Cold Hearted, Cold Blooded

The Lie

A/N: I blame this chapter on Haikyuu horror fanfiction.
Prompt: the lie

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"I think something's following me," I said to my boyfriend one day, heart pounding in my chest both from the encounter I had an hour ago and from waiting for his reaction.

"What?" He glanced at me, something unreadable in his eyes. "What do you mean, 'something'?"

"I..." I stopped. "I, well, I don't think it's human." I scratched the back of my head nervously, knowing exactly how weird I sound.

"You mean, like an animal?" my boyfriend asked, clearly confused.

"No. Like a..." I hesitated. "Like a monster, I guess." I took a peek at him, trying to gauge his reaction. He only looked more confused and maybe a little concerned. "Look, I'm not crazy or hallucinating. I know what I saw—"

"Okay," my boyfriend cut in simply.

"Okay?" I asked, surprised.

"Okay, I believe you," he said.

"Just like that? You're not going to get me to go to the psychiatrist? Ask me if I'm doing drugs?"

"No," he replied simply. I stared at him, trying to see if he was joking or not. I knew him well enough to see that he wasn't. He was being completely sincere.

"Okay," I said as bone-crushing relief threatened to overwhelm me. He believed me. "Okay. So what do we do? Should we call the cops?"

He shook his head. "You think they'd believe you?" Something I couldn't identify passed through his expression. "Don't worry, dear, I'll protect you." I stared at him, my eyes welling with tears. Relief and gratitude crashed into me like waves from a broken dam. I walked over to the couch he was sitting on and hugged him tight. "Thank you," I said, my voice teary with emotion. He hugged me back just as tightly, running a soothing hand down my back.

We stayed like that for a while until he pulled back and asked me, "Can you tell me what you saw?"

I shuddered. "It was this...this ten-foot thing, with huge red eyes and—and there was this...this aura of...darkness—pure darkness. It felt evil, you know, and malicious, like it could destroy me and consume me whole. When it opens its mouth, it's like a black hole. I think, like those dementors from Harry Potter?"

My boyfriend nodded like he understood what I was trying to say. "How many times did you see it?"

"Well, thrice so far." I visibly shuddered and he pulled me back into his arms. I snuggled comfortably into his embrace, feeling safe. "The first time was that time when you went into the convenience store and I waited for you outside while sitting on one of the tables. I felt it watching me from the doors of the store but I just wrote it off as paranoia. The creature disappeared a little while before you came out. The second time I was alone in the apartment and I happened to see it down the street while looking out the window. I could tell it was looking at me. It disappeared soon though. The third time happened around an hour ago, before you returned home. It was just like the second time actually." I looked at my boyfriend contemplatively. "Come to think of it, it always seems to appear when you're not there." My boyfriend stiffened. I could tell that he was apprehensive. "Maybe it's scared of you," I suggested. I felt his body relax under me.

"Maybe," I heard him say, but his expression seemed distant, like he was a million miles away.

"Hugh?" I asked tentatively, unsure. "Are you okay?"

Was it just me, or was the room becoming darker? The lights flickered and suddenly died. The room was fully dark all of a sudden. I couldn't see anything.

"Hugh?" I chuckled, trying to keep the strained edge out of my voice. "Did we forget to pay the electricity bill?" My boyfriend didn't reply.

"Hugh?" His arms tightened around me. "Hugh?" I was beginning to panic. I could feel my boyfriend's arms around me, grip uncomfortably tight all of a sudden, but why wasn't he saying anything?

And then I felt it. Crawling up my skin like giant spiders and sending chills down my spine.

It was here.

Malice and evil roiled off it in waves, prickling my skin and sending my body into a cold sweat. I gasped, my hair standing on end.

"Oh my god, Hugh, it's here!" I whispered in pure terror, my eyes blown wide and my body shaking uncontrollably.

Hugh moved from under me and I looked down at him. He opened his eyes.

His blood-red eyes.

"I know, darling."

His earlier words played in my head.

Don't worry, dear, I'll protect you.

He had lied.

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