The embodiment of total darkness filled the room following a loud crash created by lightning, rain, and God's fury.

My first reaction, of course, was to go to my brother's room. We were the only people in the house who would gladly stay up until the ungodly hours of the night, and therefore, we just about only had each other.

Just more than a week ago, we heard a strange knocking on our window. Not to say that the knocking in particular was in a strange manner, but its source was clearly unknown. At first, my brother and I just thought it to be a branch of some sort. That's when we realized that we don't have bushes near our window, and that the knocking came in a chronological order rather than at the same time.

Unfortunately, our scared little minds got the best of us as we jumped to conclusions and assumed that there was an intruder in the backyard. Even though that was the scariest thought, it was definitely the most likely, as we didn't have any bushes or plants or anything like that that could've caused a noise naturally. And what do scared teens do when they think there's someone in the backyard? They got their father. At least that's what we did.

I wasn't too scared at this point, but seeing my dad open up his fingerprint safe to retrieve his Glock wasn't the most bit comforting. But, at the same time, it kind of was. My thoughts went something like this: the fact that he has to get his gun scared me, but the fact that he did get his gun provides me with a sense of security.

Needless to say, when he went out there, there was nothing there. And so he unloaded his firearm and we all went to bed.

The next night, the same thing happened, but Dad didn't bother to grab his gun. He just went out there with a flashlight.

(Again,) needless to say, when he went out there, there was nothing there.

And so we didn't hear the knocking again until last night, at which point the raging storm outside struck its wrath into the Earth in the form of completely stripping the town of its power. This was the middle of the night, and so being in pitch darkness after hearing the knock again really unsettled my brother and I. I used my laptop and he used his phone to shed some light into the abyss that was now our house, but we eventually just crashed in his room for the time being with a plan to wait until the power came back on.

Having the door open the whole time was a mistake.

My brother's door leads directly into our hallway with a slight curve right near the door so it almost acts as a J with a rougher turn.

Standing in the doorway, I saw a very tall and slender figure. It was most definitely humanoid, buy it was so tall that its head was being blocked by the door frame. It was unrealistically tall, because for it to stand straight like it was, our roof must've been at least another foot and a half. But it wasn't.

It's almost like it was staring at me, but, again, I couldn't tell because of its head not being able to be seen. But the way its torso was pointing and how its neck remained seemingly straight (and how the way the sight of it sent chivers down my spine), it felt like it was staring me dead on. I wanted to tell my brother, but I just couldn't, almost as if I was physically restricted. As soon as I regain the power to speak again, the figure steps out of the doorway and back into my hall.

For some reason, I still couldn't tell my brother. I felt physically unable to warn him of what may or may not be there.

We went out into the living room because, at this point, my entire family was up. The living room is at the end of our hallway, and I had no sight of whoever (or whatever) was originally there. I managed to calm myself down and take a seat, laptop in hand, with my parents talking as I saw him again. He was standing in the hall, just like he had did with the doorframe. But this time, his head wasn't obscured, and I could faintly make out huge, black eyes matching a sly, toothless grin.

I felt this force grab my face and force it into a similar grin as I practically entered shock, unable to believe that something like this was happening. My face muscles eventually came to a forced rest in the position of a smile like his, and we continued to lock eyes, unblinking.

During this entire time, my family looked at the exact same spot I looked at and saw nothing. It was like I was the only one who could see him.

He held up his hands in a manner similar to that of holding a camera or some other photography tech as his smile grew wider. Mine, of course, only managed to follow his in width until the point where I could feel the skin on the edge of my lips begin to tear. I heard a whisper in my ear as his grip tightened on Satan's camera.

"Cheese."

As I heard the voice which I could only presume is his, he pressed the capture button and a blinding flash of lightning filled the room. At the same time, an unbearable pain went through both of my cheeks as my smile grew to an inhuman width.

When I could see again, I was in the bathroom, staring at the mirror. I saw a smile as wide as a watermelon stretched across my face created purely of dark, maroon-hued blood and torn flesh. He was standing right behind me as I attempted to scream, but all I could do was laugh.

In the mirror, I saw him click his camera once more but no flash came out. Following this, a child-like laugh came from the hall.

The man knocked twice on the wall exactly how the thing outside did it and promptly faded away as I was left to stare at my bloody, stretched smile.