The Thing In The Dark

Chapter 1: A peek into my life 

I never turn off the lights in my room even when I am asleep. It's just that I don't like being in the dark. My mom says that it's nyctophobia the fear of the dark, but that's not the truth; I am not scared of the dark but I am scared of what lurks in the dark. You might either find it silly or a figment of my imagination. You may also assume that I am going crazy, but I have always had a gnawing feeling of someone or something always watching me. It could be my demised grandma or just a devil who was bored enough to mess with me. I lead a really boring life. My mom is a designer, working at a well known marketing company, who loves her children and husband more than anything in the world. My dad is a chef who's been recently hired in the most famous restaurant in Colorado. I have two elder and two younger siblings. My elder brother Steven is a popular musician in our locality who is dating my best friend. He has serenaded my best friend on different occasions until she agreed to go on a date with him. I was bummed out at first but later on realised they deserve to be happy too. My elder sister Hailey, the Fashionista and the prettiest one in the family, has all the boys swooning for her while her boyfriend is an idiot who is in a band Jacob and who is very polite, nice, respectful and friendly. I guess he is a polite idiot. My mom isn't too happy about her relationship with him. My younger sister Alexa, also known as Lexi , is one year younger than I am. She's my biggest supporter, my best friend in the family and the most emotional one. Then finally, the baby of our house, my younger brother Max who is clearly my partner in crime. We do all kinds of crazy stuff together. He was born when I was six years old. Guess it's time to I introduce myself. I am Jessica. Well, you can call me Jess. I am 16 years old, studying at a prestigious school. I am a trouble maker according to my teachers and principal but actually I am just curious about things other people aren't curious about and I can also perceive things other people can't see. I know it sounds eccentric but I have always been able to sense paranormal activities. My grandmother was a "bruja", the Spanish term for witch, who was called so by the Spanish family next door. For me, she was special. She was able to communicate with the dead and has always encouraged me that I should carry on her legacy. To be truthful, I really don't want to. I just want to live my life to the fullest but like I've said someone or something is watching me. It either needs my help or has a very bad craving for my blood. Last night was a nightmare. I heard these scratching noises, at first I thought it was the neighbour's cat who is not really fond of me but then i heard these bone chilling whispers. Well usually when this happens I ignore it. Not this time. It's time for some confrontation.