Company in bed
Cole heard a soft cackle in the room and woke up. Had it been part of a dream? He wasn’t sure.
The first nights in a new place were always the hardest for him. He sighed and turned around. The unsettling feeling persisted, however, preventing him from going back to sleep.
“It’s alright,” whispered a voice behind him. “Come to me.”
He wriggled under the blankets like a worm towards Sonia; the farther he moved, the colder it got. Cole did a lot of slithering, but the bed seemed endless. For a moment, he wondered if he was still dreaming.
Instead of the warmth of Sonia’s body, a couple of cold arms welcomed him from behind. Something was wrong.
He raised his eyelids and blinked several times to put the dim room into focus. Sonia was in front of him, her eyes shut tight, mouth slightly drooling, breathing peacefully. He noticed the room’s door ajar behind her.
Cole stiffened. If Sonia was five inches away from him sleeping, then whose arms were those around him? A chill ran down his spine as whatever was in bed with them got closer.
The icy arms squeezed tighter, and long, bony fingers with gnarled nails closed around his neck. “You are mine,” croaked an eerie voice in his ear.
He tried to shake himself awake, to get out of there, to move, to do something, whatever, but his body didn’t respond. Panic seized him. He tried to scream, but only a faint squeal came out.
Desperate, Cole took one deep breath, but before he could utter any sound, another set of hands appeared out of nowhere to cover his mouth and drown his scream. He heard a dry cackle in his ear. An unpleasant rotten smell invaded his nostrils, he felt a pull, and the bedroom dissolved into an empty void of darkness.
A cold breeze swept the room and closed the door. Sonia shuddered, rolled around, tugged at the blankets without resistance, and continued sleeping. The other half of the bed was empty.
