Fingernails

In the middle of September I was just getting acclimated to my new surroundings. This was my first real time away from home, having moved about a two hour drive away for my first year of college. And as such, getting used to it wasn't really an easy task. It didn't help that my landlord was a blatant liar, having promised my friend Quincy and I countless things, only to find when we moved in, a lot of them weren't to be fulfilled. Hell, Quincy didn't even have a bed. He had two mattresses stacked on top of each other. But, I digress. The house we were staying in was a nice one, hard wood floors, all the amenities, far too big for just the two of us, plus the landlord, and it was all for a reasonable price too. And apparently no catch. I found that wasn't the case though.

Alright, remember when I said that there were a lot of promises not kept from our landlord? Let's just call him Tim. Well, Tim told us that the two cats that were in the house when we were looking to rent it would be gone by the time we got there. Long story short, promise broken, cats were still there. So one night I found myself to be pretty thirsty. So I went and descended the wooden spiral steps right outside of my bedroom door gently. And yes I mean gently, no one in the damn house seemed to realize that stomping down them made it seem like there was a war going on outside my room. But I digress, I gingerly made my way downstairs and turned towards the kitchen before I saw it. Oh my God there it was. Just sitting there, glaring at me. One of the cats that were supposed to be out of here.

Now I'm not exactly a cat person, but I'm not an asshole either. I had nothing against the cats, but the fact that they just made the entire place smell like cats, and were too skittish to go near anyone, just made them moving cat scented candles. So I thought if I could befriend them, it'd make a little more sense for them to be here. I crept up slowly on it, outstretching my hand as an olive branch. It seemed calm as I approached, but before I got too close, it darted away. And I guess I took that as a bit of a challenge. Fuck this cat. That cat was gonna be my friend whether it liked it or not. I quickly gave chase, following it into the living room and seeing it dart behind a chair. I quickly overturned it to see the feline asshat scurry under me and into the kitchen, it's claws scratching along the wooden floors, which basically told me where it was going without even looking at it. I once again followed suit and found that I had now cornered both cats. One by my excellent tracking skills and one purely by coincidence. They were pushed up against the cupboards. I wasn't close enough for them to try and make an escape attempt, but definitely close enough for the two feline to be tense. But something caught my attention. I heard the clattering of more claws across the hardwood floor behind me. Now I hadn't been in the house for long at that point, but I could have sworn there were only two cats. And those were the gray and white one, and the black one in front of me. I was almost certain there wasn't another animal in the house. So, confused, I decided to investigate.

I turned back onto the hardwood floor from the linoleum of the kitchen and looked back towards the living room, thinking that was where the sound was heading. But after a thorough inspection, I found nothing. Then once again I heard the clattering of claws on hardwood. I quickly spun around to see what was unmistakably two terribly pale human feet dart around the corner and down the hall towards the laundry room. Not only did it terrify me that I saw that, but more so on just how they moved. I could see from about the calf down as they moved behind the corner, but they didn't move naturally. Neither of them were touching the ground, and the soles of the feet were sticking out towards the parallel wall only about a foot from the ground. The best way to picture it is to think of someone flying like superman, just really close to the floor. Now, obviously I was scared stiff at that point. I had no idea what I was saw, but it wasn't some third cat. After a bit of calming down, and thinking of the possibility of whatever it was coming back around the corner, I knew I had to get back upstairs, and lock myself in my room.

I told myself I was just going to dart upstairs, past whatever it was. And I tried, I really tried, but I couldn't help but stop and look to see what it really was. I stopped at one end of the hallway, to see it looking back at me from the other. Now mind you, it was still night, and I had just been chasing around the cats in the dark, but with the help of a nearby window and a near full moon, I got a pretty good look at it. it was a girl. Down on all fours, but really only two as her feet and legs while curled up into her body, weren't touching the ground. In fact the only part of her that was touching the ground was her gnarled fingernails. She was floating other than those. She stared at me with sunken in eyes through her twisted and knotted brown hair. A snarl across her terribly pale and horrendously scarred face. In fact I'm not even sure if it was a snarl considering I don't think she had lips to close over her mangled teeth. So I stood there for what seemed like an eternity as we were locked in some sort of horrible staring contest. But that's when I heard a fingernail tap against the floor. And another, and another. And with each one she moved slightly closer. Finally my brain kicked in and I began a mad sprint for the stairs. And with my footsteps came a scramble of angry clicks along with floor. As I made it to the staircase and ascended in a hurry I glanced to my side, to see the horrid floating girl nearly at the foot of the stairs, but as I got to the top, and slammed my door behind me, I didn't hear anything clambering up the stairs. I sat on the foot of my bed, listening to hear any clicking going either way. Either away from the stairs or up them. Nothing. Nothing at all. So I slowly moved over to my door, and placed an ear up to it, needing to know where that thing was situated in the house.

I waited for a few minutes, still nothing. But then, suddenly, all at once the clicking I had heard wasn't on the stairs, but right next to my ear. I jumped backwards. Whatever that thing was must have been every fingernail it had to mash against my door like it was Beethoven. And it kept going, and going, getting harder and harder until I was sure I could hear the heavy breathing of effort along with the clacks. But then it stopped. Not slowly, but all at once. I didn't trust it, I didn't know if this girl was smart enough to try and fake me out or not. So I sat in my room for the rest of the night with the light on. No TV, no music, nothing. I needed to know if she was still there, and the only way I could know, was sound.

It was a long night, and I never heard anything for the rest of it. I only ever came out of my room when I heard that Quincy and Tim were up. And honestly, I've never seen that thing since. I've still got a month of school let before I move out, so I'm still wary, but it seems like it was just a one night thing.But then again, I don't really leave my room after 8 pm anymore. Because that's when the cats usually start running around more, and I can never tell if I'm hearing claws, or nails.

And if you're wondering, yes, I did ask Quincy and Tim if they heard the commotion that night. Quincy tells me that he opened his door to see what looked like a person sitting on the ground next to my door, before he panicked and shut it. And Tim, well, he tells me he never heard a thing, and tells me he had no idea what I'm talking about when I tell him about that creature. But, then again, he's lied before.