Don't stare

Masie walks out of the school, hunched over. Gosh, this backpack was so heavy, how the heck did so many supplies even fit in these. It's a wonder. Masie murmurs to herself, walking to the buses starting to come in to the bus loop.

"Masie! Wait up!" A voice full of exhilaration calls out to her. Turning around, Masie's eyes search the crowd warily before landing on a girl. She look familiar.... Sarah?

"Sarah?" Masie asks, walking to the Sarah who is now waving her hands, beckoning her to come close. Eyeing the buses coming in, she decides she could maybe slip in a bit of conversation. "Sarah? Why'd you call me back?" Masie says in a hushed voice as she nears Sarah, Sarah stares at Masie with an unwavering smile. "Oh, sorry." Sarah says, her dimples highlighting her full lips curving up even more than before.

"Can I have your phone number? To talk? I don't really have anyone to talk to, online or offline." Sarah says, sighing and chuckling. Masie thinks for a minute.

"Yeah, give me a second." Masie says, pulling out her phone from her pocket and going to settings.

....................................................

The last bus step disappears underfoot Masie as she jumps off to the gravel of the bus stop, her hair bouncing in its ponytail as she does so. "Sister!" Her dad calls, his voice rocky but excited. Masie tilts her head in recognition, walking closer to him, and entering the car, older brother following. Her dad climbs into the car again, starting it up and driving down the road. "How'd school go?" He asks, smiling.

"It went okay, god, can this stupid sleep schedule go away? I'm tired of it." Masie's brother mutters, grimacing as his voice gets louder the more he talks. Masie leans back a bit, closing her eyes.

Don't yell. Don't yell. Don't yell. Don't yell, Sam. Masie snaps out of her zoning out. He didn't yell. Her brother actually didn't yell about his sleep schedule? Masie clenches her teeth and minute before shrugging for herself, leaning back forward. Reaching home, Masie hastily climbs out of the car and walks to the porch, shifting her weight to her right leg. The door was locked again.

Masie sighs, closing her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again to show her frustration. Her dad walks up to the door and unlocks it with the key, Sam behind him. Masie enters the house, the warm air almost instantly letting her fingers go loose from their stiffness. Swinging her backpack over her shoulder onto the shoe bench, which can double as a seat and taking off her shoes, she walks to the living room and sits on the couch, leaning back against the seat farthest to her left to her desk. Opening up her laptop, Masie focuses on anything but reality for hours on end until the time was 6:17 P.M.

Sighing, she gets up and walks back to her backpack, dragging out her folder and Chromebook. She holds on to them tightly, walking up to her room with them in hand. Sitting on the bed, her eyes travel over the mess of a room she had, dirty clothes littered on the ground from undergarments to shirts and hats. Wincing at the sight, she sighs and snaps her attention back to her Chromebook and folder, opening them both up and getting to work. 

Tap

Tap, tap, tap, tap. 

Furrowing her brow, Masie looks up again from her Chromebook to, as always, nothing. Sighing and leaning her head back, letting it roll, she warily glances at the wall again. Why would a ghost, or spirit, or whatever be over there? She eyes the doorway, then the hallway where she heard voices.. then... oh. The part of the floor without scattered clothes. Raising an eyebrow, she scoffs, smirking a bit at how hilarious it seemed to her.

"Seriously? I mean, I can understand not wanting to stand near my scattered and dirty clothes, but the doorway? That's the best way to scare someone. Are you perhaps.... trying to scare me?" Masie says out loud, giggling, as if talking to some entity right there.

Tap. Tap. Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. Tap. Tap. Knock. Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock.

Masie stops joking, her smile fading into a frown. Why had it changed to knocking? Why was it so fast. Was it clarifying?

"Why are you making such a fuss? I thought you've heard my prayers before." Masie says in a stern voice, a tiny hint of humor still in it. Rolling her eyes humorously, Masie leans back again and focuses on the wall, waiting for the knocking to stop.

99 knocks... 238 knocks... 349 knocks....  .... 1345 knocks.... 3223 knocks....

Masie yawns, eyeing the wall.

"You can stop." She suggests, scoffing.

"Come down for dinner!" Her mom's voice rings out from downstairs. 

Masie stands up from her bed, shutting her Chromebook but letting her folder stay open. Walking out, her footsteps echo from the polished wooden floor. Making her way down the stairs, she still hears clicking in her brothers room. Hm, must be still playing on his computer. Not like this was unusual.

.......................................................................................................

Ding

Looking down at her phone, she notices a new notification came in. A text message? Must be Sarah. Shoving another piece of meatloaf down her throat to feed her churning stomach, she reads it. 

'Hiiiiiii!" Masie read. Wow, Sarah really had a lot of enthusiasm.

'Hey, how are you?' Masie texts back, double- no, triple checking it for any errors. A minute goes by.. 5 minutes, .... 30 minutes without any response. Sighing and putting the phone down once and for all, deciding it would be fine even with its battery at 58%. Standing up and bringing her dishes to the counter in the kitchen, Masie walks back upstairs to her room, stopping at the doorway to close her eyes and rely on her hearing to see if any clues were available for this mystery. Nothing, the ringing of consciousness is the only thing Masie can hear. Walking forward to her bedside table, her fingers brush over the children's bible she so lovingly cherished all these years. Flipping it open, her happiness cuts short, dying on the spot.

'Don't stare'.

What? Why was there writing saying 'don't stare'? Blinking at the doorway of her room first before turning her attention back to the bible. Nothing else was written- this looked new? The other page, on the opposite of the inside cover had the smudge of the charcoal the pencil uses, an outline of the words there. Huh. It really was recent. She doesn't remember that being there? Closing the book slowly, the thump of the cover resting on the pages comforting her slightly. Crawling onto her bed, she thinks deeply for a minute before deciding to maybe.. clear up the situation.