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As the years went by he kind of got used to it. It was still terrifying when it happened, but he was able to shake it in the morning quickly. Twice he tried to tell his parents about it but they blamed it on an overactive imagination and hormones.
Tonight was different though. Jason went to bed with an uneasy feeling, his stomach was twisted into knots and he thought he was getting sick. He laid down in bed and closed his eyes. As soon as they were closed he heard a creaking sound coming from his closet. He rolled over and looked toward the closet, just as his eyes landed on the partially opened door he saw a shadow in the shape of a hand pull back into the darkness of the closet. The room was pitch black, but that shadow looked infinitely darker than the room.
His breath caught in his throat and he broke out in sweat. The door looked like it opened a little more and Jason rolled back over so it would look like he was asleep. His peripheral caught some movement when a figure slipped out of the closet and into the corner of the room, then another and another. He began to tremble all over, then went still, not because he stopped but because his body froze again. Like every other night he couldn’t move, he couldn’t hear and he couldn’t make any noise. The only difference this time was that he was not alone in the room. There were at least three shadow people standing in the corner watching him.
Then the light in the hall came on and the door opened. The small figure that he had become accustomed to was standing there. It glided across the floor, the same way it did every night. It attacked him, the pain, just as bad as ever shot back through his body.
He silently screamed into the night, wishing he could get the thing off of him, wishing it would just go away, and waiting for the shriek signifying the end of the torment. It felt like his skin was shredding, then everything took a different turn. The shadow came down close to his face, almost touching it. He could almost make out feminine features, the pain subsided and his muscles loosened. There was a feeling of release, and then it was over. No shrieking, no black out, the figure was suddenly standing next to the bed and appeared to be holding his hand.
When he realized he yanked his hand back and came. He was shocked that he was able to move. The figure glided effortlessly back across the room to the corner were the other three had been watching. Jason grabbed the covers and pulled them all the way up to his eyes.
He was eighteen now and had been having these experiences for three years, but they never changed, the story was always the same. This time though his ability to move had come back, he could hear again, and she didn’t leave. He was still sweating and whimpering when he heard them.
They had begun talking, at first he couldn’t understand them. It wasn’t that they were to quiet but that it didn’t sound like any language he had ever heard before. It came through a hisses and pops. The longer it went on the more clear it became though. They were talking about him.
He heard them say “Did it work?” and thought to himself “What the hell are they talking about.” As soon as the thought crossed his mind the figures turned and faced him. It was as though they had heard him. They stood motionless, waiting for something. After a few minutes Jason pulled the covers back feeling drawn to the figures. He stood up feeling very light headed, the world was a in a fog, there was a ripple running through everything.
He started to step toward them, but when he did he felt a hand close around his wrist. He froze there for a second and turned his head slowly toward whatever was holding him. He looked down and saw himself sitting up in bed staring back.
Where the other him was holding onto him he could see that his skin had started to fade into a deep black. He looked at himself sitting upright in the bed, drenched in sweat and shaking all over. He looked into his own eyes and saw an amazing pain. He watched as the other him mouthed silently “Don’t go, Im not ready.” He felt incredibly at ease as he pulled his now solid black wrist from the others grasp.
As soon as he was loose of the other him, he heard a loud whooshing sound and the three figures that had been in the corner shot around him and covered the body of the other me. The deep blackness of their bodies completely blocked out his teenage body lying on the bed.
While he was watching he didn’t notice the feminine figure slide up beside him. He felt her hand clasp around his and he turned his head to look at her. The blackness melted away from her face revealing a beautiful young woman with perfect brunette hair and natural highlights. She was stunningly gorgeous and he instantly forgot about what was happening on the bed. He forgot about the eighteen year old boy who would never see another day, about the parents of the boy who would suffer this loss.
He was finally where he was suppsed to be. They had come for him and found him. The feminine figure leaned in and kissed Jason gently on the lips. She smiled and turned toward the closet. He watched as she began to glide across the floor toward the closet. She turned back around and reached out to him, beckoning him to follow her.
He took a deep breath and smelled nothing but fresh, clean air. A light came on, as bright at the sun, inside of the closet. The light sifted out through the cracks around the door and poured into the dark room. With one final look over his shoulder he could see the black tangle of the creatures writhing on the bed, and began gliding to the closet.
He followed her inside and the door swung shut behind them. Jason was gone forever. The next morning when the light broke into the room through the window, no one stirred in Jasons bed. The birds outside of the window chirped and children played in the yard next door.
Jasons mother had just finished laundry and was headed upstairs with the basket. She stopped at his door and set the basket down. “Jason! Why are you still in bed? Get up sleepy head!” She shoved the door open, picked up the basket and went into the room. She continued to talk to him as she put away the clothes. She rambled on about Susan from work and how she thinks the kids next door knocked over their mailbox.
After she finished putting away the freshly cleaned laundry she skipped over to the bed and Jasons neatly tucked in body. She plopped down on the bed laughing “Wake up silly! I know you can hear me.” She grabbed the covers and yanked them back quickly and then fell to the floor in shock.
Jasons head rolled off of the bed onto the floor next to her. Beneath the covers was just a mass of blood and ground up meat. For a split second she thought she saw a darker spot beneath the bed in the shape of a person looking out. She screamed as loud and hard as she could and then passed out cold.
The End
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