The House on Mass. Avenue | Rensung

Untitled Part 6

Jisung's eyes opened and he was met with an overwhelming darkness. Blinking several times, it took him a moment to realize that he was staring at the off-white ceiling above his bed. He frowned, groaning a bit as he turned to looked at the digital clock resting on the bedside table next to him. 

2:46 am.

Jisung let out a harsh breath and fumbled a bit, his hands slipping out from under the covers to run over his face, brushing away a bit of the lingering sleep. He was tired, and his room was quiet and peaceful, the window open and letting the soothing crash of waves calm him. So why the hell was he awake? 

Suddenly a crash sounded from downstairs, and Jisung felt his heart leap in his chest. Was someone awake? Is that what had woken him? 

The young and disoriented author felt that undeniable weird feeling crawl slowly down his spin like a spider picking it's way across it's web, it's spindly legs slow and careful not to misstep. He felt his stomach begin to twist a little as he sat up, his heart pounding against his chest as it heaved for breath, mind already spinning with theories. His brown eyes trained on his closed doorway and he let out a harsh puff of breath as another unmistakable crash sounded from downstairs. 

A minute passed after that and there were no other sounds, Jisung feeling himself get a bit worried. What if someone had gotten hurt? It wouldn't hurt to check, would it? 

Throwing the covers off of his body, his bare feet touched the carpeted floor and Jisung quickly reached for his phone, scanning through the list of rules that he had typed out in his notes app. It didn't look like he was breaking any rules by going out this late, only if he had heard knocking at his door would he be breaking any rules. But he didn't, so he was okay. 

Placing his phone back down on his bedside table, Jisung crossed his room and carefully pulled open the door, wincing at the loudness of the creaking hinges. It seemed so deafening in the otherwise silent house. But, after pausing for a moment, it didn't seem as though anyone else had woken up and Jisung stepped out into the hallway. 

He had been at the house for a little more than week now, and he had yet to wake up through the night, much less wandering through the dark and silent interior. Now, staring down the dark hallway lit by one gas lantern at the end of the hallway, Jisung swallowed thickly, unease creeping over his body. 

He took a step down the hallway and felt himself falter at the darkness stretching out in front of him. He almost wanted to laugh at himself for his cowardess. 

Still, Jisung felt himself think as he stopped next to the mirror and look in the reflective glass to see himself staring back, It isn't too late to go back into my room and go back to sleep. 

But Jisung stared himself in his eyes, his face worried with lines of anxiety, and held his hand up next to his face. He snapped once and blinked in surprise as the lantern next to the mirror flickered and waned, casting strange shadows across his face. The dark and light distorted his facial features and the longer he stared, the longer his face didn't look like his own.

Jisung snapped a second time and he froze, his eyes become watery and wide with nighttime paranoia as he heard noises down the hall in the direction of where he had come from. A loud creaking sounded and Jisung jumped as a loud slam ensued, ripping his eyes away from the mirror to look in the direction of his room. His door had slammed closed. 

Looking back to the mirror, Jisung hand trembled slightly but he had to finish, he had to. Something bad would happen if he didn't. A chill -- a draft -- possibly from an open window, blew past him ever so slightly and Jisung stared at himself in the mirror, the side of his face moving as he clenched and unclenched his jaw.