Drip. Drip. Drip.
That was the only sound I could hear tonightas I lay in my warm bed. It seemed to echo through my entire home, the walls doing nothing to muffle the noise.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
I knew exactly where the dripping noise was coming from. My kitchen tap, this has happened multiple times before, and it's always the damn kitchen tap. Part of me found the ceaseless dripping almost soothing, to an extent, but another part of me couldn't sleep because of it. So, reluctantly, I removemy blanket and stand up, the sudden wave of cold air not bothering me. I always found that strange, how the cold never had an effect on my body, but at this point in my life, I'mused to it.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
I switch my light on, momentarily blinded by the bright light, and open my bedroom door, stepping outside of my room. The hallway is dimly lit, the only light coming from my room, and after a few meters, the hallway becomes shrouded in absolute darkness. It gave off a rather ominous feeling. It felt as if stepping into that darkness would be a huge mistake, that I should instead go back to my room, and forget about the dripping tap. Despite this, I step forward, and in doing so I become closer to the darkness. This feeling in the pit of my stomach was just paranoia, a fear of the dark and what might lurk within it. I knew that once light flooded throughout my home, this fear would disappear, and there would be nothing wrong at all. At least, that's what I told myself as a way to calm my nerves.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
I groan in annoyance at the noise, stepping completely into the darkness and giving my eyes a moment to adjust themselves to the dark. Once I could see better, I continued my walk to the kitchen, which unsurprisingly, was quite a short walk. My first instinct was to switch the light on, and so I did just that. The exact moment that the light turned on, the water stopped dripping, and I suddenly found myself surrounded by silence.
"Creepy..." I muttered, briefly looking around the kitchen. Even though the dripping had stopped, I still stride over to the tap, making sure it was properly off. Wouldn't want it to suddenly start dripping, again. I look down into the sink and find myself confused. The sink was completely dry, no sign of wetness at all. Which was impossible, only moments before, water had been dripping into the sink, so why is the sink bone dry?
I shake my head, thinking to myself that the dripping noise must have been coming from the outside. That was really the only plausible explanation I had. Wherever the noise had been coming from, it's stopped now, so I shouldn't worry too much about it. Sure, It was weird, but this is a weird world.
As I began to turn around, planning to head back to bed, I feel a chill run up my spine. Not the kind of chill you get when you're cold. No, the kind you get when you have an overwhelming feeling that someone is watching you So overwhelming that you can't help but feel panicked. With haste, I look around and speed walk to my room, only to freeze by the exit of my kitchen when I hear my front door unlock. I am the only person with my key.
Feeling my panic grow stronger, I step back into my kitchen and look for a weapon of some sort. Hearing the invader's footsteps draw nearer and nearer with each passing moment made me clumsy, and as I pick up a knife to protect myself, I drop it onto the floor by accident, which makes a loud clank.
"Shit!" I curse, a little too loudly. Not that it matters, as the invader definitely knows where I am now. I lean down to pick the knife up, but as I do so, I hear a voice behind me.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A man's voice, but high-pitched and almost giggly. It gave me goosebumps, and slowly, I look behind me, finding myself staring into vibrant green eyes.
And they stare back.