maple syrup | remus lupin [1]

100. nightmares & sleepwalkers

a/n: help me choose a name for the cat! further down the boys and claudia will discuss it so pls tell me if you like any of the suggestions!

otherwise, if you have suggestions of your own, comment here pls!

happy 100 chapters my loves <3 this one's extra long just for you!!!

CLAUDIA WAS TOSSING and turning, trying her hardest to tire herself out and fall asleep by counting sheep and forcing herself to keep her eyes shut, but nothing seemed to help.

She was bound to stay awake for at least a few more hours, something that definitely didn't appeal to the girl who was going insane at the ticking of a clock she didn't even know was in the room.

Though, when she listened more closely to the ticking sound, it had come to her attention that it wasn't a clock. The ticking was way too fast for it to be.

So, the girl decided to explore the sound, considering that she wasn't going to fall asleep anyway. Her feet met the cold ground, causing her to debate putting on some socks but later deciding against it.

Claudia then realised that she could not locate the sound.

So, instead, she wondered if maybe it was coming from outside.

Now, Claudia Maple had zero to none experience with horror films, so she did not exactly think that anything bad could happen on her short journey of finding the source of the sound and somehow make the ticking stop.

Oh, how wrong she was.

Tiptoeing down the stairs, Claudia discovered that the ticking didn't get louder, nor did it get quieter. It was as if she was still in the very same spot as before. But that she wasn't, which made zero sense.

Her tired eyes searched for any clues
to explain the situation, but there were none.

Well, that was with the exception of the candles that were clearly lit in the kitchen.

Strange, Claudia thought. The girl neared the kitchen to blow the candles out and go back to her attempt on falling asleep - but the discovery that she made as she entered the room was enough to realise that she wouldn't, in fact, be sleeping anytime soon.

The first thing she noticed was the wet and sticky thing she felt against her foot, which caused her to immediately regret her choice of not wearing any socks.

At first she assumed it was water. But then, when she looked down, she realised that it was blood.

"Shit," the girl said, feeling every ability to move disappear from her body.