Twisted

Twisted Minds

The hairs on the nape of Sophie's neck were standing upright, the sweat dripping down her face. Move, she thought, do something! But her legs wouldn't budge. She could feel the presence of someone, lurking in the darkness. No - it wasn't someone, it was something.

It was watching Sophie from a corner of the room; the room that once used to be her bedroom. Now the big four poster bed was broken, the bare walls had holes in it - because no one had lived in the house for years - and the windows were shattered into pieces on the dirty ground. Just like all the other houses in the neighborhood.

A movement caught her eye and her head snapped to the side. There was nothing. She moved quietly, so she'd be able to hear any odd noises. And indeed, she heard a sound as she slowly walked towards the door. A sound she'd heard far too often. The breathing. It was close, waiting for Sophie to make a move. But she wouldn't run, not this time.

She took a slow step towards the door. Nothing happened. Another step; still nothing. Just as she thought that maybe it was gone, a spiny, skinless hand with long, nasty nails shot out from the darkness and grabbed her wrist. A scream escaped her and this time she did turn around, but only darkness stared back. She looked down at her arm and saw bright red scratches across her wrist and lower arm. Forcing herself to calm down, she took another step. And another. And before she realised what she was doing she moved faster until her hand touched the cold, and somehow sticky, doorknob.

Carefully, so as not to make any sound, she turned the doorknob and nearly squealed as the door opened with a scratching sound. But as soon as she'd stepped into the hall the too well known smell reached her nostrils. That awful smell of old, rotting garbage.

She hurried through the enormous hall towards the stairs, as she tried not to gag because of the smell. If I can just get out of here quickly, Sophie thought. But when she passed a bedroom, that was smaller than her own, she freezed. It was her little sister Lizzy's old bedroom. She turned her head towards the door, and for what seemed like ages, she simply stood there, staring.

When her senses finally returned, she still couldn't force herself to move. There, in Lizzy's room, was the cause of the disgusting smell. Three bodies. They were all lying next to each other - Sophie's mom, Sophie's dad, and then, of course, Sophie's little sister. What made it worse was that their heads were, in fact, not attached to their bodies, but lay a few feet away. As Sophie pressed her hands against her mouth to suppress the urge to vomit, she noticed two gleaming eyes the size of orbs from behind the bodies, and it felt like they were staring straight into Sophie's soul. The eyes belonged to it. She called the thing it because she didn't know how to call it otherwise. It had the body of a man, but instead of having a normal face, like other people, its face contained two enormous red eyes and a mouth that was somehow sewed shut. The two arms that stuck out in weird angles from its body, which were supposed to have flesh and skin, were all bone and had a rotten, green glow to it.

Sophie was shaking so badly she thought she'd faint. It took a step forwards and, simultaneously, she took a step backwards, only to find she was now pressed against the stair banister. She had no idea how but its face seemed to smirk at her while it took another step forwards, stepping over Sophie's mother's body. Sophie tried hard not to look at her head - the mouth was agape and the eyes were wide open as though she'd been screaming right before her death.

Sophie was trembling all over, but she made herself stay concentrated as it took another step - it was now barely five feet away from her, and she could smell the horrible sour smell coming from its body - she couldn't control herself any longer and jumped into motion. In a swift movement she darted to the side and sprinted down the stairs. Once she reached the hall, she threw herself towards the front door, in an attempt to open it, but before Sophie could even get one of her hands on the door handle something got hold of her leg and yanked her back.

She stumbled over her own feet and hit the floor. As she landed on top of her arm - that made a searing pain go through her body - and a shadow loomed over her, she knew that the was no point in trying to flee again. Sophie slowly lifted her head and there it was again, this time with a nasty looking blade in his hand. Oh no, this is it, she thought. And before she could even scream it threw the blade down, right between her shoulder blades.

And then Sophie woke up in her bed with a scream, sweating and gasping. The sweat trickled down her face and her back and legs were sticky from the sweat. Sometimes she'd woken up with her blanket torn into shreds, but this time when she felt the blanket she was relieved to see it was fine.

Thank God, she thought, it was just another nightmare.

She twisted her body so she was lying on her side, making herself comfortable so she could fall asleep again, but the feeling of a sticky substance on her left arm stopped her from doing so. As she turned on her light, she saw the terrifying sight. There was a wound, just like in her dream, across her lower arm. The bright blood trickled down her arm and onto the bed. She started to panic, but made herself calm down as she thought she must have scratched herself because of the stress.

As she was about to turn off her light and go back to sleep, she heard a creepy sound. It was a sort of scratching sound, coming from outside her bedroom door, as if someone was trying to get in. With shaking legs, Sophie stood up and went to the door. As she pushed it open slightly, she saw nothing and only felt the darkness closing in on her. She sighed relieved, but as she stepped back into her room, a long, boney arm shot out from behind her and a rotting hand clamped her mouth shut as she tried to scream.