Chapter 1: Don't Open Your Eyes

"Melody"  A haunting voice says so softly it's barely a whisper and then I hear a scraping sound at the foot of my bed.

I open my eyes and try to see in the pitch black.  Nothing.  Pulling up my covers around my shoulders, I wait for my eyes to adjust to the darkness that surrounds me like a cocoon.  Realizing for some reason my door has closed all the way and that’s why I couldn’t see a single thing, I start to get scared and begin to tremble.

"Melody"  I hear it again and it is louder this time.  The worst part is, it sounds like whoever is saying it, is almost next to me.

Laying there, I don't make a single noise.  How did my door get closed?  Ever since I was two, I have been scared of the dark.  Knowing that, my mom put a brick in front of it one day to make sure this wouldn’t happen.  Now that I’m twelve, you would think I would be old enough to shut my door, but I still keep it there.

I look around again and still can’t see anything, but I hear movement in the corner by the door.  I scream out, “Mom.  Mom.”  Grabbing the covers tightly, I pull them over my head as I sit still just feeling the hairs on my arms stand up.

Silently waiting for her to save me, I pray that she gets here before whatever is in the corner does, but then I hear it again even closer, "Melody."  This time the voice is higher and sounds more threatening. 

After a few seconds, I scream out again, “Mom.  Mom.”  Why isn’t she here?  A thousand things go through my head and I’m so scared that she won’t ever come, that tears fall down my cheeks. 

“Mom.  Mo.”  I stop when I feel a gentle tug on the sheets.  It’s coming from the foot of my bed, where I heard the noise.  I open my mouth to scream again, but nothing comes out.  Even worse, I can’t move.

Slowly the sheet gets pulled down inch by inch, until my face is uncovered and I can see what is below me.  My eyes have finally adjusted and now I wish they hadn’t.  A figure has climbed on the bed with me and is pulling the covers from my body.  At first, the only thing I see is a figure in black with red eyes glowing at me.

Eventually, I see an old woman with her head bent down climbing on top of me as she pulls the sheets completely off the bed.  I’m so scared, but I can’t do anything.  I can’t move or speak, just find myself staring at her helplessly.  Waiting for what she is going to do next.

I’m sure she is going to either eat me alive or kill me. The sad fact is that if she does, no one will ever find me.  This thought scares me so much that I pee myself and for a second she stops.  She leans in close and sniffs me, her long tangled grey hair tickling my nose. 

Hearing a demented laugh explode from her, I inwardly cringe while she raises her head and peers at me with the scariest eyes I have ever seen.  When they look at me, it's as if I am peering into a deep red abyss, so terrifying that I could only ever imagine it in my worst of nightmares.  Her face is grotesque and when she laughs again, I see two teeth.  Those two teeth though, look razor sharp like fangs.

Knowing all I can do is pray that my mom comes in and stops her, I wait.  While I do, I watch as a string of drool slides out of the old woman’s mouth and falls on my arm.  It itches, but I can’t move to scratch it.  Continuing to watch in horror, she starts to lick my cheek and makes a low growling noise.

She watches me very closely and when she stops licking my cheek, positions herself so our faces lineup to each other almost exactly.  Except for one thing.  Her nose is so crooked, it’s about an inch over from mine.  Peering into my eyes, I feel like she is draining me of whatever little strength I have left. 

Thinking that this is it, I close my eyes and hold my breath.  The next thing I know, my mom yells from the kitchen for me to get up.  I lay there for a few minutes with my eyes shut, not knowing if this is real or not.  However, when I calm down and realize that it must be light out, I open them. 

My room is normal again, the door is open and I smell the sweet scent of the maple flavored bacon my mom is frying in the kitchen.  Feeling relieved, I start to get out of bed and look down.  I had just started to feel like it was a nightmare last night, but the sheets are on the floor.  My arm starts to itch, so I go to scratch it and for some weird reason it has a rash on it where the woman drooled on me.  

“Melody, get out of bed.  Breakfast is ready.”  My mom yells again, shaking me out of my trance.  Now wondering if it was a dream or real, I get up and go to the kitchen.  Mom looks at me, “How late did you stay up last night?  When I got up this morning, you were snoring like a monster.”

I look at her and smile, thinking to myself how odd her choice of words is.  Sitting down at the table, I pick up a piece of bacon and devour it.  She looks over at me, “You really are hungry this morning." 

“I’m starving.  When I woke up, my stomach was growling.”  I take a bite of egg and notice her watching me closely.  “Mom, I had a really bad dream last night.  Did you hear me screaming?”

“No, why?” She looks at me curiously.

“I woke up and my door was closed.”  I didn’t tell her about the old lady because I’m not too sure I was awake.  It was probably just a bad dream.

“Hm, this morning it was open, so you must have been dreaming.  I didn’t hear anything last night.”

“Yeah, that had to be it.”  I continue to eat and when I finish, I pick up my plate and put it in the sink. 

After breakfast, I take a shower and get dressed.  The rest of the day seemed normal.  I played outside with my friends for a while, then I ate lunch.  My mom took me to town for grocery shopping and when we got back, I helped her wash the dishes. 

Sydney, my best friend came back over and we sat on the old swingset out back.  “Do you ever have nightmares?”  I try not to look at her when I ask. 

“Oh yeah, I have them a lot.  Especially right after I watch a scary movie, even though mom says I should have out grown that by now.  My brother Dillon is always forcing me to watch them when mom's at work.  I can’t wait till he moves out this winter.”

“That sucks.  Why is he so mean to you?”

“He thinks he is big and bad, but he’s really not.  I know that he likes Kelly from down the street.  I heard him talking on the phone to her.  He said he’s going to move in with her in December, just as soon as he can save enough money from work.”

“Wow.  I can’t see anyone wanting to live with your brother.”  I look off in the distance at the birds cawing.

“Yeah, but then he won’t bother me anymore.”

“I’m sorry.  I wish you could move in with me.  I know your mom is always working.”

“That would be cool, but my mom needs me.”

Seeing something move in the shadows, I feel like I did last night and get a little worried.

Thank you for taking the time to read the first part of Don't Open Your Eyes. Please leave your comments and vote for me. Feel free to follow me on I*******m and f******k under M.D. LaBelle