It’s 3 am, and I can’t sleep. I’ve been lying here for hours now, and there’s not much I can do. I’m in my bed. I’m in the same room as my parents. They look at me with empty eyes and I can help but look back, even though it terrifies me. They are black, ghostly figures with shining white eyes that give a trail of mist behind them. They have a permanent, toothy grin stretched across their face, blood dripping down, almost like it has been held in place by wires and strings. I hide under the bedcovers, hoping the situation will go away. If I show any sign of consciousness, I’m dead. It’ll kill me. I can hear it’s inhuman breaths rattling underneath my bed.

I’m sorry, I didn’t explain what was happening. I do get ahead of myself. Let me tell you.

It was the middle of the night, and I heard a scream emanating from the other side of the house. I got out of bed to investigate. Being the child I was, I had other priorities, so I went to the bathroom. A big mistake. I could have been killed right there and then. It was watching me. I regained my senses and checked the hall before I went in. There were blood stains on the floor, spreading slowly towards me. Terrified, I ran back to my bed and curled up, shaking in fear. Then I heard it. It came in, dragging my parents’ corpses as it went. An eerie, crackling laugh, then a glowing evil smile as it turned round. I closed my eyes, praying that it would not see that I wasn’t awake. Although I couldn’t see it completely, I could see that it wasn’t human. It’s body was covered with blood. It positioned my dad’s body on my bed, looking directly at me, and my mum’s on my swivel seat, limp body and lifeless eyes staring onto me. It then walked over to my bedroom wall, leaving a trail of blood as it went, and drew a large circle with my parents’ blood, then the Devil’s pentagram. It scribbled a message in the centre, which I could not make out, as it was too dark. It then positioned itself under my bed, waiting to strike.

But now my eyes have adjusted to the darkness. I can make out the writing, but it’s scary to even think about. I must stay looking down, to make it look like I’m still asleep. But I feel that I must see it before I die. I must.

I flick up my eyes, and I see it. A chill of terror goes down my spine.

“I know you’re awake.”