Family comes first.

Ever since I started life on this planet of ours I noticed small things that made life a little more…. terrifying, than others may have remembered it. Just little things, the closet doors opening, noises in the attic and footsteps above me, and me being a younger child I didn’t know what to think of these, so I always ran to my parents and they would always find a way to calm me down. Saying soothing things like, “it’s just your imagination,” and, “Just don’t think about it and it will go away.” That sense of childlike innocence kept them from believing me, but it was too much to ignore.



But now it is worse I’m older and with a better understanding of what is going on, I have realized that it is out for me as if it has a sort of connection to me, and no one else in my family and for that, I guess, I am thankful. Just last night I was sleeping soundly in my bed when I was awoken by what I thought was the sound of my name. The covers, resting on the ground, and puzzled I went to go get them. But as I was getting up, the lights in my room flickered off and went on again, with the covers gone. The closet door creaked a little and I could see the corner hanging out. I went over in my head many times whether or not to go get it. But I finally decided “eh why not.” And walked over to the door and quickly swung it open. Behind me came a raspy voice, “I’ve missed you……” Shocked, I ran down the stairs faster than I could remember and slept on the couch for the rest of the night.



            I had trouble getting back to sleeping in my room, and when my parents wondered why I had stopped going up there they became worried, and one night they refused to let me sleep on the couch and sent me to the room for the night. The whole night I couldn’t sleep, my eyes fixed on the closet, but I began to wonder. That night when I heard the voice say, “I’ve missed you.” It certainly wasn’t coming from the closet. I glanced over to my door, a hole where the doorknob should be, and noticed something moving. I tried to fix my eyes on the hole and make out what was moving, it looked white, but I couldn’t fully see it. Too focused on the hole I couldn’t see the door opening, but when it did, I saw the figure clear as day. A white faced figure with a big smile and wide eyes, and somehow, strangely, I could make some of my own features out in its grotesque appearance. But it stood there, staring at me, and it seemed mad about me discovering its appearance, and as it approached me its smile just got bigger, and bigger…



    The last thing I saw was the thing’s eyes right in front of me, and I thought, “This is it.” And suddenly everything went black.



    But I woke the next morning as if nothing had happened, but something was different, not how it was before everything seemed more eerie than it was before, the room looked gray and colorless, it kind of depressed me. But I got up to get ready for school. As I approached the mirror, I looked up and saw not me but the figure of what I saw last night, mimicking me, staring at me, as if mocking me. “Shit I pissed it off, what do I do now.” I walked away and heard its soft laughter in the mirror. School was no better, I couldn’t look at anything reflective without seeing it, and making me jump. People stared at me whenever I did, they thought there was something wrong with me and laughed, but they had no idea what had just started with me. It even found it amusing as to hide in my locker and wait for me, causing me to slam it and fall back. I called home and went home for the day.



    Days passed of this, I eventually started getting used to its presence, but it always found new ways to surprise me. I try talking to it, but it just looks back with those eyes, softly laughing at my misery.

       

      One night I’d had enough. “What do you want!?” and nothing, just the stare, but to my relief the door from downstairs opened and my mom rushed up. She swung the door open but didn’t say anything. “Mom what do you want?” “I see you’ve met him,” she muttered. “M-Met who?” “You’re twin brother.”