It was just one week til school started, and the sixteen year old Whitney was only too eager to get out of the house. She was never horribly uncomfortable around her aunt, but her cousin was a different story. In all the time she had been in Oregon, her cousin did not speak a word to her. Whitney tried to get to know her the best she could, but it was as if the little girl was making an effort to remain distant.
After a long day of chores and a delicious dinner on the back patio looking over the water, Whitney felt it was time to go to bed. She carried her and her aunt’s dishes in from the backyard table as it just began to lightly rain. In the distance there was lightning and Whitney had to make sure the table was all cleaned up before the storm got too close. She gathered the leftover food and the remaining silverware with plenty of time.
Just after the sunset, Whitney bid Lily goodnight and walked up the stairs, passing her little cousin on the landing without a greeting. Her masked cousin looked up at her as she passed, and then continued down the stairs.
Whitney crawled into her small bed, cramped between her dresser and wall, right next to the window. She was tired, but could not help but watching the storm creep up in the window. The lightning got brighter and the thunder louder, but after hours, she managed to cry herself to sleep.
It was about 3 a.m when Whitney was awoken by the loudest crackle of thunder she had ever heard. She sprang up, heart beating out of her chest and sweating. Trying to catch her breath she looked around her room to try spot the clock and see what time it was. The rain was still beating down in one of the biggest storms since her family’s accident.
After a moment, a strike of lightning lit up the room; she saw something, or someone, standing within arm’s reach of her bed. She was terrified, but the next flash of lightning seconds later revealed the figure’s identity. It was a short hooded figure wearing a yellow raincoat, gloves, red rain boots, and a hand drawn mask. Whitney screamed, but under the roar of the thunder, it was hardly audible. “What do you think you’re doing!” Whitney screamed at her cousin. “Well?” she said, “You can give someone a heart attack doing something like that.” Whitney was always respectful of the girl’s silence, but right now, she demanded a response. She grabbed her cousin by the arm as she brought her feet to the floor. “Tell me what you are doing in here!” yelled Whitney again. No response. She pulled her little hooded cousin in and grabbed the mask over her face pulling it off in one fell swoop.
Darkness. Under the mask their was nothing. Pitch black, no face. Just an empty hood. Whitney screamed and began crying. She was terrified and squirmed her way back to the corner of her bed while kicking the faceless hood down to the floor. The moment the raincoat fell to the ground, Whitney jumped back to her feet and ran for the door, still weeping. “LILY!” she screamed “LILY PLEASE HELP ME!” Whitney ran to her Aunt’s bedroom not even thinking to look behind her to see if the faceless girl was following. She got her room and burst through the door to find nothing more than an empty, clean bed with a note on it. She picked it up and read it to herself in a soft voice. “I’m Sorry.” Whitney teared up some more and wiped her face, trying to keep her fear under control.
She ran back out into the main hall and saw her faceless cousin standing at the end of it. “LEAVE ME ALONE!” She yelled as the house was suddenly shaken by a bolt of lightning hitting the main chimney. Whitney fell to her feet and rolled down the stairs, barely dodging the wood from the newly torn hole in the roof. She picked herself up and ran through the kitchen for the exit. At the dinner table, Whitney saw another figure sitting, motionless. “Lily..?” She whispered. She moved closer to her, while watching the stairs for the demonic girl to follow. Their was an empty glass on the table next to her body, along with several spilled pill bottles. Lily had ended her life herself.
Whitney ran for the back door not even able to give much thought to her aunt. She slid open the backyard door and ran down the deck stairs. On the last step, she slipped and fell face down into the packed sand, with a large glass shard stabbing her in the leg. It took her a few seconds to move. She looked up and saw her hooded cousin, wearing the mask again. “WHAT DO YOU WANT!” Screamed Whitney in pain. The masked girl slowly shook her head and took a few steps away. Whitney, immobile, watched as the coated figure picked up a large chunk of bricks from the now fallen chimney, almost the size of her. Her strength was inhuman. The girl walked back over to Whitney, and dangled the bricks over her head. “PLEASE. NO” Whitney said crying. “YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THIS.” The girl raised it over her own head, preparing to drop it. Whitney quickly grabbed the glass shard from her leg and jumped at the little girl with all her might driving it into her sternum. The rock fell behind her as she tackled the girl.
Black goo began oozing from the raincoat. Whitney looked at the mask one more time before lifting herself up and limping away. She slowly made her way to the front of the house to be greeted by the long, steep staircase that first brought her here. Whitney hobbled down the stairs quickly, not entirely sure of what she did to her cousin or if whatever it was still alive.
As soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs, she was able to reach the main road. She waddled to the middle of it and slammed her hands down on the first car that stopped. A man rolled down the window. “Miss, whats wrong?” Whitney could not speak, only cry. The man let himself out of the car and grabbed a blanket from the trunk. He threw it over Whitney, and escorted her to the backseat. The man got back in the driver’s seat and took off. “It’s alright mam. Everything is okay now. Everything is going to be okay.”
