Part 3

Lucy stirred in bed when she heard a thump. She mumbled and sighed as she opened her eyes slightly. Her eyes were heavy yet with sleep, and they fluttered shut again for a few moments before she heard another noise. She turned over in bed so she was facing the rest of the room instead of the wall. She let a long yawn escape her and parted open her droopy eyes. Blurriness fogged her vision as she adapted to the darkness. She moaned and mumbled a few incoherent words as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She sat up in bed and yawned again, still sleepy. "Momma? Is that you?" She asked before noticing something shuffle in the corner.

She glanced over to the corner before seeing a darkened object lying on the floor under the speckled moonlight casted by the parts her curtain couldn't reach. She raised a brow before hopping out of bed and walking over. "Hmm? I thought I cleaned my room." She mumbled glancing down at the foreign object before gasping. "My drawings!" She squeed in joy and knelt down to pick them up.

She picked up the drawings that were scattered slightly in a pile and checked to make sure they were all still there. Unbeknownst to her, the shadows casted in her room began to squirm around, slowly creeping up from behind her.

She smiled and nodded, placing them all back in order before frowning when her newest art was missing. "My drawing of Momma is gone…" She mumbled sadly before lying down on the floor and searching desperately as she felt around.

The dark silhouette formed and stood back a little ways from her. It watched her silently before taking a step towards her.

"Hmm... I can't find it. It's too dark to see." Lucy mumbled frowning down at her almost complete notebook. She cocked a brow when she saw some of them were torn. "I don't remember seeing my drawing book before." She murmured, glancing to her left and right.

The figure slowly crept over towards her. It stared her down as if she were its prey and loomed over Lucy as she knelt on the ground.

Lucy frowned down at them before noticing a shadow grow over top of her own. She cocked a brow and saw it grow… and grow… and grow until it blocked out all of the moonlight. She shot her head back quickly. "Momma?" She whispered when she saw no one there.

The moonlight shone on her again as she knelt there, glancing around the silent, empty room. She looked down at her drawings before standing up and walking over to her nightstand. She placed the notebook on the stand and crawled back into bed. "Back to bed for Lucy. Mother will be sore if I don't sleep." She whispered to herself, trying to imitate her mother's tone.

She nodded and sighed as she pulled the blanket up and snuggled under the covers. She turned over until she was comfortable, facing the wall where the moonlight didn't shine on her face. There was some rustling in the corner as the shadows began to move around again, but Lucy didn't stir. A pair of eyes watched her in the darkness for a few moments. The shadow attached to the wall and began to float around on it. Climbing on to the ceiling as it crept closer and closer to her. When it passed over the window, its shadow over casted the moonlight, highlighting its amorphous stature. It slowly snuck down the wall that Lucy's headboard touched and hid flat on the floor.

Lucy sighed and shifted around in bed, still snoozing. The figure stared at her innocent, sleeping form before slowly standing up straight. It crouched over so its face was inches away from the back of Lucy's head. It breathed down Lucy's neck, tickling her delicate hairs and sending an uncomfortable feeling down her spine. It slowly started to reach out its crooked hands towards her. Its fingers were jagged and tenuous as they aimed for her head, only inches away, so close to touching her raven black hair as the shadow growled quietly and leaned down even closer so that with one final movement it could slice her thin, delicate skin with a single swipe of its hands, only centimeters away, that with one final movement her blood would be tossed around the room in a sick twisted manner while her suffering body was left to die alone, only millimeters away, that with one final movement her fragile life could be finished without warning-

"Hmm?" She turned over and opened her eyes again. She didn't see anything again; only the moonlight that peeked through her curtains. She watched it fade and brighten again as the clouds masked the moon before floating away. She sighed as she listened to the now noticeable creaking of the old tree outside. She stared off before forcing herself asleep again. "Momma says to ignore the noises, to ignore the voices, to ignore the figures…" She spoke out her mantra to herself and drifted off to sleep. She sighed, snuggling up closer in bed so she could acquire all the warmth her blanket could provide. She slowly whispered herself off to sleep, drowning out the noises. She smiled contently as she thought of her mother and drawings she would give her tomorrow. She pictured her mother and her holding hands and talking and smiling. She blushed at the warm feeling that her mother's soft hand gave her. She felt the warm sensation flow throughout her body as they walked outside and admired all of the pretty flowers and trees around the nice path.

Her eyes shot open and were met with another pair of beady, veiny eyes. She stared down the figure in front of her as it stared her down back. She felt her heart race as she looked into the creature's soulless eyes before noticing the rest of its features. It looked like an adult man. His head was dripping blood from the large gash to his cranium. A large piece of skull was missing from the top right side of his head, revealing the pink, slimy tissue of his brain. His whole face was deep red, so deep red that most of it was black from bruising and dried on blood. His body was covered by a torn, long overcoat that went down to his ankles. That was covered with blood too. He towered over her at what seemed like at least six feet in height. A quick thought passed through her mind at how big the size of the overcoat must be to cover so much of the man, but that thought quickly vanished as the man leaned down close to her. She froze in place as he reached out his bloodied, cadaverous hands towards her. Lucy gasped and forced her eyes shut. "He's not real. Momma said to ignore all noises, voices and figures and then they'll all go away." She whispered over to herself as she shook in bed.

A few moments later when she didn't feel anything, she peeked open an eye and saw her room back to normal again. Letting out a sigh of relief, she smiled. 'It worked!' She thought relieved as she began shutting her eyes again.

Suddenly, she gasped for air as the man from before clutched her thin neck in his large hands. She stared up at the man, frightened as she tried to breathe, but couldn't get any airflow through. She choked out a few words. "Why… Who… Are… You..?"

"Help me…. You…. Didn't help me…" She heard him groan out. As he spoke, blood dripped out from his rotten teeth and down onto her face. Lucy gasped as the slimy liquid slide down her fair-skinned cheek and tickling her skin as it slid inside of her ear.

She shuddered in fear as he squeezed her neck tighter, not allowing any air through at all. She gasped and felt tears form in her eyes as her vision went spotty.

"I'm… sorr…yy." She gasped out, trying to pull his grimy hands off her throat.

"Escape… can't escape… Trapped… Need help…"

She was barely able to look up at the man, but shivered again as more droplets of old blood began to precipitate down and stain her sheets and skin. They rolled off her skin and fell onto her white pillow behind her. Some rolled down her neck, down under her night dress. She shuddered as some fell on to her hair, making it stick together as she squirmed around, trying desperately to get some space and air from the being choking her. Her eyes narrowed when she saw the man lean down close to her. He got close enough that his rancid breath hit her face, making her stomach do flips from the stench. She tried to turn away as he leaned down far enough that his nose was on the brink of touching hers.

"The caaave… The caaave…"

He released one hand from her neck to point over to her drawings that were now scattered all across the floor. A sudden wind tossed them around before her notebook flew open. The wind picked up until it forced the pages to fly by and open to one certain page.

Lucy glanced over and saw a scribbled drawing in pencil of a cave with trees around it, before gasping and closing her eyes when the lack of oxygen got to her. She tilted her head to the side, feeling it began to pound. She felt the world spin around her as she fell into darkness, still feeling the pain from the strangled hold around her neck and now the throbbing headache that came with it. Her heart lurched as it tried for one last gasp of air before she passed out from asphyxiation in her own bed.