"Regan, wake up! Regan...." Monica half yelled to her niece from the kitchen. When she heard no response, she approached her and shook her lightly.
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When Regan tried to open her eyes, they felt heavy and she rubbed them strongly. The blurriness washed away itself and she saw Monica's confused expression.
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"Good morning..." she crackled, trying to get up, her voice hoarse. She looked around and saw she was sleeping on the couch; in the living room.
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"Dear, are you okay? Why did you sleep here?" Monica asked.
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Regan looked elsewhere, attempting to remember how and why she slept there.
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"Yeah... I'm okay, I don't know why I slept here, I've must been to tired."
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"You woke up at three, that's why," Monica said.
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"I can't quite recall this," Regan said, her head throbbing.
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"Never mind dear, you were stressed, that's why. Come on, get ready for school."
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Regan sighed frustrated and got up from the couch. She noticed earlier that she was covered with her blue blanket which had been in the closet before. Monica went upstairs, leaving her to get ready.
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The only thing her mind recalled was that she woke after a dream. Then, slowly she remembered everything else.
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"Oh my God!"
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All the memories flooded, like a river out of its banks. Her head pounded and she cursed under her breath, her mind hurting from the night's occurrences. She didn't want to forget, she wanted it to be all a delusion. But when it was so vivid, so clear, there was no way they were all imaginations.
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Regan's memories ended at the recall of her walking in the dark corridor. Then, everything was vanished from her mind. She didn't remember how she slept on the couch, or what happened after she was terrified to the core. But she remembered that something had touched her hair. She held her hands to her face and thought that perhaps she fainted from the excessive fear.
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But then, she thought about the blanket. She rarely used that blanket. And it was weird, how did she fall asleep there? How did she went up in her room to get something to cover herself with? She couldn't remember anything and it was driving her crazy. Maybe she had walked on sleep, but even that, was driving her crazy.
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Nothing made sense in Regan's mind. She didn't know what to think or what to do. Even though she tried to ignore it, she was extremely scared from her house and everything else that had occurred.
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She wanted to leave the house and never turn back again. But how could she say all this to Monica? How could she unravel? Her aunt never believed in paranormal or anything unrelated to normalities.
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One after another, the more intriguing and bizarre things turned. Why would she have slept in the living room? She remembered to have been too terrified to sleep.
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Even if she fainted, she'd be still on the floor and Monica would know.
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Regan was so lost that she wasn't even minding attention of preparing for school. When Monica came in, she somehow got back to reality.
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"Regan, are you ready? You're a bit late."
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"Aunt, can you tell me exactly what happened after you told me to get upstairs and sleep in my room?" Regan asked once more.
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"I already told you Regan. You went upstairs to sleep and so did I. When I woke up early, I found you on the couch," said Monica. She wasn't lying. She knew that Regan got panicked easily and exaggerated things. When she saw her on the couch, first she was confused, but then, she considered that Regan might have been too scared to sleep in her own room.
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"Dear, are you sure you're okay? You were so tired and you don't look good. You saw a dream last night about doors closing themselves and hearing voices," Monica said, "you even woke up that girl, please Regan, this was very rude."
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Her niece didn't say anything. Whatever she'd say, Monica wouldn't believe. So, she let it go and mumbled goodbye.
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She went to school by foot, not wanting to use her car. Maybe some fresh air would help.
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She started to think that her house was really haunted. Or that someone was inside her house. Both were terrifying thoughts that she didn't want to entertain but she couldn't help it.
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Maybe it could've been a thief. But thieves come to steal and if it would have happened, Monica would be the first to notice.
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So, Regan shrugged this possibility away.
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She didn't even want to go to school anymore. She just wanted to go somewhere... somewhere where she wouldn't think about the unsettling occurrences. Where she'd escape her mind, her negative thoughts, all the negativity that ate her whole.
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Until these days, home was always the best option to calm herself; she always felt secure even when she lived in the old flat. She always escaped the wickedness and corruptness of the world.
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But now, even home didn't look safe for her.
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Regan really thought that fresh air was going to help her, but she nearly bumped to a woman who was walking in the road. She muttered an apologu and continued to walk while the woman looked at her angrily.
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She wished that earth would swallow her whole after such a stupidness.
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She made her way to school, while still on the verge of going delusional from all of her endless thoughts.
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In her physics class, she couldn't focus. It was like her mind was stolen away and she couldn't held the brakes from landing it back on the lesson. That would surely affect her grades. She even got called out for a question, but didn't answer because her mind was in other kinds of waters, deep invisible waters.
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"Hey," A voice suddenly spoke in her mind, a husky and spine tingling voice.
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She hadn't heard it in a while. Or that's what she thought. That voice brought a resemblance to someone but when she attempted to connect the pieces together, she couldn't go further than the initial realization.
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"Who are you and what the hell do you want!" Regan retorted. If she couldn't damp her anger elsewhere, because she didn't want to blame anyone for her bizarre occurrences, at least she could throw her frustration in her own mind. She hated her mind after all.
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"You're so grumpy, aren't you, little girl?" the voice taunted. Regan couldn't believe this. How could her mind do this? Didn't it have enough with spreading negativity and dread over her, now it started to openly taunt her? She knew this wasn't her subconscious or whatever, but what could she do? Was she ready to escape reality and believe something else?
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Instead of responding to the nonsense, she continued reading just like teacher told the class to do. She didn't consider the voice real after all.
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"What can I do to cheer you up?" Regan could swear it even chuckled.
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"Get out of my mind! You're not even real!"
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"We'll see about that."
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"Then tell me, what are you?" she asked. She thought that the voice wasn't even real but talking in her head was drifting her mind a bit of the class, which by the way, was once seen as fun, fascinating and challenging, while now, dull, passionless and repetitive.
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"I can't tell that yet, not now."
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"Yes, because you're not real," she snapped back.
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"So you're delusional to hear me."
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Regan stayed quiet and thoughtful. The voice was right, somehow.
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"You know who I am, don't you?"
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Regan frowned, laying on her elbow. Of course. Who else would it be?
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"I'm not a fool to not realize," she snapped.
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"Exactly."
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She looked up to see everyone writing fast on their notebooks, copying notes from the table, while her notes page was empty and blank. She started writing fast to catch up, and ignored the voice as well. It was astonishing how the once empty board, was filled after two minutes that she spoke in her mind.
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Beside Regan was sitting her bizarre friend. Her notes were blank as well. If Regan had what to think and drown in her mind, what was messing in Vesper's mind? Regan noticed that and was confused too.
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Vesper hadn't even talked to her. Regan suggested herself that her friend was holding a grudge because she was waken up abruptly.
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However, with what Regan knew, Vesper would have complained at least, not staying dead silent. She even avoided and ignored her. Regan reasoned that she didn't believe anything of the night's happenings, but still, she was getting frustrated by her friend's lack of interest.
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When even her dearly aunt didn't believe her, how could she expect Vesper to? She had no idea what ran in her friend's mind.
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After the class was finished, Regan spoke to Vesper. She was done with such ridiculous silence.
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"Are you going to talk or what? What's going on? Right, I'm sorry for waking you up, I wasn't in the best state of my mind and you had told me you stayed awake.
Still, that doesn't mean you should shrug me off."
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"Can you tell exactly what happened at night? Whose presence did you feel?" Vesper suddenly asked.
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Another thing knocked on Regan's mind; the presence she felt in her house. She couldn't even explain, it seemed unknown, yet strangely familiar. The mere thought sent goosebumps across her skin.
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"There was a.... thing in my house," she said trying to keep the voice low because students were moving around and she didn't want others to listen, "I felt its presence." The truth was, she knew very well the presence and the voice seemed to belong to the one who had mocked her in her own house, who had touched her hair, who invaded her dreams.
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A frown crossed Vesper's face. Her fists tightened and Regan wondered of what was wrong with this girl.
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"Did you see it?" she asked, her expression unreadable.
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"No, but...that means you believe me?" Regan said with a glimpse hope.
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"I don't know, since you felt it, it might have really been there."
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"Thank you so much for believing me, Vesper," she said, a smile appearing on her face.
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"That's what friends are for," Vesper said and hugged her.
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Regan didn't need proof that her friend was weird. When in a moment she seemed pissed off, now she didn't. Or perhaps, that's what was seen on the surface.
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The bell rang and math class started. Mrs. Smith entered in and immediately told the class to get notes because there was going to be an exam on next week.
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The students groaned in response, but Regan's mind was still preoccupied with the strange voice and presence from the previous night. She couldn't focus on the upcoming exam or
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anything else for that matter. As Mrs. Smith began droning on, Regan tried her best to concentrate, but her mind kept drifting back elsewhere.
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