Does it Get Any Creepier?

"Annie!" I heard a voice yell. Groaning in irritation, I looked at the all too familiar figure running over.

"I told you not to call me that!" I whisper-yelled into Casie's ear as she settled beside me.

"Sorry Stacy." She stated sticking her tongue out a bit.

"That's better." I said commending her. As I was about to speak again, my hair flew into my mouth and I quickly spat it out. The wind was picking up and I looked up at the sky in annoyance. "I swear if it rains." I mumbled. Casie just giggled and patted me on the back, but it felt as if she were smacking the life out of me. I glared at Casie and she was quick to back away. I had trained her well. All my friends knew the wrath of my mighty knee-breaker technique.

At school I have a few friends who are my ride or die. I would trust them with my life. Casie is the friend I have known the longest. Our parents knew each other when we were born and we would always be forced on play dates together. However, it formed an un-breakable bond between us. I came to a halt feeling a drop of rain. A frown etched its way across my features.

"UGH! I thought they said today would be sunny!" I exclaimed. Casie began rummaging through her backpack and I saw her pull out an umbrella. Making her way towards me she opened it.

"Come on under." She said, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Why are you always so prepared? It creeps me out sometimes." I replied, quickly bringing myself under the coverage.

Casie just looked at me, with that weird expression of hers. Slowly, she brought her face next to my ear.

"I'm secretly an alien." She whispered. I turned to meet her face which was plastered in her signature smile. I sighed in defeat and we continued our walk to school.

We arrived at the school fairly early. Right as we got under the coverage of the building, the rain started pouring down in buckets. I groaned looking to Casie.

"Wonder where Jess is." Casie inquired. I just shrugged my shoulders in response. We both pondered a bit and then it struck. Doing our little telepathic friend thing, we walked to the cafeteria. Sure enough she was there, stalking her crush John.

"Jess!" Casie and I called out to her, but she was too mesmerized watching John eat his cereal. I rolled my eyes and started walking towards Jess.

"He's so hot!" Jess exclaimed as I approached her. Grabbing Jess by her hoodie, I started pulling her to where Casie was waiting.

"You're coming with me." I stated. She whined in protest and I just rolled my eyes. I let go of Jess's hoodie as I stood beside Casie and watched as she longingly looked back towards John.

"You seriously need to confess to him." Casie said. I nodded my head in approval to her suggestion.

"I've tried!" Jess complained.

"It can't be too hard Jess, just go up to him and tell him your feelings! If he rejects you, I'll beat him up."Finishing my sentence, I cracked my knuckles. I saw Jess give me a mortified look and I gave her a thumbs up.

"But I don't wanna get rejected!" She cried out and started sobbing.

Backing away slowly, I gave a nod to Casie who gave me a glare. Casie was about to make a grab at me, but I quickly raced off. However, I could hear Casie's curses behind me. As bad as I felt leaving Casie to deal with Jess, I needed to get to my own class. She would understand.

With a push against the door, I made my way inside math class. I walked down the rows of chairs and sat in my seat towards the back of the classroom. Picking up my book, I waited for class to start. The class was already half filled with students as I began skimming the books pages. Finding a juicy part, I zoned in on the book. I scoffed as the scientist was killed. If he was not dumb, he could have avoided death. Most everyone in this book lacked common sense, but that is what made it enjoyable. Sighing, I heard the teacher begin calling attendance. Putting my book down, I looked out the rain streaked window.

"Hopefully the day goes by quick." I mumbled to myself. Then I saw it.

A faceless figure was standing at the edge of the schools building, seemingly looking right back at me.

"Must be some kind of cosplayer." I thought. I smiled and gave the thing a thumbs up. Whoever this was seemed committed to their craft. The thing cocked its head in, what seemed to be, confusion. Then, it vanished... into thin air.

"Anastasia!" I heard a voice call out and I stumbled on my words.

"H..he...here!" I finally managed as my heart was pounding. The teacher grumbled, but I did not pay attention. I whipped my head back out the window. Nothing was there. Who was that? What was that?Then, there was a voice.

Child, you are something special, I will see you soon.

Shivering, I swiped a bead of sweat forming on my brow. None of this made sense, it was not possible. My body was tense and I forced it to relax. Maybe I have been reading too many fiction books and that was just a figment of my imagination. I nodded to myself in agreement. That had to be it. I just had a very vivid imagination.

It was fifth period and my stomach was growling like crazy.

"So. Hungry." I managed to say between breaths. It was my gym period and although I appreciate physical activity, I do not like being forced to do it. I groaned in frustration as I ran around the gloomy school. The rain had let up in second period and the teacher said it was perfectly safe to run outside. My legs continued forward as I came across the final stretch of our run. I glanced behind and saw no one around. Even if I am not the smartest, at least I was a decent runner.

I placed first in our small towns annual race and I was elated when I received the small trophy. It was superficial, but I felt proud that I could be first in something. Even if it was placing first in a small race. Reaching the end of the run, I felt relived and dropped down in fatigue. I nodded gratefully as the gym teacher pointed inside towards the water fountain. Thank you universe!

Walking towards the fountain, I pushed it on and gratefully began chugging the water. However, I felt something watching me. Some kind of sixth sense alerting an intruder. I shook it off as I greedily swallowed the water spewing out. Once I became satisfied I let out an 'Ah' in appreciation. Then, I felt the eerie feeling again. I looked around, no one. Believing it to be my overactive imagination, I turned to start walking back outside.

The weird faceless man was blocking the way out. I tensed and gave the man a once over. Maybe if I play it cool, I'll be able to figure a way out. I waved at the man and smiled, there were red splotches on his faceless face. Forcing back a grimace, I took a step forward.

"Dude, I don't know if you can see yourself, but you have red stuff all over your face. You might want to get that checked out!" I yelled towards the man. Then a black appendage shot from the man and I gasped. Turning away from the man, I made a move to escape, but the black appendage wrapped around my torso. I squirmed in its grasp, trying to wriggle myself free.

"This is no way to treat a young lady!" I exclaimed. The appendage began moving me closer to the man. I struggled harder in its grip. Soon, I was brought face to faceless face with my captor.

I like you child and I want you to work for for me. Be my proxy. I brought my fist up and punched the man in his faceless face. He was not affected. You have a week. Was all I heard before the creature vanished. I landed on my butt as a swarm of sweaty girls came running for the water fountain.

What just happened. I was shaking profusely and the girls seemed to take notice.

"Tell the teacher I'm going to the nurse." I stated heading towards the nurses office. No one responded, but I am sure someone would say something. As I made my way out, the swish of clothes and hammering of feet began fading into the background.

Stopping inside the nurses office, I told her my head hurt and she told me to sit on the makeshift bed they provided. She came back with an ice pack inside a paper towel. I nodded my thanks and she left me on the bed. Placing the ice pack on my head, I decided to stay and get myself under control.

"What a creepy hallucination." I whispered to myself. Laying down, I frowned. It was too real. Closing my eyes, I found my self beginning to doze off.

//

"Anyone here?" I called out into a dark pit of nothing. What responded was a fit of chaotic laughter.

"Oh great." I moaned to myself. Out of a living nightmare and into another. I have learned to deal with my nightmares, but I was in no mood to have one right now. Playing a game of chopsticks with myself, I looked up to see a boy.

He looked around my age and was frowning at me. Where his eyes would have been, there were dark holes. I looked down from his face and at the outfit he was wearing. Some kind of leprechaun costume.

"Nice outfit." I stated. The boy then looked at me, curiously taking in my facial features. Then, I watched as dark gooey sludge made its way out of his eyes. His smile started growing wider and I rolled my eyes.

"Look nightmarish entity, I'm not in the mood." I said and made a little shooing motion with my hands. The sludge stopped and the boy began to frown. I must have struck a nerve.

Suddenly, he began smiling like a maniac.

"This is no nightmare, THIS IS YOUR LIVING NIGHTMARE!" He screeched and started swinging a knife in my direction. I was unamused. Waiting, I watched as he slowly brought his swinging knife closer to me. As he approached, I shot my leg up and kicked him right where it hurt.

The leprechaun dropped his knife and curled into a little ball on the floor.

"I warned you." I told him. He just looked confused. Still holding his balls, he let out a sigh.

"You're quite strong." I rolled my eyes and smirked.

"I work out." I responded, pursing my lips and making poses. The boy laughed and I held out my hand. "The names Anastasia, but just call me Stacy."

He looked at my hand, then back up at me. I watched as he seemed to have an internal debate. Bringing up his hand, he took mine.

"The names Ben." He said. I stood up and did a small stretch.

"Well Ben, next time you can show me more of your creepy tricks." I started turning around, but Ben called out.

"Wait." I turned to him annoyed.

"Yes?" I questioned.

"Why weren't you scared?" He asked. I was about to answer, but the scene quickly faded away.

//

I woke up and noticed I was still in the nurses office. "I wonder how long I was out?" I questioned myself. Looking at the clock above the nurses bed, my eyes widened in shock. I missed all of sixth period... including lunch. My stomach growled in a mocking gesture. As I picked myself off of the bed, a boy in a leprechaun costume flashed through my mind. The dream I had was interesting. Leprechaun boy had never appeared in my dreams before. I pondered over the dream as I walked towards my seventh period.

Arriving in front of my seventh period classroom, I tried thinking of a good excuse. I forgot to ask the nurse for a slip and I was too lazy to walk back to her office. This teacher and I were not on the best terms either. I have skipped her class several times.

Thinking of nothing, I sighed and made my way inside. Pushing open the classroom door I noticed the whole classes eyes turn towards me. I avoided eye contact and made my way towards my seat. Finally, I looked up at the teacher. Who was an unfamiliar man. A substitute!

Clearing my throat, I smiled innocently at him and waved.

"Why were you late?" The substitute asked.

"I passed out in gym today and stayed in the nurses offices." I told him. He eyed me suspiciously.

"Where's your note from the nurse?" He asked. I sighed dramatically.

"When I woke up, she wasn't there and I didn't want to be any later to class."

The substitute gave me one more look of suspicion, but then nodded his head. I let out an exhale of relief as he resumed the classes lesson. A few of my classmates gave me curious looks, but I just shrugged them off and payed attention to the substitute.

The school bell rang indicating the end of the day and boy was I happy. There were a bunch of weird occurrences today that I wanted away from.

Waiting for my friends outside the school, we all met with each other and started walking back home. We dropped by Casies house first and then I walked Jess back to hers.

"Good luck with your boy problems!"I smiled, waving off a fuming Jess. Glad I was not in love. I reached my house and noticed a note on the door. I read it And then swiftly threw it into the trash.

I'm watching you, hope you go to sleep soon!

With all the events of today, this note soured my mood further. My parents were not home and my sister was at college. Hopefully it was some prank, but with everything that has happened, I could not be too sure. Deciding not to linger on the note, I brought out my laptop. I watched some gameplay videos and ate chips.

A couple hours passed and I could not stop the yawn I let out. It was dark outside. The eerie lights emitted from the street lamps illuminated the roads. I looked away from the window and made my way to the bathroom. Brushing my teeth, I rubbed at my weary eyes. Soon, I finished cleaning my teeth and I made my way towards my room. Turning off my light, I dove for the bed and made myself comfortable under the covers. I wanted a good dream tonight, a peaceful one. In fact, I did not want to dream tonight. Suddenly my eye lids drooped and I fell asleep.

//

"Wassup." I heard a familiar voice say. Looking around, I groaned when I realized I was dreaming. I turned to see Ben.

"As much as I loved our last encounter, I just want some alone time." I groaned. I started to speed off, but I heard Ben's footsteps race after me. "Please, go do something else!"

"The only reason I'm here is to talk to you!" Ben yelled towards me. I stopped and watched as he caught up. As he started opening his mouth to speak, I kicked him in the balls. "What was that for?!" He yelled out in pain.

"That's for following me without my consent!" I exclaimed while rubbing my temples. Then, I felt a pang of remorse and patted his back sympathetically.

"Come on Ben, survive through the pain!" I said, rubbing his back. With his hands still clutching his pearls, he looked up at me. I gave him a smile as I stood up straight. "You know, I'll take having you in my dreams over the weirdo I met at school."

"What weirdo?" He asked. I put my hand under my chin and rubbed it in thought. Maybe it would be good to talk about things. It is not like this dude is real.

"It was a faceless man. He said he wanted me as a proxy, whatever that means." I replied. Looking back at Ben, I saw a look of shock enter his features. "What's up? You look like I just shot you."

"How long did he give you?" Ben inquired after a moment composing himself. I looked to him in confusion. How did he know the man gave me a number of days? Suddenly, I felt something pulling me out of my dream.

"Something's not right." I muttered under my breath.

"What's not right?" Ben asked.

"Something's wrong." I said, the dream started fading and I saw Ben giving me a worried look.

//

I jolted from my sleep. Something was wrong. Looking around I saw that my window was open. Did I open it? I did not think I did. That was odd. Being the lazy person I am, I stayed laying down and stared at the open window. The chill from the wind coming through the window made me sink further into my covers.

"You seem fun." I heard a raspy voice say. My heart jumped in my throat as I tried to jerk up. I was stopped by an arm which pressed me back into the mattress. My eyes shot up and met the man pinning me down. He had no eyelids, and a smile was carved into his face. "Cat got your tongue? You're all the sa-"

Kicking him in the balls, I felt as he loosened his grip. Using that to my advantage, I pulled myself away from him and scrambled to the other side of the room. He laid crumpled on my bed as my breathing began evening out.  "First off, who are you? Second off, why are you in my room? Third off, what's wrong with your face?" Cringing at my last statement, I tried rephrasing it. "I mean, you have a lovely face, but what happened to it?"

"What's wrong with you?!" He hissed out. Pain was evident in his voice.

"That's a question I should be asking." I answered him. He looked at me confused as he still held onto his balls. "Stop with the staring." I snapped at the guy.

"You fucking damaged my goods." He huffed out. I blinked at him and looked him up and down. If this guy came in my window, he could go back out.

"Look bud, I don't know what game you're playing at, but you need to get out of my room." I said. The strange man looked at me and down to his lap. "Okay, I'll help you out then."

Approaching my bed, I grabbed the guys feet and dragged him off of it. I heard his body smack to the floor and I winced. "Uh, you okay?" I asked and I heard a grunt in response. With that response, I began dragging him towards the open window. I lifted his legs and plopped them onto the roof underneath the window sill. Finally, I pushed his upper half through and watched as his body stayed laying still on the roof. "Alright, I'll just let you get going."

Before I could close my window, his hand shot up and grabbed my wrist. I tried twisting it out of his grasp, but he held firm. "What's your name?" He asked.

"None of your concern." I told him, still struggling in his grip.

"If you tell me, I'll let you go." The man stated. With a few more attempts of breaking free, I sighed in defeat.

"My name's Stacy." I felt his grip loosen and I pulled my hand free. The man stood up on the roof and looked into my eyes.

"Well then, Stacy, expect to see me again soon." I made a sound of protest as he jumped off the roof to the grass below. "My name's Jeff by the way!" I heard him yell up towards my direction.

"Don't come back Jeff!" I announced down to him. Giving him the middle finger, I slammed my window shut. I glared out at where Jeff stayed standing and looking up at my window. That is when I saw another figure come out and tug Jeff away. It was a person wearing a leprechaun costume. Wait... was that Ben?

No, that would be ridiculous.

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NOTE: Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter!