That night, I stayed awake. The horror from earlier was still running through me, I can still picture clearly the blood covered hand which held onto me, anchoring me to the blood-ridden carpets. The muddy, ghostly and pale faces staring at me though they had no eyeballs, just an empty socket penetrating through my soul. I lay under the covers closely tucked into both my sides. I was too scared to turn to one side because what happens if one of them was lurking behind me so that when I turn around, I’ll be face to face with them?

I shook that thought out of my mind and closed my eyes in an attempt to try and sleep.

The guy from earlier said he will sleep in another bedroom after he brought my suitcase over from my previous room. I was thankful but then I also felt troublesome. I was a stranger to him yet he was so nice to take me in when I couldn’t find a hotel. Or should I be scared that he could be some murderer or a or one of those ghouls?

I opened my eyes and was determined not to fall asleep in case anything was to happen again. I walked over to my black rucksack which was hooked onto the handle of the suitcase. All the lights in the room were on because I was afraid that the darkness will only make my fright worse. I rummaged through the bag until I found my phone. It has somehow turned itself off so I switched it on again. After a few seconds, the familiarity of the background picture appeared. It was taken when I was eight.

-----

“Are you sure you want to ride that sweetheart?” my mother asked me.

I was holding onto a giant panda which my father won for me at an arcade game and nodding to my mother’s question. I looked up in awe at the rollercoaster ride. For someone like me who was young and small, the ride seemed life-threatening but fun and thrilling.

“Please Mummy; I want to go on it!” I pleaded looking up at her. Fear was spread across her face as she looked across to my father.

“Why don’t I go on with her instead then?” he suggest to my mother, “You can stay here and look after the panda!”

“Yay!” I shouted happily and handed the panda to my mother. I let go of her hands and clamped them around my father’s. “Come on; let’s go Daddy, before it starts without us!”

We went onto the ride and before soon, we were on the ground again.

“How was it?” My mother asked.

I was still speechless, so I stood there, mouth gaping open. Then I snapped out of my mind and started shaking my mother’s hand.

“It was amazing, Mummy!” I shouted over excitedly, “You have to go on it with me again!”

“Maybe next time, dear, let’s go and look at the photo they took of you and Daddy.”

Both my father and I had our mouths wide open and hair all blown back. It was quite funny. Seeing as my mother wasn’t in the picture, we went to the photo booth and took lots of funny face pictures and then a decent one. That day was the last family outing we went on.

-----

There was no signal inside the house. So I couldn’t call my aunt. Then there was a gentle knock on the door. I carefully walked over to the door and asked with a shaky voice, “Who is it?”

“It’s me.”

I recognised the voice and slowly opened the door. He walked in with a cup of milk and handed it to me.

“I didn’t think you’ll be able to fall asleep so I warmed up some milk for you.”

This act of kindness made my heart melt. He smiled and I thankfully took the glass of milk from his hand.

“Thank you so much.”

I took a sip and the warmth enveloped my insides. I have no idea why, but I felt calmer and safer now.

“Those things didn’t scare you, right?” he said, raising one of his eyebrows as he stared at me with a questioning look.

I choked on the milk and he patted my back. “Of course they did!” I said loudly, “They scared the hell out of me and I thought I was going to die in their blood hands!”

But he just smiled at my remark.

He took the empty glass from my hand and walked towards the door. “Goodnight and don’t worry, they won’t be coming back tonight.”

They won’t be coming back tonight but they will be back another night, right? Either ways, I’m getting out of this house as soon as I wake up. I wish I could leave now but I had no idea how to get out of this haunted place.

-----

I walked back to the familiar front door of my house, the grass on the front garden was slightly overgrown and the flowerbeds were littered weeds. The door clicked open when I twisted the silver key and I stepped in. My parents were found but they were trapped beneath a row of aeroplane seats when it crashed. From what I heard, their bodies were disfigured horrifyingly and nothing could have save them. Parts of the plane were burnt to ashes when it exploded, some people were cooked alive by the flames and the rest were just as unfortunate from the falling pieces of the aircraft. I came back home to collect some belongings.  I was going to move in with my aunt on the island, the same land where the plane crashed. I really didn’t want to but at that time, I had no choice.

“Hurry up, the plane is leaving in three hours,” my aunt shouted from downstairs, “Just collect what you really need.”

I was upstairs in my parent’s room. The familiar smell of my mother’s perfume still lingered in the air. The smell of their clothes’ fabric conditioner burst out when I opened their wardrobe. A single drop of tear fell from my eye and slid down towards my lips. The taste of my salty tears sent more flowing down my face. Collapsing onto the king size bed, I sobbed. My shoulders shook and I didn’t care if I made the covers all wet because they will never be back.

-----

I was awoken by a single stream of sunlight which slit through the gap between the blinds. I placed my arms over my eyes to shield the light but felt water on my face. I probably cried when I slept. It wasn’t the first time. Hazily, I got out of the bed and went to wash my face. My blood stained pyjamas from the previous night sat in a plastic bag in the corner of the bathroom. I looked at it and squirmed. How am I still so calm after yesterday?

I changed into a new pair of navy jeans and a simple white blouse which had a little bow at the back. I zipped my suitcase and dragged it towards the door. My hands shook as it got nearer the handle. I was too scared to open it in case the eyeless ghouls were outside waiting for me. I stood there, contemplating for a few minutes, wondering if I should open the door. A knock from the other side made me jump.

“Oh my!” I said in shock, clutching one hand over my chest and the other gripped onto the suitcase.

“It’s me, are you awake?” the voice from the other side asked.

Slowly, I open the door and he came into view. He had a simple white top on underneath a light blue hoodie. His jeans were a similar colour to mine.

“Good morning,” he greeted politely, “Did you sleep well?”

I looked at him and then scratched my head. Even if I didn’t sleep well, I had to reply nicely in order to thank his charitable hospitality.

“I slept very well, thanks,” I lied.

“I don’t believe you,” he instantly said.

“Why?” I questioned, a little curious as to how he knew.

“Look at your eyes; they’re all puffy and red.”

I quickly covered my face with my hands in embarrassment. He chuckled at my actions. He suddenly cleared his throat and I peeked out from my fingers. His expression was serious and I quickly placed my hands by my sides.

“Come down and have breakfast,” he said, “I’ve got some bad news.”

Bad news?

I instantly didn’t like the sound of that. Goosebumps formed on my arms as he kindly took my suitcase and wheeled it down the hallway. I closed the door and looked behind me, just to make sure nothing was there and then quickly followed him down the stairs, passed the golden pillars and the grand banisters, onto the ground floor of his massive mansion.