A loud hissing sound was ringing all over the winding lane. The dark night kept getting darker as owls hooted from elsewhere. A lone night dog howled loudly which made a dozen of other dogs to accompany the first. The unmistakable sound of a long dark cloak swished through the rusty leaves. The sound of hundred crickets was damaging the silence of the night. The cloak swished for two more miles and finally stopped on a dead end. A high pitched scream issued from inside the hood of the cloak. The head turned down, examining the victim below its feet.

Skylar looked up. She was shivering in horror. She could not see clearly. Her vision was blurred. She could only hear what was happening around her. She felt as though she had even lost her voice. She even tried to scream, but only air left her mouth. Her fear was too much for her to bear and she started shivering too much. She felt the heat rise up in her cheeks. There was an immeasurable level of pain issuing from all over her body. She was lying down in a very awkward angle and she tried to move her body so that she could take her arm from under her body. She could feel the hand pressed under her go numb, due to the stopping of blood flow. But as soon as Skylar tried to move her arm, pain shot through her left knee. If she was not mistaken she thought that her left leg might be scratched or it was folded in a very awkward angle. Skylar tried to sit up straight. She shut her eyes tight and trying to withhold the pain she bit her lip. But as soon as she tried to move her head to the side, a sound of cracking was heard. Skylar howled in pain as the birthmark behind her neck started to burn. She tried to turn her head to the other side and again the cracking was heard. Skylar assumed that the birthmark behind her neck was attached to the ground, as though a wire made of a bone was connected to the ground, which was issued from her birthmark, and Skylar had a very bad feeling thinking that the cracking she had heard was from the breaking of her neck. She cried in pain. She had no where to turn to. Sobbing uncontrollably, Skylar tried to open her eyes. Pain shot through her eyelids but suddenly she was able to see. There was clear vision again. Skylar looked up. She screamed.

It was her. Yes, there was no doubt about it. That same face which had been following Skylar for a long while. Skylar was not able to see her face as it was covered with a black hood, but she knew that it was her face beneath that cloak. She stood towering over Skylar and the odd eerie silence rang through Skylar's ears again. She screamed and screamed loudly. Suddenly she felt her move over her and she turned her head to the side. At once Skylar was pulled up to the sky. She screamed and her sound fell only to deaf ears. Skylar felt a rotten skinny hand touch her right ankle as she flew through the sky. The rotten skeleton hand was pulling her up from her ankle. Skylar screamed again as she felt the blood rush through her body to her head. The only thing she felt was the fear building up inside her as she gained altitude. Skylar opened her eyes and looked down. No wait, it can't be. If she was being lifted with her right ankle, where was her left leg? Skylar looked more clearly. Only her left knee was hanging limply attached to her body. A blotched patch of blood was seen around her darkened knee. Skylar screamed her lungs out. She felt the blood vein pulse on her forehead and she did not know whether she was more afraid of her hearing Skylar, or the pain in her body, or fear of falling down or for losing her left leg.

At once, Skylar felt the skinny hand leave her right ankle and Skylar's scream only improved by a few decibels as she lost altitude.

Falling... falling...

Skylar thrashed around in her sleep and she opened her eyes. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized that she saw the bed two feet beneath her. Skylar opened her mouth to scream again and she landed heavily on the bed. She sat up straight at once and looked around her in fear. No, it can't be. Not in her own room. She was sure that she had locked the door securely behind her. There was no way that someone was able to get in through the locked door.

Skylar thought again as she dried her cheeks from her rooted tears. If it was anyone, they would not have got inside. But if it was her, she would have definitely been able to get inside.

Skylar rubbed her eyes again and suddenly remembered that she had seen her in her nightmare again. As she tried to remember the details, it was all a blur for her. Skylar shook her head as though she was trying to erase the uncomfortable feeling from her head and she looked up. What she saw made her insides come out of her mouth.

Skylar could have sworn that she saw a skinny burnt hand had just hidden from top of the ceiling, away from her view. She felt as though the owner of the hand had just pulled it through the ceiling as though it was made of cream. Skylar shivered as she touched her right ankle, where the skinny hand had held her. Her ankle had red marks where the skeleton hand had gripped her ankle too tightly. Skylar looked up again. She shivered as she remembered the horrible sight she had just seen. She shut her eyes tight and gulped down some water. She pulled the comforter around herself and made sure that not even a strand of hair was visible from beneath the comforter. She shook as she looked up at the ceiling through the fabric of the comforter. She could still see the rotten skeleton hand which looked as though over burnt meat. It was as though the sight of a volcano when it was too hot where the red lava fire was just visible through the black hard stone. A chill wind made Skylar's hair stand on her neck. She shut her eyes tight and prayed for sleep to come soon to her and before long, she drifted off to a very troubled sleep.

*

The next morning, Henry was in a very good mood. He did not even notice the dark circles below Skylar's eyes. She conjured a tight lipped smile and nodded at her father, as he continued on and on about how he was going to meet his friend. Skylar actually felt guilty as she realized that she was not paying attention to her father, but her ears perked up at once as she heard her father say that he would not be home for two days.

"Dad what?" Skylar asked, shocked as the fork slipped from Henry's fingers and clanked loudly to his plate. He looked up at her, confused.

"I mean," Skylar asked softly this time, as she saw fear cross her father's eyes. "Will you, will you, will you be leaving me alone dad?" she asked, leaning her head on her shoulder, as Henry's face softened.

"Not leave you alone, darling. I am going to visit my friend in the town today, and as it is very far and I have not met him for a very long time, I thought of spending one day with him. I would leave today in the evening and come back in the morning the day after tomorrow," he grinned sheepishly, excitement rippling through his eyes. Skylar's heart warmed as she looked at her father's happy boyish grin. She smiled at her father and reached towards the table and took his hand in hers.

"It is okay dad, I can manage on my own for a day," she said more to herself than her father. 'I can, can't I?' she asked herself.

Henry nodded. "I know darling. My baby is a grown up now, isn't she?" he asked, patting her hand with his free hand, as she gripped his palm tightly. Henry's eyebrows nodded in confusion as he felt the sudden change in her grip. "Sky, are you alright baby? Why are you so tense?" he looked intently at her as Skylar shook her head.

"I am alright dad, just a bit stressed because of school work," she lied through her teeth.

"Oh," Henry nodded understandingly. "I understand. If you want me to stay, I can darling. It is not a problem at all. I can visit him some other day also," he asked, but Skylar shook her head.

"No, no dad. You shall visit your friend today and yes, I am perfectly capable of looking after myself," she smiled so as to convince her father. Henry smiled again and patted her hand.

"Oh okay then darling. Complete eating your breakfast," he said looking at her almost filled plate. "Because," he started as Skylar too joined him in completing the sentence. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day," both the father and daughter finished together and laughed heartily. Skylar actually felt her mood lighten after the chat with her father.

Skylar dawdled alone through the school grounds. Reese had gone to return a book to the library and Skylar had just walked out of focus. She kicked the moss filled stone by her feet and sat on the swing on the ground. The one next to her was empty and Skylar swung her legs so that her swing moved, but not too much. She snaked her hand through the metal chain and looked in front of her unfocused and lost in thought.

The chill evening wind swept through the ground, rustling Skylar's hair. She smoothed it down with her free hand and pushed her glasses up her nose and turned to her left. How good it would be if Reese was there to accompany her there on the swing, she thought. She knew that as it was darkening already, Reese would have gone home straight after handing over the book to the library, because she had said something about going to the doctor with her mother. Skylar sighed deeply. Spending a day without Reese was as though she had lost the left half of her body. Even though she would have gone home, as her father would have left earlier, she did not have any ideas on being alone at her home. After all, that house was never a home for her, if her father was not there with her.

Skylar turned to her left again as she heard a soft creek of metal. She looked at the seat of the swing and removed her hand from the metal chain of her own swing, as she saw the metal seat go down by a fraction of a centimeter as though someone had sat on it. Skylar squinted her eyebrows. She looked straight ahead of her not wanting to look to her left again. But as usual, curiosity got the better of her and she looked from the corner of her eye towards the left and saw a burnt leg swing at a very slow speed. Skylar gulped down the bile that rose up to her throat, threatening to spill out of her mouth. She raised her head and saw a burnt hand holding the metal chain of the swing. With her heart beat loud in her ears, Skylar turned her head fraction of an angle and saw that only the arm and legs were there on the swing. No visible body was occupying the swing. Skylar's eyes grew large in horror as she realized that was the unmistakable hand and legs of the same owner of the hand she had seen in the morning. Skylar shut her eyes tight and shook her head trying to erase the image from her eyes. She turned her head to the left again and saw that only the swing was moving, probably caught in the wind. It was just a trick the wind had been playing on her eye. She had been thinking too much about what had happened to her in the morning and that had already started making her see hallucinations around her.

As the sun started to retire for the evening, Skylar picked up her school bag and walked around the school. Her eyes fell on two little girls who were skipping at the ground. Skylar started to falter as a part of their conversation fell into her ears.

"I am telling the truth Bea," the taller girl was saying. "This place was a cemetery in the past. Before this school was built." she continued as Skylar saw the smaller girl's eyes widen in horror.

"Please don't lie, Maddy," the smaller girl replied trying to conjure the strength back to her voice. "My mom told me that in every school, this feeble lie is said," she continued as the taller girl started to laugh. The fear in the smaller girl's eyes was replaced by the unknown happiness. "I know you were lying Maddy," she said again and took their bags to go to their homes.

Skylar smiled to herself. Had she known that the truth was just a lie, her life would not have changed the way it was today. Walking towards her home, Skylar wondered whether she will ever have a peaceful life in the future.

*

Skylar locked the door behind her and looked around the empty home. She missed her father's presence around her. She remembered how her father always prepared her the best meals. Ever since she had lost her mother when she was just five years old, her father had been the world to her. For a girl losing her mother at such a young age was not something that could be expressed with words. Skylar sat on the bed and wiped the tear that had rooted down her face as she remembered how her father had lied to her everyday after she had lost her mother. Whenever she had asked for her mother, Skylar remembered that the first time she had asked for her mother, was when her father had returned back from the funeral, and he had lifted her to his arms and had put her to sleep saying that her mother had gone to get fruits for her. For five more years after that fateful day, her father had made sure that she was never left alone and was always there with her whenever she needed him. Her father had indeed been her support throughout her life.

Skylar had a very light dinner and went towards her room. She stared at her father's locked door and sighed again. When she had called him in the evening, he had sounded so happy that it only had been enough to put a smile on her face. Skylar shook her head and went to the bed, covering herself with her comforter.

Being under her comforter, Skylar twisted and turned a hundred times, but yet sleep did not reach her eyes. She dreamed a hundred times that she heard the sound of a lock being turned. Not being able to go down towards the door again, Skylar closed her eyes tight and snapped her fingers. At once, in her mind's eye, she was looking at the door from above. She extended her hand and it lengthened towards the door and she tried to turn the lock again, and it could not be turned again. So, it was sure that she was perfectly secured. Skylar sighed happily and snapped her fingers again and she closed her mind's eye.

Time moved fast and Skylar screamed in happiness as she saw her father waiting for her inside her home when she returned back from school. She ran to his extended arms and felt the warmth she had missed for two days return back to her.

"How is my baby? Did you manage everything on your own, Sky? Did you have any issues or did you come across any troubles?" Henry asked, unblinking his gaze as Skylar shook her head.

"No dad, I was just perfect. But I missed you a lot dad," she whined as Henry laughed, his stomach rumbling in happiness of meeting his daughter after a long day.

"Me too darling, me too," he said and made her sit beside him as he took the seat he had previously occupied. "So, what's new?" he asked as Skylar thought back. She remembered the withered hand and the swing incident. But she just shook her head and smiled widely.

"Just your same old girl dad. So, how did my boy manage without his favorite girl?" Skylar smirked, holding her head proudly as Henry patted her on the knee.

"Just the old pains, you know," he replied jokingly as Skylar squinted her eyebrows. "But nothing to worry about, Sky," he added, soon looking at her expression and she relaxed. "I took my pills on time," he said proudly as she nodded.

"Happy to know that, Mr. Porter," she added her famous witty quote as Henry pinched her nose adoringly.

"Go on and fresh yourself, Sky. I'll prepare your favorite dinner," he added winking as Skylar's eyes lit up. She jumped to her feet and soon went towards her room. She really missed her dad so much.

Days were not too out of the ordinary for Skylar for the next few weeks. She remained her usual self, and after that fifth attempt of failed kidnap, she was not troubled again. Skylar knew that this was just the silence before the storm, so she readied herself for the worst possible scenario if anything were to happen.

Even though Skylar never had any close call encounters, the nightmares were not reaching an end. It had started to grow worse day by day, and every day she woke up sweating profusely not remembering anything that she had seen. Once or twice she woke to almost awkward sleeping positions, but she had gotten used to those changes by now.

Skylar looked up as Reese stopped her rant to get a deep breath. Her eyes were lit and Skylar felt happy for her.

"And Sky," she continued and Skylar rolled her eyes inwardly as she realized that the rant would still go on. "I had been waiting for a long time, Sky, and finally, finally, he is coming back." Reese finished dreamily as Skylar snorted.

"I see, our Queen of Sarcasm is smitten," Skylar said, wiggling her eyebrows as Reese's cheeks grew hot in red. "Oooh, look at you blushing Reree," Skylar poked Reese on her stomach and the poor girl, not being able to control the ticklish feeling, doubled down in laughter.

"Please stop, stop Sky," Reese screamed laughing, as Skylar continued tickling her. "Okay, okay, I give up. I promise I will not talk about him until he is back," Reese screamed, unable to digest the tickling anymore, as Skylar nodded.

"Sounds like a fair deal for me," she smiled sweetly as Reese pulled a face at her. The two friends laughed at each other and Skylar forgot all her worries for a moment.

"Give me a second, Sky," Reese said and stood up to gulp down some water. Skylar swiped through her phone till Reese finished drinking the water.

Skylar waited for a few minutes and broke her eye contact from her phone as she realized Reese had gone too long to drink some water. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked around her to look where she was.

"Reree," Skylar called. "Where are you?" she bellowed. But no sound reached her ears. Fear started to creep through Skylar's neck. She did not like the silence that engulfed her.

"Reree," she called again and ran towards where Reese had gone. She stopped in half as she saw her standing a few feet before her.

"Reree, what took you so long? I was starting to get worried you know," she said but stopped short as she realized that Reese was not listening.

"Reree," Sky took two steps towards her when she talked. She was staring at something ahead of her. Or rather someone.

"Who are you?" Reese asked as Skylar peeped around her.

Skylar froze. How was it possible?