The Demon's Obsession

Episode 6

The light trickled in slowly, everything still tinged in an overly bright blur. My eyes struggled to open under the weight of drowsiness, and it didn’t help that I was lying comfortably in my bed.

My bed?

I shot up instantly—a shooting pain stabbed my head as it pounded uncontrollably.

Looking around the dimly lit bedroom, I was seemingly alone. Instantly, the memories flickered back. I remembered being on the couch and being so f*****g exhausted. I remembered feeling absolutely defeated. I remembered surrendering.

Then I remembered him.

Panicking, I realized I was still alone in bed.

How did I get there? The last thing I remembered was seeing the figure of a man emerge from the shadows in my living room. I remembered feeling like I was going to have a heart attack from the sheer shock of it all. I didn’t, however, remember passing out.

Turning to look at the clock, it was nearly dawn.

Holy s**t! I searched frantically for my phone. I had been out cold for nearly ten hours. For someone who hadn’t slept for more than an hour straight in the last few months, I had no clue how that was possible.

My phone wasn’t anywhere in sight, so I mustered the courage to venture out of my room. Listening first, there were no sounds or indications that anyone lurked in my house. I crept cautiously into the living room where nothing seemed amiss. The lights were all the way on as I last remembered them.

Checking the room, I found my phone on the floor at the foot of the couch.

Weird.

I picked up the iPhone, but it was dead after laying face down for so long. Going back into my room to charge it, I stopped dead in my tracks the second I crossed the threshold.

That unmistakable feeling was back.

I wasn’t alone anymore.

Frozen mid-step, I looked around desperately for another person, but all I saw was a familiar shadow in the corner of the room.

Fuck.

The room was dim—no lights on, only pale dawn breaking through my curtains. Shadows loomed across everything, and the furthest corner was noticeably darker.

I wasn’t imagining it. The corner was oddly denser, as if a giant mass stood there unseen. Trying not to panic, I stayed where I was in the doorway and tried my best to focus my eyes on the darkness.

Knowing all too well how shadows could play tricks on me, I tried to reason with myself, but I knew what I was seeing: there was definitely something creeping in the corner of my bedroom.

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. When I tried to move, my legs refused to cooperate. It was only when my anger surpassed my fear in the pit of my stomach that I willed myself forward into the room.

I was angry that I was losing my f*****g mind. I was angry that it was one thing after another. I was angry that my life was me constantly waiting for the next f****d-up thing to happen. Whatever was happening to me, I felt completely fed up, and if that was how I died, at least it would be over.

Was I being dramatic?

Probably not, all things considered.

“Who… who are you?” I stuttered; I had no clue who or what I was even speaking to.

There was no reply, but the dense mass in the shadow moved—or so it seemed from where I stood.

The returning silence made me angrier.

Taking a step forward bravely, I paused and demanded of the shadow, “What the f**k do you want?”

Again, there was no answer, but the shadow was definitely shifting in the darkness. That I could see for sure as I got closer.

Why the f**k was I getting closer? I had officially lost my damn mind.

I should have turned on a light. I should have gotten the f**k out of there. But I did neither. Instead, I stepped into the shadow—the deepest, darkest part of the obscurity.

I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t that.

The cold hit me first.

The darkest corner was freezing. It had to be a good five degrees colder than the rest of my bedroom.

The air felt denser.

Touching the space in front of it, the air felt like I’d put my hand into a massive cobweb. I recoiled instantly, snatching my hand back in alarm. Catching my breath for a moment, I attempted to reach out again.

The same odd sensation engulfed my hand, but this time something reached out from the darkness and touched me back.