The Mould

Tick...tick...tick

... The clock on the wall ticked and turned its arrows as Anda stared at the ceiling in his brother's room. His mind was bothered, and his body felt uneasy. Questions swirled in his mind as he tried to make sense of what he was looking at. "When did this start again?" "I told you, man. This thing started a month ago." Theo answered with annoyance as he plopped down on his bed and stared at the ceiling.

He was in a state of confusion, trying to piece together the information to explain to his brother what he was seeing on the ceiling. "Have you tried..." "I've tried everything. Nothing makes sense." Theo answered with frustration, continuing to stare at the ceiling.

This problem started a month ago when the area they lived in experienced an extremely hazardous storm, which broke down trees and led to rainwater flooding yards. It had rained nonstop for three days. Inside their home, Theo's room had water pouring through the ceiling. This led to mould forming on the roof.

In the beginning, the mould did not cause much alarm. Theo bought a mildew-killing spray and applied it to the ceiling. The spray seemed to work for a week, but then the mould returned. This time it was spreading across the ceiling.

Theo was deeply irritated by the damage the mould was causing to his bed and to his floor. A dark liquid often dripped on his bed occasionally. No matter how many times he moved his bed around it always found its way there.

The floor was also often wet and slippery. Theo was not the only one irritated by this situation. Anda often complained to his brother about the sounds that came from the ceiling in his room. Theo slept right through them, but Anda often woke up to a scratch or a crunching sound from the ceiling. Theo often branded them as "rodents" living in the ceiling.

He reached out to a roofing contractor, but they found no leaks and no sign of water. "I don't know how your ceiling got water in it when there are no leaks on the roof. I've searched every part of the roof and found nothing." The roofing contractor informed Theo. "That doesn't make sense because my room had been leaking when it rained." "Well, that's a shock. This house does not even have water pipes in the ceiling."

Nothing made sense to Theo. He tried to figure things out by himself, but nothing made sense. "Maybe the contractor guy got it all wrong Theo." "I thought so at first, but through some digging, I figured out that he was not wrong. There are no holes or any pipes up there." Theo explained to his brother who was confused by this whole situation. "How did the water get in then?" "That is what I am trying to figure out."

Both boys were baffled by this situation. It had not been easy for them to get this house from the beginning. They went through many ups and downs to buy it. Its price was affordable, and its interior design was in good condition.

The moment they got in contact with the previous owner they wasted no time buying it. According to them this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Hence, Theo was bothered and frustrated by this situation. He just wanted their new home to be perfect just the way he had envisioned it.

"I'm tired. We will figure this out in the morning." Anda grumbled as he shuffled out of his brother's room too tired to think and too tired to do anything at this point. Theo was left in his room staring at the mold on the ceiling as if it was going to just disappear. After a few minutes, he decided to go to sleep. Instead of sleeping on his bed he chose the couch in the living room.

The house was shrouded in silence. Theo was drifting further into his sleep almost reaching a dream-like state when he was suddenly woken up by hands that shook him violently and a loud whisper. "Wake up you idiot!" He sprang up from the couch and stared at the figure who had woken him up. "What!" Theo shouted as he looked at a wide-eyed Anda.

"Shhh..." Anda put his hand over his brother's mouth. "Listen... Do you hear that?" Theo was baffled by his brother's actions. "What are you talking about? I don't hear anything." Anda turned his head and looked his brother straight in the eyes. "Don't you hear that creaking noise? It's coming from your bedroom man. At first, I thought it was you, but you are sleeping here."

Thud! Both brothers turned their heads towards Theo's room. Theo's ears rang, and his body hair stood up.

Creak... creak... creak...

A creaking sound came from his room. Without hesitation, he took a baseball bat that was lying on the floor and tiptoed towards his room.

Behind him, Anda was following slowly. They both stood in front of the door. Theo signalled to his brother to kick the door at the count of three. One... two... three... Bang! The door swung open and both boys stepped inside. The moment they stepped inside their bodies froze in fear and their blood ran cold.

The ceiling had a gaping hole, and the mould that infested the ceiling was now replaced by a dark red liquid that leaked on top of Theo's bed. Frozen in shock, they stood there watching as the liquid soaked the blankets and seeped onto the floor.

Creak... creak... creak...

The creaking noise came from the ceiling. Theo stared at the gaping hole in the roof and squinted his eyes. Then he saw it.

The creaking sound was not the ceiling falling apart, but it was something coming out from the shadows. Something that had been living in the ceiling waiting for the right moment to reach out from the dark.

Anda saw it, too. But now it was peeking out of the hole, staring at them. Two heads were attached to its long neck. long, thin arms and hands hanging out of the gaping hole. A jumble of sounds and screeches came out of it. That is when both brothers snapped out of shock. "RUN!!!" Theo shouted. They both bolted out of the room straight into the living room.

A loud thud came from behind as they reached the door that led outside. Anda pulled the door open, but then something wrapped itself around his leg and yanked him back on top of the coffee table, breaking it in half. Theo stared in horror as the thing stood over his brother with its mouth wide open, ready to consume him. Thinking fast, he took the baseball bat and swung it. The bat hit one of its faces, pushing it back.

This gave Theo the chance to help his brother up. "Come on!" Anda limped his way towards the kitchen where another door led to the backyard. Theo was following behind him with his baseball bat. It rose from the shadows and, with fast movements, followed them as they stepped into the backyard.

The backyard had a gate that led to the opposite street. Both ran towards it. Just as they were about to reach the gate, it grabbed their legs and pulled them towards the house. They screamed as its nails dug into their skin. Theo used all his strength to hit its arm. That angered it as it slammed his body against the floor.

With no strength left in his body, Theo could not fight it. Instead, he watched as it dragged them inside the house towards his room. It climbed into the gaping hole and pulled a screaming Anda inside. Theo listened in horror as his brother's screams became silent. A crunching sound was the only thing he could hear as bones snapped.

It peeked out from the gaping hole and reached out for Theo, who could do nothing but stare in horror as it pulled him into the darkness. His screams echoed throughout the house until it was shrouded in silence once again. The gaping hole closed and returned into its mouldy state as blood painted the room red.