Shawn Mendes Imagines

123 - Mate (AU)

Have you ever had that feeling that there was someone watching you from afar? Like, do you ever wake up at a random time, so early in the morning to the point that the sun has not even risen and the moon's glow was the only thing that lit up the room, and feel as if there was someone standing in the corner of your room, lurking in the shadows? Like, you obviously cannot see it but that unnerving feeling is there and makes it difficult to fall back asleep? That's what it was like for me ever since I was a kid. I would wake up with a jolt and look around my room, seeing a dark figure by the balcony door. My first instinct was to grasp the rosary my grandmother gave me when I was younger and hold it close to my chest, repeatedly murmuring Hail Marys. If that does not work, I will then get a flashlight and read a random verse from the Bible to ease my nerves. But it actually got even worse growing up. [A/N: If you're not Catholic/Christian, please imagine it as something else 😊 I'm just used to writing in that perspective.]

And I guess that's the reason as to why I woke up from yet another dream of a figure looming over me, however it didn't feel like another ordinary night. The atmosphere felt even more eerie than usual. I sat up with a jolt from my bed, my hand against my chest as I tried to gasp for air. I then brought my knees up to my chest and held my head in my hands. I struggled to get the dream out of my head despite thinking of something else other than those long, slender fingers of a cloaked figure reaching out to choke me. (Choke me like you hate me but you love me- carry on) I looked over to the clock and groaned as it read "3:04" in bold, red numbers. I barely even had two hours of sleep and I already had a nightmare.

For years, this has happened. For years, it's always the same dream. A shadow hovering over me as I slept, its hand reaching out slowly, as if the personified version of death being careful not to wake up a person before snatching their soul away from their body. But just before it could get its bony hand around my neck or feel its fingers against my skin, I feel myself falling before opening my eyes and gasping for air, as if I was so close to meeting it and was lucky enough to escape.

I turned to lie back down again when I saw a figure move from the corner of my eye. Other nights, I brush it off as the curtains on the balcony door however this time, it was nowhere near it and somehow seemed human. My heart rate increased and goosebumps covered my flesh as I stared at it getting closer and closer. I was in a frozen state of terror yet I knew I had to move. My hands grasped the rosary in my palm tightly, feeling the beads digging into my skin. As much as I wanted to die, I couldn't let it be in the hands of my own nightmare. I slowly kicked the blankets off my legs and prepared to launch myself on whatever the hell it was if I needed to. I pretended to lean back on the mattress and squinted my eyes to make it seem as if I were falling back asleep.

I silently watched as the figure moved close enough to me before turning and lunging. I brought my leg to the other side of it, straddling the figure in order to successfully pin it down on the ground with a loud thud as I blindly reached out to turn on a lamp. My legs tightened around it as my fingers brushed against the switch and let the light fill the room. I gasped when I saw a boy around my age, struggling against my hold. I grabbed both his wrists in one of my hands and pinned them above his head as he tried to pry me off of him.

"Who are you? What are you doing in my room?" I demanded, pushing him harder on the floor with my free arm pressed against his neck.

He only let out an inhumane noise as he wriggled under me. I took that moment to assess him. I froze when I realized that he was practically naked, his chest of full display as a small piece of cloth covered his lower region. He had a face and body that must have been perfectly sculpted by the gods. I gulped as I pushed him back harder, seeming to lose my grip when I remembered that I was only in an over sized sweater and a pair of cotton underwear. My cheeks felt warm but I knew not to let my guard down. This man, whoever he is still snuck into my room at three in the morning, half-naked.