The Wendigo

The Wendigo

Aiden jolts up in his bed, his arms holding his body up. The sweat dripping from his brow to the sheets below him, drenching them even more. His room spinning around his head, turning the posters on the wall into a mirage of colors, but there was nothing he could do to decipher one from the other. The walls fly faster and faster past his eyes, suddenly he sees a dark figure standing halfway out of the closet. The room keeps rotating, and with every spin the figure gets closer. The void of where its’ eyes should be, suck him in. Though there aren’t any eyes for Aiden to look into, it stares at him. Aiden’s hands fly up to his head to steady his skull. The figures arm begins to reach forward but before it can touch him, the cat knocks the lamp off the desk, bringing Aiden back to his body.

The room begins to look normal again, the posters go back to their original places but more importantly the figure disappears from sight. Aiden flops back onto the wet sheets, his arms raised above his head. The clock by his bed reads 3:08am.

This nightmare has been a part of his “daily routine” for two months, since the day he moved into the new house with his mom. The shadow keeps getting closer and closer with every dream. No, this is not a dream. There were no dreamy qualities to it; no light or laughter just darkness and its need to consume him. This was an unadulterated nightmare. Every night the room spins, the shadowy figure appears just steps away, and before it can lay a finger on him it’s gone. It never speaks just stares at Aiden. It tries to move closer but before it can get what it came for there’s always something to pull Aiden from its’ trance. It was as real as ever, almost as if it was waiting for him.

Tonight seemed different. The figure got closer than ever before, almost touching his foot at the edge of the bed. His mind, now racing, filled with the worries that get to him after the figure vanishes. What is that? Can anyone else see it? And the question that rings in his ears the most, what’s going to happen when it reaches me?

Aiden is brought back to his senses when his kitten rubs against his leg. He reaches down, his hand just barely grazing the light grey fur before there is a thump of something falling to the floor in another room. Aiden straightens in his bed; swinging his legs to the side, his bare feet touching the cold floor. The floorboards creak beneath him from the weight of his body. The silence of the house rings in his ears. As he opens the door, he can see there is not a single light on in the house. The hallway is eerily dark, it felt as if it was darker than usual. Feeling for the light switch; he flips it, but nothing happens. He returns to his room and turns the lamp on top of his nightstand on.

“Thank god.” He whispers, thankfully his light worked. He wasn’t normally this freaked out but something about tonight makes him jumpy. He returns to the doorway, the light in his room partially lights the hallway. The doors to the bathroom and his mom’s room were shut. He tries the light switch in the hall once more with no success. With a sigh, he slowly walks down the hallway. His steps echo throughout the hallway.

Without warning, a loud screech fills the house. The sound is ear shattering. Aiden’s hands fly to his ears; washing out the sound just a little, making it at least bearable. The shriek finally ends, though only lasting for a moment, it felt as if it lasted for an hour.

He drops his hands, leaning slightly on his front foot trying to see down the hall. With the two doors shut, there’s only the doorway leading through the living room. Aiden takes a step forward.

“Mom?” There is no reply. He takes another step.

“Is anyone there?” Of course, no one is there. Who fucking answers you when someone breaks into your house? Oh yea, I’m just making a sandwich, give me a second... He thinks to himself sarcastically. He looks down at his feet and shakes his head. “Ugh… I’m an idiot.”

Aiden brings his eyes up; glancing at his bedroom doorway. The light illuminating from his room gave him a sliver of relief. He moves his eyes down the hall; the doorway into the living room framed a dark figure as it passed by the door frame. Without saying a word, Aiden moves slowly down the hall; almost gliding across the floor. He makes sure to not make a sound.

Let’s be honest, no one would break into their house; it’s a crappy house, in a crappy neighborhood, and honestly it looks even crappier on the inside. So why would someone break into this house?

He peaks his head around the door frame, the blacked-out silhouettes of the furniture show nothing out of place. The room was black as night, but nothing was moving. The kitchen was dark and still. Aiden was so confused; he didn’t know what was going on, but he knew he didn’t like it. In the pit of his stomach something was telling him to run but nothing in the house was proving it true. Aiden was at a loss for words.

With a pivot, Aiden turns himself around and heads for his room. As he passes the bathroom door. He enters the bathroom and goes over to the toilet and realizes he’s had to pee since after his nightmare. Afterwards he washes his hands and gently splashes water in his face to remove the sticky sweat. When he straightens up, he lets out a gasp. Through the reflection in the mirror he can see that there is a figure behind the shower curtain. The figure is just standing there, facing the mirror.

He turns around and quickly musters up the courage, grabs the shower curtain and rips it back. To his surprise there is nothing there. His heart is beating out of his chest. His breathing is short and loud. The fear is taking over now, nothing could calm him down.

Aiden runs out of the bathroom, leaving the light on and the door open. He quickly runs to his room. As soon as he gets there, he slams the door shut and locks it. He scans the room for anyone; looking in the closet and even under the bed. He was completely and utterly alone. He starts to calm down, trying to settle himself in his bed. The clock now reads 3:28am. He lays down, wrapping himself in his sheets then grabs the light switch and turns it off. He rolls over to face the door; in horror, he realizes the doors open again. He quickly sits up, trying to turn the light on but it’s not working. But his focus shifts when the sound of a floorboard creaks from the opposite side of his room. Aiden averts his eyes for as long as possible, but the figure still moves closer. Before he can react; the eyeless figure is crawling up the end of his bed, the corners of its mouth slowly tipping up revealing its’ massive sharp teeth.

Before Aiden realizes it, the black monster is inches away; finally taking what it has been working for. The monster reaches for Aiden, while Aiden flinches the monster continues to move his hand closer. It gently caresses Aiden’s quivering cheek before quickly taking its’ hand back and plunging it into Aiden’s chest. Aiden gasps for breath, choking on blood; never realizing what happened before it’s too late. Aiden goes limp around the monster’s hand. The monster wrenches his hand, twisting the heart from its cavity and pulls it out. It brings the heart to his mouth and takes a bite and then another. Its body snapping and twisting, falling onto the bed, knocking the lamp off the side table. The monster now lifts its newly gained body from the bed.

“Aiden, honey. Are you ok? I thought I heard a crash.” Melissa asks, as she peaks her head into the room.

“Yeah mom, just a nightmare is all.” She goes to walk out of the room, closing the door behind her when he says, “love you mom.”

She nods and smiles leaving him in his bed.

He stands and walks to the mirror across the room. He studies his new features closely. His new hands come up to his cheeks, then to his forehead and then to his hair. He lets a sly smile form on his face, revealing his monstrous teeth. Though the monster never liked the lanky boy, Aiden was an impressionable, naive young lad but his body will do just nicely.