Ever since that night I have been terrified to sleep with the lights off. I lay awake staring at the bright ceiling until my eyes burn from exhaustion, and I finally fall asleep. I know he is coming back for me. I count the nights as they pass. 35. 35 nights have passed since he stole my novel and my scent.
I don't know what is more agonizing, the waiting or the wondering what he is going to do to me. I hope he just does it quick, he could at least do me that one kindness.
I begin to close my eyes, as they start to feel too heavy to hold open anymore when I finally hear it. The creak. That one small creak is all I need to hear to know it is him.
He is back.
"So, it's finally time, eh?" I say out loud, while still holding my eyes closed.
"ah ah ah. Still think having your eyes closed will save you? what a silly silly human you are. I thought you had learned better the last time I paid you a visit." I keep my eyes screwed shut while he walks closer to my bed, his voice getting louder and more menacing with each step towards me.
"I know this does nothing, but it helps me keep my nerves in check. If i can't see you then I can be less scared. I can pretend you are just another normal person talking to me" I say with as much confidence as I can muster.
"what do you mean pretend? I am normal." Says the creature. I can feel the bed shift as he sits down beside me. "I am just as normal as you or anyone else, it is actually you who is abnormal to me."
I open my eyes to see a tall man with dark brown hair sitting at the bottom of my bed. I gasp and rub my eyes a few times to make sure I am seeing this right.
"Wait, how is this possible? You are a monster! You aren't human!" I shout at the man.
"oh but darling, didn't you know? the real monsters are the ones in our heads" He says in a smooth voice before disappearing once again. In his spot lay my novel that he stole during his first visit. I grab the book and open it to the front cover. There is writing in bold on the first page. It reads:
IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP
In smaller print underneath of that it says:
your family misses you, how about we go visit them together?
Before I even have time to comprehend what i just read I hear my mom yelling for me from down the hallway. I get up to go see what she wants when i suddenly wake up, in a hospital room, surrounded by my mother, father, and little brother. They all start crying and hugging me, obviously relieved that I finally woke up.
My eyes scan the room, looking for a dark head of hair. I spot him, in the corner of the room with a sly smirk on his face, he waves at me before snapping his fingers and disappearing once again.
I later find out that I have been in a coma for 36 days. I guess he was right about one thing, the monsters are really all in our heads. At least now I know what is real and what is fake, the thing that confuses me is my novel, my family brought it with my stuff to the hospital, and the writing is in the real world too. I know it is true because my brother is the one who pointed it out. My family swears they didn't do it and nobody else has been in my room. Maybe he is still as real as i thought he was, he is just good at hiding it.
