A GAME (A Horror Story 1)

 

 

 

You have been sick for a while, in and out, in and out. Something your parents said they weren’t sure if you were coming or going. You just lay on the right side of your body, watching things get by. Sometimes, the room will close up on you, like everything is crashing on your head.

 

Then. You will hear laughter and chatter in the walls. Like a playground of tiny tiny torments.

 

You get so weak that you no longer go to the hospital. The doctor visits. And it was on one of his visits that he said you needed grace to stay alive. He was too irritated. With you. With your parents. With himself. With this thumping in your head that never recedes. You will shout. You will scream. You will wobble to the walls and bang with your closed fist.

 

Then. You will curl up on the bed and sing, holding your bony knees to your chest. Sometimes, you sing. Your singing makes the laughter and chatter in the walls get louder. You have always heard it, but you weren’t sure what they were. You were too tired to make an attempt to know.

 

It is on the day the doctor say you had a little time left with the croaking and despair in his voice that you are visited.

 

 

You are drifting in and out of sleep. It is pitch-dark. There is no laughter or chatter from the walls, but the crickets outside sing so loud. You are rocking yourself, waiting to rock yourself into deep sleep, when she appears.

 

With enough light. She appears first as a young girl with a doll and a smile. The light is too much; you should have made to walk away, move away. You have had repeated dreams that seemed real and tormenting, but they were not, and this is. You can barely move. She walks to you, touch your head, you feel nothing other than coldness like the air from a freezer.

 

“We are going to play a game,” she says. Her voice is like that of a tiny man. “Don’t be afraid, it is a simple game. You pass, you live …”

 

“Please just go away …” You cannot even hear yourself properly.

 

She looks at you for a while, drops her doll beside your head. She is silent. You look into her eyes and what you see is darkness. Unending darkness. She steps back. Slowly. Moves her hand like she wants to do a slow dance. The light goes off. You suspect she has gone away.

 

 

 

The light comes on again. She is sitting beside your head. “Look!” she says, pointing at your stomach.

 

Your stomach is blown open, dark in color, there are many maggots crawling out. You find your voice; you are screaming; the chatter and laughter is back. You are shouting, making to move your body. You cannot.

 

She stands. She is no longer an innocent looking girl. On her head is a bloodied sacrifice. Her face is bloodied, and tiny snakes are crawling all over her body. She is laughing. “The game is yet to start. Now, run …!”

 

You surprise yourself and stand with your legs flying. You look at your legs, there are dirtied earthworms crawling up your legs. You are screaming. Maggots are dropping on the floor, all around your legs … You lose your breath …