Anemoia // Sally Face

8: Eyes that burn

November 25th

Larry agreed to hanging out Thursday so he could help me with an art project. I had to go home first to drop off my school stuff and bring over any art supplies I needed. While I was at it I grabbed two cans of soda for us.

The apartment buildings are as scary as ever, with dark clouds slowly rolling over the top of the building. If it rains, I'll be screwed, I didn't bring my umbrella.

I open the small door to the apartment and see one of the tenets looking through her mail slot. When she sees me, she narrows her eyes and swiftly walks to a door and slams herself inside. The people here certainly are something.

The elevator opens and I step inside and press the button for the basement, making sure to use the spare keycard Larry gave me. The doors slowly close and the elevator goes down. But something feels different. Once I'm on the basement level, the air feels significantly colder, sending chills down my spine. And it's quiet. So horribly quiet.

The doors creak open. There's nothing in front of the door, so I assume everything is fine. So why do I have this horrible feeling?

I take a step out of the elevator and look towards Larry's apartment. Nothing. It must all be in my head. But as soon as I look the other way, toward the lost and found, I see something standing there. Something that doesn't have a human shape, it looks like it's floating there in the darkness. The only thing I can see from it physically is it's striking red eyes. Red eyes... this is the demon Sal told me about.

Almost instantly when I make eye contact with the demon, all the lights on the floor turn off. Not a single light. The only thing visible being it's bright red eyes.

I feel so trapped. I'm panicking, trying to think of what to do, but my legs feel like they are glued to the floor.

"What do you want!" I yell. But the demon does nothing. It stays where it is and keeps it's eyes locked on mine. "Tell me what you fucking want!"

Minutes pass and I am stuck staring at the demon in terror. My breathing has gotten worse, and the longer I'm stuck like this, the worse I begin to feel. I might be crying, and I might be screaming, but I can't hear. It's so deafly quiet that it drives me further into insanity.

When I think I might have died, and this is my new hell, my thoughts are interrupted by the demon. It's getting closer to me. Very slowly, I see it closer and closer.

"No stay back!" I scream, but it doesn't care.

It's right in front of me. Still looking into my eyes. Unmoving. How much longer do I have to be stuck here, when will I be free? Can anyone see me? Is this a dream? Have I finally gone crazy?

Something changes and the eyes are gone. Now it's just darkness. I can't feel my body, almost like I'm floating in space with nothing holding me. I don't know where I am. But it's so much better than seeing the demons eyes.

I can hear something now. A soft voice in my ear, but the words are muffled, like I'm slowly waking up from a deep sleep.

"K-ie" the words are slowly become clearer.

"W- Up. Ka-" I try so hard to focus on the voice. Who's is it?

"A- ou- k?"

"KATIE?!"

My eyes shoot open and I frantically look around. I'm still in Addison apartments, and I'm laying on the basement floor, right where I was standing when I saw the demon.