Her Haunting Smile (Nonfiction)-Inkwell Nonfiction Prompt 55

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I was about 15 and my cousin was about 13 when we saw her.

When I was 15 we lived in a two-bedroom apartment. The house was old and from time to time strange occurrences happened to us. We eventually moved from that house, especially because of the broken pipelines. We owned that house. So, we sold it but the money was not enough to buy a new house in a better neighborhood. So, we rented a house and several others in those days.

That night, my cousins, and my aunt were staying at our house until late at night. Their house was at the same apartment complex as ours. So, we always saw each other. I used to spend a lot of time with my cousins growing up. We were close.

My sister and I shared a room. The rooms were adjacent to each other. That night, my cousin and I were playing a board game and having fun in the living room. My other cousin was watching T.V. Later that night, we all wanted to watch a horror movie called The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005).

My mother and my aunt were busy talking with each other. They didn't pay attention to us. Everything was normal. And my sister was playing with us when she said, "I want to go buy some snacks for the movie we are going to watch. I want to buy some chocolate bars, marshmallows, gummy bears, chips, and Cheetos."

My sister went to our room to change her clothes. After about a minute or two, I looked up and saw someone who looked exactly like my sister. Her back was to me, so I didn't immediately see her face. But, she looked back and smiled at me. I couldn't see her face clearly because there was a distance between us. I thought she was my sister, but she wasn't. She was wearing a long black dress. My sister had a long black dress. She was someone or rather should I say she was something else. How do I know she wasn't my sister? Because at the same time that she was smiling at me, my sister came out of the room. So, I saw two people who looked exactly like my sister, but one of them wasn't my sister. The other one, the one who came out of the room, was my actual sister. They wore different clothing.

This strange occurrence lasted for a short moment, but I know what I saw. She soon disappeared. Because I was shocked, and staring at that thing who looked like my sister, my cousin noticed and traced my gaze, and she saw her too!

"Did you see her?" I asked right after she disappeared.

"Yes! Who was she?" my cousin replied, as shocked as me, expecting me to give her an explanation.

It was a strange moment.

My sister went out to buy the snacks and left me and my cousin in shock, thinking about what just happened.

Later that night, we told my sister what we saw. But, she laughed and didn't believe us.

"Are you watching the movie with me, or you're too scared?" My sister asked, teasing us.

"Yes, it was probably nothing. You bought all these snacks. Let's watch the movie," my cousin said, avoiding what we saw.

My sister looked at me waiting for a response, I finally said "Okay, let's watch it." I was sure that the movie would not scare me as much as Her.

We watched The Exorcism of Emily Rose. I didn't enjoy the movie as much, knowing that I had seen Her. During the movie, my gaze would fly to the spot where she was standing from time to time. And I would think she would come back at any second and come closer to me. So, I could see her haunting smile better. My cousin would look at me, knowing that what we saw was real. She could understand that the fear was real.

I told this story to my family, friends, and my aunt and uncle. But, they didn't believe me. My cousin used to back me up on it, but recently she no longer wants to accept that we saw someone who was not my sister. I will never forget her sinister, haunting smile. There was an air of darkness about her.