Night terrors, restless sleep, nightmares, no more dreams.
I bought this house, I brought this on myself. When I set my eyes on it, I should’ve left.
I just didn’t have the cash then, to buy something halfway decent. I would’ve settled for anything back then. I’ve moved to a hotel room temporarily, but it should do for now. But I can’t stop seeing their glowing eyes.
I had just returned from my boring job as a cashier. I crashed on the couch and turned on the television. I eventually got bored with it, and just began scrolling Youtube, expecting something interesting to come up.
Nothing much, your average gaming and commentary videos about the most recent drama that I could honestly care less about. I laid my phone down on the coffee table, and drifted off to sleep.
I woke up in the middle of the night, a sinking feeling in my gut. The deer head above the deadened fireplace seemed to be staring at me. A figure limped towards me, glossy eyes glowing in the moonlight. The soft patter of rain must’ve covered up the thing’s footsteps, or they were just completely mute.
Its arms were also twitching in random directions, but with some sense of purpose. each step it took, the way it moved was ominous. It had a jagged path of motion, twitching and swaying as it walked. As it got closer, I felt a crushing feeling on my chest.
It must’ve been about ten solid minutes, but it felt like hours. The thing stared at me, and I could see it clearly for the first time. A tall, humanoid figure, covered in pale, translucent skin. 7 fingers on each hand, a blindfold over its eyes, and teeth locking into slots like a crocodile.
Then I noticed two more, shorter, but just as terrifying figures on either side of the one that was now staring at me. They bared their rotten teeth in a silent howl. One stared at me in a calculating way, with eyes so wide and threatening that they seemed ready to swallow me whole. The other was snapping its jaw open and shut silently. I stared at them all night, until they disappeared in a blink.
The next night, it began to rain again. But the rain soon grew dark as night, and every once in a while, there would be thunder, which here, always meant something was coming. I never saw anything, but I could tell it was coming for me. The nightmares kept coming.
This is how they hunt. You can see it in their eyes. They study you every night, finding whatever it takes to break you. The only way I can get any sleep is to close my eyes. But it doesn’t stop their gaze.
The ones that walk in eclipses, the shadows under your feet. You feel it, through the bone-chilling dread that builds in your body. Their ivory claws on the concrete. Their scent clinging to the air, like a burnt cinder. Then you hear the soft clack of their jaws opening. The patter of their feet, the sound of your heart racing. But then you turn back, and nothing’s there. You’re alone. Yet, in your peripheral vision, the shadows move without stimulation.
I feel my body changing. First my posture, the way I act, and then my teeth. I feel tired during the day, but my excitement grows when the sun sets.
It takes patience and an obsessive will to survive. And if you survive, it’s the silent hunt that makes up the rest of your nights. They won’t give up until you do.
I’ve scratched myself to the point of bleeding out, I tried to take a pistol to my head, just to find it empty. I’ve tried slicing the flesh from my arms, and even that had a limited effect. The darkness is like a painkiller. A feeling I have never felt before, and have only gotten since it began. I’m not afraid of it, but I’m tired of it. I don’t want to die, but I don’t want to continue this hellish existence. I’ve stapled my eyes open, I can watch them all night. No more dreams, no more waking up shaking, no more pulling the sheets. Please, put me to sleep.