The Projector Screen

The screen flickered and flicked as the projector turned on to put on a show. Images of people I recognized started to scroll through one at a time and that's when I realized that it was a class project and each classmate had participated except for me. Well, I didn't remember participating anyway.

I didn't submit anything to this...

The big screen showed my face and then it started morphing into an unseemly creature.

How did they get photos of me? Could I have done it and just not remembered? But I remember everything I do... Is this some kind of joke?

Long slender fingers slipped out of the screen on gripped the edges and a dark fog filled the space. The grey and black tones turned the screen alive into a shadows figure. The face was mostly made of spiked teeth that formed a too-wide smile. The sunken holes above the mouth were black craters, I wondered how well the creature could see without eyes in the empty sockets. It stared right into my soul as if it was going to suck the life right out of me.

The creatures head cranked to the side just before the screen flipped again. A serene photo of Callenthia appeared on the screen. She sat in the pretty yellow dress that fell to the floor when she stood, she wore it often and shown like the sun. A big grin spread across her pretty little face.

The next slide was of an empty bench on the edge of the woods where the meadows ended. There was something eerie about the scene that I couldn't quite grasp.

As I sat there in my lonely chair in the long grass looking at the projector screen, I could not move. Confusion locked my eyes on the flipping images and curiosity kept me wondering what was next.

A quick flash and a peculiar creature crouched on the ground standing on its feet and hands. Its legs were bent in strange ways and its head was cranked too far where it was almost upside down. I tilted my head with it, like I couldn't help but wonder what it wanted.

Why are you in here? Who let this thing in the video?

I pondered the scene as if it was a normal day occurrence. I thought that if someone saw me, they may wonder why I sit alone watching as the slides got more and more creepy with each turn. But I persisted, I could not keep my eyes off the screen. My eyes peeled open, unable to blink, unable to move.

The creature stepped out of the projector screen like one would step out of a cage, though maybe a little slower. It kept it hollow eyes locked on mine as it moved one limb at a time closer to me. With every step closer the creature would tilt it's head the opposite way, as if it couldn't have it's chin facing where it was stepping. I guess that could have been some sort of insecurity on it's part.

With my feet planted on the ground and my butt on my chair, my hands gripped the arms tight. The creature's face was almost touching mine when I felt a tap on my sternum, one singular firm tap that left a mark.

I awoke and sat straight up in my bed. I could still feel the spot where I had been tapped, like it left and indent in my chest. I sprung to my feet instantly and turned the light on. Tears streamed down my face as I lay in bed, there was no way I would be turning the lights off again. So, they stayed on, and I lay there, trying to comprehend what happened with my little teenage mind until I fell asleep again.

*

This is primarily based on a nightmare that I had about 11 years ago at 17, with the "serene" scenes modified. The name I used is not of people I knew/know.