Yawning heavily, Hunter rubbed his eyes before cracking open his textbook. A notebook and pen followed though Hunter’s attention was lacking as the lesson began.
Sleep had almost completely escaped the blue-haired teen the past couple of nights. The unnerving feeling of being watch in one’s own room would be enough to keep anyone awake. Looking around said quarters to see no one present was unsettling but so was the sound of the faint sound of rapping along what could’ve been glass.
Again, not seeing anyone, even after thorough investigation, was enough to keep anyone awake through the late hours of the night. When sleep finally seemed within reach, it was ripped away by the buzzing sound of the alarm clock. With less than an hour to actually rest, it was safe to assume that Hunter was a little more than a bit tired or cranky for that matter.
Head dipping as he mindlessly turned another page, dark eyes slid shut while the lesson plan started to sound more and more like the adults from a Charlie Brown cartoon. Leaning forward until his forehead hit the textbook, he continued to sleep before being startled by the sound of the bell.
Perking at the sound of others gathering their things, Hunter glanced down at the small puddle of drool that was smearing some of the ink in his book. Wiping it away quickly, as well as the stream at the corner of his mouth, Hunter collected his things and headed out but not before being stopped by the clearing of the teacher’s throat.
“I do hope you enjoyed your little nap, Mr. Quinn.”
“Oh, uh…I wasn’t-” Having a yellow slip presented, the teen grimaced. “Right…”
Trudging out of the classroom as he eyed the detention slip, Hunter grudgingly tucked it into his pocket as he made his way to his locker. Fumbling with the combination, he banged his head on the door before finally managing to get the lock undone.
“Hey, Papa Smurf~!”
Pulling his head from the locker, Hunter cut his eyes at the brunette standing alongside him. “What did you just say?”
“Papa-”
“I thought I told you not to use that name in school…or ever for that matter.”
“Why~?” Michael questioned before slapping a hand across his friend’s back. “It’s fitting, don’t ya’ think?”
“Oh, yeah. I completely agree with you on that one.” Tensing at the voice, Hunter turned to see Mitch standing cheekily in the hallway. “It hasn’t even been three days and you already got a fitting nickname, huh, Papa Smurf.”
Clenching a hand at his side, Hunter let it go lax as he offered a sleepy smile. “Yeah, do you think it fits?” he questioned. “I was hoping for something better, something cool…epic.”
Chewing his lip at the thought of being chastised and perhaps even ostracized when this situation had concluded, Mikey glanced at the nonexistent watch on his wrist before snagging Hunter by the arm.
“As nice as this lil talk is, we got prior engagements,” he said, staring to shove his friend in the opposite direction. “Off we go~!” Rounding the corner, Hunter wrenched his arm back before continuing down the hall. “Hun-!”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Hunter let out a slow exhale before turning around to face Michael. Not needing to say anything to get the point across, he continued on to his final class, hoping that a bit of Chemistry would do him good.790Please respect copyright.PENANA8zlulILA97
Kicking his door shut, Hunter trudged to the bathroom to wash off the soot clinging to his face. Chemistry was definitely one of those classes where one shouldn’t sleep, especially when messing with potentially flammable chemicals.
Glaring at the reflective surface as he stared at the black powder smudged over his face, Hunter sighed soon after as he reached for the soap. The unsettling feeling of being watched had him looking around before he was staring at his reflection again. Seeing the dirty face just staring back at him, he shook his head prior to just running the shower.
Recalling the long day, everything from receiving detention for tomorrow to nearly starting a fire in class, Hunter wanted nothing more to finish his shower, do his homework and try to get some sleep.
“Hun!”
“I’m in the shower!” he called before tensing as he heard his bathroom door open. “Mom!”
“Hun, I received a call from your school.” Her son tensed but continued washing up. “Hunter, did something happen in Chemistry.”
“Nothing worth talking about.”
“Did you almost set a lab on fire?”
“Mom, can we not talk about this while I’m in the shower?”
“Hun-”
“Mom, not now!” he snapped before poking his head from around the curtain. “Look, mom, can we please talk about this later?”
“Hunt-”
“Please?” he pressed.
“Fine; but we’re discussing this the moment your father gets home.”
The idea of a hot shower ruined, Hunter walked out of the bathroom and back into his room. Tossing the towel aside once he at least had boxers on, he flopped down on his bed before closing his eyes.
Sleep sounded so wonderful at the moment.
Blissful unconsciousness with no interruptions sounded almost too good to be true.
And it was.
A faint rapping made dark and tired eyes crack open slowly. When the sound increased in volume, Hunter groaned before pulling a pillow over his head. His eyelids the drifted close when the sound had stopped for the time being. Minutes later, he sat up grudgingly as he heard the sound again.
Getting to his feet as he didn’t see anything like usual, he checked his window then television. Walking over to his dresser, he stared at his reflection in the mirror before yawning when nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Hearing the sound again, he looked over his shoulder to see the mirror that his father had brought in just a few days before. Making his way over to the unwanted piece of furniture, Hunter rubbed his eye before pausing when his reflection didn’t seem to do the same thing for a moment. Repeating the action, he dismissed it when his reflection acted accordingly. Rubbing his eyes once more, he paused when his second self didn’t appear to mirror what he had just been doing not even a few seconds before.
Eyeing his reflection, Hunter shivered involuntarily when he felt as if he was being watched. Looking about the bedroom, he backed away from the mirror prior to hearing the faint sound of something tapping on glass.
There was nothing at his window; he even closed the blinds and curtains. He checked the smaller mirror affixed to his bureau and, as it had been before, nothing was out of the norm with it.
However, despite consistencies, Hunter couldn’t suppress the tremor shooting down his spine.
It was safe to safe that one should feel relatively safe in their home, especially being in their own room.
“I’m just tired,” he murmured to himself as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just… tired”
It was logical since he only gotten a handful of hours in the past few days.
The idea of insomnia was out of the question as he had never had difficulty sleeping before. If anything, he was sure he could sleep like a rock under normal circumstances.
The sound of faint tapping soon caught his attention once more. Everything had been checked from his bathroom to the window. Glancing at the old mirror, Hunter took a small step forward before stilling when he heard the sound of tapping.
It alternated between light and heavy, almost melodically. Despite this oddity, that wasn’t exactly what had the teen stilling. No, it was more so the angle of the mirror. With the way it was positioned, Hunter shouldn’t have been able to see more than perhaps his foot or even part of his leg. Nevertheless, the teen was staring at a majority, if not, his entire reflection.
Dark blue eyes stared at an equally dark – if not darker – pair of eyes. The mirrored pair seemed perhaps a tad too sharp. His reflection seemed a bit too close to the glass as well, especially for when the original was nowhere near the reflective surface.
“…tired.” Hunter had to be rational about this. “I’m just seeing things,” he muttered to himself as he gradually approached the mirror.
Mirrors could only reflect was present. Unless it was a trick, and he highly doubted his mom would purchase a cheap novelty, Hunter couldn’t – or wouldn’t – allow his mind to be boggled by the strangeness in front of him.
It was just a mixture of exhaustion and stress. He had been through a lot that day. Mikey had basically given the name ‘Papa Smurf’ to the jock on a silver platter, he had received a detention for falling asleep and he had nearly set the Chemistry lab on fire.
Rubbing his eyes once more, either from the lack of sleep or to figure out what was going on exactly, Hunter paused in his ministrations when he heard the faint sound of knocking. A noticeable shiver even ran through his body as he turned his attention back to his reflection to see it holding the same pose he was.
“I’m just hallucinating,” he uttered as he rubbed his eyes.
He then headed to his bed and climbed beneath the coves. His eyes drifted shut, finally hoping to receive some well-deserved rest.
Not even five minutes did his eyelids slide open to the sound of tapping .Lying beneath the covers, he sighed irritably before sitting up when the sounds increased in volume. Falling back amongst the pillows when it had stopped, his eyes snapped open at the sound of knocking at his door.
“What?!” he snapped at the opening door. He then shifted uncomfortably when his dad eyed him from the entrance. “H…Hi, dad.”
“Yeah, I hope you weren’t too comfortable just lying in bed,” he replied.
“U..um, n-no. What’s up?”
“Oh….not much,” his dad said as he opened the door completely. “But, since you seem to have some free time, why don’t we discuss today’s school matters downstairs with your mother, shall we?”
“There’s nothing to talk about…” he grumbled. “I just wanna go to sleep.”
“Well, I wasn’t asking and sleep’s gonna have to wait,” the older man said. “Your mom’s in the living room waiting.”
“But-”
“Now.”
“But-!”
“Hunter Alexander Quinn, if I have to say it one-”
“Ok, ok,” Hunter groused as he threw the covers off.
Walking over to the door, he glanced at the mirror posted in his room before heading downstairs.
The idea of sleep sounded lovely right about now as Hunter trudged his way back into his bedroom. Shutting the door behind him, the blue-haired teen exhaled slowly as he scrubbed a hand down his face while making his way to the warm and inviting bed. Falling face first into his pillow, he lay there in content before grabbing the edge of the covers.
Then came the faint rapping noise he had heard for several nights now. Stiffening as the sound grew louder, he sat up to take a cursory glance as it stopped. Looking over his shoulder as he started up again, he turned around slowly to stare at the large mirror posted on the other side of his room. Turning around fully, Hunter rubbed at one of his eyes as he realized something off about the reflection.
“I’m just tired…” he muttered to himself as he began to settle in for the night.
The sound of knocking then roused him back into an upright position. Giving his room a quick glance, his attention then drifted back to the only foreign object in the room. Crawling his way to the edge of his bed as the knocking grew softer, Hunter sat up to stare at the reflection to see it leaning against the footboard.
However, that couldn’t have been right as he was sitting after all. Muttering to himself to get it together, he headed back towards his pillow before freezing at the sound of tapping.
He told himself to ignore it as he pulled the blankets over his head.
He willed his eyes shut as the sound grew louder.
“Hey…” came a whisper followed by the faint sound of tapping. “Hey, I know you’re not sleeping…”
Stiffening slightly, Hunter remained still until the incessant tapping came to a halt. Cracking his eyes open, he stared at the underside of his blanket before sitting up slowly to look around the room.
Nothing was out of the ordinary.
Nothing except the creepy mirror sitting across from his bed.
Scrubbing a hand across his face as he made his way across the room, Hunter came to a halt in front of the mirror. Eyeing the thing from top to bottom, he then turned the object around before hearing the faint sound of tapping.
Massaging the side of his head at the idea of irrational fear, Hunter turned the mirror towards him to see himself in the moonlit room.
“It’s just a reflection,” he muttered to himself as he turned the mirror towards the wall.
Chanting that little mantra as he got back in bed, Hunter let out a yawn before turning his back to the mirror as he drifted off to sleep.
Not even an hour into his slumber did he hear the sound again and with a glance at his alarm clock Hunter knew this would be another night he’d have without sleep.
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