Horror Stories from Horrified - Volume One (2)

After a w hile, I began to calm dow n. I still have to sleep in this room, I thought. I
tossed and tur ned for a w hile befor e falling into a half-consciousness. That's w hen I
hear d it again ? the same scr atching noise I hear d on my fir st night.
I sober ed quickly, sat up and fixed my gaze ar ound the r oom. My fir st thought
was r ats or mice; w hich w ould be fair to assume in a house as old as this one. Then,
betw een hear ing the noise and guessing w hat it might be, the noise suddenly
stopped.
I thr ew the cover s fr om me ? slightly scar ed, mor e intr igued ? and flung myself
fr om the bed, sear ching the r oom for evidence. The floor was my fir st por t of call,
although I was w ell awar e that if it was r ats or mice they w ould have long
scar per ed by now. Then, the detective in me led me to the w indow.
I shook the w indow fr ame, listening for the noise, convincing myself it must be
that. It had to be. It wasn?t. A feeling of fr ustr ation fell over me. I dr opped my head
and closed my eyes.
When they opened, they fell upon the pages. The blank pages of my diar y. My
diar y was open, but I hadn?t opened it; and the pages w er en't, in fact, blank. Ther e
was something w r itten on them. They r ead:
"I am confined..."
Confined? Who? And to what? I thought.
Without hesitation, I gr abbed the diar y to inspect fur ther. The adr enaline r aced
ar ound my body. I then r ushed out of the r oom, acr oss the hallway and descended
the stair s.
I knew w her e he was. He was ther e ever y night: his study.
The door bur st open to r eveal Mr. Chilter n sitting in half-dar kness, at this desk, a
glass of w hisky in hand. He tur ned br iefly.
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