A brush with horror

I glance up nervously at a monstrosity of a moon, large and dominating against the frail night. Huffing and sprauchling forward, I make my way through an eerily calm street. There's not a soul in sight and every horror movie I watched remains branded against my brain. My eyes are wide and alert and my breath is sporadic. I try to soften my gait as much as possible without cutting on my speed. Dried leaves scattered by the howling gale mess up my line of vision. Gnarled trees branch over the street walls, nosy intruders keeking at the sight of life. The houses on either side of the street are either abandoned or glowing with eldritch light. My heart pounds against its cage; a prisoner trying to break free of its cell. My breath is the loudest noise on the street.

I continue to stride, quite maniacally, keeping my head lowered and my hands in the pockets of my jumper. I suddenly feel unsettled, as though being watched by someone. Nervously glancing behind, above and all around me, I don't notice anything at first. But as the perturbed feeling nags away at my mind, I look around again, more slowly. My heart jolts suddenly and fear convulses my body and I'm rooted to the spot as I see a hellish silhouette approximately 8 meters away. Adrenaline kicks in and my hurried gait turns into a frantic jog. My legs carry me forward and I imagine my gory fate as I come to a dead end. However, the wall being cracked and dilapidated, contained broken bricks in a few places, worn over time. I kick away the wall, uncovering its feeble attempt at obscuring the haunted woods behind it. I crash forward into a muddy path behind the crumbling walls, embraced by nodose woods. I break into a run and I risk a look behind me. A sense of foreboding fills me as I see the creature on my trail. Around 6ft. tall, draped in a tattered cloth from head to toe, with eyes the size of tennis balls and no visible lips to cover its menacing fangs. Its flesh is cut all over and scars run the length of its face. I let out a blood-curdling scream and sprint in a jerky and deranged manner, crashing through shrubs and needle-like twigs. Thorns and branches rip at my face and catch on what's remaining of my jumper. Screaming for help, I trip over a particularly knotted root and fall face-first into hard-packed earth. My ears ring and words die at the tip of my tongue. My vision is impaired and the dull lull of the woods is of no help. The creature gropes at my feet and drags me across the foliage. I thrash around until it loses it's hold on me and sprint away again. I spot light and hear busy activity in the distance. Realizing that I was in he vicinity of the town again, a small spark of hope warms me. I hurtle towards the light. I reach it and relief floods me as I reach a place of familiarity. I navigate the streets and finally spot my house in the distance. Looking behind me, I'm shocked to see the creature still on my trail. I quicken my pace again, wild and trembling and bang on the front door. Nobody answers. It reaches me and comes to a halt a few feet away. Slightly tilting its head to the right, it ambles towards me and I fall down, into a sitting position on my doorstep. Something catches my eye and I stare at the creature. A flash of a sneakers where I suppose its feet would be. I see, definitely, this time, that they're a pair of yellow sneakers; ones that I know my best friend owned for the past 6 years. As realization hits me, the front door jolts open and I fall back to see a crowd of people holding balloons and candles, smirking down upon me. "Happy Birthday!" my family bellows...