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Delilah woke with a start, her body heaving and covered in sweat. The ceiling fan above her shifted the focus of the red lights illuminating her room. To the side, her alarm clock flicked off and on at a rapid pace, blinking between 12:00 and being dark. Delilah looked at her left arm, a small bruise forming on her wrist.

"Must have been one of those night terrors again.", she muttered to herself. Her dark long hair fell around her face as she sat up in her bed, staring everywhere and nowhere. Her heart felt like it was going to pound out of her chest, the adrenaline causing her heart to beat too many beats per minute. Delilah placed her right hand over her chest, trying to slow down her breathing. As her heart slowed down, the clock stopped blinking and remained off. Her vision focused, and she swung her legs over the side of the bed to get up and turn on the overhead light that was a buddy with the ceiling fan. A loud exhale sound came from her left side, so Delilah ran with a new jolt of adrenaline to the switch, her back to the door as the light flooded the room. "Girl, you need to get a hold of yourself.", Delilah muttered to herself.

Delilah walked back over to her bed where her alarm clock was resting on a bedside table. "Odd, it's plugged in." Delilah unplugged the clock and plugged it back in, the time blinking at a steady pace. Delilah checked her phone, and clicked the time on the clock until it held a steady display. The alarm clocked glowed on Delilah's face as she slumped back into bed. 2:03 AM. As soon as she closed her eyes, Delilah fell back into a deep slumber.

***

Delilah woke to her alarm with a start, throwing her blankets onto the floor and almost smashing the alarm clock as she hit "snooze". "Time went by that fast? I feel like I just closed my eyes." As Delilah stretched and rubbed her eyes, she felt a small tap on her back. "Ah!" Her eyes were slightly blurry as her eyes opened, quickly jumping out of her bed. For a brief second, she thought that she saw somebody in the corner of her eye. For a brief second she felt life leave her body, her face growing ashy white. These additional stimuli to her senses threw her flying down the hall, turning on all of the lights and opening the windows as she went along, catching her breath as she opened the front door. The cold and damp wind slapped her body into normality, calming down her flight or fight. "Okay, Delilah, get a hold of yourself." Delilah inhaled deeply the cool air, taking in the foggy grey morning. "At least it's pretty out here." Delilah looked around, letting the front door stay wide open, her pale toes against the cement porch, soaking in more of the coolness around her. "Alright, time to get ready." Delilah turned back around to close the door, hearing the wind go through the pine trees around her house.

The door clicked behind Delilah, letting her feel more in control of her life being able to calm herself down. A shadow passed in her peripheral vision, jolting her body just enough to keep her on her toes.

"Man, why is it that my roommate is always gone when this kind of stuff happens? I feel like I'm going nuts."

"You're not.", a raspy, chilling voice called out. Delilah gasped- almost shrieked. "Wh-who are you?" Delilah was trying to keep her voice level, but some of her terror was coming through.

"Why...do you care?", the raspy voice called out.

"Because...well, I just need to know."

"I could be your best companion or worst nightmare. How would you like it, Delilah?" As the raspy voice said her name, Delilah felt a huge chill run down her spine.

"I- I don't know. I have questions." Delilah called out. She was looking around, trying to find the location of the voice. It almost felt like it was circling around her, blatantly disorienting her. Suddenly, a voice deep as thunder and chilling to the bone came from right behind her.

"Let us begin."