Thank you to @rtomford71 on Wattpad for giving me this incredible story idea!!!
I pulled my car into the driveway at midnight exactly, the car shaking from the cracked and worn driveway, the driveway of my new home.
I shut the car off, pulling the keys out of my pocket. Even with it being so late at night by now, only the dim and pale glow of the singular street lamp in the culdesac, the faulty light flickering as I walked through the yard, weeds long overgrown across the grass and growing through the cracks in my driveway.
It wasn't much, with only one floor and being built completely out of wood; parts of which were already starting to rot.
But it would be close to the job I had acquired, working the night shift cleaning a nearby hotel. But most importantly it was safe. It would be free from the monsters, those horrible creatures which seemed to plague my old house like rats or some other malevolent pest.
Ever since I had been young, just a boy even, I had been able to see the monsters that traversed the world; Beasts that could kill, could extract the life right out of their victims while making it seem like a natural death, their power of becoming invisible to the humans proving to their aid as to never be noticed, for it to never be suspected that there were supernatural forces involved.
But I had been able to see them, their grotesque and animalistic forms since I was just a child, since that fateful day at the beach when I had first seen one, when it had stalked up to my sister who was all alone in the ocean, the beast moving too quickly for it to be stopped before it killed-
No! I wouldn't allow myself to think about that right now. The monsters, the constant fear nestled within me, unwilling to leave like a damn parasite was behind me now, still at my oblivious parents house who still believed me mentally ill. I was sure they were more than happy— ecstatic even to be rid of me now.
I inhaled deeply, focusing my mind on my house, just as worn as in the pictures. It would be hard to bring this place to whatever former-glory it had at the time it was built, but it would be better than my parents home, anything would be better than that, than those sleepless nights I'd endured as a child while the monsters taunted me, showing me their horrific forms while I cried out to my parents that would never come.
I heard a sudden beeping, a buzz coming from my portable phone. It was my mother.
"Ryan," I could hear her voice sound from the crackly speaker of my Nokia. "Did you get home safe?"
"Yes, mother. It was quite a long drive, but yes. I'm alright." I said into the phone, even if I wasn't in the mood to speak to her in that moment.
"Good... I'm still worried about you Ryan, you know we still have people to speak to if you keep having those hallucinations. I actually found a reputable therapist-"
"I'm fine, mother." I said gruffly, my fists clenching. "And they aren't hallucinations, I've already told you that."
"Well excuse me for having concern over my own son!" She snapped. "I just want the best for you, and running away from your problems won't help anyone. You need to see a doctor."
"I'm tired." I said bitterly. "I'll speak to you in the morning."
"Don't start up with this bullshit, Ryan! You can't just ignore me, I don't want you to-"
I slammed my finger on the end key, my mother's voice cutting off as I ended the call. I didn't need her consolidation anymore for gods sake, I was a damn adult. And the fact that she wouldn't trust a word I had said about the monsters, even though I was eighteen now, it pissed me off more than I would care to tell her.
I sighed, shoving the key into the rusted lock, having to apply much more force to cause the rusted knob to twist and let me into the foyer.
My eyes instinctually darted across the dark space of the house, my breathing becoming more rapid for just a moment before I shook my head, stopping myself. They're not here, I told myself.
The interior of the house wasn't much better, most of the old furniture with a coat of dust covering their surfaces, the house giving the feel similar to some sort of cabin, being constructed entirely of wood.
I set down my small backpack, most of the belonging I took inside. I didn't want to bring anything else from my house, anything that brought back those horrid memories.
I dragged my suitcase upstairs, to the singular bedroom the house had, with one small window pointing into the nearby forests of North Carolina.
I exhaled, my shoulders slumping as I was feeling quite tired by now. I looked at my belongings, my backpack slumped against the wall.
It could wait. After all, I had my first day of the new job at the hotel tomorrow, from 7pm to 3am.
It would be a great much later than what I'd been used to, but jobs didn't tend to to be plentiful this deep in the Appellation Mountains.
I shucked off my sweater, than shirt, stripping myself to where I was just in my boxers before throwing myself into the mattress on the bed. There were no blankets but I didn't care, resting my head onto what had to be one of the most uncomfortable mattresses I had slept on, grabbing my sweater from the floor and using it as a pillow.
I relaxed. You're safe here. There are no monsters this far away from home, I thought to myself. They wouldn't get me here, not being in such a remote part of North Carolina anyway.
I closed my eyes, willing my muscles to loosen as I settled my head onto the pillow, leaving way for my thoughts to slowly dissolve in my mind, finally drifting to sleep.