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Chapter 7: Midnight
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At the strike of midnight, an air horn sounded outside, signaling the official commencement of Anzu's challenge.
Her hands shook as she tore open the first envelope.
I have to do my best for Joey and his sister! I know my friends are with me in spirit…
Something large and black fell out of the envelope to land in Anzu's lap.
"AAAHH!" She jumped up, dropping it to the floor, and began to run. She got to the door before her presence of mind returned. She forced herself to turn back.
The lighting was poor. The item on the floor was just a black blob as far as Anzu could tell. She squatted and peered closely at it, hoping it wasn't alive. It was just an odd, unrecognizable shape. Anzu frowned and clicked her tongue.
I'm gonna have to pick it up, aren't I? I hope it isn't something gross!
She heard a sound and looked behind her. It had been a tiny sound, the slightest creaking of wood, but for a moment, it had seemed to her like the sound of a cautious footstep, as if someone were spying on her.
The only illumination in the room came from atop the camera. It made things worse by casting deep shadows into the corners, and every nook and cranny seemed to have an eerie presence of its own.
After she was sure no one else was in the room, she screwed up the courage to touch the strange thing on the floor.
She sucked in a breath. It was extremely soft.
She picked it up and, holding it between her thumb and forefinger, was greatly relieved to find herself holding a silk handkerchief.
The instructions accompanying the handkerchief were deceptively simple: Anzu was to blindfold herself, then sit on the bed, in front of the camera, and not move or speak until she heard the air horn again. It didn't say how long that would be.
Well, seems simple enough. I was kind of expecting more. But then again, this is only the first dare.
She sat with her hands clasped in her lap, black silk covering the top half of her face. She became bored quickly and her mind began to wander.
Why the cameras? Is Pegasus watching through a closed circuit, maybe getting some twisted sorta kick out of scaring people? What if they televise this later? I'll be so embarrassed…
…nyaaaannh…
Anzu froze.
What was that sound? Seemed kinda like a cat, but kinda like a man meowing like a cat! I couldn't tell, it was so sudden…
mya? Myoow?
She opened her mouth to say, Kitty? but stopped herself in time.
Damn, I was this close to blowing it! How humiliating would that have been? Okay, Anzu, focus! This is for Joey's sister, so she can see again!
She felt something furry run past her leg and every muscle in her body tensed that much more.
Oh, great, they're screwing with me! I can sense that someone's here with me… She got an instant mental image of Pegasus's men clustering around her, sticking gross things in her face for laughs.
Then, when the air horn sounds, one of them will probably get right in my face and yell, "BOO!" This whole thing is almost as tacky as Crawford's red suit!
Myeeoow…
…myoow...nyoow… myaaooo…
It sounded like she was surrounded by at least half a dozen cats. She even felt the mattress shift as one jumped onto the bed beside her.
Just a trick…Just a trick… Why can't I calm down?
Out of nowhere she felt an almost overwhelming desire to throw herself out of the two story window nearby.
Maybe I should…
Tears welled up in her eyes, and when she blinked, they soaked into the blindfold.
I can't even remember why I'm doing any of this… This isn't what I wanted…
…nyaaooo… meeoww… myaoo…
This isn't what I wanted!
"I can't do this!" she sobbed, and ripped away the blindfold. "I give up… I give up…" She slightly rocked in place, rubbing her eyes.
What's wrong with me? Why do I feel this way…? She wept into her hands, feeling completely hopeless.
There was a pale little boy crouched in the corner of the room.
When Anzu saw, she shrieked, but by the time she had lowered her hands, the boy had vanished. She blinked and looked around the room.
Was I just seeing things? But he looked so real… She stopped.
She saw him in her peripheral vision. He was standing off to her side, watching her.
She was facing the camera's glaring light, and the boy was standing in the gloom. When she turned and looked, it took her eyes a few seconds to adjust.
Nothing was there.
I have to get out of here!
She jumped to her feet and bounded down the hall and stairs, pausing to grab her shoes at the front door.
She heard splashing and stopped, eyes wide. She looked around and thought she saw dozens of black cats moving through the gloom… on the stairs, all over the floor, in the hall to the kitchen… But just as her eyes would focus on one, it would vanish.
What's going on here? Did Pegasus drug our food? That must be it…
More splashing, from a room nearby, accompanied by the frantic cries of a child.
Her first thought was that the child she heard must be another victim of Crawford's, so she burst into a run and followed the sound, which led her to the bath.
The sliding doors leading in were of glass, warped for privacy, but through it, Anzu could see the silhouette of a large man. He was struggling over what Anzu could only presume was the bath tub.
He's drowning a child!
She threw the door open and SCREAMED…
There was no man. The tub was filled, and a child's corpse floated in the water.
Anzu clasped her hands over her mouth, sobbing in her throat, fresh tears forming.
The child was facedown. His back was rounded and glaringly white against the black water. The corpse bobbed placidly.
She stepped towards it, her heart swelling with pity for the boy.
She reached for him, intending to turn him over and look at his face.
Before her hand could connect, the boy's head spun so that it faced upwards. His eyelids snapped as he blinked, then looked at Anzu.
She screamed and ran.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o…
She heard someone or something coming down the stairs as she reached the foyer, but she didn't look. She tore the door open and ran straight into the arms of Pegasus's men, who were waiting out front.
"You didn't follow instructions. You forfeit your prize."
"I don't CARE!" she screamed, tears streaming down her face as she writhed in their grasp. She began shrieking hysterically and needed to be sedated.
7
midnight
finish
Kimyo: Sorry it took so long to update. I haven't been creeped out much lately, but I felt seriously creeped out while writing this in a dark, quiet room in the dead of night while horny stray cats mewled and chased each other around on my yard.
Jonathan Wilson, there will be an Anzu shower scene in the future! She's out of the house, true, but her troubles are only starting!
Thanks also go to hieilover2005, Lothwen the Harpist, marikslildevil, InsaneShadowFan, Flame Swordswoman, and Zacura!
Please review and let me know what you think of this chapter, 'kay? Laters!
