Chapter 7 - A Sudden Emergence

The sudden emergence of their rise 

Had Inflicted conflicts and divides 

Hiding themselves under all of the watchful eyes 

They built the stage of fraud and lies 

Providing their allegiance and ties 

To those who support their goals and prides 

Without honor, always switching sides 

The scums of society, that always spit out derides 

        -Page 6, chapter 4. Poem of the sacred heart by George J. Northtooth. 

……

As myriads of melodies danced in the air, Elizabeth hummed softly in rhythm to the tune of the music on her phone. She always enjoys immersing herself in her studies while listening to her favourite songs. That way, she would be able to focus more and keep herself a little motivated.

She had finished her household works, including cleaning the dishes, her laundries, and all of that. With nothing more to do, she started to study for tomorrow's quiz until she felt tired and sleepy. 

While the noise of the scribbles had been drowned in the melodies of the music, her hand moved in a pattern atop of her test's paper. Ups and downs, the pen began to fill every blank space of the questions as she took stride of them with ease. 

When she was about to finish a whole page full of quizzes, her smartphone that was placed right beside her hand on the desk began to let out the ever familiar ringtone. Throwing a side glance at the smartphone display to see who was calling her at this hour, Elizabeth spotted her best friend's name once more. 

'Ellie?' 

She raised her eyebrows slightly in interest as her hand let down the pen and reached out for her phone. Lifting it up, she swipes up on the phone's display to accept the incoming call and quickly puts the phone right beside her right ear, "What's up, Ellie?" 

"-Tzzkk-" 

incomprehensible noise was what she had received instead of the usual cheerful voice of her friend. The noise sounded static, as if someone put the phone right in the middle of a heavy downpour and let Elizabeth listen only to the sound of the storm. 

"Ellie?" Called out Elizabeth again to make sure if her friend was on the other end of the call. There was no response whatsoever, except for the static noise of a radio. 

"Ellie, are you there? I can't hear anything." Said Elizabeth out loud with her face started to frown deeply in discomfort, "Is this a prank?" 

"-Tzzzzkktt-" 

After waiting for a while and seeing that the situation didn't change for the better, Elizabeth's patience began to thin out. As she was about to end the call, a couple syllables finally sounded out in the middle of the static noises.  

"M… e…" 

Without her knowing it, a faint mist started to form right under her desk and spread onto her room quietly. The temperature of the space had started to drop little by little, while the atmosphere around the room became more ominous and creepier. 

"Ellie, is that you?" Spoke Elizabeth once more, this time with a tone of concern in her voice. Somehow, she felt chills on her skin as the static noise within her phone gave her a gloomy vibe. 

A minute later and still, with no response from her friend whatsoever, Elizabeth decided to end the call there. The mysterious voice she had faintly heard in the middle of the static noises didn't appear again, which made her wonder if her ears were playing tricks on her. 

Shifting her gaze back to her textbooks, Elizabeth picked up her pen and focused her attention to the study at hand. Though the chillness around her made her a little uncomfortable, she ignored it as it might just be in her head or maybe it was simply particularly cold tonight. 

Yet, unlike what she had expected. After the encounter of a creepy prank from her friend, Elizabeth somehow couldn't focus on her study. Not to mention, the discomforting feelings she had felt since earlier haven't gone away for a while now. 

"Ugh… What's wrong with me…" 

Putting down the pen on top of her desk in annoyance, Elizabeth got up from her chair and walked to her bed. Letting the gravity pull her down to her soft and clean bed, Elizabeth fell down with her face first and spread her hands widely in a lazy manner. 

'Suddenly, I'm not in the mood to study…' 

Thinking whether she was always being this lazy out of nowhere, Elizabeth tried to take a breath first and relax before she continued. Then, while she closed her eyes gently and listened to the empty silence within her room, a sudden drowsiness creeped into her psyche without her noticing it. 

In a short few seconds, a muffled noise of a snore could be heard faintly. At the same time that the owner of the bedroom had gone into slumber, before the stillness of the space, the mist around her room had shifted subtly. 

Slowly, very slowly, they drifted around the place as if with an objective in mind. Within minutes, they started to gather and moved together. Flowing freely and unrestrained, while their thickness and mass increased with the passing of time. 

If one would see Elizabeth's room, they would spot how it had changed from the clear and empty space into misty and blurry in a matter of a dozen minutes. Then, the mist swiftly drifted towards a particular direction, to where the owner of the room was unconscious of her surroundings. 

As they became closer and closer, Elizabeth's visage had warped into that of discomfort and unease. In her subconscious state, her body started to let out a few drops of sweat from her forehead, while her small, cute lips were curling down in a pout. 

Squirming in a restless manner, as her bedroom was filled to the brim with mist, in the next moment, something unnatural had happened. Out of the blue, within the shade under her bed, something began to crawl. 

It slid its way unhurriedly amidst the dark, dragging itself as if it was being called by something. 

Then, just as it was about to come out of the cover of the shadow and step out of it, it halted its movements. Everything becomes quiet and stagnant, as a heavy pressure slowly descends upon the slumbering figure in her bed. 

In the blink of one's eyes, it finally set free of the binding darkness and revealed a hinge of its form. With a swift motion, a hand grasped at the corner of the bed, and began pulling itself up.