamp and turned it on, only to see something black flashing outside the window within a second. Regan's breath hitched. 

She walked over to the other window to find her phone dead. Her heart was pounding in her ears. "What the hell? How did you turn off?" she muttered, furrowing her eyebrows.

She pressed the power button and well, the battery wasn't drained at all, so it was unbelievable how it turned off. There weren't even videos of recording.

She slammed the phone on the table angrily, and grabbed it again to see the clock. It was half past two. The room either turned suddenly hot or she was hot, she wasn't sure. She opened the window for some air and leaned against the railing.

The night was quiet, save for the sound of crickets. The breeze of the wind made contact with her bare arms, making her feel a little cold. She stayed like this for about five minutes, and then went inside again.

She didn't want to wake Monica up and decided she'd go downstairs. As stepped down the stairs, a sudden sound made her freeze. The bathroom door slammed shut.

First, she thought it was her aunt, but seeing the bathroom's lights were off, she changed her mind. Why would Monica keep the lights off?

She took unsure steps towards the bathroom. She had to say it was night and woke up from some weird dream, so maybe her mind was playing tricks on her. But the sound echoed on her ears, she couldn't have misheard that.

She thought again it could've been Monica. Well, what else was she supposed to think to calm herself down? She changed directions and went upstairs, checking if her aunt was in her room.

She tip-toed upstairs and carefully twisted the doorknob. Then, she saw Monica sleeping in her bed. Her heart raced.

That meant it wasn't her who closed the bathroom's door.

Then how did the door close itself? There weren't any windows open to let the wind in. And as her paranoic and suspicious nature kicked in, she knew it was something she had to figure out.

When she walked downstairs again, the bathroom's door was still closed. The laptop, which was on top of the coffee table, was taken by Regan to be kept in defense. She didn't know what she was thinking. But quickly, fear was engulfing her.

Her heart was pounding on her chest excessively. The beats were very loud in the quiet silence. With a shaky breath, she attempted to steady herself, hoping to dispel the lingering unease.

She twisted the doorknob with the laptop on the other hand. The door cracked open and she turned the lights on without necessarily entering inside. The light key was next to the door.

But as the lights turned on, there was no one inside. She checked behind the door and saw no one. Not any trace, just an ordinary bathroom.

"If there was anyone, they had the chance to leave when you went upstairs," she muttered to herself.

Stepping out of the bathroom, she left the lights on. And as she did, another sound startled her. It was like plates clicking from the kitchen.

Her heart leaped into her throat again. She sprinted to the kitchen, but there was no one or anything suspicious. She felt uncertain and unnerving. Maybe she was hearing things for sure now.

She wandered around the kitchen and living room, but there was no sign of interference or suspect. Still, she was afraid. Maybe she should go back to sleep.

Again, her attention was drawn to some sounds coming from upstairs, from her room, to be more specific. The sounds were just like someone was jumping hard on the ground, banging on it. It terrified her and she felt her breath hitch.

Finally, she took a deep breath and clenched her fists. What was going on? Was someone in her house? She decided to confront it, to face it. Gathering her courage, she sprinted upstairs to her room. She cursed under her breath for having to deal with creepy things. Her grip on the laptop was tight.

She was sure there was something strange going on. As she stepped upstairs again, her room's door was open and the lights were on. She took a shaky breath, her footsteps halting as she entered in. She didn't remember leaving them on.

No one was in her room, but there were no words to describe how scared she was inside.

"Regan...."

It was a deep whisper of her name she heard and her heart flinched. No, she shouldn't be afraid, maybe she was imagining that all. But she heard something. And it wouldn't be a lie to say that she even felt a breath on her neck.

She tried to scream but her mouth seemed like it was chained. She was getting terrified to the core, glancing around the room and seeing nothing. Anger rose within her as well, not standing this nonsense anymore.

"What the hell is going on here?!" she said, her voice barely above a whisper. Maybe she was silly or crazy enough to think her house was haunted. She never thought she'd think that. For her, it was stupid enough to come into that conclusion, but what other answer was there to be?

She realized she had hit the wall near the bed, still holding the laptop near her chest. She didn't realize she ended up stepping back. And in the middle of the chilling dread, she saw silouette of a black shadow flickering to the wall. And that was it all. She screamed, but quickly covered her mouth to prevent even more. She ran away from her room. While on the stairs, she nearly tripped from passing multiple stairs. 

She hurriedly and anxiously twisted the doorknob of the main door after struggling hard to put the key in. The fear within her and her heart pounding on her chest, were adding up to clumsiness. 

When Regan finally unlocked the main door, she ended up on the street of the peaceful neighborhood. Well, lately she didn't consider it peaceful anymore. She glanced back at her house and it loomed as if it was some sort of abandoned castle.

She wished it was all her imagination. After all, she didn't wake up in a lovely state. 

When rethinking everything, there was no way she imagined all that. The voice and the shadow terrified her the most. The voice had been masculine and the silhouette was a man's figure. There was for sure someone inside there and she was terrified to think of it.

She shivered in the cold and wrapped her arms around herself as she walked as far away as she could. Second by second, she was getting even more frightened. It was night and she forgot her phone and laptop inside.

Streets at nights weren't safe. She had walked quite far from the house, although she had no idea where to go or what to do.

Once she sat down on a bench, she thought of how she left her house and how Monica was still inside. Regan's body trembled when she thought that the 'thing' inside her house could hurt her aunt. Her courage ran out of use, she didn't have the strength to enter her house again.

The cops crossed her mind but she didn't have a phone.

What could she do? She couldn't bang on some neighbor's door and tell them she've been hearing sounds and seeing figures in her own house. They would take her as crazy. 

When thinking about the neighbors, Vesper appeared in her mind. 

Her weird friend was her neighbor, who stayed awake at nights and home alone. Regan stood up and took back the way to Vesper's house. It had been weeks since she moved, so she remembered the neighborhood roads very well.

As she passed her house again, the lights on the first floor were all off. Fear engulfed her all over again. She stopped looking at her house, and ran to Vesper's house. The lights of this strange house were turned off. Regan hoped that she was awake.

As she knocked impatiently, different thoughts ran through her mind. She knocked again, no response. Why was Vesper taking so long? She felt a knot form in her stomach.

Her eyes consistently glanced back at her house and prayed that her aunt was alright. But she was also turning around nonstop, eyeing the trees warily. There was a sense of dread about someone watching her, lurking behind the dark woods, wanting to pursue her.