‘Was the room always this damp?’

The air felt heavy and thick, and I could feel my chest tightening as my lungs struggled to take in the air. It was almost as if I was stuck in a sauna, and there was no way I could possibly get out. ‘I need to get out, or at least open up the window.’ I thought as I tried with all my might to will any part of my body to move, but alack, I couldn’t move a single finger.

I took a slow breath, in an attempt to keep myself from panicking once again. As I relaxed, I noticed something odd—the ticking had stopped. Well—not completely, but the sound was faint underneath the distinct sound of a tap dripping. I couldn’t help but think, ‘Great, another annoying sound to get me through the night.” And then I heard it again.

A small childlike giggle. It was barely audible, and yet it still seemed to pierce through every other sound in the room, making them practically minute in comparison. My blood ran cold; the chortle, though small, seemed to hit me from every corner of the room and no matter what I couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever was here with me had nothing good in mind.

A thick fog settled over the room, and the heavy feeling weighing down on my chest only seemed to get heavier, as the sound of the dripping morphed into a constant stream of water. My breathing hitched as the sound of water hitting the hard wood of my floor resounded in my ears and I closed my eyes wishing I was somewhere else. The water rose rapidly, and eventually the bedsheets were soaked, chaining me to the bed in a vice grip.

My skin was scalded as the water finally reached the height of my bed. I hissed in pain, and it felt as though my skin was being boiled off of my skin. I wanted to scream, to cry out in pain, but all I could do was lie there and cry. The hot water seemed to caress my body and the room steadily filled with the liquid slowly pulling over me like molten lava. I could feel it as it filled my ears, I gasped for air only to be met with the scalding water filling my throat and nose.

The water covered my face, and for a moment I caught a glimpse of a girl’s face, smiling, bloody staring directly at me just above the surface of the water. My eyes burned as I struggled to see her, the water growing; my body growing tired, the pain from the scalding water subsiding as my nerves grew numb.

I was drowning.

The hot liquid filled every crevice of my body, and out of reflex I gasped. Water filled my mouth, and poured into my throat and coughed, choking. My lungs felt heavy, as if they were being weighed down by bricks; and just as I felt as they were about to explode—I woke up.

My chest heaved as I panted my eyes wide in terror. The room was pitch black and the silence, though deafening, soothed my mind. After a while light from the T.V. Dimly lit up the room with the sound of static drowning out the silence. For a moment the static on the screen distorted, as if something was attempting to tear a hole to rip through the static. A hand reached through, and as soon the fingertips entered my realm of existence the screen went black. I could hear whatever it was climbing through the television with ease as I lied there, paralyzed with fear.It landed against the floor with a soft thud and crept its way to my bedside, the warmth of its body radiating against my face and I shut my eyes—not wanting to see what I had to face next. Something cold pressed against my ear and a familiar sound ripped through my ears.

Honk. Honk.