“—and then, and then! I started to hear these weird footsteps upstairs!”
“What?”
“Cynthia, no way-”
“What did they sound like?”
“They were… light, and fast. Like a kid’s footsteps,” Cynthia whispered, leaning in towards her audience. She struggled to keep a frown plastered onto her face, despite the laughter bubbling up inside of her. She scanned the small circle of wide-eyed children sitting in anticipation in front of her. They were totally entranced.
“I think I might’ve heard a laugh. Or two. But, uh… just really quiet ones.”
“Woah…” one kid said. “That’s so cool!”
“WHAT?” another girl shot back, “How could you think that’s cool? Sounds scary to me!”
“Pfft, you’re just a scaredy-cat.”
“You…”
A loud ringing broke the tension, and all the kids jumped. Class was over. The group slowly dissipated, chattering excitedly amongst themselves and making Cynthia promise to tell more stories. Of course, she did.
Apparently, the house her family had just moved into was haunted. She didn’t know when or how the rumors started, but from the first day of school children she didn’t even know gravitated towards her, wanting to know more, and Cynthia was all too happy to oblige. After all, she was having a blast spinning stories of the imaginary ghosts in her house. It was all in good fun, anyway.
Humming to herself, she skipped out the door and down the road to her house.
* * *
“Cynthia! Dinner!”
Cynthia yawned, rubbing sleep out of her eyes as she looked around for her phone.
7:40. It was already dark outside. Long shadows like reaching hands fell on her bed, dresser and bookshelf, a few of the only pieces of furniture in her otherwise empty room. The rest of her things were packed snugly in moving boxes, all shoved into the corners of the room.
“I’m coming!” Cynthia scrambled out of bed but paused in her doorway. The hallway, bright and welcoming just a few hours before, was now dark and menacing. Stories of a girl in a white dress echoed in her mind.
“I did see a girl, just once. Long hair, and a red dress. I didn’t really see her face though, it was turned away from me. But I’m sure I saw her…”
She shuttered, speed-walking through the hallway as fast as she could to the kitchen lights.
Whatever. It’s just a story, anyway… Ghosts don’t really exist except on television and in stories… However, she found herself looking back every two steps anyway, searching for movement in the inky darkness. There was nothing there, of course.
Ugh! Stop being so stupid.
“Cynthia?”
“Yes!”
Her mom stood in the dining room, staring worriedly at her from behind the island.
“Are you alright? You look like you just saw a ghost.”
“I… no, it’s nothing.”
“…Alright. Well, get to the table then!” her mom said, with obvious disbelief in her voice. But she didn’t push the matter further, either. A delicious casserole was placed on the table, and the mouth-watering smell made all her worries disappear.
* * *
“Make sure to turn off all the lights, honey. I’m going to bed.”
“Ok.” Cynthia murmured, taking her place behind the couch and flipping open her laptop. It was almost 12am by the time she looked up at the time again.
Why do I always do this to myself?
Cynthia scanned the room, and a chill ran its way up her spine. It was quiet. Too quiet. The shadows of the table, the walls, the island in the dining room, all seemed much more dangerous. Demons, ghosts… who knows what would come crawling out from them?
She took a deep breath. “It’s just a made-up story, Cynthia. Stop already.”
“I came down one night for a snack. The TV was on, y’know! I knew I’d turned it off. But it was just playing static. It was sooo creepy.”
She stared suspiciously at the TV, half expecting it to flicker to life. She stared at herself in the reflection for a long moment before she speed-walked upstairs, not wanting to turn off the lights behind her. She didn’t look behind her once. She dashed through the hallway, running into her room and flicking on the lights as fast as she could. Something caught the corner of her eye and she spun around, barely holding in a scream.
It was a coat, hanging innocently in the closet. From far away, it could’ve been a tall figure hunched inside. She sighed inwardly and took deep breaths in an attempt to calm her jumpy nerves before collapsing into bed. Images of reaching hands and faces in the dark flashed behind her eyelids.
It’ll be a miracle if I manage to sleep tonight…