Shuffling in the Vents

I heard shuffling that first night. I was laying there when I heard the slightest of shuffling. I didn't think much of it and went to sleep.

I heard the shuffling again. This time though, I followed the noise with my ears. It sounded like it was going from right on top of me, then move to the east of me. I thought nothing of it more than just the air conditioning, and shrugged it off.

As soon as the shuffling started this night, I immediately sat up to try to focus hearing it a bit better. As soon as I got up, the shuffling stopped and all you could hear were crickets from outside, but as soon as I lay back down, it started again. At this point I got freaked out a bit, but to keep myself sane, I again shrugged this off as my imagination, or just the air conditioning acting up.

When the shuffling started again this night, I pretended that I was still asleep, I didn't move at all and added soft snoring to be more convincing. The shuffling would seem to slowly make its way to the east of me again then stop for a moment. I then heard my closet door slowly creak open. That was the signal for me to haul ass out of there. While running out of the room, for a split second I was glanced back towards the closet door which was opened only a few inches wide. I couldn't see anything in the room, it was completely pitch black. I spent the night in the upstairs living room on a couch.

I thought I was going insane and thought the only way to know if I really am or not would be to find out for myself. On this last night, I waited and waited, as soon as the I heard a noise from that vent, I pulled out a flashlight that I had hidden under my pillow and shinned it up towards where the shuffling began. I saw a face looking forward towards the direction of the closet, then slowly turned to face me smiling as it did so, I couldn't even tell if it was a man or a woman, it's face looked so old and wrinkly, that it looked like a mummy.

After about what felt like a full minute of us just staring at each other, me about to scream, the thing suddenly started to crawl at an amazing speed making a grouchy sounding grunt as it did so. I was so frozen in fear that I was shaking. My closet door suddenly burst open showing a very thin, very old looking humanoid creature, it had the face of a man, but too thin to be so. As it started to sprint at me, I finally snapped back into consciousness and threw the flashlight right at it's forehead, this didn't hurt it, but it did stagger him a little.

I was able to make it out of my room and shut the door behind me to slow him down just another second while I ran to another room and locked the door behind me. I put my ear against the door to try and listen for where he is. He suddenly slammed right into the door trying desperately to open the locked door. I shouted at him that my parents are going to hear and that they would slaughter him.

Almost right when I said this, it got completely quiet. Then the grouchy voice started saying,"You don't realize it, but I already gave your parents a visit tonight. They can't save you now." As the creature started to laugh, I started to cry. I know he is on his way right now, he is probably making his way through the vents to the room right where I am. I shinned the flashlight one more time in this room's vent. He sees me.