I climbed into my fresh linen sheets as rain softly fell outside. It was almost eleven o’clock, and I was drained from my new job in Omaha. Miggy quietly meowed outside of my room, so I got up out of my bed to let her in. She jumped from one unpacked box to the other, until she reached my duvet and curled up. I turned off my bedside lamp, climbed in next to her, and waited to fall asleep.
Only five minutes had passed when I started to hear the almost inaudible whisper from the radiator. I wanted to believe it was just hissing like what radiators do during the winter, but I could hear the diction. I could hear the rhythm – like a poem, but I couldn’t make out what it said. Whatever it was, it said it slowly and carefully, but too quietly. Gradually it became louder, and I could make out the first part.
"Midnight is a crime today…"
What does that even mean? It gradually increased in volume, and I finally understood the entire message. The message was frightening, and I wanted to run, but a force kept me pinned underneath my duvet.
"Midnight is the time of day
When everyone else comes out to play."

I turned away from my radiator, pretending to be nonexistent. I pulled the duvet over my head, thinking if I could not see anything, anything could not see me. I could barely see the light from outside my duvet getting brighter, and eventually dimming back to nothing. I could feel Miggy get up and walk to the edge of my bed. She started meowing over and over again, and I had to see what she was meowing at. Regretfully, I popped my head out to see what it was.

As I pulled my head out from under the warm blanket, I suddenly smelled an unbearable wave of sulfur, but what I saw was worse. It made me speechless and immobile. I looked out and saw a pale, small girl standing in the corner near my door. Her face was sheet white, with chapped lips, and her eyes were completely black – no other color. Her hair was split into two pigtails, each ragged. She was wearing a pink dress covered in dirt, with gingham pockets near her waist. I blinked several time, hearing the pulse of my heart growing faster and faster.
Her ghostly hands were resting in her pockets, and she started slowly walking towards my bed. Her barefoot feet were creaking against the old wood. Miggy began to hiss, guarding me, but the girl kept walking. Miggy jumped to one of my boxes near the girl and attempted to scratch her, and the girl stopped. She slowly removed a switchblade from her pocket and carefully sliced Miggy from her neck to her tail. Her meowing stopped, and she fell from the box.
I couldn’t scream, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t blink. I couldn’t do anything because some force was keeping me from saving myself. The girl slowly looked back at me and started to walk again. There was a wicker chair sitting in her path, so she picked it up and threw it across the room where it landed on its side next to my closet door. She came closer until she was near my nightstand, and delicately raised the knife above her head. I looked deep into her eyes and saw nothing. No emotion or humanity. She grinned, revealing no teeth. She whispered, “Midnight is the time of day when everyone else comes out to play,” although it was nearly incomprehensible. She brought the knife down fast, but a second later, a light flashed before my eyes.
I slowly opened them, noticing it was morning. It was just a dream, I sighed. It was almost seven o’clock, so I decided to start my day early and refrain from sleeping. I got up and walked to my bathroom, brushed my teeth and splashed my face. What an odd dream, I thought. Must be the new apartment.
I walked back to my room to change my clothes, but found my wicker chair blocking the door. A shiver went up my spine. As I recalled what happened in my dream, I turned around, and saw Miggy, motionless in a pool of blood near the same unpacked box from last night.