Since my board exams were knocking at the door, I was burning the midnight oil. It was around 2 AM when I was  studying all alone in my room which was located on the first floor of my house, rather a terrace room. My parents were sleeping. They had a room on the ground floor

I had a small  windowless but cheerful room, painted calming blue and the ceiling painted bright yellow to brighten up my room. The room was furnished with only the necessities a person needs. It had exactly  room for a single bed and a study table adjusted just beside the bed. An old fashioned pendulum adorned the wall.

I never felt the need of a window since the backdoor of my room led to an open terrace. Through the open terrace, one could see a few scattered houses and a big football ground. At night, the scene from my bedroom looked so fascinating. Whirling clouds, starry sky and the bright moon made it picturesque. But that night was different!

Oblivious of my surrounding, I was diligently learning the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I loved learning History and Civics, which is why I did not realise or pay heed to the fact that the room had no electricity and batteries of my emergency light were running out. It was the month of January and one can imagine how freezing it could be. Since it was a windowless room, I had to keep the door half open. Finally, looking at the poor condition of the light, I decided to stop learning. I arranged my cluttered books spread on the bed and decided to go out, take a walk on the terrace and get back to sleep.

I remember, that night was quite unusual. The sky looked deep, low, velvety, dismal and overpowering. It was a windless night. No blanket of stars, no silver lining of the crescent moon and the eerie atmosphere made me feel that the sky is soon going to engulf me. I am not a nervous or imaginative man but that was out of the ordinary.

With fast pace I entered my room, latched the door went to sleep directly. The emergency light still on with its flickering gleam. I did not bother to switch it off. Probably, I wanted the light to keep blinking as long as it could. It was not even a minute that I realised, my room gave out a musty smell.I looked around to find nothing and, by now, I did not have the courage to look under my bed. I tried to keep my eyes closed and to fall asleep. I felt that I could literally hear my breath since I was anxious and restless. To my horror, I realized soon that it was not my breath. It was a loud but delicate breathing of someone else and I realized that ‘someone' was watching me. If I turned left on my bed I could hear the breathing from the back and if I turned right I could again hear the breathing from my back. I could feel that it brought a sudden and inexplicable change in my temperature. I didn't dare to look back! The movement of the bed made me feel, that the creature was coming close to me, rather very close, inside my blanket. 

Despair gripped me, I was immobilized by my own vision. 
gathering immense courage, I finally asked…
'Who are you?'
Unexplained whisper answered," I was passing by when I felt terribly cold, so I decided to spend the night here. I hope you don't mind. I am Monalisa."