He Sees You When You're Sleeping

19th December- Ribbons and Robbery

Christmas morning. Finally!

Maia woke up, mind racing with excitement. She leapt out of bed and immediately sprinted to the tree. She ignored the creaking of the ancient staircase and the raised hairs on her neck as she passed those old paintings. It was Christmas. No time to be freaked out by Johnson House, or the ghost stories that were associated with it.
      The rush was worth it. She stopped before the tree and gasped in delight. There were so many gifts, and beautifully wrapped too! Some were presented in green and red paper with silver snowflakes, and others had mini snowmen patterns. However, there was one in particular that caught her eye.
      A huge gold and white polka-dotted gift with a red ribbon tied around it in a bow lay beneath the tree. She stared longingly at the gift, desperately yearning to open it. She reached out her hand and pulled it out. On the tag was written; "to Maia. Merry Christmas! XXX". She giggled in delight, weighing the present in her hands and trying to guess what it could be.
     "I'll just open it a tiny bit. Surely no-one will realise, right?" A malicious grin spread across her face. She made a tiny tear in the gift by prising open the wrapping paper. Her eyes widened in suspense.
      Her excitement was short-lived. Nothing was there. Just an empty cardboard box. Upset, she stood up to walk away back to her bed. It was only about two o'clock, anyways. But then she stopped. She felt something wrapping around her foot. She looked down to see the ribbon tightening around her ankle, snaking up her leg. Soon she couldn't move her body below her waist.
      She heard a noise that resembled a chuckle. Maia whipped her head around to try and locate the noise, which echoed all around the room. Then, silence. She looked down at her legs. Nothing was on them. The ribbon was just on the present, like before. She felt the hair on her neck prickle. The feeling that she wasn't quite alone washed over her. She walked a few steps, casting glances around her shoulder.
      The next second, her feet were raised off the ground. The ribbon was tied around her neck, squeezing. Maria's eyes bulged as she clawed at her throat as she struggled for air. Her legs kicked uselessly beneath her. Cold hands held the ribbon. Something was in this house with her.
      She couldn't muster the breath to scream. There she was held for a few seconds longer, before the pressure on her neck was released. A body fell to the floor with a thump. If her parents had been awake, they would have heard the body being dragged up the stairs, and the creak as a door opened.

      Maia's parents entered Maia's bedroom. They'd been up for the last half-hour, searching for their daughter. They had assumed that she would've been awake by this time, as she always was on Christmas Day. But she hadn't been downstairs, even though they'd checked every part of the house they knew. The garden, too, was empty.
     "Maia, where are you?" Maia's father called into the blackness of her room. His daughter didn't respond. The parents exchanged a worried glance. Her mother reached over to the wall and switched on the lights. A lump in the bed allowed them to breathe a sigh of relief. Her mother walked over to the bed.
     "For God's sake, Maia. You scared-" she pulled the blankets down and reached over to shake her daughter awake. Her breath caught in her throat. "-me." She finished quietly.
      Maia's body was cold, and had been for a while. She had been positioned perfectly to look like she was just sleeping. The only things giving away this illusion were the temperature of the body and a red mark around her neck.
     "Oh my god... Maia..." her father breathed in horror.
      A sudden cold wind swirled through the room, howling mournfully. The lights flickered before going out. A few minutes later, two more bodies fell to the floor.

     "Once, long ago, Johnson House was your average mansion. A Victorian family lived there a few centuries ago. One night, on Christmas Day, a burglar snuck in. The son of the house found them. So, to stop him from waking the family, the burglar took a ribbon from one of the presents and used it to at strangle the boy. Ever since, Johnson House has been haunted. Legend says that every year on Christmas Day, the ghost of the boy comes back and uses a ribbon to kill whoever's in the house as a final act of vengeance."
     "And you're sure coming here on Christmas Day is a good idea?"
     "Oh, yeah. I've never believed in ghosts."