Chapter 4 – Chap 4

I’m fucking frozen.

I know she’s there. I can feel it. She’s under my bed. What do I do? I think back to the rules, was there anything about this? There are two rules that could help, but I don’t know which one to follow.

Rule 6. If you wake up, and see the smiling woman staring at your through your window, hide under your covers and hold your breath. She will come into your hut and you will feel her breathing right above you as if she is hovering over you. DO NOT breathe. This will last only a few seconds. Once you feel her leave, turn on the main light until morning.

Or

Rule 9. If at any point you are returning to your tower, and you notice someone else inside it, run. Do not stop running until you reach the next tower. Don’t look back. She will be chasing you.

Do I hide under my covers until she leaves, like in rule 6?

Or do I run, because she’s inside my tower, like in rule 9? She was already inside it when I entered, so that’s rule 9, right?

I hear her. Not loud, but I hear her. The kind of sound made when someone is trying to move slowly whilst trying to not break the silence. The slightest shuffle. A second later, a slight cracking noise. Her arms. They’re moving. With it, a low, stifled groan. I close my eyes. I need to make up my mind, do I stay under my covers or run?

Rule 6, or rule 9?

I feel the slightest tug at the bottom of my covers. It wasn’t a hard tug, and only lasted a second. Following this, a second tug, slightly harder than the last.

I choose rule 9.

With an explosion of speed, I leap out of my bed and burst through the door as it slams behind me. I don’t see her, I don’t look. Luckily, I'm already in my shoes from earlier.

I’m halfway down the tower, and I hear a bang above me. The door slamming as she leaves the hut.

I’m at the bottom of my tower, and I hear steps above me. She’s halfway down the tower.

I’m running towards the path, and I hear the shuffle of dirt and grass behind me. She’s at the bottom of my tower.

I’m running towards the bunker, the noise behind me getting louder. She’s catching up. She’s on the path.

I reach the bunker, and quickly open it. I swing onto the ladder, and shut the panel above me.

I hear her.

She’s moving around above me, on the wood and the grass around it. Her low moans freeze me, making my hairs stand on end, as she croaks in anguish. I’m in the corner of the bunker. I’m staring up toward the door, but can’t see it through the darkness. She’s still above me, I hear her movements. They’re a mix of fast, sudden jolts, and slow, almost confused movements. Maybe she didn’t see me go into the bunker. Maybe she doesn’t even know about it. Or can she not get in? Is this where Harvey would spend his nights when he wasn’t at the tower? Allison said she didn’t know where he would spend some of his nights. Was it here?

I can’t hear anything now; it’s been about 20 minutes. I think the creature above me has gone, but I’m done being an idiot. I’m staying here till morning.

I eventually drift off to the calm sound of the wind caressing nearby trees.

–

So, last night was too close. Looking back on my decision to investigate, I feel stupid. I’m not sure if it was from my lack of sleep, or that she cast some fucked up spell on me, but I won’t be making decisions like that again. I’m going to be a stickler to the rules.

It’s morning, I’m still in the bunker. I eventually build up the courage to lift the panel above me and peep out, blinded by the sunlight after being enshrouded in darkness for so long. All looks clear. Wary, I climb out, and head to my tower.

I’m quickly climbing the stairs to my tower when I hear a voice behind me.

“Hello!”

I shit myself, spinning around and almost falling off the side of the staircase. There’s a girl at the base of my tower, a normal looking girl. She has brown hair, glasses, and is carrying a large rucksack. She’s wearing hiking gear, and is smiling at me.

“Sorry to scare you,” she says, “hi, I’m Samantha. Sam.”

I’m still just staring at her, heart pounding.

“Mark’s daughter?”, she explains, “here to top up your food?”.

Allison had mentioned that Mark or his son would be here for that, no mention of a daughter.

“Oh, hey”, I reply voice shaking, “sorry, you scared me. I’m, uh, Oscar.”

“Hey. Sam.”, she reiterates, still smiling, “are you okay?”

I force a weak smile and nod, “just gave me a fright that’s all. I thought it was Mark, or his son that tops this up?”

She laughs, “it usually is. I’ve just kind of recently started helping out, I guess. You’re actually my first stop today. It’s nice to meet you, Oscar!”.

–

It’s getting dark now. I’m feeling determined to find out what’s happening in these woods. Don’t get me wrong, I’m scared shitless. But I’m done making bad choices. As far as I know, I could be on my own. I don’t know who to trust, Allison, maybe? I’ll need to see. Just before heading to bed, I radio her to ask her something.

“Hey Allison,” I say, “does Mark have a daughter?”.

“Oscar, hey.”, Allison replies a minute later, “I was about to radio you goodnight. I'm not too sure about that, have only met his son. Why?”.

“Okay. I was just wondering”.

“You okay Oscar? Has something else happened?”, she asks.

“I’m fine, Allison. Goodnight.”

–

I’m still terrified, but I know what I need to do. These rules are my lifeline. They will keep me alive, so I need to follow them. I know that now more than ever. I’m keeping my shoes on when I sleep tonight just in case, I decide as I turn on the lamp before switching off the main light.

I’d been lying in bed for about 30 minutes, when I heard it. The scratching again.

Rule 7. If you hear any scratching at any point, either on your hut or by the outhouse, turn off all radios and hide under your covers until the scratching stops.

The scratching is faint. It sounds like it’s coming from somewhere on the staircase, if not down below by the outhouse. Immediately, I rush to my big radio and switch it off. I check my small radio is off, which it is. I swiftly move back to my bed, and get under the covers. The scratching continues. It gets louder. Each one is slow and long, mimicking the sound of nails against a wooden board. Each scratch is followed by around 10 seconds silence, then by a another one that sounds closer than the last. Soon, the scratching feels as if it’s right by me. Almost as if it's on the frame of my bed. I hold my breath and close my eyes. Not a rule, I’m just fucking terrified. The next scratch is longer than the rest. It’s either on my bedframe, or the door of my hut. I don’t know. I can’t think straight, but I’m not going to move.

The scratching has stopped now, for about 15 minutes. All I can hear is the rustling of the trees below, as the wind whips through them, creating an atmospheric whooshing sound right past my hut. I had already made the decision to stay under my covers for the remainder of the night, just in case, when I heard another sound.

Faint footsteps.

Each fast thud increases in volume, as I realised she was sprinting up the staircase. In my panic, I forget the rule. Instinctively, I jolt out of bed and run to my main light switch. I turn it on, and the running immediately stops.

I am frozen. Standing by my light switch, waiting for something to happen, but nothing does. Trembling, I edge toward the list of rules which I kept beside my bed, pick it up and check that I’ve done the right thing.

Rule 5. At night, if you hear someone running up the stairs to your tower, also turn on the main light until morning. If you don’t do this by the time she’s at the top, it’s too late.

Thank fuck. I had known that my main light was included in more than one of the rules and am so relieved that I had chosen correctly. I am looking around the balcony surrounding my tower, and I see nothing. I stare at the top of the staircase for what feels an eternity. But nothing happens, nothing comes up.

–

The bright glow of the main light makes it impossible to see out into the surrounding woods below, I thought as I sat at my desk. It’s been about 2 hours since she tried to run up my stairs, and there’s no fucking way I’m going to be able to sleep tonight. So, I use my time wisely. I’ve been intensively reading the maps of the surrounding areas, learning the routes around my tower like the back of my hand. However, I have also learnt something new. I’ve managed to learn the route to the next closest tower. It’s not too complicated. Whilst I still think I can trust Allison; I want to actually meet her. I want to see her for myself, and talk freely. Face to face, not hiding behind a radio.

I’ve decided that tomorrow I’m going to go to Allison’s tower.