Cinnamon // Sally Face

T w e n t y - S e v e n

The brightly colored furniture and decor in Todd's living room didn't do much to comfort Violet. She still felt as though she needed to be on guard. She tried looking at Todd's baby pictures, which were hung in multiple places on the wall, to distract herself. His parents certainly loved him very much. Violet only knew of one picture of herself hanging in her apartment. It was also a baby picture which hung on her mother's side of her parents' bed. Her father wasn't much of a picture person.

Try as she might, she couldn't keep herself from looking into Todd's dark kitchen. It was nearly identical to her own, just as the kitchens in the other apartments were. The silhouette of a vase of flowers sat right in the middle of their dining table. Todd's parents sure were bright people. 

Every minute that passed felt like an hour. Violet anxiously tapped her feet as she tried to keep her focus on the pictures on the wall. It was getting harder and harder.

"Come on, Larry," she thought aloud. "Come on."

Addison Apartments was definitely not a good place to sit in silence all alone. It was too mysterious and far too haunted. While she may have only encountered one demon, Violet was sure that there were many others to meet. What better time for them to come out than late at night, when the building slept? It was enough to make anyone extremely uneasy when everything went quiet. 

Another few minutes went by. Violet glanced at the time on her phone, which read 10:07 PM. What was taking Larry so long? She was only 2 floors above him. Surely the elevator wasn't that slow. Her heart was beginning to race, causing her palms to sweat and her cheeks to grow flushed. She needed to get out of here.

For a final time, her eyes flitted back into the kitchen. And sure enough, her greatest fear had come true.

This encounter with the Red-Eyed Demon was different than the others. There was no buzzing noise or flickering lights. It just...stood there, right against the wall. Its blazing glare pierced straight through Violet, giving her the worst sense of dread she'd ever experienced. A scream bubbled up in her throat, but she choked it down. She couldn't disturb Todd's parents.

For only a short moment, her muscles grew so rigid that she couldn't move. She couldn't even breathe. All she could do was stare at the monster as her heart pounded so hard that she could feel her pulse in her feet. Finally, her fight-or-flight instincts kicked in and she booked it for the door. Todd's request that she turned the lights out when she left had been completely forgotten. 

Upon throwing the front door open, Violet slammed into someone's torso, causing her to tumble backwards and fall onto her bottom. 

"Woah, little dude. You okay?" Larry's voice asked her as he reached down to help her out.

"We have to go right now!" She squeaked. "It's in the kitchen!"

"What's in the kitchen?"

Violet looked back to where the demon stood as she used Larry's hands to pull herself up. It hadn't moved an inch. Instead, it watched as the frightened girl pushed past her friend to get out of the apartment.

Larry grabbed her arm before she could make a run for it to the elevator. "What's in the kitchen, Violet?"

"The demon! Th-The red-eyed thing! Please, Larry, we have to go!"

The dark-haired boy decided to take her word for it, releasing his grasp on her and allowing her to run as he closed the door. Sal was supposed to be working on getting this under control. Why was this thing still here? And why, of all people, was it tormenting Violet? 

Once he caught up with her, she was already pounding on the button to summon the elevator. For some reason, the doors weren't opening, even though Larry had just took it to this floor. It shouldn't have gone anywhere.