"Alice! It's time to go to bed!"

Granny is right. I shouldn't be up this late. It's 10:30pm and I should be cuddled in bed instead of watching a thriller on Disney+, yet I don't really want to go to sleep.

"Alice Tull, if you aren't in bed in ten minutes, I'll-" She is suddenly cut off by a strange noise coming from the window. I'm sure it's only the wind. That stupid broken window... I'm sure Dad called someone to repair it, did he?

"What's that noise?" As Granny screeches, it becomes gradually louder, until all we can hear is a thud.

"I'll turn TV down and go to bed, okay?" My words seem to be enough to reassure my grandmother; however, I myself am not sure if I'll sleep well after hearing all those noises.

In my bedroom, I check that the window is perfectly closed, shut the door behind me, turn the light off and crawl in bed, wrapping myself in my heavy blankets. I close my eyes and start my journey to Dreamland when, suddenly, I hear another thud.

"Nnn..."

I ignore it, dismissing it as just noise, and focus on my sleep instead. The more I try to sleep, the more I hear those thuds. They start becoming more insistent and, worse, more frequent.

Suddenly, the thuds stop, only to be replaced by a mysterious buzz, like that of an insect. It's November, though. There shouldn't be many insects in the area. Maybe it comes from outdoors.

I'm tempted to go and open the window to check, but decide not to. It's cold outside and Granny wouldn't be happy to see me still awake and worried for the strange noises.

The buzz, instead of stopping, becomes louder and louder to the point that I can't sleep anymore. I believe it comes from a closer source than I think.

So, when I check if there isn't anything strange under my bed, I'm horrified to hear a mysterious voice hissing, "Hello, Alice. Here you are. Do you want to see what's under the bed?"

Not knowing what to say, I stand there still, petrified and unable to give an answer. If I check, I'll get into trouble. If I don't, however, I'll never know why I'm hearing thuds and other weird noises.

This is going to be a very long night.