19 Insomnia

"If I told you there was things like shapeshifters and invisible beings you wouldn't believe me, would you?.."

No or yes?..

It sounds crazy, right?..

«Fast forward»

~At Home~

I woke up in the middle of the night. The the old clock in the lounge chimed, it was exactly as I thought... 12 o'clock on the dot. I looked around my room to see where Felix my cat was but he was nowhere to be found.

I could've sworn I saw him laying on the foot end of the bed before I dozed off. But now he's not here?.. Strange?.. I thought. Actually not really... replied the sarcastic voice in my head, I mean he does have four paws and can walk perfectly fine so the fact that your cat is not here isn't really strange in fact it's normal, he probably just wandered off or something.

"Don't mind me I think a lot, maybe a bit too much."

The cat's missing again...

Rubbing my eyes a bit, I stretched my arms out and yawned as I sat up on the side I woke up on, just on the edge of my bed with my feet now placed on the ground. I yawned again with my hand in front of my mouth and then looked down at my stripey baby blue, white and grey fluffy socks. My body was still lame and I was still tired but my mind, my mind was wide awake.

What is the point of going back to sleep now?.. I thought to myself with a sigh as I laid back on my bed with my feet still on the floor and looked up at the ceiling. I could try counting sheep, I thought, but I don't think that would work.

"Oh sack this..." I said out loud to myself as I sat up again, "I'm getting up."

My blackish brown hair cascaded down my back since my hair was loose as I sat up. A cold wind blew in and brushed against my legs, hitting my bare skin. I shivered a bit. No, I know what you thinking, I think?.. And no, I was not naked I was wearing a grey cotton shorts and a white vest top so my body was covered thank you very much.

I rubbed my arms to warm myself a bit, it kind of looked like I was hugging myself, hey guys I'm not that lonely that I have to hug myself and that's why I said... "it kind of looked like I was hugging myself" but anyway... I was still shivering as the wind blew in and I continued to rub my arms while my teeth rattled and clattered in my mouth.

A draft?.. I thought as the wind blew in more.

You don't say... said the sarcastic voice in my head as I saw the curtains blowing back and forth in a dancing motion.

I don't remember leaving the window open?

Did I leave the window open before I went to sleep?

Did you?.. said the sarcastic voice in my head AKA my conscience.

No, I didn't... I thought to myself.

"I may be a little forgetful but I do not and I repeat do not have Alzheimers. I am only 18 and I'm not even that old so I did remember."

And what I remembered was that... I definitely closed the window last night.

So how the heck did the window get open?.. I thought to myself again as I looked towards the window with the curtains that was still moving.

Yes, how the heck did it get open?.. Said the sarcastic voice.

Didn't I just think that already?.. I thought to myself as I answered my conscience.

*Face palm*

Breaking away from my mental conversation with myself which by the way included me and my conscience, I got up from the bed and headed towards window.

"Yes, I have one of those, I have a conscience AKA the sarcastic voice in my head."

My room was still pitch black since I didn't feel like putting on the light, no my eyes, I didn't want them to burn. I was sleeping with the light off, if I put it on my eyes would definitely burn.

"Now, I think I can relate to how a vampire would feel in the day time."

Vampire: "No the sunlight!.. I'm burning." Well, at least that's how I envisioned it.

The only light that was visible was the moonlight that beamed in through the gap in between the curtains.

Gap?

Gap in between the curtains?

The last thing I remember before going to bed was that I closed my curtains, there was no gap or opening.

Now they are open?

How?

"Somehow my stomach is churning and I don't have a good feeling about this."

Walking towards the window I heard the rustling of branches from the huge pine tree that was just outside my window. My apartment was on the 3rd floor of the building so the tree was pretty close to my bedroom window, in fact it was so close that I could practically climb onto it just by climbing through my window, which beckons the question... Did someone open the window and come into my apartment while I was sleeping?

When I got closer to the window the wind blew and the branches of the tree outside rustled a bit more while the curtains continued to blow as the moonlight beamed in. Although the moonlight filtered in, my room was still dark and I had some trouble seeing plus my vision was a bit blurry since I just woke up.

I don't know if I was seeing things or if my eyes were playing tricks on me but in that moment as I slowly approached the window I began to see or at least I thought I saw what looked like a dark figure, it was the shape of a man and it was standing behind the curtain?..

The silhouette of a man?

I rubbed my eyes a couple of times as I looked towards the dark silhouette still standing behind the curtain. Rubbing my eyes, I blinked continuously and squinted trying to make sure that my eyes were not playing tricks on me and that I wasn't dreaming or was I?..

Nope, definitely awake. "Ouch!.. That hurt!.." I wanted to shout, I think I tramped on a stone or something, but I didn't shout since I was in stealth mode and I didn't want the "whoever it was" behind the curtain to hear me or see me for that matter, better yet I don't even want them to know I am here or that I even existed.

An intruder?

A killer?

No, a possible killer?

It could be a possible killer because I mean...

"Hey, I'm not dead yet!.."

Exactly!.. Said the sarcastic voice in my head, you not dead, yet. So it's a possible killer since the person hasn't killed you yet.

What do I do?

You run!?..

What do I do?

Have a mental breakdown?

What do I do?

Hyperventilate? Hey, that was the only things that came to mind since you panicking replied the sarcastic voice.

What do I do?

I know this is a dumb move, if I was in a horror movie I would surely be dead by now but none the less I did it, I did the enevitable, I approached the curtain with a dry throat and a glup since I was surely going to die tonight or was it today? It was past 12?.. *Shrugs* Meh.

"Let me be brave and lord have mercy on my soul."

Wait, are you being brave or just stupid?.. Said the sarcastic voice in my head. Because you walking to where the danger could possibly be instead of running away from it.

Run away from it!.. Run away from it!.. That's what my legs were telling me but did I do it?.. No.

And just when you thought I couldn't get dumber I did, I just did. I inched closer to the curtain and upon reaching it I did it, I opened it.

And what did I find?.. I found nothing?!.. There was no one standing there, just an empty space as the moonlight beamed down.

Would I sound crazy if I told you I was happy that there was no intruder but I was also disappointed at the same time?..

"Hey, if a cute guy broke in I would be okay with that."

Boy, don't you feel stupid now?.. Stupid for overreacting to such petty things?.. Said the sarcastic voice in my head.

No, it wasn't a petty thing, I replied to my conscience unconsciously, it was a life or death situation which I just survived by the way.

Really!?.. Really now!?.. Replied the sarcastic voice.

Yes, I could've had a heart attack but I didn't... I said in my mind, so I survived plus my life flashed before my eyes so yes, I definitely survived.

Breaking out of my mental chat with none other then myself and my conscience, I realised that I was standing by the window as I looked up to see the moon shining brightly in the night sky with stars scattered around.

The stars looked almost like fragments of diamonds glistening in the darkness. It was so beautiful that my comparison couldn't even match its beauty. In fact its beauty was undescribable, breath taking even.

Getting out of the trance the night sky put me in, I like star gazing. I looked around and peeked my head out of the window as I looked to both sides of the roof... *look left*look right* with my head sticking out just to be safe and make sure that no one was hiding behind the wall where my window was or on the roof for that matter but there was nothing, not a person, not a soul.

What a relief... I thought to myself.

I then looked down with my hands still resting on the window sill and my head still sticking out. Looking towards the huge pine tree that was just outside my window, the tree's branches began to rustle again as the wind blew. I leaned against the sill as I felt the wind blow through my hair, it was a nice feeling but I still felt cold.

*Rustle*Rustle* Suddenly my eyes fell to the bush that was just an inch to the right of the pine tree. It wasn't the wind this time that caused that bushes leaves to shake.

*Rustle*Rustle* The leaves of the tree rustled making a soft, muffled crackling sound. Focusing on the bush I then saw that something was coming out of it. I wasn't sure what it was as it was a distance down from my room and the moonlight wasn't that bright. The bush began to constantly shake as I watched and waited. Then suddenly I heard something familiar...

To be continued...