Footsteps- A Short Horror Story

There. There it was again.  Every night for the past few months I heard them. It started small, a little footstep coming from the attic, I shrugged it off as my imagination and soon fell back asleep. At first they didn’t scare me, I had been diagnosed with paranoia a year prior to these…events. But as time progressed they got louder, and seemed to be moving forward. By then I had been sure that this wasn’t paranoia. Someone or something was in my attic and was progressing through it, getting closer each night.  Weeks, passed- no months passed I couldn’t tell…I haven’t left my house since the footsteps got louder. All my clocks were broken so I had no idea how much time passed. But lately, the footsteps had been worse than ever. Last week, I heard them going down the stairs. I didn’t sleep at all I just couldn’t bring myself to close my eyes. But last night was the worst. The footsteps had started at the foot of the stairs, keeping me awake I heard the footstep go through my kitchen, then my living room, almost every room in my small house before stopping in front of my bedroom door. I wasn’t looking forward to tonight… But the fact was that I needed to check the attic. Just to make sure there was nothing there, no stalker, no monster, just the boxes that reside in the corners of the attic.  I was scared but I grabbed a flashlight and made my way up the stairs. I realized something new, the fourth last stair creaked like a rusty door when I stepped onto it. It wasn’t like that before, nothing in my house ever creaked. It was one of the only things that infuriated me.  As I made my way up to the attic I quickly peeked inside, I sighed. Nothing but boxes, all this time I must’ve been paranoid. I had been reading a lot of scary stories at the time. They probably just got to my head.  When dusk came around I got ready for bed hesitantly and made my way under my thick covers. It was 11:00, everything was fine. No footsteps. They usually started by now. This was a good sign. I smiled to myself and closed my eyes. 12:00 rolled around, I was awoken by the sound of… oh god. It was the footsteps. They did the same route as the night before: going through the kitchen, living room, and ending in front of my door. I hastily hid in my covers, only peeking out slightly. My door creaked open slightly and I don’t remember what happened next. I now live in a hospital. I can’t see anything, I can’t move but I can hear everything the doctors say, I hear my family and friends crying but I don’t know why, I hear the beeping of … some machine that I can’t name but I know I’ve heard before. The doctors said that I should be taken off something I couldn’t hear the rest. Taken off what? I was filled with rage as I heard my mother screaming at the doctors, she was crying. The night came and I tried to sleep. I heard the rushing of a surgical bed in the halls once at 9:00 but only once. Other than that it had been silent… then I heard it, the footsteps making their way down the hall. I tensed. The hospital door opened, almost silently. I looked around but I could only see darkness. A hoarse and raspy voice whispered in my ear “Time’s up” Then I remembered, that deal I had made once a long time ago… So I let it take me away…