I wake up to the sound of scratching in the attic. Not again. I moved into this house a week ago. Every night the sound of scratching wakes me up. I thought at first that maybe it was an animal. I looked up there and found nothing. The sound continued. By the third night I called the cops. They looked and found nothing.

They think I'm crazy. I sit up and throw off the blanket. My legs are covered in bleeding scratches. What the hell? Maybe I did that. I walk into the hallway. My dog is barking at the entrance to the attic. Why am I going to bother checking? I know I won't find anything. I walk back into the bedroom and lay in bed.

I wake up at six o'clock. My arms and legs are covered in red, bloody scratches. I definitely didn't do that myself. I get out of bed.

After I eat, I head outside to clear up some weeds. I look up at the house. I look at the attic window. A person is looking at me through the window. The person waves at me. I run inside. My dog is whimpering in the corner and staring at the ceiling.

I climb into the attic. "Leave" is carved into the wall. What can I do about this? The cops think I'm insane. I can't move. I just have to deal with it.

I get ready and leave for work. The whole time I'm working, I think about the person that was in my house.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

I walk into the house. All of the furniture is rearranged. What if there is a ghost in the house? Several people have died here. I head upstairs and lay in bed. I fall asleep.

I wake up a few hours later. I feel a sharp pain in my right arm. I turn over. Someone is standing over me.

They dig their nails into my skin and scratch at it. It's too dark to see their face. They notice I'm awake and take off. I follow them. They run into the kitchen. I grab a knife off the counter. I slash their arm. Black sludge comes out of the wound. As the person gets closer, I realize it isn’t a person at all. It hisses at me showing off it’s rows of sharp jagged teeth. It’s dark black eyes are empty and cold. It’s skin is dark grey and it has a short tail. I back away. How long has this creature been in this house? Did the previous owners know about this? The creature flees up stairs. I contemplate going after it. This thing can and will kill me but if I call the cops the creature will be long gone before they get here. I

march up the stairs. This is my house and I won’t let whatever this thing is take that from me. I enter the attic. The creature has it’s back up against the wall. It hisses and shrieks at me. I wave the knife at it. It dodges swiftly. It pushes me up against the window. I punch it in the face. It pushes me again and the window breaks. It watches me fall. I land on the ground. Every part of my my body hurts.

The creature leaps out of the window and lands it’s feet. An ambulance pulls up. The creature flees into the woods. I close my eyes and take my last breath.