Whatever You Want

Chapter 6

‘How dare he talk to me like I’m a child?’

Alissa’s outrage hadn’t worn off during her brisk walk home.

‘Zach is such a massive freak, there is no way he’s hanging out with us again,’ Alissa texted to Raven. The message failed signal popped up, thwarting her revenge for the moment. It could wait.

The front door was open when she arrived home. Odd. Pushing it gently with a finger, she looked around the empty kitchen for any signs of foul play. Nothing seemed amiss. She heard shouts from the living room; boys playing video games. Her little brother and his mates were engrossed in a war-themed console game.

“You left the door open, ass-wipe,” Alissa scolded Aiden. He continued his game without acknowledging her.

As she turned toward the stairs Aiden shouted, “Mum told you to make dinner.”

“Make your own,” Alissa shouted back, “I’m not your slave.”

She heard Aiden calling her a b***h to his friends and their snickers as she ran up the stairs and shut herself in her room.

“Alissa!” Aiden cried, “Door for you!”

Alissa frowned. ‘Who could that be? I told everyone I was busy packing for the holiday tonight.’ She stomped back down the stairs to find Zach standing in the centre of the living room, beside the group of boys. They laughed like hyenas at the video game violence that seemed more graphic than usual; arms torn off, heads crushed under boots and women defiled.

“What do you want?” Alissa asked Zach, still distracted by the horrific scenes playing on the screen.

“You made a big mistake,” Zach replied, his tone conversational despite the threatening content of his words.

Alissa pried her eyes away from the game. “You think so?”

“I know so,” Zach smiled.

“We’ll see. If that is all then you mind if I go back to packing?” Alissa turned her back to him.

“I wouldn’t go up there if I were you.”

Alissa paused. “Why not?”

“The shadow man is waiting in your room.”

Alissa froze. “How do you know about my nightmares?”

She turned back to confront Zach, but he’d vanished.

“Where did he go?” she asked the boys, but their glazed eyes wouldn’t shift from the blood-soaked images on the screen. She couldn’t blame them—as she stared at the screen, she almost became drawn into the gory cut scene.

Inching her way toward the stairs, Alissa tried to force herself to move with confidence. There was nothing up there. It was insane. Yet... darkness had fallen so early. The only light poured from the T.V. screen and though the light switch was within reach, something in the depths of her mind told Alissa not to flick it. If she did, and for whatever reason it failed, it would be worse than remaining in darkness by choice.

Light from the moon and streetlamps outside was sufficient to give Alissa a view of her entire room. A glance into every corner confirmed her suspicion that Zach was full of s**t. Nothing lurked or hunkered down by the bed. She fell onto the bed and rolled, surrounding herself in quilt and lay listening to the sound of her own heart beating in her ears. Trying to calm her breathing, meditate or concentrate on something positive did nothing to cease the pounding.

The clothing bin caught her eye. Hadn’t she emptied it out this morning? Yet now it bulged, full to the brim and spewing excess garments onto the floor. Could something be hiding in there? Alissa stared at it until her eyes fatigued, trying to figure out if the thing was moving, or it was simply her tired eyes creating the illusion of movement. And now she heard breathing.

It’s just my own breath, she assured herself, but holding her breath did not stop the rasping. As it became louder, the source revealed itself; not inside the washing basket, but behind the door. Alissa couldn’t force her neck to turn and look.

“Wake up, wake up, wake up,” she whispered. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the door swinging inward. Something was slipping out. Something bigger than the gap behind the door should allow.

“Wake up, wake uuup,” Alissa urged, pulling the blanket over her head. The quilt would protect her. Surely childhood magic had retained its power. It was too hot, far too hot, and she could barely breathe, but she was safe. If she couldn’t see the thing it couldn’t hurt her. This was all in her head, so it had to follow her rules.

It couldn’t pull at the quilt. It couldn’t. Yet her knuckles were whitening under the pressure to hold the cover in place. A mighty heave pulled both the quilt and Alissa from the bed. Her back connected to the floor with a thud that should have woken her up.

Why wasn’t she waking up?

Clambering to her feet, without looking back, she raced down the stairs taking them two or three at a time and toward the front door. For a horrible moment she envisioned it shut and locked.

A sound of relief and gratitude escaped her lips as she found the door wide open. Slamming it behind her, a barrier between herself and the phantom, she ran down the street. Usually her nightmares would reset at this point. Scenery would blur and one place would become another. The bad dream would fade in her memory and her mind would tumble into some scenario that would seem perfectly standard in dream-world but random upon waking retrospect.

It didn’t happen. Alissa’s bare feet became cold as she slowed to a walk, stinging painfully with each step. Do I usually feel pain in nightmares? Is this real?

‘Maybe I’m dead.’

The thought there might never be a tomorrow was accompanied by a surge of dread and sadness. Alissa punched and stamped at the floor, screaming as loudly as her dream lungs would allow.

“Little old for tantrums, aren’t we?” a familiar voice asked.

Alissa tilted her head up to find Zach towering over her. “Zach? What is this?”

“You wanna see what it looks like in daylight?” Zach asked, ignoring her question.

She didn’t have to ask what.

“No, no, no,” Alissa shook her head frantically.

“You should have apologised when I gave you the chance. It’s all downhill from here,” Zach delivered the warning and vanished.

The road beneath tilted, knocking Alissa off balance. Her elbows crashed into the ground as the incline shifted, transforming the pavement into a hill, then a mountain side.

Alissa scrambled, seeking anything to grab. Finding nothing, she fell into the silent abyss.