The Dark

Some people are afraid of heights, others may be afraid of pickles, spiders, even spoons, but me? I’m afraid of a little girl. A 5 year old “angel” to her family, but the devil to me and my friends. She may  seem innocent and sweet, but don’t be fooled, this little girl was anything but.

It all started after a day of laser tagging, my four friends (Mandy, Taryn, Shelby, Haylie) and I were relaxing in Haylie’s basement, when it occurred to us that hey, it was 4:30 pm, and we should watch a horror movie. After looking through Netflix movie suggestions, we settled on Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, which is a movie about, well , not being afraid of the dark. We watched the movie with countless jumps and screams from all.

After eating dinner, we decided to go outside and swing on the tire swing. Taryn, who was always afraid of hitting the tree, had agreed to go on the swing. She was, as you can expect, scared and screaming. While all of the attention was on Taryn, I saw Haylie’s neighbor, Sammy, appear out of the woods. She reminded me of a fairy, in  her little shorts and a shirt, shoes and dark brown hair. Her skin was pale, with dark brown eyes. Her face was painted, and she looked like a pirate. Momentarily, the others noticed her, too. She inched closer as the swing came to a stop. “Can I try,” she said, I her voice which was a high sounding pitch. The only thing I remember for a while, was Sammy eyeing down Taryn, saying “wee” , in a monotone voice, obviously making fun of when Taryn was afraid on the swing.

Following the swing, we did some dancing, and some chatting, but then Sammy turned to Haylie – who was obviously her favorite – and asked to see her room.  Shelby, trying to take charge, told Sammy that maybe in a little bit we could go upstairs, but we should maybe just stay outside. A glare was given, followed by a scream, then we took her hand and marched up the stairs.

When we finished taking her to Haylie’s room, she looked up at us, and said “Now come see my room.” After making her ask her mom, a group of five teenagers walked into a five year olds room.  She had the classic room: butterflies, stuffed animals, and only one toy though, a light up wand from Disney. Her door also had a lock on it.  She took us out one by one and showed us how to lock the door, then unlock it. After all the lessons, she turned off the light. The reason behind this was to show us her little spinning light up wand.  After showing us the wand, the kept the lights off. She told us all to get on the bed, and as good people, we climbed up on the bed. Prancing around us, the pulled out all of the night lights, saying “We’re going to turn off these, and unplug these,” then reaching for the blinds, letting in barely any sunlight and saying, “and close these.” By the time she was finished, she had made sure all light was gone.

Being trapped in that room, dark, with her taking light steps  around us on bed for about 3 minutes, Sammy told us all to get up, and then go out of her room. We all stood up to leave, when she stopped Taryn and told her to stay in her room. From the outside, we could hear them fighting over whether the lights should be on or not. Finally, Taryn said that she needed to go to the bathroom, so she could get out of there.

Taryn, being the idiotic person she is, told the little girl that there was no toilet paper in the bathroom. Sammy grabbed Taryn by the hand and pulled her to the master bedroom, where there was a bathroom.   Dragging her around a corner, Sammy pointed to the bathroom and told Taryn that she could “go in there.” As Taryn closed the door, she saw the master bathroom light turn off, then she looked out and Sammy was locking the door. Taryn, like a right-minded person would, asked, “What are you doing?” And the response, from a five year old, in a high pitched voice, “We’re going to play in here.”

Sprinting out of the room, Taryn told us that we should go, because something was not normal about this little girl. Sammy, then back in her room, took me, and told me to give her my phone. Sammy  knew I had phone my , so I had no other choice. She collected the other phones, then made Mandy and I go in a timeout.  Still with no lights on, we were all thinking about the horror movie we had previously watched, and all just assumed that we were not going to make it out alive. Sammy, who had put us (Mandy and I)in the hallway, then left her room to go to the bathroom.

As she returned into her room, from the inside, she put her head through the crack and told Mandy and I that she’d be back for us. With that, we booked it to her room, and then got our friends and left. When we were walking down the stairs, she followed us, and said in the voice that gave us shivers  “Come back and we can play some more.”

Looking back on this story, I know it doesn’t seem that scary. I mean, we took harassment from a five year old. But being locked in a room, with all the lights off, and a girl with pirate makeup pacing around you, it was terrifying. I can’t believe that something is normal about a little kid who likes to be in the dark.  From that day forward, I can still hear her voice screeching in ears, I can feel her cold hands up against mine, I can see her face haunting me in the dark…but only in the dark.