Wake Up

“Wake up Kieran….”

He was looking out of the window, at the retreating cars of his friends when a voice whispered suddenly, startling him out of his thoughts.

But it was not the words that really startled him, but the voice. It was low and hoarse like they had been screaming for hours. That thought alone sent shivers down his spine. He whipped his head to where the sound came from like a deer caught in a trap and it seemed to be beyond the door of the living room. With a heart beating wildly in his chest, He squinted to see beyond the door while rooted to his spot but it was impossible with the candlelight. He waited a few seconds trying to figure out who spoke.

But there was no one around other than the Halloween decorations and the huge paintings that decorated the living room; of his grandparents, great-grandparents, and their grandparents. It was creepy for an outsider; the rows and rows of paintings, but he had gotten used to it after living here for the past few months. Plus, it added to the spooky feeling of the Halloween party.

His phone dinged with a notification and that’s when he broke out of the stupor and realized it must be a prank by none other than Zeke. He was still in his home because he was staying over the night but all the others went home after the Halloween party they had at their mansion. He rolled his eyes annoyedly at himself for getting spooked by the prank, quickly trying to lighten his rapidly beating heart.

“Zeke, did u seriously think that would scare me?” he queried out loud sarcastically, trying to be nonchalant, hiding the fact that he was actually spooked out a little, knowing Zeke loved to spook his friends out sometimes like the devil he was. This made the situation even more embarrassing than it already was. No need to be so embarrassed about it! He scolded himself.

It was close to sundown, and the deary mood and the damp weather had hidden the sun amongst its embrace long ago, that’s why they had decided to part ways before it grew even darker. It had gotten darker quickly around them after they left, amplified because of the forest they had around the mansion and squishing the cheery mood that was hanging in the air within its shadows. The only source of light was the candles that were lit as decorations for the party. So, it was only reasonable that he got spooked out by a sudden creepy voice. Right?

“It’s time to wake up Kieran….” The voice spoke again, closer this time in that bone-chilling voice, sending shivers through him out of his will, successfully for the second time.

“Oh, come on Z, you think you can pull the same trick twice on me, at my own house at that?” he spoke out, shrugging off the unwanted shivers. ‌‌

“Come out of your hiding place you devil! I already figured out your prank. let’s go and play some cards” he uttered while laughing, backing away from the window he had been looking out from.

As he was walking along the corridor searching for his friend, he heard it again, the voice, asking him to wake up.

‘Dude, I’m wide awake can’t you see?’ he muttered to himself while rolling his eyes, giving up his search for Zeke and walking to his room, knowing Zeke was too stubborn to give up and that he would eventually come running to him when he realized his prank was not working.

“Wake up Kieran….”

“Stop it Z, this is not funny” Kieran shouted back having gotten enough of this little prank and stopping in his tracks. Then what started as a single voice grew a thousandfold like hundreds of people were uttering the same thing one after another, again and again. The walls around him amplified it making it unbearable.

“Wake up, Wake up Kieran…. Wake up, wake up Kieran…., WAKE UP!”

“Please, stop it!” he cried out, holding his head tightly, trying to block out the sound.

Then he saw in his peripheral, a hand creeping out of the dark and coming his way. He was frozen in the spot in pure fright, unable to move out of reach.

“Kier, are you okay?” he heard a familiar voice behind him and the hand disappeared. The voices were completely silenced too. He turned to see Zeke standing in the middle of the corridor with a worried look on his face.

“Zeke? Is that you?”

“Yeah, of course it’s me. Who else?” He said jokingly but stopped when he saw that Kieran wasn’t even smiling.

“Why? What’s wrong? You’re ghostly pale. Did u see a ghost or something? are you alright?

What were you doing standing in the middle of the corridor?” Zeke asked a million questions at once, worry overtaking his normally unfazed persona.

He startled a little when Kieran grabbed his hand in a firm grip. His hands were freezing. He looked at Kieran in puzzlement, waiting for an answer.

“Didn’t you hear that voice?”

“What voice?”

“You didn’t hear that voice asking me to wake up?”

“ No? And before you ask if it was me, no it wasn’t, I know you get scared easily, so I wouldn’t for the life of me try a scare prank on you”‌‌

“If it wasn’t you then who was it?” Kieren questioned looking around like he was searching for someone else to creep out of the dark any second. His hand tightened around his arm.

“Let’s get to your room first now, shall we? It’s just me” Zeke murmured, wrapping a hand around Kieren’s shoulders.

“I’m here, okay?” He said more firmly this time. The hand loosened at that slightly and he took that as an opportunity to drag him to his room.

They were almost at the door when suddenly Kieren jumped and looked back, with eyes as big as saucers, as if he heard a loud noise coming from behind them.

“ Kier, what’s wrong” Zeke inquired, looking back as well. But nothing appeared to be out of the normal.

Then suddenly a wind started howling through the corridor, blowing off all the candles and the torches on the passage turning it all dark.

The loud tinkling of the wind chimes added to the ominous feeling.

“Kier?”

“I’m here….” That’s all he could hear before Kieran was ripped out of his hold. He grasped blindly trying to re-catch the hand but it was impossible in the dark.

Lightning cracked at the same time, lighting the corridor for a fraction of a second, which to his horror allowed him to see Kieran being dragged away by something invisible with his mouth curled in a silent