-Chapter 1-

Watching Me

I can hear it… I can hear… footsteps…

You pulled the blanket up closer to your body and clenched your eyes shut. Your fingers gripping onto the edges of your blanket began to tremble as the footsteps became louder. Your eyebrows inadvertently knitted together as fear began to rush through your body. Please… just go away…!

The sound of footsteps suddenly came to an abrupt stop. It was completely silent for a moment. Silent enough to hear the wind blowing outside, the grandfather clock methodically ticking away, and your own uneasy, irregular breaths. You still weren’t calm with this newfound silence. You’ve experienced this way too many times to count and you knew all too well that this wasn’t the end of it.

Your heart leaped into your throat when you heard a small, distinct click and then a long, drawn out creak. Your bedroom door was opening…

The footsteps started up once again, this time louder than ever and gradually approaching you. Each step was firm and was in small strides; the loose wooden floor boards screeching almost in agony with each step.

It was coming. You could feel it coming. And there was nothing you could do but lay there in bed, your blanket being your only source of comfort; your own source of protection… the only thing that was separating you from it.

You felt your body shaking but at the same time going completely numb. Fear had completely engulfed you at this point. You wanted to scream, to cry, to let someone know but… you couldn’t do that either…

The footsteps sounding literally inches away from you finally stopped. And now came the most excruciating part….

It was silent once more but the air was thick. You felt claustrophobic being in your own skin and the only word that was running through you mind was… eyes.

It’s watching me…

“Jaeyun, do you mind going into the kitchen and grabbing some more plates?”

You paused half way from bringing your spoonful of rice to your lips. You peer up and silently blink at your mother who was looking over at you expectantly. “Huh?” you blankly answered back.

“She said to go get plates in the kitchen.” Your older brother Sehun said while pointing his spoon in the direction of the kitchen door, words slurring a bit as a result from the mouthful of rice in his mouth. You slowly trail your eyes to gaze over at the kitchen door and then looked back at the two pairs of eyes staring you down.

“Your father is going to be home from work soon and it completely slipped my mind to set up a bowl of food for him.” Your mother promptly added in response to your silence.

“Um… can Sehun do it instead?” you reply back a bit indifferently, eyes peering down at your plate as you sifted away at your food with your spoon. You heard a small scoff from Sehun and you could tell he was most likely glaring daggers at you.

“Now Sehun, don’t be like that to your little sister.” Your mother said to Sehun as she lightly patted his arm. “Jaeyun, I thought it would be best for you to do it since compared to your brother and I, you’ve hardly touched your food.” You clenched your spoon a bit tighter as you inwardly sighed to yourself.

“She won’t do it mom. You already know how scared Jaeyun is to go anywhere alone.” Sehun said, his tone clearly contemptuous.

“Sehun!” your mother scolded.

“I’ll go.” You finally voiced, abruptly standing up from your chair that skidded back on the floor with a distinctive screech. As you stood there staring down at your mother and brother’s shocked expressions, you heard a small, very subtle sound of stirring behind you and immediately the air felt heavier.

It heard… It’s going to follow me…

Swallowing hard, you shuffled out of the dining room door and into the kitchen. You walk over to the cabinets and opened it up to grab some plates. As you were searching for the usual bowl your father would always use, your attention was caught onto a small glistening spider web that was hanging in the darkest corner inside of the cabinet. You cringed a bit at the sight of the spider bigger than your own thumb crawling around the web, its front legs pinching away at a section of the web most likely to repair it. Even after seeing millions of spider webs in this house of yours, (this one making it a million and one) you still weren’t used to seeing these creepy, crawly creatures.

Your heart suddenly halted too a painful stop and a spark ran up your entire body. With widened eyes and not daring to move a single muscle, your eyes slowly trail down to peer at your left shoulder. Your hair that was resting on your shoulder… was rhythmically blowing back and forth.

It was behind you. Directly behind you.

You clenched your eyes shut, feeling your entire body go stiff. You didn’t want to move an inch and you definitely didn’t want to turn around and see whatever was behind you.

The uncomfortable methodic breeze that was brushing against the nape of your neck seemed to be getting closer and closer and you could feel a presence closing in on you from behind. You gasped lightly when you suddenly felt a heavy pressure leaning against your back and something that almost felt like arms encircling your waist. You frightfully look down, you eyes scrutinizing the spot where you felt something being wrapped around it. You saw nothing around your waist but you knew all too well that there was definitely something holding onto you.

You were scared. More than scared- you were terrified out of your mind. The urge to run, to scream, to even cry had never been so prominent but nothing in your body was reacting or receiving any signals that your brain was desperately sending it. “Go away… please just go away…” you softly begged, almost in a desperate whimper. 

“Jaeyun...”

Your eyes shot wide open.

“…Jaeyun…”

You were hoping it was just your imagination. It sounded too clear to be real but at the same time it sounded too clear to be in your imagination. The voice that called your name was a hushed, airy whisper that was unmistakably a male’s voice. It couldn’t be your father who was at work and it couldn't be your brother Sehun’s voice- it sounded too different and it too close to be coming from the dining room.

The unknown force that was around your body suddenly gripped you tighter.

“Jaeyun… Jaeyun… My beautiful Jaeyun…”

The ongoing chant became louder and clearer as if the voice was inside your head, boggling around in your mind.

“Hey Jaeyun!” Came another voice. This one was no doubt familiar and instantly brought relief to you. It was Sehun’s voice. Immediately the heavy force that had engulfed you had been lifted away and the air around you had significantly gotten lighter at the sound of the kitchen door opening. You could finally feel yourself being able to breathe once more.

“Geez, what’s taking so long?” Sehun grumbled as he strolled into the kitchen. He abruptly stopped dead in his tracks when you had turned around to face him. His usual uninterested demeanor had softened when he had witnessed the terrified expression on your pale face and the visible tears that were threatening to overflow from your eyes. “Whoa Jaeyun… are you okay?” Sehun cautiously asked, taking one step towards you.

Immediately you rushed towards Sehun and threw yourself against his chest. Hot tears were streaming from your clenched eyes as you buried your face into his chest. “Jaeyun?” Sehun worriedly said, holding onto your arms and peering down at you. Sehun could feel you trembling and shaking against his grip on you. He gradually brought his arms around you and brought you in closer for the embrace.

You both silently stood there in each other’s arms as you felt all the tears you had been holding in completely and uncontrollably spilling out of your eyes all at once. You felt safer in Sehun’s arms but even through all of this, there was still something that made you feel unsettled. Even through all the tears, you could feel two piercing eyes burning holes into your back.

It’s still here… It’s still watching me… and it knows my name…