It was well past midnight, but Jason couldn't sleep. He laid on the couch, eyes wide awake, consciously aware of the unfamiliar surrounding. A few feet away from him, Joe slept on the ground, snoring softly.
He missed his mother. Sure she wasn't the best mother by any sense of the word, she had neglected them more times than he could count, but she was the one single adult he felt connected to, she was his home, his childhood, and most importantly, his memory of a few years ago when dad was still alive.
God, why? He shook his head. His family was perfect. His mother used to care. Dad's death sent her into a serious depression. She took up drinking and changed completely. Every time a monthly bill came in the mail, she would look at the charge, then with a face full of despair, went into the fridge and searched for whatever alcohol was left. She usually yelled at them, that it was their fault her life turned out bitter, and Jason was sure that one time, in a drunken stupor, she blamed dad's death on him and his sister. "My Dale would still be alive if he didn't have to get up that morning and drive to work to feed you little fuckers." she had said. Ashley was too young to understand what her mother was saying, but ten years old Jason had bitten back his tears and pretended he didn't hear her. That night, when he was in bed, she had gone into his room, sat on his bed. He pretended to be sleeping to escape her verbal assault, when she started bawling.
"I'm sorry Jason. I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said. I love you very much." She had kissed him on his forehead and left the room. As her sniffles subsided, he opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling, he didn't sleep that night.
Jason sighed. It didn't look like he would sleep tonight either.
Ashley was having a terrible nightmare. The event today replayed again in her dream. She was standing in the her bedroom, alone. There was constant thudding on her door. The thuds rose gradually and ascended into the loud banging of fists. The crazy couple were trying to break down her door to get in. Panic seized her tiny chest. She started to cry again. Someone was knocking on the window, she turned and saw her brother's face pressed against the glass. She tried to race toward the window. BAM! Too late. The woman came into the room, snarling and spitting droplets of blood. But it wasn't the woman, it was her mother, but instead of the excessive makeup and ruby lipstick she wore, her face was scarlet with blood.
She woke up. She didn't wake up instantly and dramatically as they did in the movies, she opened her eyes slowly and sucked in the cold air. For an instant, she thought she was still at home, in her living room, then reality came back to her. Everything seemed suddenly scarier.
Gianna lied next to her, and Ashley took comfort in that fact. Adults were always good, her father, her mother, Joe, and Gianna, they all were nice to her and wanted to protect her. She turned to look at Gianna, and felt her heart leaping from her chest.
The woman was pale, even paler than she was before. The woman had big eyes, but they were widened into an even bigger size, her mouth agape, signifying unspeakable horror, her breaths rapid. Ashley wanted to run. The woman's large eyes suddenly trained on her, her lips pouted.
"Ssssshhhhhhh... Don't. Move." She whispered to the girl.
Fear was a knot in her throat. Her cold hands seized into fists under the blanket that was now offering no protection against the sudden chill she felt.
She turned her head slowly. Very slowly. Toward the window.
It was dark outside, the large window hung like a inky, black painting. There was an occasional movement as the tree branches wavered in the wind. She saw nothing there, nothing out of the ordinary. Until she lowered her eyes.
There was a man outside the window, his face pressed against the windowpane, his breath fogged up the glass, making it hard to see his features. But those red eyes were unmistakable, eyes with irises so dark as if he had no soul. He glared at them, face seemed to light up with hatred. His jaws clenched shut so tightly his lips were pressed together as if he had no teeth. And he was convulsing. His entire body seemed to vibrate, like he was containing something that would explode out of his body at any second. And she could hear his hoarse breathing.
She wanted to scream. She wanted to scream so loud that Jason, or Joe could come into the room and get that man away, but nothing came out of her throat. Her heartbeat was so loud she thought the whole house was beating along with it.
"He doesn't see us." Gianna said in shaky voice. "It's too dark in here, he can't see us. As long as we stay still, he'll leave."
Ashley tried to stay still. She wanted to become a statue, so still that even her hair could not move in the wind, but she was shaking badly. Her neck was aching from straining to look at the window.
The crazie grunted once, spitting dark red fluid onto the window pane, and almost in a blur, he was gone. Gianna let out a long sigh comparable to her large body, while Ashley sunk deeper into the bed. She looked again to make sure the man was gone, and pulled the blanket up to her neck.
When she looked up, Gianna had drifted back to sleep. It made her wonder how often the woman had to go through this, to be able to sleep again after seeing... that. She felt the need to pee, but instead, she drew the blanket further up her head, closing her eyes shut, letting the blackness devour her vision. But sleep never came for her that night.
