Unbeknownst (Work in Progress) by Shy Ward (best reads of all time txt) 📕

It seemed like the darkest night of Shiana's life.  It was pouring rain outside and her mother was in the far back bedroom that used to belong to her grandparents who were now going through a bitter divorce.  Shiana was left in the living room as she watched the lightening crackle and the booming thunder shook their home.  Her mother's boyfriend was over and she'd rather keep her distance since he was in the room with her mom.  He was mean and unwelcoming.  She hadn't noticed her mother with a bright, sincere smile and a long time, since he came into their lives.  She'd rather sit alone than to sit in a room with that rhetched man.

She decided that going to sleep would be a better idea.  Climbing into her mother's hospital bed that had been replaced in the first room, she grabbed one of her grandmother's handmade quilt, wishing she were there to snuggle with her.  The hospital bed was a result from her mother's car accident six months ago.  She broke both of her ankles after falling asleep at the wheel taking her so called boyfriend to work at three in the morning.  Shiana woke up on her birthday, looking for the double chocolate cake mommy had promised her only to find that she wasn't there.  Then she was told by her grandmother that her mother was in an accident in was in the hospital all on her birthday.  Shiana was afraid that her birthday was a curse.  Why would God let have this happen on her birthday of all days, if her mother died, it would forever be torture for the little girl who just turned eight on the day that her mother's car crashed into a tree rushing home to bake a double chocolate two layered cake for her daughters birthday.  She lived though, and for that, Shiana was greatful, but she hated the man in the room with her, whom made he get up in the middle of the night and wee hours of the morning to take him to his lame job of sheet detail. 

The house creaked from the push of the rain, thunder and wind.  I slowly opened my eyes as I heard a faint noise in the living room.  The bedroom door was open and I reluctantly looked toward it.  Suddenly, I heard it, someone maneuvering slowly through the living room toward the hall.  It was dark, except for the bathroom light which I purposely left on so that I could see into the hall in the case that I needed immediate direction in the state of an emergency.  It stopped.  Who is it?  Where are they?  Please, I prayed that the unknown had a change of heart or mind at least to halt and turn away and go back from wince it came; but then I heard the deep and heavy breathing.  He was right at the corner outside of the door outside of my vision.  I tried to move and make some noise, notifying the stranger that I was awake and possibly aware of it's presence.  I'm so confused and scared.  The breathing gets deeper and more drawn out, louder even and I feel taunted.  Who could be playing this game?  Am I awake?  I pinch myself and I feel the pain rimple through my left arm.  "Oh God," I whispered, "I'm awake"

Suddenly a form moves and a large body with and extremely large head walks into site!  He stands in the doorway, it is dark and no visible wardrobe or face was there to be identified.  I sat in shock as I was now sitting.  I think he just smiled at me, and at that moment, I knew my life was in danger, I could feel his grimace as he realized I was alone and began moving across the threshold of the room

I do not know where the jerk feeling inside my just came from as all of a sudden my mind became blank but still frightingly aware that I was either going to be kidnapped or murdered or both, but I seered with a burning sensation in my chest as I screamed in a horrible, frightening, desperate cry for help.  Wait....He stopped and turned on his heels, not running but moving more swiftly than before to leave my room.  BOOM!  He's gone!  I jump over the metal rail of the hospital bed and run without looking the opposite direction to where he disappeared and burst through the door with tears and fear in my eyes as my mother and her ugly companion look upon in bewildered amusement for my sudden invasion.

"What's wrong Shi?" she asked.

"Did you even hear me screaming for you mommy?" I cried.

"Screaming?  Screaming for what?  I didn't hear anything."

"Someone was coming into my room but I woke up and screamed for you!"

Her companion got up out of the bed and walked out of the room.  I quickly jumped into the blanket with my mother.

"Shi, are you sure you didn't just have a bad dream?"

"No mom, I was awake."

He comes back and stands in the door, glaring at me.

"The door is locked, there wasn't anybody in here." he sneered.

"There was and I know there was."

He grabs a blanket from the top of the open closet and throws it on the floor at the end of the bed.

"Get on the floor, you're too big to be sleeping in the bed with your mommy."

I look at my mother with pleading eyes.  Her sad eyes and soft brush of my arm tells me that we are both defeated and to do as I am told.  I climbed down on the floor and covered my head and slowly fell into a deep sleep, while hearing my mother and the butthole arguing in whispering tones that I was crazy.

I'm definitely not crazy, I know what I saw.

 I'm a grown man!  I can stay home by myself! 

In reality Carlos was only 15, but his parents asking him if he would be okay at home by himself for the night was an insult.  His eldest sister and her daughter were gone for the weekend, his eldest brother had gone off to the Navy and his younger brother was in the room sleeping.  He was 13. 

Carlos was glad that his parents would be away for the night.  He had a joint hidden in his backpack that he wanted to smoke before calling over this girl that had moved in down the street a week ago. 

Once Mom and Dad backed out of the driveway, he sparked up his lighter and began to smoke his marijuana.  It's a good thing his sister was away for the weekend, she was such a snitch.  Carlos felt his high coming on unusually quick.  Maybe it was because he hadn't had anything to eat in hours, either way, he wasn't bugging, he felt really relaxed and soon dozed off into a slumber of unrestful sleep.

The room was becoming chilled.  Carlos begins to wake up, feeling like someone is standing over him, he flutters his eyes open.  Immediately he was tensed to the point beyond moving.  He couldn't scream, he couldn't run, he couldn't even attempt to get up.  He was frozen on the living room sofa with no ability to seek any help whatsoever.  What he saw was impossible, and he swore it had to be a dream, but it felt so real. 

The elderly woman wore a blue dress that looked very old, but fresh.  She was fresh faced and had long kinky, silvery white locks of hair. She wore pearls about her neck and a butterfly pindant on her bosom. She was thin, more like frail, with a pleasant face.  She was no one to be afraid of until you noticed she was floating in the air.

Once she noticed the look of horror and shock on the teenagers face, she gave a faint smile and and gestured with her feeble hand for him to follow her and began to float away toward the kitchen.  Suddenly, Carlos felt like he could move and he wasn't being controlled.  As if he had is own free will to follow the woman or not to follow her.  He wanted to run, this was his chance, but for some reason, she is not making him follow her to the kitchen.  Curious, he began to follow her.

Once he reached the doorway of the kitchen, she was gone.  Just as he was about to grab a glass of water and wonder what was up with the strange dream, the back door to the kitchen swung open and a young boy who looked just exactly like his little brother.  The young boy ran in absolute fear through the kitchen and to the laundry room hiding in the corner by the dryer.

"Robert!  Robert!  Robert!", Carlos shouted.

He didn't know what could be wrong with his brother.  He ran to find out what was wrong.  When he looked in the corner, the boy was gone. 

"What are you yelling my name for?", Robert came in from the living room.

"How'd you get in there, I just seen you run in the house, like somebody was chasing you, with your clothes dirty and blood on your hands!"

Robert looked confused, "No you didn't, I just woke up when I heard you screaming my name.  I thought there was something wrong."

Carlso couldn't get over what was being said.  Robert had to of pulled a trick on him, he knows he seen his brother run and hide, and now he was acting as if he were crazy.

"Man, you need to stay off that weed, you are tripping", Robert said as he walked away.

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     Living in the country can get lonely sometimes, especially for a 5 year old little girl who lives in a house with 2 teenaged uncles who liked to pick on her.  They were 12 and 15.  Tessa's mother was in college, so she mostly was with her grandmother when her mother was working or going to school.  Tessa didn't mind, sometimes her uncles were cool.  They took her on rides on their go-carts and four-wheelers often and let her tag along when they went into the woods to check out the farm on the other side.  There were huge, ugly looking pigs with inflamed snouts that had big