I put the pillow over my head, pressing down on my ears, trying to drown out the muttering.

Mason has been asking me to swap rooms for weeks, he kept complaining about how loud Victoria is at night. Kept saying she’s talking to someone on the phone. Said he could see the light from her phone coming from under her door. Victoria insisted she hadn’t been speaking to anyone. I just thought he was being dramatic and petty after they broke up. After so long of him begging for a room swap, I finally agreed; to save the house dynamics. We had 7 months to go before we reached the end of our tenancy.

Victoria had been muttering for an hour already, and I was sorely regretting my decision to swap rooms with Mason. Trying to muffle the sound had no affect, aside from making me a little claustrophobic, and in a position making it impossible for me to fall asleep. I groaned in frustration, and returned the pillow to behind my head. Each time I thought she’d stopped taking, it’s started up again and I welled with anger. I was SO tired.

I let my anger ebb away as I grew more exhausted, and I began to pay attention to her words, to see if I could work out who she was speaking to. Could it be another boy? I’d be surprised, she hadn’t long broken up with Mason. Could another boy be the reason for the break up? As more thoughts swelled in my head my curiosity piqued.

I strained my ears and listened.

“I don’t want to go again”

Several moments passed before she spoke again.

“When will you be done with me?” There was an edge of fear to her voice, and my heart dropped a little. Who was she taking to, and why did she sound scared?

“Please I don’t want to go up again, aren’t the questions enough? Please don’t take me; not again!”

She sounded more desperate now, and a part of me wanted to burst in there. I no longer assumed she was on the phone, but she sounded like she was having a very bad nightmare.

“No no no no”

Victoria began to whimper and cry. She began shouting “help me!”

I leapt out of bed and ran across the hall. I could see a bright light shining from the crack under her door, illuminating the hallway. I hesitated a moment, and then wrenched the door open. The light disappeared in the same instant. I burst into the room, and Victoria was in her bed asleep. I stared at her for ages, confused.

I slowly made my way back to my room. I settled into bed, relieved the muttering had finally stopped. I fell asleep, the last thought on my mind being that I needed to talk to Victoria tomorrow, to ask her if she believed in otherworldly encounters.