It was It

“You have always been way too cerebral.”

“I’m telling you: this was not my own creation. He, She, It was real!”

“How do you know that?”

“It would whisper in my ear, whenever I was alone or just on my own.”

“Maybe it was only your own thoughts.”

“No, it wasn’t me. Whenever I was walking in the streets It would always make me stare at people, look deep into their eyes, until they couldn’t take it any longer. It would say, ‘Look, look how fragile everyone is, just with a mere stare.’ I’m telling you – I did not come up with this, it was It!”

“Well, maybe you just watched something on TV.”

“I could see it taking charge whenever things got difficult. Remember when those police officers wanted to bribe us down in Mexico?”

“I remember you complained about that.”

“It told me to tell the guy that if he would not leave us alone I would make such a fuss that no one would believe him, but me.”

“Make such a fuss doing what?”

“I would say he tried to hurt me, I would use tears, scars in my face and body until everybody would condemn him and I would not stop until he ended his days in prison.”

“Wow! That was clever. How did you come up with that?”

“I’m telling you – it was not me, it was It!”

“Mmm. I don’t know…”

“Remember the time when I had to run in the dark, when that guy got violent?”

“The one in Canada? I do. What happened exactly? I know you managed to escape.”

“I think he was overdosed, yes, but then he got scared.”

“Scared? Well, it may have been his own paranoia.”

“It was It who scared him to death.”

“Ok, what did It do?”

“It did not use strength, but just knows how to get the creeps out of you, what to say. At the beginning this man was, of course, stronger, threatening with his knife, but eventually he became terrified, like haunted by an indomitable fear. I could see it in his eyes.”

“I saw the reports and they said there was no one else beside you when they found you in the forest. I still can’t believe how you ended up going in the darkness rather than staying in the cabin.”

“The forest was safer. I had to. Otherwise…”

“What? It would’ve hurt him?”

“It would’ve (could’ve) killed him.”

“Ok…”

“Remember how that other guy ended up going crazy, presumably out of the blue?”

“Who are you talking about? The one that you met in South America, that looked like a vampire?”

“Yes, that one.”

“I remember him. What happened to him? He was so composed, decent and well-mannered.”

“He wanted to see It. He knew – I told him. So one day he just hit me in the face, supposedly to arouse me, but I was so upset. And not surprisingly, It came out. Then It made him hurt himself.”

“What did It say?”

“I don’t know. I can barely remember. I was there, but all I can recall is a feeling of nausea mixed with satisfaction. Because yes, It likes it! It likes when people lose control. It loves their fear. It feeds itself with it. And It knows how to trigger it in people, saying exactly the right words that would make you tremble, feel embarrassed, stupid, ashamed, humiliated. I’m telling you – it was not me, it was It!”

“Ok, so let me get this straight. It seems It always shows up whenever you’re in danger?”

“Not necessarily… I see it looking at me, whenever I look in the mirror.”

“It’s you then!”

“No! I’m telling you – it is not me, it is It.”