As You Scream For Mercy

Do you know that feeling you get when you're isolated in your room at night? That tingling feeling you get when you're trying to fall asleep in the dark. You convince yourself it must be a bug, ant, or mosquito that is touching your leg. You try to come up with something reasonable as to why you feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand. You convince yourself you are sleep deprived when a pile of clothing on a chair, starts to take shape of a woman, or child, or man. You tell yourself that you are hallucinating from lack of sleep, when you thought you heard someone whisper out your name. 

You close your eyes, and try to fall asleep, you succeed. Then you wake again, some time in the early morning. It's still dark out. Why did you wake up? Was it a nightmare? Did you think you heard something? Or did you just wake with a start?

You woke up because that pile of clothing has taken shape of another human. However, you very well know it is not a human. Your mind cannot comprehend what it really is, not now. For now you tell yourself it cannot possibly be another person. It has to be a pile of clothing.

In the following morning you'll look at chair with the pile clothing, and quietly laugh to yourself. You had been scared for no reason.

The next night, you turn off your light. You scatter off to your bed, close your eyes, and attempt to sleep, but you hear a sound. Or did you? Is it the darkness that makes you think that you are hearing things? Is it that silly fear that you have had since you were a child? Afraid of a monster lurking in your closet? A monster waiting for you to fall asleep, as it stations itself under your bed?

No, no. There is no monster in the closet or under the bed. For now, at least. For now, your monster waits for you in plain sight. It waits for you, where you believe that pile of clothing is. It waits for the perfect moment.

What exactly is that perfect moment? It is when you are convinced that you are being watched. When you can swear that the pile of clothing just shifted. When you can hear breathing that is not your own. When you realize that ants and other bugs, do not have nails to be able to touch your legs, the way they are doing now. When you finally are able to lull yourself to sleep, but wake up some few hours later, with a start. When not only the hairs on the back of your neck stand, but the ones on your arms, and the few on your legs do as well. When you feel a chill run across your body. When you hear the unmistakable wispy voice call out your name.

You begin to panic, sure that there is a monster waiting for you. To do what exactly? You have no idea. You wish you can scream out for help, but your voice catches in your throat. You're paralyzed with fear. Terrified that, this is your last night of living. You quickly grab your phone, and shine the dim light at the pile of clothes.

Nothing.

You shine the light to the end of your bed, where you could have sworn you felt nails against your skin. You yelp as you see a bug the size of your thumb, perhaps even slightly larger. You throw a shoe from the side of your bed at it, and watch as it scatters away. You breath a sigh of relief as it does. Then you remember the feeling of your impending doom. You shine the light back to the pile of clothes.

Still nothing.

You shine it in the direction of your open closet. Nothing, other than your own clothing.

You chuckle to yourself as you realize how foolish you have been. There are no such things as monsters. It is just your imagination. It is the darkness of your room, the isolation from the world outside.

You turn off the light from your phone, and place it back to where it belongs. You chuckle again. How silly you felt, for thinking that there was another being in the room with you.

You close your eyes, more at peace. The sinking feeling of your doom, now gone.

This could go on for days. Weeks perhaps, maybe even months if they truly wished. They want to bring you to the brink of insanity before they grab you by the leg. Before they drag you away to under the bed, or into the closet. Before they make you scream and cry out for mercy. However, they never do stop when you do call out uncle, they just laugh.

For now, they wait. They wait until you feel at peace, only to wake you up, and convince you that you are delusional.

A word of advice, pretend to be sleeping. No matter how many times you hear your name being called out to you, never stir. Never open your eyes. If you feel nails rub against your legs, pretend to shift in your sleep, and cover them under your blankets. Take down that pile of clothes. Do not let any limbs hang off the sides of your bed. Play music at night, so you can drown out their voices.

It will not keep you safe forever, but it will give you some time.