Nighttime Visitor

I slowly made my way back to my room, dreading the dreams that I knew were sure to come. I did not want a re-run of last night's dream; I would rather have the usual one then the newest version. I got dressed for bed, washed my face, and got into bed.

I was dead tired from today's work so it didn't take long for me to fall asleep, but that just meant the dream came faster. I think that my mind had heard my plea before I had fallen asleep because it was my normal dream that I dreamt of, and thankfully I did not wake up screaming. I just shot out of bed with the scream trying to claw its way out of my throat. I pulled my legs up to my chest, wrapped my arms around my legs, and laid my head against the wall, humming the song my mother used to sing to me at night. All of the sudden I got the feeling I had had the night before that someone was in the room, watching me, but yet again my room was too dark too dark to see.

I wanted to get up and light my candle, to see if someone was actually there, but for some reason I was too scared to. I thought of all the monsters that my brothers used to tell me that hid under the bed and in the closet, and how I used to stay up most of the night scared to death to fall asleep because I thought the monsters would come to eat me. Now, I was living in the worst of the monster's house. I started to hum again but the feeling still wouldn't go away. Finally I got the courage to get up, walk to my dresser, and felt around for my candle. All of the sudden I felt a light breeze behind me and a soft click. I quickly lit my candle with shaky hands and turned around.

Everything looked the same, except for the door, which was slightly open. I went over, closed it, and was going to lock it but I thought otherwise. What would happen to me if someone couldn't wake me up in the morning? I would be dead by that night probably I thought to myself as I blew out my candle and climbed into bed again. I think I might be going psychotic… thinking someone was in my room and I probably imagined the light breeze I told myself as I laid back down to try and get a few more hours of sleep.

I figured I got about 2 hours of sleep, or it only felt like 2, before I heard Jane open the door and tell me it was time to get up. I got ready just liked yesterday, went to eat my deliciously boring breakfast like yesterday, and went to work… just like yesterday. And just like yesterday the rooms were all extremely dirty, except for 2 rooms today. The one that had been oddly clean yesterday looked like that again today, but the other one was somewhat clean. All the clothes were gone but the bed and bathroom were dirty. They must have been guests I thought, two less names I would have to remember. I went to work cleaning the room.

As I stripped the sheets off I saw Caleb walk into the room that was somewhat clean. So it must be his room, I thought to myself as he quietly closed his door. Thank goodness this was the last room I had to clean upstairs. I wouldn't have wanted to have to wait until he left his room so I could clean it. As I finished stripping the sheets and putting the new ones on, I heard something I never thought I would ever hear. I heard music; actual music coming from a radio. I had always wanted to hear music like that; I could hardly remember any of it from my childhood. The music that I was hearing sounding very odd, I didn't like it too much. I preferred my mother's songs that she used to sing to us over this. It sounded like someone was screaming and I could hardly understand the words. I finished cleaning the room and went downstairs to start on the other rooms.

I had to wait for two hours while Gretchen and Andrew played cards. Eventually Caleb came down to join them, they talked for a bit, and then they got up, put their coats on and left. I quickly finished the rest of the rooms, and went around making sure everything looked spotless. After everything looked nice and shiny with no dust anywhere I made my way to the kitchen, feeling like I had no stomach anymore because I was so hungry. I sat down with the other girls and started to eat my meal. Everyone was chatting quietly, every now and then including me into the conversation but I tried not to talk very often. Even when I lived in the town I was not very social. I felt that I shouldn't grow too attached to someone when the next day they might die. I learned that very early on. I had befriended a girl around my age and we became very close but one day she just wasn't there. I later learned that she had wandered too far out of town and a gang of vampires had found her… I tried not to remember the details.

Once I was done with my meal I got up, washed it, and went to my room. I had not heard if the parasites had come back yet, so when I saw them sitting in the room it surprised me. No one had heard the bell for someone to get their coats or bring them anything. They were talking quietly, too low for me to hear, and I tried to walk past the room as quickly and quietly as possible. Nothing escapes their sensitive ears though.

"Christine?"

I internally cursed myself while I turned around and walked back to the room.

"Get us 3 glasses and fill them up to the top," was all Gretchen said. I walked back to the kitchen and told Jane what they wanted. I was about to leave when Jane stopped me. "Who did they ask to bring them the drinks?" she asked. "I don't know, she just told me to get 3 glasses, she didn't say any specific name," I told her. She was quiet for a few seconds and then took the tray from the table and handed it to me. I looked at her but all she said was "They asked you to bring it so you should be the one to bring it to them." I now officially wanted to die.

I tried not to look down as I made my way to the room. They didn't look which helped as I laid the tray down and put the drinks on the coasters. Just as I set the tray down in the kitchen, that stupid little bell rang. Since everyone had gone off to their rooms except Jane, I went because I knew that Jane did most of the work in the house and must be exasuted. When I got in there, I saw that Gretchen's drink had spilt next to her. Please don't make me clean it up, please don't make me clean it up, I kept repeating in my head but it was a futile wish.

"Clean this up Christine; we don't want a stain now do we?" she asked in her annoying, sweet voice.

I quickly made my way back to the kitchen, dreading my task ahead of me. I had never been good with blood, and I avoided it at all costs. I filled a bucket full of water and soap and got a rag and brush. I entered the room and made my way to the spill. While I was gone Gretchen, Andrew, and Caleb had made their way to the card table and were playing some game that I did not recognize. As I cleaned up the mess I kept telling myself it was just cranberry juice, but it didn't help. I tried to work as fast as possible so I would not puke in the room. I could feel it coming, but the stain was only half-way cleaned. I started to sweat as I tried to keep my mouth closed tight.

When I had went over the site of the stain a few more times to make it look as if nothing had spilt, I quickly got up and headed for the door, relieved to be able to go relieve my now upset stomach, but I was not able to leave just yet because I heard yet another spill.

"Oops, I guess you will have to clean this up as well."

I turned around, feeling nauseated. Gretchen and Andrew were both snickering at their little joke. I felt like going over there and whipping their smirks off their face, but instead I walked over and cleaned up the mess. When I was done I walked as fast as humanly possible and I made it to the kitchen sink just in time. Thankfully no one was in the Kitchen by this time. I turned on the sink to rinse my mouth out and put the cold water on my face, hoping it would help. I turned the water off and slid down to the ground, too weak to walk to my room just yet. I pulled my legs up to my chest and rested my head on my knees. How was I going to survive this? How was I going to survive my own personal hell?