One of the boy’s eyes was completely swollen with burns, a patch of glistening, angry red across his cheek.

The other eye, dark brown and wet with tears, gleamed with black menace.

“You.” he whispered with his disfigured mouth. It was nothing more than a breath, but the room was at standstill now, and Eden, who trembled in the corner, knew at once.

He was speaking to her.

“He’s trying to talk to me.” she breathed. The colour had drained from her face.

The other two, who still sat by the coffee table, glanced at each other, eyes wide.

June shook her head.

“Eden, there’s no one ther-”

“What is he saying?” Lewis pressed.

Eden shivered. The room felt it had dropped ten degrees in temperature. The boy opened the ghastly mouth again.

“Why did you do this to me?” his voice was like a gust of wind, each word rushing out in an unearthly . “You hurt me. Why did you hurt me?”

Eden gaped. She hadn’t- No. There’s no way. She had never even seen this boy in her life.

“What’s he saying-?”

The boy stepped forward, slowly, but not hesitantly. She could not look away from his macabre eye.

She swallowed.

“I don’t understand. I’m sorry.” She told him, her voice smaller than she would have liked, “I can’t help you.”

There was a pause. A standstill, wherein nothing moved, and Eden saw floating dust glow yellow in the light of the window. There was a stray creak in the floorboards.

And then, the boy leapt, one swift movement, onto Eden. She screamed and fell backwards, a heavy thud as her head smacked the ground. Lewis and Eden lept up, but neither saw anything but Eden, flailing, screaming.

The boy’s face, a few centimetres from her own, was a red thing, contorted with agony. He groaned as if in pain, like an animal. In one, desperate motion, he reached forward and clawed at her face. A thin, red cut drew across her cheek. She watched the blood pool down her chin.

As if he had been burned, the boy jumped back again, staring at the splatterings of her blood smeared on his hands, wide eyed and confused.

“You’re a real person, aren’t you?” he asked, “You really don’t know, do you?”

Eden could do no more than nod, holding her face in her hands, pain searing across her skin, terror completely numbing her senses.

The rage and agony drained out of his countenance like ink. Standing up, proper now, he bowed low.

“I’m sorry.” He uttered. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“‘It’s… It’s alright.” Eden could scarcely believe her own voice. But now, alone, his head bowed, he looked like nothing but a kid. A scared, lonely kid.

“I’m William Burrows, by the way.” William let out a small smile, something fond among the writhing mess of his scarlet cheek, “I’m usually- I’m usually a good boy.”

Eden blinked. There was a momentary blinding wink of stray light from the windowpane. Nothing more than a sunspot on a film footage. But in a second, just as he had appeared, William Burrows was gone.

“Eden!” Cried Lewis, falling next to her, “What the fuck- Are you bleeding?”

June, trembling, cupped her face, and looked at the wound.

“I’ll get- I’ll get a bandage-” She stumbled to a kitchen drawer, as is in a haze.

“You just fell backwards and started screaming- Jesus christ Eden,” Lewis scooped her terrified body is a tight hug, and she felt her heart-beat slow. “Don’t do that ever again!”

“Do you, need,” quivered June, who stood beside, looking unnaturally pale “Need anything?”

“No, thanks.” Eden gathered her thoughts. Something batshit crazy had just happened. A lot of batshit crazy things had happened recently.

What she needed was to know why.

‘Wait,” she took a trembling step off the ground, and stood, “Actually, yes. Do you know anyone called William burrows?”

_________________________________________________

Huzzah. I have returned.

Leave a liked if you liked it. Bye byeee