What a horrible night to have a curse
Hotaru didn't even notice Zirco's near social disaster. She had a hand on her bed, staring at it, trying to imagine sleeping on it. Truth be told she was nervous. She didn't know what would happen when she went to bed. There were reasons she was kept in such a small room by herself. Hidden away from others. They made sure that if anything happened no one was there to become a victim.
She should warn him. She should warn him. He needed to know.
"You gonna be okay sleepin' there?"
Her shoulders tensed up as he spoke to her. She twisted her neck to look back at him, hair covering most of her face. "Yes..."
Tell him. Tell him!
"Be...careful...if....if you see something..." She looked away and down at the bed. Her next statement was soft, and she had to force it out. "Don't think it's just a nightmare."
Without explaining she made her way into the bed. Crawling under the covers and hiding her face. She would try and stay awake as long as possible.
It didn't take long before she was unable to keep it up. Perhaps due to the more comfortable bed. Or how much she did today. But Hotaru found herself unable to keep her eyes open and soon drifted off into slumber.
---
And that was when it began. It started simply. Zirco would feel a chill. And then there was scratching noises. Something light. Like nails brushing against wood. Just for a moment, however, and afterwards it ended. There was several minutes of nothing. Yet this nothing felt ominous. He would be certain there had been an odd sound.
The moment he started to think he imagined it, the sound returned.
Scratch. Scratch. Scraaaatch.
It had gotten louder. What started as a vague noise became clear. Something was under the bed. Something was dragging claws under the bed. Something large.
The blanket tugged, as if something were pulling it from below, and Zirco would hear something dragging against the floor.
If he were looking he would see a vague shape. Just barely poking out from under the bed. A head, perhaps, and a hand.
No, not a hand. A claw. Gripping the edge of the bed.
The unusual happenings didn't merely extend to their room. Outside of it something was moving. Through the hallways. Anyone who left their rooms that night would see a young girl wandering the halls.
They would only catch a glimpse of her before she turned the corner. Or, if there were no corner, turned through the wall itself.