Thump

Sarah stirred underneath her velvet sheets, counting the ticks her clock made from across the room. Her feet twitched restlessly, begging to be used regardless of the time of night. Tomorrow's tryouts refused to leave her mind no matter what she forced herself to think of in its place. She peeked her head out of the covers, checking her clock's time.

3:30 a.m

Sarah flung her covers from her body and got out of her bed. Green knee-high socks matched her emerald and silver shirt. The large silver number three illuminated slightly in the faint light of her nightlight.

Sarah sighed in exasperation as she found her volleyball and began hitting it around her room as quietly as she could. If her mother woke up now and found her out of bed at this hour, there would surely be no volleyball tryouts in the morning for her.

“...out here.” A voice called to Sarah. Her volleyball fell back to the floor as Sarah turned suddenly to her bedroom door.

Sarah's heart raced. She waited for the door to swing open and reveal her mother standing at her doorway with a belt in her hand. Moments passed and her room became quiet again. The ticking of her clock rejoined the crickets melodic chirps from outside. Sarah found her volleyball again and shrugged off the noise to her imagination.

“Here. Out here.” The voice called again, louder this time.

Sarah's skin shivered. She turned away from her bedroom door to where the voice was coming from. Air fluttered in through her window, making her curtains sway. The floorboards of her bedroom creaked as she tip-toed toward her window.

A thought came to her mind that made her hesitate. Her hand froze inches away from the white cotton curtains. Her window was closed when she first went to bed tonight. She was sure of it. Sarah let the cool breeze seeping into her room graze her legs for a moment before coming back to her senses. She obviously must have just forgotten. A slip of the mind.

Thump. Thump.

Sarah's arms shivered in response to the knocking at her window. She begged her feet to move, to carry her back to the comfort of her bed.

“Look out here.” A voice croaked from beyond the window. Sarah slammed her window shut and scurried back to her bed, tossing her blankets over her body.

“You can practice with me. Your mom said so. It's ok.” The raspy voice had settled into a more softer tone. It sounded familiar to Sarah.

Sarah peeked her face out from under her covers and watched her window. The voice continued to knock on the window. Each thump grew louder and louder until the glass of the window began to shake.

“ Go away! I'll get my dad if you don't!” Sarah demanded. She dared not leave the safety of her blankets but felt better as the knocking slowed to a stop.

The voice was silent now. Sarah waited for it to reply from beyond her window but there was only silence.

Sarah inched her arms out of her covers first, slowly peeling back the sheets from her body. She glanced at her bedroom door as she stepped out from her bed again. She kept her body aimed for her bedroom door, ready to run to it should anything happen.

“Please. Look out here. Your mother already said it's ok if we play.” The voice's words were slow and inviting, like a mother's first whisper to her newborn.

Sarah knew her mother would never agree to such a thing. She remembered just how hard it was to convince her to let her try out for volleyball in the first place. The stern woman's reprimanding words on sports not being very lady-like still resounded in her mind. Sarah approached her window again, ripping the curtains away from the window.

“ I know you're lying!” Sarah spat out her window.

She scanned her backyard looking for anyone that might match the voice she was hearing. Mist crawled along the ground. The only living thing Sarah could see through her window was a doe standing near the backyard fence. It's eyes cut through the mist like headlights, watching Sarah.

Sarah sighed, letting go of the breath she didn't realize she was holding. A smile of relief almost came across her face. A dream. She must be dreaming, that's what was happening and she will wake up any moment now.

“ COME OUT HERE!” the doe bellowed at Sarah. It's mouth spasmed and moved abnormally slow as it yelled the words. It's spine shifted under its brown fur until it convulsed violently out of its skin. The doe’s front legs broke on their own and extended far longer than any animal's limbs should extend. Blood sprayed across the lawn as flesh tore from the doe’s body on it's own.

Sarah's heart threatened to burst from her chest. Her face flushed hot red as she watched the animal contort into a man animal hybrid. She bounded for her bedroom door, tripping over her volleyball.

“Mom! Dad!” Sarah screamed. Tears ran down her cheeks as she sprinted down the hallway. The rest of her house was silent. Her own footsteps echoed through the hallway.

Sarah reached her parents’ room and pushed the pearl white door open. The room was empty. Her parents bed was still neatly made, their night gowns laid out across the bed. The only thing out of place and wrong about their room was the open window. Sarah's parents never opened their window, let alone leave it open while they weren't here.

A nagging sensation overwhelmed Sarah. Something told her, begged her not to enter the room. Sarah held her arms close to her chest and inched her way into the room anyway, one step at a time. She held back her cries as best as she could and scanned the empty room for any sign of her parents.

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

Pounding at the window drew Sarah's attention.

“ Your mother already said it was alright. We can play.” The voice called from the open window. Hooves rested on the windowsill, blood soaked globs of black and crimson flesh plopped down to the floor inside the house. It's hooves split apart into digits, so many Sarah lost count of them.

“Come…Play…” the doe hoisted itself through the window, it's face an amalgamation of eyes and mouths all moving and blinking at once.

Sarah screamed until her throat ached, and continued on until she abruptly stopped.The untouched room of her parents fell back into normalcy and silence. The humming buzz of insects outside the open window were the only thing heard throughout the home.