AN: Thank you for reading.
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Night One:
Ellie's dreams were mainly of her walking through a long hallway. She had the feeling something was following her and when she turned to look behind her, there was nothing there. So she turned back around and headed into her studio. Her unfinished painting stood ready on the easel. She saw that she had painted a scene of the sawed family and revulsion came to her. Ellie immediately woke up from that dream and looked around as usual. The room was empty save for some shadows.
Ellie sighed in exasperation. There was no absolute way she was going to paint a painting like that. Not in real life. It would be a waste of a canvas and paints. She didn't have it in her to paint that scene. Then she shook her head as defiance took over. That was not happening. She pointedly reminded herself. Not one bit. Besides, she didn't know how to paint like that in her dream. She didn't even believe she was that 'cold' and 'evil'. She had respect for her parents, her grandparents, and everyone else that lived in her family. Even strangers. Ellie slowly began to think of an ocean and swimming with dolphins. It was her happy place to go back into the blissful sleep she desperately needed.
She finally drifted off into sleep with the hope she wouldn't dream that strange macabre painting dream. But she had no luck. The dream returned, but this time, she felt someone or something watching her paint. She made simple little imperfect mistakes and that was on purpose. She didn't want to paint those types of paintings. It wasn't her intention to create such horrific art. It sickened her and disgusted her. "Stop it." She mumbled in her sleep. "Please stop."
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The dark figure watched her sleep and knew he was responsible for her dreams. Humans were so easy to manipulate and to control. His power was stronger than their will power. But this human seemed to be a little defiant towards his control in her dreams. He had been watching her since moving in. He was interested because she painted and he could use this human to bridge his realm to theirs. He continued by forcing her to dream about her next painting.
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Sunlight streamed through her bedroom window. She felt exhausted when she woke up. As if she had been painting for hours. Sitting up in her bed, she briefly remembered the family films. She needed to hand them over to the police. They were evidence of murder and there seemed to be a missing child. She didn't really feel like watching any more home movies. Especially if one was like that, the chances are that they were all like that.
Ellie slid out of bed, shuffling across her room to the master bath. She spent some time freshening up and brushing her teeth. Once down with her morning ritual, she walked into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. The aroma soon filled the kitchen and her mouth watered. Coffee would help her focus. "Come to Mama." She said, drawing a cup from the cupboard and pouring herself a cup of strong black coffee. She poured about two teaspoons of "Splenda" and poured some 'Natural' Coffee Creamer into the cup. She took a sip and it felt so energizing.
She held the cup of coffee in her hands and for some odd reason, she ambled to her art studio. She stood in front of the door, finding herself breathing heavily as if in apprehension. "It's just my art studio. That dream wasn't real." She reassured herself as she opened the door. The art studio looked exactly like she had left it. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Her painting untouched. Maybe she was so worried about her painting that she dreamed that she had messed it up. She walked over to it and took another sip of her hot coffee. She breathed a sigh of relief. The coffee was starting to relax her more. But then, she saw something standing in the background beyond the tree. She squinted, not realizing she had painted a figure. Ellie took a magnifying glass from her paintbrush holder.
"Never know when you need a magnifying glass." She told her parents when asked about it.
She placed the magnifying glass close to the canvas and the figure was magnified. When did she paint a person? The figure had a greyish, decaying face. There didn't appear to be any eyes and the mouth seemed to be filled with ash? Ellie shook her head. Maybe it was just nothing and her dream was still too fresh in her mind.
"Maybe a short break from art will help?" She said, eyeing the movies. "With movie night on TV." She decided.
Ellie left the studio and closed the door. "Time for the most important meal of the day." She headed back into the kitchen, trying to not think about the painting, the dream, and those films while making breakfast.
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