How can you tell if you’re awake or dreaming? Some people pinch themselves: if it hurts, you’re awake. Some people try to read things: if you have trouble reading or the words change, you’re dreaming. I count fingers: if you have more than 10 fingers, you’re dreaming. Well, I had 10 fingers, I could read the street signs, and it definitely hurt when I pinched myself. However, I had to be dreaming, things like that don’t happen in real life. I’ve heard of murder, kidnapping, rape, theft, and all things bad: what I saw doesn’t even come close to fitting into these categories.  It couldn’t have been real. It just couldn’t. It wasn’t real. At least that’s what I keep trying to tell myself because the truth is: it was real.

        It was a Wednesday, and I was walking home from my friend’s house. It was warm, but not hot. A little humid though. I was alone, yes, but my neighborhood was pretty safe. Nothing bad ever really happened here in the 17 years I’ve been alive, but the worst thing to happen was a gruesome murder of an unknown family many years ago. But that was a long time ago, before I was born. Nothing has really happened since then. Everybody knows everybody. We all like each other. Well, except for Mr. Rylie, I don’t think he likes anyone here. He hasn’t left his house since he moved in. Walking alone was a normal thing around here because you’re never really alone. There were always people walking around.

Even now, as I’m walking alone, I can see someone ahead of me. They just don’t look familiar. I’ve lived here for 17 years; I like to think that I know everyone and what they look like, even from behind. I brushed it off though: maybe he’s visiting someone. It could be Mr. Rylie. Mr. Rylie never comes outside though. That could be why I don’t recognize him. I remember the day he moved here. He had movers unpack his things and he wasn’t seen. I remember looking at the windows and trying to sneak a glimpse at him. He moved here about 9 or 10 months ago and he hasn’t been out since. We only know his last name because of the mailbox out front. The town would think he was dead if we didn’t see his lights on every now and then. The house where he lives has been vacated for many years. Remember that murder I mentioned? Well, that’s the house it happened in. Some townsfolk believe it’s haunted and something is keeping him inside. I’ve heard a rumor that maybe he’s possessed and that’s why he doesn’t come out. Some people believe he was the killer of the family and he came back to get some sick, twisted pride in himself, and some others think it was relatives of his that were murdered and he moved to that house to honor them. That last theory is a stretch though because the bodies were never identified: they were too beat up.

Potentially seeing him outside was odd to say the least. He wasn’t hurt by the looks of it. He was keeping a steady pace. He was swaying his arms too, like he had a song in his head and he was just walking along to the beat. I do that all the time so I couldn’t really judge. Maybe I could make friends with him, or at least make him like me.

“Mr. Rylie?” I called out to the figure. I don’t even know if was him, so why am I calling his name? God, how embarrassing would it be if it wasn’t him.

He didn’t answer but he did stop. I just waited for him to turn around. I jumped as my phone went off: it was my friend texting.

Ryan: Hey, did you hear that Mr. Rylie might have left his house? I looked up at the man and he was still there. He hadn’t moved from the spot. I looked back down at my phone and typed my response.

Skylar: I didn’t hear about it but I think I see him… I’m walking behind him. I called out to him and he stopped walking. He hasn’t moved since I called out.

I looked back up to where he is standing, or rather where he was standing. He was no longer there. I quickly looked around and I spotted him under a streetlight. He was staring directly at me and he had a disturbing smile on his face. His eyes were wide and his smile was wide too. It was not a joyful smile though. He showed no emotion in his face other than his haunting smile. The shadows from the light post were not helping the situation either. He truly looked evil. It was hard not to look. He didn’t move: it didn’t even look like he was breathing. Maybe that possession theory was right. No human could look like that; at least I don’t think so. A sudden vibrate in my hand made me jump back to my senses. It was Ryan.

Ryan: Seriously? Man. First time he comes out and you run into him. What a coincidence. Try to snap a picture for me. I quickly read it and looked back up at Rylie. He was still there. Unmoving. My heart started to beat faster and faster the longer I looked at him. As I could feel my heart pick up his smiled widened, if even possible.

I looked down at my phone in my trembling hands and typed Ryan a response,

Skylar: No, Ryan. Something is up with him. He’s just smiling and staring at me. He hasn’t moved for like 5 minutes and it’s scaring me.

Almost instantly I got a response from him.

Ryan: HAHAHAHA that’s funny Sky. Why would he even look at you? Oh! I know why! It’s because you’re so hideous. Gee thanks, Ry.  

Skylar: Ryan. I’m not joking. I’m terrified right now. He’s just looking at me. I don’t know what to do.

Ryan: Okay wow. You usually insult me back. Where are you? Do you want me to come pick you up?

I looked up at him and not surprisingly he was still there. Still staring. I looked away from him and I saw a glowing sign in the distance. The gas station.

Skylar: I’m about 5 minutes from the gas station. Can you meet me there?

Ryan: Of course. Be careful, Sky.

I put my phone in my pocket and took a quick glance at Rylie. Still there and staring. I took a small step forward while still staring and to my surprise he also took a small step. When he took the step, he didn’t look away from me and his smile didn’t leave his face. It was haunting. I took 2 big steps and he did the same. I walked a bit faster and so did he. I eventually broke out into a run and I kept running until I reached the end of the street. I had to stop to breathe and I looked to my side and he wasn’t there. I turned around and he was stopped, still on the other side of the street, staring at me. His smile looked angry now, his eyes held a fire I’ve never seen before, and his head was tilted down so the light reflected on his face in a way to make him look evil once again. He then turned away from me and started to cross the street. He was coming onto my street. He was slowly walking, swinging his arms, and he was whistling a tune. I recognized the tune as a song my mom used to sing to me in order to get me to sleep. That was the tune I hummed to myself to calm down. It was associated with calm, wistful memories but now it’s a nightmarish tune that I need out of my head.

He reached my side of the street and he stopped moving again. He went back to the same pose he had done the night before. I needed to run. I was so close to the gas station now but I was frozen. I tried to move but I couldn’t. It was like someone, or something, was holding me still. I even tried to move my gaze away from his face but I couldn’t. It didn’t even feel like something was keeping me from it: I was keeping myself from looking away. We continued to stare at each other when suddenly he began to come closer. He started whistling again and he had a crazed look in his eyes. I tried to run but I was still being held back. I felt something wet on my cheek and I realized I was crying. I was scared. What if he hurts me? What if he kills me? He stopped when he was about a foot away from me. His face was dark because there was no light shining on his face. I opened my mouth to scream, “What do you want!?” but because I was crying and I was so scared, it only came out as a little whimper of, “whaaa…?”

He didn’t even react; I didn’t really expect him to. I started to silently say my goodbyes to my friends and to my family. I feel like I could’ve done more with my life. My thoughts were cut off, as he started lean his head towards mine: into the light. He has his smile on but it slowly started to get bigger. His eyes started to burn. I wanted to scream at the sight but I couldn’t. His face slowly continued to change and I was finally able to close my eyes. The smell of burning flesh was so strong that it burnt my eyes as they were shut. The sound of something tearing reached my ears and it was accompanied by the sound of bones breaking. I kept my eyes closed and I prayed to myself that I would make it out alive. It suddenly went quiet and I couldn’t smell anything anymore. I still couldn’t move though. I slowly opened my eyes to see if he was gone and he was. I wiped my tears to see if it was actually true. He was gone. My arms slowly got the feeling back in them and so did my legs. I took a small step backwards and I felt something hit my back. I froze in fear as the smell of burnt flesh came back. I closed my eyes again and stood still when I heard something.

“Look at me, Skylar,” It was a boy’s voice. Not a little boy but a voice to boy of my age. Not a voice like someone of Mr. Rylie’s age. Age didn’t matter though, not when it knew my name. I don’t know how. I didn’t look though. I couldn’t look. “Look what they did to me.” I didn’t know who they were and I certainly didn’t want to know.

I kept my eyes shut and that evidently angered the person behind me because their voice got angrier and deeper, “I said, ‘Look at me, Skylar!”

I slowly turned around with my eyes still closed. I stopped when I facing the person and I slowly opened my eyes. I kept them casted towards the ground. I watched as my tears slowly hit the pavement and I counted each one to fall.

“Please… look at me.” The voice was gentle this time. Nothing like the last time. I knew I shouldn’t have looked but the tone was of the voice was nurturing and I couldn’t help myself. That was a big mistake.

I slowly looked up and I almost threw up at the sight before me. My eyes met his; only they didn’t. This thing in front of me had no eyes, just empty sockets where they should have been. His nose looked beaten, and most certainly, broken. Trailing my eyes further downward, they reached his mouth. It was a very Joker-esque look. His mouth had been cut from the corners to his ears, giving the illusion that he was always smiling.

Suddenly, his real mouth curled into a huge grin, like he knew he was scaring me and he was ecstatic about it. The last thing I remember seeing before fainting was the distorted face changing, this time into a softer looking face. He no longer looked hideous, nor like he had been victim to a horrible crime, but he looked like a normal teenage boy. He had blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes. Those blue eyes were the last thing I remember and they were burned into my memory forever.