Fear of the Uninvited

many of them. “Ugh what are these?’ She thought. She reached her hands deeper into the water and pulled out the object. It was white and very hard. Helen immediately recognized what it was. “A bone?” She said out loud and reached for the bottom of the lake again. She felt something round. It had holes in it. She pulled it out and screamed. “A skull! A skull!” She ran out of the lake. “Mom! Dad!”

  Helen’s mother and father were organizing the closet. “Mom! Dad!” They spun around.

  “Helen! Calm down now, tell us what’s the matter.” Her mother asked with concern.

  “There are bones! In the water! It’s disgusting! Please I don’t want to live here anymore!” Helen felt very warm inside and tried to calm down.

  “Helen, the previous owners probably had a dog, and it hid its bones in the water. Ever thought about that?” Her father said to her with disbelief.

  “But I picked up a skull! Doesn’t that tell you anything?” Helen exclaimed feeling even warmer inside, just thinking about it made her sick.

  “You are exaggerating! You should really calm down.” Her father said again, this time not turning around. Helen felt like she was going to burst in tears after hearing what her father said. With that, she left the room.

  “I’m never going near that lake ever again!” Helen yelled back and made sure her parents could hear it. She shut the door to her room and locked it. She looked at the clock and saw how late it was. ‘I should get to bed already.’ She thought and turned off the lights. She fell asleep in a matter of minutes.

  Helen opened her eyes slowly. She was awakened by a noise. It sounded like water dripping on to the floor and footsteps, wet feet. She thought it was either her mother or father just coming out of the lake and walking in the house. When she looked at the clock she realized that it couldn’t possibly be her parents. It was 12:00 at midnight. She went under her blankets. ‘Who could that be? No what could that be? A monster?’ For a moment Helen thought that the footsteps were coming closer. But they were going further away now. She sighed in relief but still stayed under the blankets until the next morning.

  Helen got out of her bed. Still thinking about last night. She opened the door and went to the stairs. “Ugh what’s this?” She looked down and saw water. Then she remembered what she heard last night. Wet footsteps. “Mom! Did you or dad go swimming in the lake last night?” She shouted. The wet footsteps came from the back door where the lake is, and stopped at the top of the stairs.

  “Of course not! I told you we have lots of unpacking to do, we don’t have the time to swim.”

  “Right I forgot about that.” Helen was sure that it was a creature from the lake. She went and stared at the lake from inside the door. She saw a hand stick out. It was white and bony. Her eyes widened and she screamed really loud. Her mother became rushing into the living room.

  “What’s wrong, honey? Look at me.” Helen’s mother sat on the couch with her.

  “There was a hand! It stuck out of the water!”

  “That’s nonsense! No one is in there! Maybe you were just imagining things, or it was just a fish. Get more sleep, you’re not used to this house yet.” Helen felt really warm inside again and went back to bed. She was angry that her parents didn’t believe her. ‘I will have to be very careful.’ She thought to herself.

  Two days past since the incident and it had gotten worse. In the second night, the wet footprints went up the stairs and walked a few meters further. It was near Helen’s room. The third night, the wet footprints stopped right in front of her room. Helen was sitting on her bed wondering what she could do. She knew that tonight the creature would come inside her room.

  “Mom! Dad! Can I sleep in your room tonight?” Helen asked her parents; after all it was another way to escape the creature.

  “Don’t be a child! This is our room! You must learn how to sleep on your own.” Her father said angrily and continued working.

  Helen became worried. She went to kitchen and snuck out a knife used to cut meat. She took it to her room and hid it under her pillows. She stayed in her room the rest of the day.

  “Helen?” There was a knock the door just when she was about to sleep.

  “Yes?” Helen said and opened the door. “Hi mom.”

  “Why didn’t you swim the last two days?”

  “The bones…” Helen paused. ‘And because of the creature.’ She thought.

  “Is that the only reason? Alright, tomorrow I will go check, okay?”

  “Thanks, mom. Good night.”

  “Good night.”

  Helen knew that if she defeated the creature, she could go back in the lake, along with her parents. She turned off the lights and made sure she didn’t fall asleep.

  After several hours, Helen looked at her clock. It was midnight. She heard the sound of wet footsteps. Coming closer and closer until it stopped in front of Helen’s door. She stayed still and pretended to be asleep. She slightly opened one eye so she could see and the creature wouldn’t realize that she was actually awake. She heard the doorknob twist slightly, and saw the door slowly open. Helen was right. It was a creature. It had long grey hair, a skulled face, grey torn clothing and the same bony white fingers as the hand that stuck out of the lake. The creature stopped in front of her bed. Helen guessed that it was looking straight down at her. It opened its mouth; she saw the sharp teeth inside it. Helen felt brave, but could only talk in her mind. ‘Hmm…it looks like that thing is going to eat me. I’m going to stab it…now!’ Helen shot up from bed and stabbed the creature in the chest. It shrieked. Then moved back, it tried to go out of her room and back to the lake, but Helen stopped it from doing that. She charged after it and pushed it down. ‘I can’t kill this thing by stabbing it! Aha! I’ll probably have to burn it!’ Helen felt like she was a police officer trying to capture someone. She grabbed the creature’s arms and held them behind its back. She had to work fast before it’s too late. She heard doors open.

  “What’s going on down there?” Said Helen’s mother and screamed, “What is that thing? Helen!”

  “Helen! Are you crazy? Let go of that thing! You’re going to get hurt!” Said her father.

  “Don’t you think I know that already? Don’t worry I got this! Once I kill this thing I won’t have to complain about the lake anymore!” Helen tightened her grip when the creature tried to break free. “Don’t move you—umm…whatever you are!” Helen felt like she was being funny. ‘No! This is serious! Not funny!’ She thought as she dragged the creature into the kitchen. It still struggled, so Helen stabbed it in the head again and again. “I said! Don’t move!”

  “Helen! This is not a joke! Let us handle this!” Her father was running down the stairs. “Get out of there!”

  Helen felt very warm again; she realized that it was anger. “No! Stay there, it’s too dangerous! You don’t even know how to kill it!” She realized what she just said, but didn’t regret it. At least it kept him away. She opened a drawer in the kitchen. “Come on! I know I put it in here somewhere!”

  “Helen!” Cried her mother.

  “Found it!” She grabbed a lighter and some cooking oil from the drawer and held it close to the creature. “Here! Eat this!” Helen said and poured oil all over the creature then used the lighter to set it ablaze. She crashed its head on to the refrigerator and it fell to the ground and started screaming unintelligibly. The fire burned the creature until there were only ashes left.

  Helen was panting. “See? All done! You both chose not to believe me so I solved it myself!” ‘Did I do the right thing?’ Helen thought. Her parents stood there with their eyes wide open.

  “My goodness, Helen. We thought you were making all of this creature stuff up just because you didn’t like this house.” Her mother said in regret.

  “Do you know what kind of danger you put yourself into? Fighting that thing alone! You could’ve gotten hurt!” Helen’s father was still trembling.

  “Well I wasn’t.” Helen said and calmed down a l
ittle. “I’m not a child anymore, okay? I have to learn how to solve things myself, especially if no one is willing to believe me.”

  “Helen, I’m sorry for not believing you. How can I ever make this up for you?” Her father seemed regretful which lightened Helen up.

  “Let’s all swim together tomorrow morning!” Helen said cheerfully.

  “Alright.” He said and smiled. “You are strong, Helen. Just like your mother. You’ve grown up. Would you like to sleep with us for the rest of the night?”

  “No it’s okay. I’m not scared anymore.” Helen said and put the lighter back into the drawer.

  “Helen!” Her mother ran and hugged her daughter tightly. “I’m so sorry! Let us be at your side next time.” With that, Helen and her mother both went back to their bedrooms. Helen looked at herself in the mirror. She saw herself smiling.

  ‘Did I do the right thing?’

  The Forest of Death

  “Remilia! Hurry up we’re going to be late!”

  “Alright wait I’m getting my stuff!” It was the first day of school and Remilia was taking her folders out of her locker and trying to stuff them in her backpack. ‘Why is there always so much stuff in my bag?’ She thought and ran up the stairs after her friend.

  “You’re a slow runner, Remilia! I mean, what do you think our teacher would say if we’re late on the first day of school?” Her friend said. Remilia could tell by the tone of her voice