Page 13 of Shadowface

Dani grabs our leftover take out Chinese food from last night and takes a bite. “Creepy as fuck,” she says, chewing with her mouth open. “But we’re going to that party on the twenty-first if you want to come?”

Misty’s eyes widen. “Yeah, I’ll go to that.”

I walk to the fridge and grab a bottle of water, avoiding all of Misty’s annoying boxes, and my phone lights up on the counter beside me.

Dani looks at me and smiles. “See now you have to go, Summer. Misty’s coming, too.”

I glance down at the phone and swipe open the message. My world dims and I can barely register Dani’s voice. This time, there is no mistaking it…

It’s a similar photo as the one sent to the class, but it’s zoomed out and there is no mask on her head. And this time there is no mistaking the arched ceilings above me.

It’s a photo of me sleeping in my bed, my breasts hanging out, the blanket hanging off my hips. My heart nearly bursts out of my chest. It was taken in this house…the one I’ve lived in for less than a week. Dani and I only moved in on Saturday.

“Are you okay, Summer?” Dani and Misty stop their conversation and both stare at me.

My breath catches in my throat. “Yeah,” I lie. “I’m going to go study.”

I excuse myself and burst into my bedroom and immediately slam my window shut.

CHAPTER

FIVE

SUMMER

Ibarely sleep, nightmares plaguing my mind as I toss and turn all night, still not used to the creaky house or the eerie silence of this smaller rural town. I’m used to noise. Mystic is much bigger than Kinsmen.

Here? I can hear a pin drop. Or someone scream.

I didn’t hear anyone scream, although I screamed in my dream. The kind where no sounds come out.

I roll over in my bed and realize I’m sticky with sweat dripping down my back. I’ve slept with my window open for the last six years, and last night was the first night I slept with it closed. Moonlight streamed through my window, making the trees sparkle with an ethereal glow.

Six years… It’s been six years since I first saw him in the corner of my bedroom in that burlap mask, six years since he started visiting me at night. Two years since he stole my innocence, with no sign of him since. Before then, he only watched me, and sometimes he touched me, but it was mainly desperate whispers in my dreams of how much he hated me.

After years of visiting me during the darkest parts of the night, he finally fucked me. His body was pressed against mine, and I opened my legs, inviting him in. After the initial shock of what was happening, and the first jolt of pain from when he pushed into me, my body absorbed him.

I died a little inside at how good he was. His hands were soft, inviting. He lifted his mask only to kiss me, and his kisses were intoxicating.

I wasn’t scared. At that point, I had already fallen in love with him. I simply couldn’t accept that he hated me, especially considering his actions didn’t align with his words. Over the years, whenever I had my recurring nightmare, he seemed to be there at the edge of my bed with that creepy mask, caressing my hairline with his thumb, telling me it was going to be okay.

It makes me wonder how often he was there, and I was unaware.

Then he was gone and never came back, and I had no proof he was real—other than the blood on my sheets when I woke up the next morning. I waited for him the next night, and the days and weeks after. I left the window open, hoping he’d return, but he never did.

He ruined me.

Over the years, I’ve convinced myself he was not real; I could have easily made myself bleed while dreaming of him.

I grab my phone and see a missed text from Dani.

Dani: You good up there?

It was from three hours ago. It’s now three in the morning, so I don’t respond.

The air in my room is suffocating, so I rise and open the window, inviting the cool crisp fall air into my room. I glance outside and see the outline of the dark firs and the stars in the clear night. No masked man, nothing but a hint of mist and the twinkling morning dew.

He’s not real…my nightmare. My dreams are not real.