Out of the corner of her eye, Sophie saw a flash of red. When she whipped her head around, nothing was there. She ended up looking at her closet and bookshelf like they were about to get punched. She didn’t punch them. Her nerves calmed a little bit. Every move she made was followed by a long pause to make sure that she was making those noises and not something else. She turned back to the mirror and started to fix herself up again. She couldn’t completely shake off the feelings that she was getting. She felt like someone was watching her, studying her. Her make up was applied thickly almost too much so; she would have felt self-conscience, but she couldn’t feel anymore self-conscience than she already was. Her dress was a bit too fancy; the blues and purples were too happy and although they looked good, they didn’t look good for going out at night, or going out with Liam. She knew she looked like she was trying too hard, but it was the first time Liam had ever asked her to go out with him. She was a bit frazzled and wanted to look her best. Her blue eyes were big and lined in black eye makeup, her thin lips looked pink and a bit plumper than usual, and her skin clear of any blemishes. When she adjusted her dress, she could clearly feel someone breathing on the back of her neck. It sent goose bumps all over her body and she literally shook from the chills the feeling sent through her. The fear that spread through her got her heart beating loudly in her ear.

Even though she was looking in the mirror and could clearly see no one standing behind her to be causing that sensation. She twisted herself quickly, nearly losing balance. There was nothing there. When she ran her hand through it to see if there was something invisible there, it slipped right through but made her feel like she had just dunked her hand into a tub of ice-water. She pulled her hand away and the feeling only dimmed slightly. She took a step backwards and bumped into her dresser. Unaware that she was standing that close to the dresser, her backside bumping into something just confirmed her thoughts of someone being in the house, no matter how improbable. Her breath caught in her throat, she spun around again and looked at her frightened self in the mirror. Before she blinked, she noticed something with blinding white eyes staring at her from outside her window, on the second floor. By the time she opened her eyes from blinking, whatever it was had gone.

“C’mon, Sophie. Pull yourself together. If you’re this frazzled when Liam comes to get you, he’ll never speak to you again.” The fact that she had actually spoken to herself out loud, worried her a little more than slightly.

She started to think about how the house was empty. She was alone because her parents had gone out on a date and her sister was sleeping over at a friend’s house. She was going to be alone until her parents got home later, which was supposed to be very late. Which is why her parents let her go out; they didn’t want her being home all alone for that long.

Sophie decided to get out of her room. She grabbed her purse from the pink fluffiness that was her bed and scurried out of the room, knowing that she should be feeling too happy to be on-edge like this. She closed the door with her back to the hallway, and then felt chills spreading out quickly from the back of her neck. She spun around to put her back to the wall. There was nothing behind her, but she kept scanning the area as if something was going to appear out of thin air or just walk out from the darkness of her sister’s room.

She slid her way down the hall, keeping her back against the wall and her eyes aware for any change in the surroundings. There never was one. She had just gotten to the top of the stairs when she heard a knocking at the door. In reality, she knew it was Liam coming to pick her up for their date. But there was a voice in her head screaming at her to just lock herself in the bathroom and not to come out until her parents got home. She almost listened to that voice, until she heard Liam call to her from the door downstairs and knocked again. Hearing the sound of Liam’s muffled voice and knowing that he was actually there made her ignore the voice.
As she walked down the stairs, she decided that she most definitely heard footsteps following her down the stairs. Every time she took a step there would be two thuds on the stairs instead of one. They were faint, like someone trying to be quiet, but most definitely there. She turned her head to the side, almost not wanting to look. Once she saw, she most definitely wished she hadn’t looked. Behind her was a translucent figure that looked like it was from a black-and-white film; she could see through him to a blurred version of the wall behind him. The actual figure was a man, wearing a pin-striped suit. The jacket of the suit was unbuttoned and messy; there were stains of dark gray, nearly black on it and rips in the fabric in multiple places. The pants were the same. The shirt underneath also had stains that were much darker than the light gray of the shirt. The first couple buttons were undone, the shirt open in a distasteful way. The tie around the figure’s neck was loose, hanging low down its front. There seemed to be a giant gash in it, nearly going from the knot near the neck to the tip of the tie.

The figure’s face was blotchy, different shades of gray. The thin lips were curled into a disturbing smile, showing the different shades of the crooked teeth behind them. They nose was large, and looked crooked, like someone had thrown a really good punch. The hair was long enough to be sticking up and going in different directions, enough to look insane. The eyes were wide and crazy, looking right through Sophie as if she were the one who was translucent and not he.

She couldn’t decide if she had subconsciously forced herself to notice the giant knife in his hand last, or if that was just the way it had happened. The knife was the only part of the figure behind her that seemed solid. The handle was black, the blade was silver, the edge covered with a vibrant red. She didn’t even think to scream, all she could think was about how she would never get to go on that date with Liam.
The figure raised its arm, and swung down on a diagonal, sufficiently chopping off Sophie’s head. The figure faded as Sophie’s body collapsed and tumbled down the stairs while the head bounced down before it. . Blood was splattered across the walls and dripped down the stairs.
* * *
News report from Greenbrook Herald. Greenbrook, New Jersey.

A young girl was found decapitated in her home, the night of September 17th, 2011, by her parents coming home from a late night out. The girl, Sophia Alaster, 17, was home alone that night and had planned to go on a date with a friend of hers from school, Liam Daniels. A neighbor of Sophia said that she saw the boy drive to the house and wait outside the door for ten minutes, then leave without Sophia with him.

The Alaster house was the site of the 1950s murder and suicide of Sophia and Kevin Johnson. Sophia’s sister, Elizabeth Alaster, 13, said that Sophia had been complaining about a creepy feeling in the house since they had moved in only a few months ago. The house in question has been on and off the market every couple of years or so since the incident of death in the 1950s.

The lack of evidence in the scene of the crime leads the police to believe that it was a suicide with an accomplice, who cleaned up anything that would be incriminating. There are no leads now, but the police will keep up their search.