Short Story (Horror)

It was a dark story night, water gushed from the sky and the wind whistled through the leafy trees. Arabella was sitting sitting at the end of the couch as the light of the tv reflected on her pale freckled face. Arabella was a skinny, fragile girl. She was the typed of girl that always tried her best, but wasn't good enough; no one liked her at school. She always kept to herself and tried to distance herself from people. The long red haired girl was scared of everything; the dark, bugs, birds, being alone, heights, people, and an infinity of other things. She could never conquer them, so she always tried to watched scary movies. She thought, if she couldn't finish a stupid movie, how could she overcome the rest of her fears? She tried watching The Grudge this time.  Arabella thought that was the only way she could let herself free. As the movie kept playing, the distant sound of heels came closer and closer, so could the flowery scented perfume. It was her mother. Trailing behind her was her father, they were both dolled up; and Arabella knew that meant they weren't going to be home. She pauses the movie, her heart began to beat faster with the thought of being alone.

"W-where are you guys going?"

"Oh, well your father and I are going to your aunt's wedding," She said elegantly.

"You didn't tell me... I wanna g-" 

"It's too late honey, we don't have enough time to get you a dress and all, so-" 

"But I don't wanna stay h-" 

"Stop" her father jumped in, rolling his

eyes after shaking his head, "We're so tired of your excuses; always ruining things for us because you can't get over your 'fears'. You're 13 for crying out loud! Don't you think it's time to start acting your age?" This was the first time her father spoke about how he felt about her and everyone was speechless. The room was dead silent before he stormed off, slamming the door behind him. 

"... Uh- you'll be asleep by the time we get home, see you in the morning." She said while walking out the door. The words still stung Arabella's heart. After sitting there for a while processing what had just happened, she curled back up into the corner, knees over her chest, and hit play on the remote. Everything was going fine until, the tv shut off. The lights in the living room turned off; one by one. 

"What in the world." She whispered to herself, panicking. She shuffled through the drawer next to the couch and grabbed a box of matches. Arabella slipped on her coat and opened the garage, walking towards to the electricity box; she opened it to find out it was flooded with rain and that it wouldn't be fixed till her parents got home. Great. She slammed the cover of the box shut and trudged back inside, closing the garage. As she was about to make her way upstairs, She heard a sharp scratching noise. It was as if someone was clawing against the wall. Arabella followed the sound until it got closer and it lead her back to the garage. Maybe an animal slipped in when I was out, she tried to persuade herself. 

"H-hello-o?" She stuttered, "Is anyone out here?" She flicked on the light switch. Her body tensed and froze when she saw it. Standing in front of Arabella, was what looked like a girl in a white gown. The girl had long black sleek hair that went down to her knees, exposing no part of her face. She was The Grudge. A shriek escaped Arabella's mouth and at the same exact moment, The Grudge growled and ran towards Arabella. Arabella was still in shock but when she realized she was being chased by the grudge, she literally ran for her life. Arabella ran up the stairs, 2 at a time, until The Grudge caught up to her. It grabbed her left ankle and pulled her down the stairs. Arabella cried for help, she couldn't let this happen. 'overcome your fear' she said in her head, before kicking the monster with her right foot; knocking it out. It layed unconscious somewhere below the stairs in the darkness. Arabella ran for safety, looking for somehwhere to hide until her parents got back. She had an idea. Arabella ran to her room, and locked herself in the closet. It was so quiet you should hear hoe fast her heart was beating, and it beated vigorously. She leaned her head onto the side and rested a little bit. Almost falling asleep, before she heard weird noises. They were hard to explain; it sounded like something was trying to get through the wall, and something was rubbing against eachother. She pulled out the box of matches from her pocket. She slid the stick quickly on the back only to find there bugs all sorts and sizes, and birds huddled up flapping their wings. Her fears. She screamed from the top of her lungs as she saw that the bugs were nibbling on her feet. The match wet out, and everything was pitch black again. She lit up another one. 'Conquer your fears' she whisperd to herself, reaching for the bat on the shelf above the row of coats. Panting, Arabella swung until she couldn't swing anymore, the room was lifeless and covered in blood. When she had enough time to catch her breath back, she ran to the only place that she could hide until her parents got home; her parents room.  She ran into the room, and shut the door behind her, leaning her back on the door in relief. Only to realize she wasn't the only person in the room.  The room no longer looked like what once was her parents room, but it was her english class. The desks were in rows filled with her classmates while her teacher stood next to her parents. 

"Mom, dad, y-you got to help me!" She sobbed, "All these things are happening and I-I don't kn-"

Her father pushed her away lightly as the 3 of them back away from Arabella.

"Wh-" 

"Grow up." Her father said flatly. 

"Oh Arabella, it's like you want to disappoint us." Her mother added, ashamed. 

"What are you talkinng about?" 

"And you question why everyone picks on you," Her teacher slurred. 

Arabella turned around to see her classmates whispering and giggling about her, 

"She's ugly." 

"Loner."

"Anorexic." 

"Bones." 

"STOP!" She sobbed 

'Conquer your fears' her mind kept repeating to her.

"I can't, I cant." holding her hand to her face. This was it. This was the one fear she couldn't get over; being judged and unliked by everyone, not having anyone to love her. 

Arabella walked to the balcony in her parents room, she opened the latch and shoved the door open. The cold air and raindrops slapped her in the face. Arabella walked towards the edge of the balcony and pulled her legs over the fence one by one, and sat there for a while. She starred at the ground. 

"I'm sorry." she said, with hurt in her voice before she fell gracefully down the 2 stories. Arabella was gone.

She layed there in a mental hospital that day. The heart monitor that was once active, became a straight line. She was dead. They say that Arabella had a heart attack in her sleep. It seems that her dream was so bad, that her heart couldn't take it. Her fears took over.