The Figures

Originally featured in Speakeasy Zine (Vol. 5)

My eyes snapped open as soon as I heard the bang. It was as though something from the sky had crashed outside my window. An unnatural pale blue light seeped through my window. The sheets and quilt of my bed warmed my skin, but ice ran through my veins. I wanted to peek through the gap of my curtains, but didn’t want to at the same time.

An eerie silence descended. Just as my ears got used to the silence I heard something from outside. They sounded like footsteps treading lightly across the grass. They grew louder with each step.

I pulled my sheets closer. My teeth rattled like a loose car part as I heard more footsteps. I counted two others altogether.

Remaining in bed, I moved slightly forward to peek out the gap between my curtains. The blue light lit up the backyard and flashed erratically, like a failing lightbulb.

There was a shadow of a figure being cast across the garden and fence. Goose flesh broke out across my skin as I stared at the shadow. The figure was slim, tall, and had an oval shaped head. Who or what was this thing? Was it human or something else?

The head of one of them appeared between the gap in my curtains. Its face was concealed by darkness, but I could feel it staring into me.

It raised a hand, its fingers long and slender. Fingertips tapped against the glass. It appeared to be trying to communicate.

Cold sweat soaked my pyjamas and sheets. I bit my sheets, tasting dead skin and flannelette.

The head of the figure vanished almost immediately. It ran across the side of my house followed by its accomplices. They stopped at the step of my back door.

I hid beneath the quilt. My heart thumped deep in my chest and I could taste my sweat: it felt as though I were drowning in it.

A click came from my back door and it slowly slid open. Footsteps followed afterwards. They sounded like wet feet against my tiles.

I could picture them; three figures weaving their way through my table and chairs and lounges. I imagined them reaching out to my door handle. Tears ran down my eyes and I wanted to scream at this thought.

The handle on my bedroom door began to turn. The door opened with a creak. My body went into a spasm as the footsteps moved across my carpet. My blood froze as the blue light pierced through my bedding. How was it doing that? How could it get through my quilt?

I’d been wrong all along. There were not three figures, there were five. The five of them appeared just like the shadow I’d seen outside. I couldn’t see their faces, but I could feel them crawling their way into my mind. Fresh tears rolled down my cheeks and I bit the sheets harder.

The five figures raised their hands, fingertips pointed towards me. My brain pulsed as I stared at their fingers. The pulse was the same rhythm as my heartbeat. A high pitched sound tore its way through my eardrums; it sounded like they were talking to me. Their fingertips rubbed up against my quilt. They tried to pull it back and show me their faces.

Something warm ran from my nose and ears. I knew instantly it was blood. It flowed freely and mixed with the pool of sweat in my sheets.

The middle figure raised its hand to the ceiling. I found myself hypnotised. I watched as the figure twisted its hand. It clenched.

That was when I lost all my senses, apart from hearing. I heard sounds that were unlike anything I'd ever heard before; similar to a plane taking off, but over and over. A loud bang followed a while later. After that there was nothing.

*

I regained my senses eventually. How long had I been without them for I could not quite tell. I wondered to myself then was this all some sort of nightmare. I kept telling myself that those figures were just my imagination.

Just as I became certain was when I felt my sheets. They were cold and wet.

I tore off the sheets and rose from bed. The air felt frozen against my skin and the room was shrouded in darkness. Sunlight came through the gap of my curtains.

I stood by my curtains for a while before I opened them. Something wasn’t right; I could sense it in the air and feel it on my skin. It just didn’t feel like home. I thought again about the figures. I wondered were those figures just people, or were they visitors beyond the stars? The only way I was going to find out was if I opened the curtains.

I looked at the light again coming from the gap. It didn’t seem to have the same colour as the sun.

I tore open the curtains to ease my curiosity. My grip on the fabric tightened, and my jaw dropped with what I saw outside my bedroom window. What I saw was far beyond what my mind could comprehend...