Annie

Ava walked inside her house, to see her mother reading a newspaper and her brother playing video games. He looked at her and she rolled her eyes looking back at her mother. They both looked at each other; Ava knew her mother had been worried.

"Ava... Can we please talk?" Her mom spoke out in a croaky voice.

Ava sighed loudly and strode towards the table sitting on the nearest chair.

"What do you want to talk about?" Ava questioned.

"I don't want you to be mad at me honey. I'm just trying to do the best for you. I want you to be able to get better and stop living in the past."

"I understand you. I get why you did it."

Ava's mum stared at her blankly.

"Really? You're not angry at me anymore?"

"No, but when the truth is revealed then you'll understand properly why I got angry. But otherwise, I like going to the psychologist. I have someone to talk to."

Ava smiled at her mom.

"Thank you so much for understanding, Ava. So, what did the 'mailman' want?"

"Mailman? Oooh. Yeah, he delivered the letter to the wrong house so i-i showed him where the house was."

"Mhm. So, what was Noah doing here?"

"Noah? Noah? Pfft. Noah was-wasn't here. I went to school alone."

"I didn't say anything about going to school."

Ava's mum raised her eyebrows grinning at her. Ava's cheeks evidently going a bright pink.

"Mom. Stop it!" Ava replied as she giggled.

They both laughed together.

"I'm sorry Ava."

"I'm sorry too mom"

They both stood up and hugged each other.

"I'm going to go up to my room."

"Wait! one more thing," Ava's mom called out.

"Yeah?"

"What is going on between you and Lucas?"

"You ask him. Maybe he'll tell you the truth,"

They both looked at Lucas as he was playing.

"Ava...Please just try to get along with each other. I can't have you guys arguing. Oh, and by the way, stop leaving the house through the window."

"Why?"

"It's unsafe, and I wouldn't know when you leave. Just… if you want to go to take some fresh air or to think just tell me beforehand, ok?"

"Ok, mom."

"I'll call you down when dinner is ready."

"Ok."

Ava walked upstairs to her room and jumped in bed. She was delighted she had the chance to share some of her memories with someone. She went to her drawer next to her bed and picked up the books with all her pictures with Annie throughout the years. She smiled as she looked at all the fun times they had. She was later called down to eat.

She came back upstairs just wanting to sleep. She put on her pyjamas, grabbed the stuffed animal Annie gave and went to sleep.

Ava woke up to the sound of scraping against her door. She groaned. She sat up on her bed and tried to listen to the noise again. A loud ear-splitting scratching noise was going on behind her door, suddenly it stopped. She didn't know where it was coming from or what was making that sound, so she ignored it and went back to sleep.

The same noise began again but it didn't stop this time. Ava decided to get out of bed and find out what was making that noise. She slowly opened her door and walked to the end of the corridor to her mom's, just to see her sound asleep. She checked her brother's room and he was also asleep. Ava was getting frightened, but she just told herself it was probably a rat in the walls.

She walked down the stairs and went around the kitchen and the living room. Ava heard light-paced treading from behind, but she dared not to look. Curiosity was killing her, so she whipped around. Nothing. No-one was there. An eerie silence hung in the air, yet there was no one. She resumed walking towards the door to check whether it was locked but she kept hearing the footsteps behind her. Her heart was beating hard, and the air around her seemed to thicken. She checked the door and it was locked. She was sure someone was following her. Suddenly she heard a voice.

"Ava..." the voice bellowed.

Ava quickly turned around to see the window open and the curtains waving around. She ran towards the kitchen locked the windows as fast as possible. She then walked towards the table in the middle of the living room. The moon shone its light on the table, so it was easy to see. But the next thing that happened shocked Ava.

All the newspapers and flowers were moving around on their own. Ava couldn't believe what her eyes were seeing. She turned around to see all the drawers opening and closing. She looked around her to see items moving on their own. She heard a weird whirring sound near her. She tried to adjust her eyes to the darkness to the side of her, just to see one of her brother's toy cars driving at full speed towards her. Ava rapidly moved out of the way. She sprinted upstairs to her room closing the door behind her and got under her covers hoping it was all a dream. Then she heard a recognizable voice.

"Ava...."

"Annie? Is that you?"

Ava got out from her covers and slowly walked towards the door. Her legs and arms trembling from fear. She put her hand on the doorknob. She took a deep breath and slowly opened the door. She peaked out of the small crack that she left, and no-one was there. She opened the door fully just to be met by a broken and dishevelled face. The remains of spectacles can be seen melted to the skin around the eyes, nose, and side of the head. The eyes have long since gone; a yellow fluid oozing from the sockets. The stench of burnt flesh overpowered Ava's nose. The creature opened its mouth at an inhuman size and screeched.

Ava looked straight into the creature's mouth and she instantly fell on the ground. All the noises immediately stopping and only an unnerving silence lingering around in the house.