A late night awakening

In a dimly lit room, a male figure laid comfortably on a bed, the sheets wrinkled and rumpled as he lapped his entire body within it like a cocoon, whilst blankly staring at any object in his room that might hold some interest.

He had bewitching pale blue jewel like eyes that twinkle brightly within the starry night, as if beckoning wandering thieves to suddenly rip it off his face and keep it to themselves, white snowflake hair that glistens like a chandelier in a banquet for opulent guests, a strikingly attractive face that allures even the most cold hearted individuals, and pale white porcelain like skin that's smooth to the touch.

Clement rubbed his weary eyes in frustration as he let out a long tired yawn.

'it's one of those tiresome nights where you can't sleep till the dawn of day.' Clement thought to himself. For the past few hours, He tossed and turned his body around the bed multiple times, trying out different positions to sleep, but alas it was just a futile tussle.

His glossy gaze continued to wander off to the ceiling fan, his eyes remained fixated on the blades, watching it endlessly spin with seemingly no end. The gentle draft of wind that came from the ceiling fan slightly disheveled his pale white hair.

Clement picked up his phone beside his lamp, and turned it on to check the time.

As his phone turned on, the dazzling blue light coming from the phone shone. slightly stunning him.

'Goddamnit…' Clement swiftly turned the brightness down, unable to handle the light that came off it.

His eyes took a quick glance at the upper right corner of the phone screen.

[2:35 AM]

Clement sighed. He stretched his arms out and got out of his comfortable and fleecy bed.

His icy cold feet met the woven carpet floor of his room, the warm carpet floor slightly warming it.

He trudged towards his bedroom door, but before he reached his arm out to open it, he noticed the hinges of the door slightly rusting, its past sparkling gold hue now replaced with a reddish brown rust, its grimy and weathered appearance made it seem uncomfortable to touch.

'Perhaps it might need a change, leaving it like that might result in an accident; I'll go to the hardware store tomorrow to get a replacement.' Clement pondered to himself as took a mental note to go outside tomorrow.

It was unpleasant to say the least, getting an infection from accidentally touching it is a risk he's not willing to take.

Clement reached his arm out and placed his pale hands on the handle of the door, gently turning it.

He felt a rush of frigid cold air brush pass his face as the door creaked open. he was met with the sight of a dark eerie hallway, his peered gaze glanced at the endless gloom in front of him, multiple shadowy creatures with abnormal and unhuman like features meandered around the hallway and occasionally phased through the walls with a eerie smile.

Clement felt his heart spike, an uneasy feeling well up in his body. he watched as his mind played deceitful tricks on his restricted vision, trying so desperately to scare him back to his room. His breathing became more and more unsteady as his gaze remained frozen at the endless illusions in front of him, as they gaped at what seemingly looks like their giant maws, stretching their slender fingers forwards, tearing off the skin and flesh of their fingers, leaving the a protruding bone in its place.

They sharpened their finger bones using the sharp corners of their sword like fangs and teeth, into edges that can puncture through any kind of metal whilst they fixated their gaze on him.

Clement quickly shrugged off the overwhelming sense of fear and dread and hastily groped the darkened walls in order to pinpoint the location of the light switch.

Clement frantically moved his hands on the walls, desperate to find the light switch as he felt a sudden uncomfortable chill go up his spine.

As his hands moved around the wall, he felt something hit his finger for a moment, Clement immediately recognised it as the light switch and hastily flipped it on.

An intense bright light lit up the hallway, casting away all the illusionary creatures and shadows within it.

The white marble floor gleamed a bright white light as it reflected the light bulb. Clement slightly squinted his blue eyes, seemingly startled by the sudden flash of light.

Clement rubbed his eyes, as he saw his blurry reflection on the spotless floor, still and unmoving, trying to replicate a perfect image of his entire body.

His bare footsteps echoed throughout the whole hallway, as he walked past the various pictures that adorned the walls that were taken using the camera he got on his birthday.

Some of them are taken from the time when he and his mom didn't move out of his old neighbourhood yet, the place where he made oh so precious and delightful memories with his old friends.

He still remembered all the fantastical adventures he had with them, the time they played hide & seek in the woods and getting lost immediately after they finished, the time they had to chase that playful cat that stole his friend's jumping rope, The time they went to the arcade and won the funny looking teddy bear on the shelf, The time they had a sleepover….

He remembered when those memorable memories used to give him pure utter joy, when it used to make his chest feel blithe and unworried.

But after that scarring experience, those memories bring nothing but pain and guilt to him, like a frenzied hammer repeatedly bruising his body, or a sharp claw scratching his bare skin leaving him in a pool of his own blood, slowly chipping away his mind.

He quickly shrugged it off and continued going down the hallway.

As he ambled down the hallway, he saw his mother's bedroom door slightly ajar, he slightly peeked his head in the room. What he saw was a room with flower patterned walls, books and various trinkets sat atop on the shelves, in the center of the room laid a pink colored bed with peach hue sheets, he saw his mother sleeping comfortably on the bed, her white hair slightly dishevelled and her head completely sunken in the light pink colored pillow.

'Perhaps mother forgot to close it, she's been growing quite tired lately from all the stress she gets from work.'

Clement's mother had been overworking herself recently with work, resulting in her going home late at night utterly exhausted.

She tried to hide it away from him for the past few months, but Clement knows his mother all too well, he knows that she is very caring towards him and would rather not want his son to worry about anything.

Clement felt his heart ache seeing his mother exhaust herself with work.

'Hmm…maybe working in the local flower shop again might help to relieve some of her stress.' Clement pondered to himself.

He used to work in the flower shop near the neighbourhood, the owner of the said flower shop was really nice and good natured, he had a very nice time working there for about 3 months before he quit.

He gently closed the door so as to not create any unnecessary noises that might accidentally wake up his slumbering mother. He didn't want to disturb his mother's needed sleep at this time of the night.

Reaching the end of the hallway, he was met with the sight of the wooden staircase.

He tightly gripped on the handrailing to give himself further support for his frail body, his knuckles almost turning pale white from how much he was grasping the wooden railing, Clement knew how much his weak and frail body can be, so he always takes extra precautions when doing heavy duty jobs or activities that might strain him too much in order to not accidentally hurt himself in he process.

With newfound safety he slowly descended down the stairs.

As Clement carefully descended down the stairs, he noticed the lights downstairs were still on, the ceiling lights shined brightly as it illuminated the entire kitchen and living room.

'Mother must've tired herself out with work.' Clement thought as he saw his mother's coat sprawled on the couch, and various documents cluttering the whole living room table.

He gently hopped off the final steps of the stairs and continued towards the kitchen.

As Clement stepped in the kitchen, he noticed the baking tray filled with chocolate chip cookies he baked yesterday completely gone and was replaced with cookie crumbs.

All his hard work… eaten….consumed…

Clement puffed up his cheeks like a squirrel, his cheeks slightly gleamed a rosy pink hue.

'Mother why did you eat it on your own?!'

Clement sighed and relinquished his devoured sweets.

A little over a year ago, Clement dedicated himself into learning how to bake cookies and various sweets to bake for his mother. It was hard at first but after a while he began making progress.

He eventually got better and better as time had gone by, and more and more his mother became addicted to his baked sweets.

Well it was always nice seeing his mother devour his cookies left and right like a total monster, it gave him a sense of pride and accomplishment.

One by one Clement carefully grabbed the dirty dishes and placed them carefully in the kitchen sink, But before he picked up the sponge and turned on the faucet, Clement unravelled the bandages wrapped around his arm.

He slowly removed the bandages around his arm, revealing an arm littered with scars and cuts, like ink droplets on a blank piece of paper. If someone accidentally saw this, they'd immediately distance themselves away from him and look at him for the rest of their lives like an abomination.

Clement felt a little uneasy seeing his arm like this but he quickly shrugged it off and began washing the dishes. He poured a generous amount of dish soap on the plates, slightly coating the plate in a light green hue.

The constant sounds of running water and kitchenware clanging together resounded throughout the entire house as Clement diligently washed the dishes, removing any excess grime or any stubborn stains that's on the plates and kitchenware.

As Clement neared finishing up, he turned his head to look at the clock hanging on the wall.

[3:47 AM]

Clement wiped off the excess water on the countertop. He delicately placed back the used kitchenware back in the drawers and cups back in the cupboard, arranging it in a way that looked pleasing to the eye.

The line of cups hanging neatly on the cupboard and plates placed orderly was satisfying to say the least.

Clement heaved a sigh of relief as he finally finished washing the dishes.

'Finally~~ I'm done.' Clement thought to himself as he gave himself a pat on the back.

As Clement dried his hands with a towel, he pulled out a fresh set of bandages from the drawer and carefully enveloped his arm with it, concealing the ugly sight of his past wounds.

Clement felt a little thirsty, waking up at three in the morning leaves your throat barking at you to quench its thirst for water or any kind of liquid that's considered drinkable.

Clement rubbed his eyes and opened the fridge door, the chilly cold air from the fridge slightly jolted him awake, as he rummaged through the fridge he found the thermos he filled with chocolate milk yesterday.

He slightly felt uncomfortable as he held its gelid cold metallic surface, he placed the thermos on the kitchen counter he pulled out a cup from the cupboard

Clement quickly unfastened the lid of the thermos and slowly poured its contents in the cup. A stream of cold chocolate filled up the cup.

He carefully cupped his hands and began slowly drinking the chocolate milk, savouring every last drop.

Clement felt his shoulder sag down as the comforting cold sensation washed through his body.

After he placed back the thermos in the fridge and the cup in the sink, Clement rubbed his weary eyes as he felt his entire body began to feel somnolent.

With heavy steps, he made his way to the couch and slouched his body on the soft cushions.

He felt his body becoming more and more drowsy, his face becoming more and more heavy-eyed.

Slowly but surely, Clement slowly felt his consciousness fade away as the comfortable soft sensation of the throw pillows beside him cheered him on to sleep.