[color=silver][indent][h1][/h1][center][color=bca346][b]J A M E S  M I C H A E L  E S T U E R T[/b][/color][/center]
   It was another one of [i]those[/i] nights. You know, the type when he would just lay there in bed mindlessly doomscrolling TikTok, and the ceiling fan would be spinning slowly around, pushing some ominous mist glowing from the window around the room… Wait, what? 

   James’ attention quickly glanced towards the clacking of the fan. Nothing but, maybe dust? He could hardly tell in the darkness. He scanned the room, again. Yes, again. He had been doing this for at least an hour, now, expecting different results.

   He swore he wasn’t crazy. It was the town. He knew it. His nightmares had stopped when he had left for college. Or maybe, he made that up. He couldn’t remember anymore. 

   Maybe [i]was[/i] crazy. James closed his eyes.

   [color=white]“Knock-knock.”[/color]

   James shot from his bed. His cellphone clanked to the wood floor and slid underneath the bed. 

   [color=white]“Geez, it’s just [i]me[/i]”[/color] Lucy smirked. Her head was tilted to one side in vain curiosity. Light brown hair draped down her shoulders. She was wearing some white spaghetti strapped pajamas set, and for whatever reason or another, that particular outfit (among several others) always made him feel a tad bit uncomfortable.

   [color=c4a484]“What do you want?” [/color]James glanced around the dark floor, searching for any potential sign of where his cell phone might have wandered.

   [color=white]“Oh, nothing. Just watching you,”[/color] as she said this, their eyes met. Her eyes seemed to glow from the hallway light. A smile etched on her face, and for several moments too long, they just looked at each other, as the fan creaked back-and-forth. 

   Slowly, a spaghetti strap fell from one of her shoulders.

   [color=c4a484]“Am I allowed to know why?”[/color] James finally asked. He was bending down to search for his phone. He thought he could see the glow emitting under his bed, and he was right. 

   [color=white]“I don’t know. You’ve been really cringe recently. Like, you’ve always been cringe, just more so. Mom and Dad think so, too.”[/color]

   [color=c4a484]“Is that what they said?”[/color]

   [color=white]“No, not really,”[/color] Lucy’s stable smile found a smugger position. [color=white]“But, I did tell them I would help keep an eye on you. After all, you [i]are[/i] my favorite big brother.”[/color]

   James’ arm extended under the bed. The light on the screen had turned off, and he had to use what was left of the hallway light to find it. Thankfully, there was only one shadow he could see beneath the bed, and that one shadow-lump was his phone.

   [color=c4a484]“I’m your only big brother, Lucy.”[/color] James grabbed his phone and unlocked the screen. His eyes glanced up at Lucy, and as if on cue or working from a script, she pushed her spaghetti strap back over her thin shoulder and made some charming pose before lifting her nose in the air and waltzing off.

   Light flooded the bedroom as his sister’s body disappeared. The creaking of the fan continued, and for several seconds, James stared blankly at nothing until his phone’s screen locked. The light dimmed, and he took several calming breaths. Carefully, he stood up and went to close his bedroom door. But, before he closed his door, he turned the light on.

   James looked towards the bedroom window. If she was the only one watching him, then he had nothing to worry about, right? His body flopped back onto the bed. His face buried into his pillow, and his cellphone was held tightly in one hand, draped off the bed. Maybe, he was crazy. Who was he kidding? The whole town was crazy. He just needed to prove it.

   He breathed annoyingly into his pillow and turned over. He brought his cellphone to his face. The screen light glowed over him once again, and his thumb began its endless scrolling. Anything to get his mind to turn off.[/indent] [/color]