Hallucination

When I finished watching the television, I noticed my surroundings. It was dark and I was feeling sleepy. Before going to bed, I decided to go to the kitchen to wash my cup. In the darkness, I travelled from my living room to the kitchen. Entering the room, I turned on the light - helping a dim light spread throughout the previously pitch black room.

Approaching the sink with the cup in hand, my tiredness was creating a source of paranoia. Any hallucinations were not vivid but feelings of being watched, and unsettling none-existing sounds were constantly emerging out of nowhere.

Reaching the sink, I put down the cup and turned on the tap. The water filled while I stood there staring blankly at its movements, then my sense of laziness vanished when I grabbed a dark coloured sponge and swirled it around in the cup. I felt uneasy - my mind made me believe something was there even though I knew otherwise - it was a strange conflict. Flowing through my head, anxiety and stress kept me in position so that I would not look.
 
Curiosity took over. I looked up from the running water and tilted my head enough so that I could see anything outside but also retreat if I needed to. Outside, the weather was clear - not even the moon was in sight, yet the surroundings seemed to be very visible. It seemed like there a faint light everywhere (even though faint couldn't describe how low this light was).

At first, I saw only the usual: my back garden, the shed, other houses and a grey metallic chair which is always there. Looking at the other details, I knew I was avoiding one: the face. Intrigued, I turned my gaze directly at it. I could only see its face; it looked like a face of a scarecrow - I could not tell whether it's face appeared to be made of straw or twigs. This face looked directly at me. Frozen, I felt like my body turned to stone and I felt a biting cold wrap around my skin. Time felt long - I could only focus on it.

I snapped out! I turned back to the cup and continued swirling my sponge in the water. Unlike before, the sink was now blocked; the water kept rising while my swirls became faster and faster as I was trying ignore it - its image haunted my mind. Looking upon the miniature whirlpools drove me insane; so I tilted my head again.

Alarmed, I saw that its head appeared to be tilted in the opposite direction to mine. It had a still shape - which made me think I had believe it was just like any other object but I knew it was living. With this conclusion, I fled.

Distress and adrenaline heightened my senses. Around me, I was unaware of a previous change - the lights were off; I never noticed this change. It never occurred when I started to run. It was before - when I was looking at that gnarled scarecrow face.

Attempting to run to the comfort of my own bed, I was struck with a vision - a prophecy of fate if I had made a certain decision. I imagined the face with an entire body - it was made twigs. Warned by this, I ran to the living room. Images of it flowed through my head. They began to feel and appear like an animation. Its mouth opened frame by frame and I heard a gentle 'ohm'-like hum coming from upstairs. The images and sounds were in sync.
However, I definitely knew I wasn't imagining the sound.

In the end, I tried to distract my focus and my hearing with the television.

Author's Note

I'm very new to horror story writing. I really need advise based what you thought about the atmosphere - how it builds up. Also give me advise based on the imagery. Please be as honest as possible.

Reviews

[Ace St. Jean]

Nice! Love this story! I have dealt with hallucinations myself, and I understand. I even wrote a story myself regarding the subject, it's called ''The Ninth Day of January''.