Hello, Sarah

Everyone looks at me like I’m crazy, but I know what I saw. I just don’t know what to do now. I can’t let it get me. I’m running out of options. I’m running out of time.

Maybe it’s best to look for clues in the beginning.

A chill blew through the hallway, making its way past the beaten floors and along the edges of my spine. The gust had been so slow and icy against my skin that it seemed to creep around the house, peeking behind every corner to find me. My head turned to the door. I hated that door. It dragged open, revealing the dark wooden stairs that led up to the attic.

I sucked in a cautious breath, worried that even a stray strand of air from my mouth would be too loud and give me away. Every hair on the back of my neck stood up watching a shadow zip against the edge of darkness.

Something was in there.

My feet began to move without me, taking my body to the doorframe. Once the cold realization began to run through me, I stopped. I could just leave. I could take my things and run far away from here never to be bothered by that thing ever again. But I had been running from it for so long. I knew deep down that if I left now, it wouldn’t stop until it had me.

I continued up the stairs.

My mind raced. How many times had I seen it skulking behind the trees at the edge of the woods while I played as a child? I took myself back; into my sun-bleached SpongeBob shirt, holding the bright red ball we used to kick around. The robust laughter of Melinda and Jack sung through the air after the ball hit me in the face and knocked me on my ass. As I recovered from my giggles, I spotted it. Still and in the shadows, a slim figure with spindle-like fingers and observant yellow eyes. It did nothing as we looked at each other. Jack called my name so I looked to meet him. When I glanced back, it was gone.

Again at the diner.

Again at the library.

Again at prom, always lurking in the dark.

It seemed wherever I went, it was never far behind. Once I even tried screaming at it hoping it would go away, only to catch the attention of the passerby's in the subway station. After that, I think it got angry because it started showing up in spaces closer and closer to me. It stood in the mirror while I brushed my teeth, only to vanish once I turned to meet it. It hid in the dark confines of the closet while the lights were off. Once the lights turned on, gone again. It had been like this for months. The last time I saw it, it was in the reflection of the refrigerator breathing down my neck. As I continued up the stairs, I could hear scratching on the floorboards.

No matter how delicately my feet touched the wood, each stair groaned. They seemed to get louder and louder, like they were begging me to turn around. Against every fiber in my being that wanted to flee, I pressed onward until I reached the top of the stairs.

The attic had never been anything special. It was a storage space where odds and ends had been collecting over the years. Things that didn’t have a home found refuge amongst the dust and the rays of sun spilling through the mosaic window. I made a habit of only going during the day in an attempt to avoid it, but this couldn’t wait. Not anymore.

My eyes lingered around the room in search of any evidence of that thing residing there, straining against the dark to see anything. The silhouettes of boxes and trinkets hadn’t moved since I put them there. Mildew lingered in the stale air. The only light came from a dim glow of a street lamp just outside of the mosaic window. Dust particles floated around like a snow globe with its contents in permanent suspension. Another gust slithered through the room, and then it clicked: I left the window open. Earlier that day, I had been shuffling the boxes around looking for an old photo album. My sister called asking if I still had it laying around the house somewhere. It had been a hot day and all the movement caused me to sweat, so I popped the window open slightly. I must’ve forgotten to close it back up. I let out a sigh of relief and walked to the farthest end of the room, pulling the window closed. Thank God. Maybe I had been imagining the shadow after all. Maybe I had just imagined everything.

I turned around to make my way down the stairs again, only to find it towering over me. I yelped as its yellow eyes pierced my soul, glowing in the emptiness of the dark. It stood so tall, the thing had to hunch itself over to fit under the roof. All light in the room seemed to slink away in shame as it radiated a pitch black darkness. The unconcentrated evil seeped from its every pore and burned into my skin, filling me with dread. The smell… The unforgettable stench of rot sent chills across my body and tears flooded my eyes. A toothy smile ripped across its horrid face, revealing jagged teeth dripping with blood. It let out a huff like a starving coyote and spoke in what I can only describe as the mimic of a human voice.

“Hello, Sarah.”

I know I sound like a walking cliché, but it all goes blank after that. My memory starts to come back when the fluorescent lights and melodic beeping fades into view. It came and went in waves along with the pain. The hospital told me the wound in my right shoulder was too severe to save my arm. Apparently, many of my nerve endings were destroyed. The doctor told me I was lucky to have survived at all. I had lost a lot of blood by the time they found me.

I was questioned a lot.

“Do you remember your name?”

“Do you know where you are?”

“Did someone hurt you?”

“What is your name?”

“What attacked you?”

I told the truth. I confessed to the beast in my attic and how its stench invaded the entire room. I told about the abysal dark that consumed me and its hungry, yellow eyes. Those words out of my mouth, and they automatically put me under a pshyc evaluation. When I refused to change anything about my story, right into the mental ward I went. They gave me pills to numb my mind and ease my anxiety. At first, I thought they were working because I hadn’t seen it the entire time I’ve been here. I’ve been here for five months. Next Tuesday makes it six.

They’re supposed to give me another evaluation. This one determines if I’m fit to go home–you know, label me as “not harmful to self/others” kind of stuff. Yesterday, I took my pills in the evening as always, but something.. happened.

I caught a glimps at the window leading out the front of the building. There’s only one dim light that illuminates the path to the door from the parking lot. For a second, I saw its dagger-eyes lingering in the shadows. It’s waiting for me.

I pretended not to see it, but I haven’t slept. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’ve contemplated making a scene or screwing up my evaluation on purpose so I can’t go home. I know one thing for sure, though.

It won’t stop until it has all of me.